SiO2 glass density to lower-mantle pressures

The convection or settling of matter in the deep Earth’s interior is mostly constrained by density variations between the different reservoirs. Knowledge of the density contrast between solid and molten silicates is thus of prime importance to understand and model the dynamic behavior of the past and present Earth. SiO2 is the main constituent of Earth’s mantle and is the reference model system for the behavior of silicate melts at high pressure. Here, we apply our recently developed x-ray absorption technique to the density of SiO2 glass up to 110 GPa, doubling the pressure range for such measurements. Our density data validate recent molecular dynamics simulations and are in good agreement with previous experimental studies conducted at lower pressure. Silica glass rapidly densifies up to 40 GPa, but the density trend then flattens to become asymptotic to the density of SiO2 minerals above 60 GPa. The density data present two discontinuities at ∼17 and ∼60  GPa that can be related to a silicon coordination increase from 4 to a mixed 5/6 coordination and from 5/6 to sixfold, respectively. SiO2 glass becomes denser than MgSiO3 glass at ∼40  GPa, and its density becomes identical to that of MgSiO3 glass above 80 GPa. Our results on SiO2 glass may suggest that a variation of SiO2 content in a basaltic or pyrolitic melt with pressure has at most a minor effect on the final melt density, and iron partitioning between the melts and residual solids is the predominant factor that controls melt buoyancy in the lowermost mantle

Reduced partition function ratios of iron and oxygen in goethite

First-principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) with or without the addition of a Hubbard U correction, are performed on goethite in order to determine the iron and oxygen reduced partition function ratios (β-factors). The calculated iron phonon density of states (pDOS), force constant and β-factor are compared with reevaluated experimental β-factors obtained from Nuclear Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (NRIXS) measurements. The reappraisal of old experimental data is motivated by the erroneous previous interpretation of the low- and high-energy ends of the NRIXS spectrum of goethite and jarosite samples (Dauphas et al., 2012). Here the NRIXS data are analyzed using the SciPhon software that corrects for non-constant baseline. New NRIXS measurements also demonstrate the reproducibility of the results. Unlike for hematite and pyrite, a significant discrepancy remains between DFT, NRIXS and the existing Mössbauer-derived data. Calculations suggest a slight overestimation of the NRIXS signal possibly related to the baseline definition. The intrinsic features of the samples studied by NRIXS and Mössbauer spectroscopy may also contribute to the discrepancy (e.g., internal structural and/or chemical defects, microstructure, surface contribution). As for oxygen, DFT results indicate that goethite and hematite have similar β-factors, which suggests almost no fractionation between the two minerals at equilibrium

An Anatomy of Price Dynamics in Illiquid Markets: Analysis and Evidence from Local Housing Markets

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73407/1/j.1080-8620.2004.00082.x.pd

A jump-growth model for predator-prey dynamics: derivation and application to marine ecosystems

This paper investigates the dynamics of biomass in a marine ecosystem. A stochastic process is defined in which organisms undergo jumps in body size as they catch and eat smaller organisms. Using a systematic expansion of the master equation, we derive a deterministic equation for the macroscopic dynamics, which we call the deterministic jump-growth equation, and a linear Fokker-Planck equation for the stochastic fluctuations. The McKendrick--von Foerster equation, used in previous studies, is shown to be a first-order approximation, appropriate in equilibrium systems where predators are much larger than their prey. The model has a power-law steady state consistent with the approximate constancy of mass density in logarithmic intervals of body mass often observed in marine ecosystems. The behaviours of the stochastic process, the deterministic jump-growth equation and the McKendrick--von Foerster equation are compared using numerical methods. The numerical analysis shows two classes of attractors: steady states and travelling waves.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures. Final version as published. Only minor change

A general framework for combining ecosystem models

When making predictions about ecosystems, we often have available a number of different ecosystem models that attempt to represent their dynamics in a detailed mechanistic way. Each of these can be used as a simulator of large-scale experiments and make projections about the fate of ecosystems under different scenarios to support the development of appropriate management strategies. However, structural differences, systematic discrepancies and uncertainties lead to different models giving different predictions. This is further complicated by the fact that the models may not be run with the same functional groups, spatial structure or time scale. Rather than simply trying to select a “best” model, or taking some weighted average, it is important to exploit the strengths of each of the models, while learning from the differences between them. To achieve this, we construct a flexible statistical model of the relationships between a collection of mechanistic models and their biases, allowing for structural and parameter uncertainty and for different ways of representing reality. Using this statistical meta-model, we can combine prior beliefs, model estimates and direct observations using Bayesian methods and make coherent predictions of future outcomes under different scenarios with robust measures of uncertainty. In this study, we take a diverse ensemble of existing North Sea ecosystem models and demonstrate the utility of our framework by applying it to answer the question what would have happened to demersal fish if fishing was to stop

Standard methods for virus research in Apis mellifera

Honey bee virus research is an enormously broad area, ranging from subcellular molecular biology through physiology and behaviour, to individual and colony-level symptoms, transmission and epidemiology. The research methods used in virology are therefore equally diverse. This article covers those methods that are very particular to virological research in bees, with numerous cross-referrals to other BEEBOOK papers on more general methods, used in virology as well as other research. At the root of these methods is the realization that viruses at their most primary level inhabit a molecular, subcellular world, which they manipulate and interact with, to produce all higher order phenomena associated with virus infection and disease. Secondly, that viruses operate in an exponential world, while the host operates in a linear world and that much of the understanding and management of viruses hinges on reconciling these fundamental mathematical differences between virus and host. The article concentrates heavily on virus propagation and methods for detection, with minor excursions into surveying, sampling management and background information on the many viruses found in bees

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment

This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw > 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour, are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017 +/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables, revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio

Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS

The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4 fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes. This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table, corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter