Made-to-measure galaxy models - III Modelling with Milky Way observations

We demonstrate how the Syer & Tremaine made-to-measure method of stellar dynamical modelling can be adapted to model a rotating galactic bar. We validate our made-to-measure changes using observations constructed from the existing Shen et al. (2010) N-body model of the Milky Way bar, together with kinematic observations of the Milky Way bulge and bar taken by the Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA). Our results for a combined determination of the bar angle and bar pattern speed (~30 degrees and ~40 km/s/kpc) are consistent with those determined by the N-body model. Whilst the made-to-measure techniques we have developed are applied using a particular N-body model and observational data set, they are in fact general and could be applied to other Milky Way modelling scenarios utilising different N-body models and data sets. Additionally, we use the exercise as a vehicle for illustrating how N-body and made-to-measure methods might be combined into a more effective method.Comment: Accepted for publication, 10 pages, 7 figure

How anthropogenic shifts in plant community composition alter soil food webs.

There are great concerns about the impacts of soil biodiversity loss on ecosystem functions and services such as nutrient cycling, food production, and carbon storage. A diverse community of soil organisms that together comprise a complex food web mediates such ecosystem functions and services. Recent advances have shed light on the key drivers of soil food web structure, but a conceptual integration is lacking. Here, we explore how human-induced changes in plant community composition influence soil food webs. We present a framework describing the mechanistic underpinnings of how shifts in plant litter and root traits and microclimatic variables impact on the diversity, structure, and function of the soil food web. We then illustrate our framework by discussing how shifts in plant communities resulting from land-use change, climatic change, and species invasions affect soil food web structure and functioning. We argue that unravelling the mechanistic links between plant community trait composition and soil food webs is essential to understanding the cascading effects of anthropogenic shifts in plant communities on ecosystem functions and services

Global change impacts on forest soils: linkage between soil biota and carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus stoichiometry

orest ecosystems are subjected to global change drivers worldwide, such as increasing temperature, atmospheric carbon dioxide, nutrient pollution, as well as changes in fire and precipitation regimes. These global change drivers have greatly modified the biogeochemical cycles of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P), which has an impