428 research outputs found
Decay of quantised vorticity by sound emission
It is thought that in a quantum fluid sound generation is the ultimate sink
of turbulent kinetic energy in the absence of any other dissipation mechanism
near absolute zero. We show that a suitably trapped Bose-Einstein condensate
provides a model system to study the sound emitted by accelerating vortices in
a controlled way.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Ultrasonic study of the gelation of gelatin: phase diagram, hysteresis and kinetics
We map the ultrasonic (8 MHz) speed and attenuation of edible-grade gelatin
in water, exploring the key dependencies on temperature, concentration and
time. The ultrasonic signatures of the sol-gel transition, confirmed by
rheological measurements, and incomplete gel formation at low concentrations,
enable a phase diagram of the system to be constructed. Sensitivity is also
demonstrated to the kinetics of gel formation and melting, and associated
hysteresis effects upon cyclic temperature sweeps. Furthermore, simple acoustic
models of the sol and gel state enable estimation of the speed of sound and
compressibility of gelatin. Our results demonstrate the potential of ultrasonic
measurements to characterise the structure and visco-elasticity of gelatin
hydrogels.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Thermodynamics of an interacting trapped Bose-Einstein gas in the classical field approximation
We present a convenient technique describing the condensate in dynamical
equilibrium with the thermal cloud, at temperatures close to the critical one.
We show that the whole isolated system may be viewed as a single classical
field undergoing nonlinear dynamics leading to a steady state. In our procedure
it is the observation process and the finite detection time that allow for
splitting the system into the condensate and the thermal cloud.Comment: 4 pages, 4 eps figures, final versio
An horizon scan of biogeography
The opportunity to reflect broadly on the accomplishments, prospects, and reach of a field may present itself relatively infrequently. Each biennial meeting of the International Biogeography Society showcases ideas solicited and developed largely during the preceding year, by individuals or teams from across the breadth of the discipline. Here, we highlight challenges, developments, and opportunities in biogeography from that biennial synthesis. We note the realized and potential impact of rapid data accumulation in several fields, a renaissance for inter-disciplinary research, the importance of recognizing the evolution-ecology continuum across spatial and temporal scales and at different taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional levels, and re-exploration of classical assumptions and hypotheses using new tools. However, advances are taxonomically and geographically biased, and key theoretical frameworks await tools to handle, or strategies to simplify, the biological complexity seen in empirical systems. Current threats to biodiversity require unprecedented integration of knowledge and development of predictive capacity that may enable biogeography to unite its descriptive and hypothetico-deductive branches and establish a greater role within and outside academia
Accuracy and Stability of Computing High-Order Derivatives of Analytic Functions by Cauchy Integrals
High-order derivatives of analytic functions are expressible as Cauchy
integrals over circular contours, which can very effectively be approximated,
e.g., by trapezoidal sums. Whereas analytically each radius r up to the radius
of convergence is equal, numerical stability strongly depends on r. We give a
comprehensive study of this effect; in particular we show that there is a
unique radius that minimizes the loss of accuracy caused by round-off errors.
For large classes of functions, though not for all, this radius actually gives
about full accuracy; a remarkable fact that we explain by the theory of Hardy
spaces, by the Wiman-Valiron and Levin-Pfluger theory of entire functions, and
by the saddle-point method of asymptotic analysis. Many examples and
non-trivial applications are discussed in detail.Comment: Version 4 has some references and a discussion of other quadrature
rules added; 57 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables; to appear in Found. Comput. Mat
Stability and collapse of localized solutions of the controlled three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation
On the basis of recent investigations, a newly developed analytical procedure
is used for constructing a wide class of localized solutions of the controlled
three-dimensional (3D) Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE) that governs the
dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). The controlled 3D GPE is
decomposed into a two-dimensional (2D) linear Schr\"{o}dinger equation and a
one-dimensional (1D) nonlinear Schr\"{o}dinger equation, constrained by a
variational condition for the controlling potential. Then, the above class of
localized solutions are constructed as the product of the solutions of the
transverse and longitudinal equations. On the basis of these exact 3D
analytical solutions, a stability analysis is carried out, focusing our
attention on the physical conditions for having collapsing or non-collapsing
solutions.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figure
A Phenomenological Analysis of Heavy Hadron Lifetimes
A phenomenological analysis of lifetimes of bottom and charmed hadrons within
the framework of the heavy quark expansion is performed. The baryon matrix
element is evaluated using the bag model and the nonrelativistic quark model.
We find that bottom-baryon lifetimes follow the pattern
.
However, neither the lifetime ratio nor the
absolute decay rates of the baryon and mesons can be explained.
One way of solving both difficulties is to allow the presence of linear
corrections by scaling the inclusive nonleptonic width with the fifth power of
the hadron mass rather than the heavy quark mass . The hierarchy
of bottom baryon lifetimes is dramatically modified to
: The
longest-lived among bottom baryons in the OPE prescription now
becomes shortest-lived. The replacement of by in nonleptonic
widths is natural and justified in the PQCD-based factorization approach
formulated in terms of hadron-level kinematics. For inclusive charmed baryon
decays, we argue that since the heavy quark expansion does not converge, local
duality cannot be tested in this case. We show that while the ansatz of
substituting the heavy quark mass by the hadron mass provides a much better
description of the charmed-baryon lifetime {\it ratios}, it appears unnatural
and unpredictive for describing the {\it absolute} inclusive decay rates of
charmed baryons, contrary to the bottom case.Comment: 35 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev. The CDF result on the lifetime
ratio of Lambda_b and B_d is discusse
Quantum Kinetic Theory III: Quantum kinetic master equation for strongly condensed trapped systems
We extend quantum kinetic theory to deal with a strongly Bose-condensed
atomic vapor in a trap. The method assumes that the majority of the vapor is
not condensed, and acts as a bath of heat and atoms for the condensate. The
condensate is described by the particle number conserving Bogoliubov method
developed by one of the authors. We derive equations which describe the
fluctuations of particle number and phase, and the growth of the Bose-Einstein
condensate. The equilibrium state of the condensate is a mixture of states with
different numbers of particles and quasiparticles. It is not a quantum
superposition of states with different numbers of particles---nevertheless, the
stationary state exhibits the property of off-diagonal long range order, to the
extent that this concept makes sense in a tightly trapped condensate.Comment: 3 figures submitted to Physical Review
Two refreshing views of Fluctuation Theorems through Kinematics Elements and Exponential Martingale
In the context of Markov evolution, we present two original approaches to
obtain Generalized Fluctuation-Dissipation Theorems (GFDT), by using the
language of stochastic derivatives and by using a family of exponential
martingales functionals. We show that GFDT are perturbative versions of
relations verified by these exponential martingales. Along the way, we prove
GFDT and Fluctuation Relations (FR) for general Markov processes, beyond the
usual proof for diffusion and pure jump processes. Finally, we relate the FR to
a family of backward and forward exponential martingales.Comment: 41 pages, 7 figures; version2: 45 pages, 7 figures, minor revisions,
new results in Section
Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria
Resurrecting extinct species is a fascinating and challenging idea for scientists and the general public. Whereas some theoretical progress has been made for animals, the resurrection of extinct plants (de-extinction sensu lato) is a relatively recently discussed topic. In this context, the term ‘de-extinction’ is used sensu lato to refer to the resurrection of ‘extinct in the wild’ species from seeds or tissues preserved in herbaria, as we acknowledge the current impossibility of knowing a priori whether a herbarium seed is alive and can germinate. In plants, this could be achieved by germinating or in vitro tissue-culturing old diaspores such as seeds or spores available in herbarium specimens. This paper reports the first list of plant de-extinction candidates based on the actual availability of seeds in herbarium specimens of globally extinct plants. We reviewed globally extinct seed plants using online resources and additional literature on national red lists, resulting in a list of 361 extinct taxa. We then proposed a method of prioritizing candidates for seed-plant de-extinction from diaspores found in herbarium specimens and complemented this with a phylogenetic approach to identify species that may maximize evolutionarily distinct features. Finally, combining data on seed storage behaviour and longevity, as well as specimen age in the novel ‘best de-extinction candidate’ score (DEXSCO), we identified 556 herbarium specimens belonging to 161 extinct species with available seeds. We expect that this list of de-extinction candidates and the novel approach to rank them will boost research efforts towards the first-ever plant de-extinction
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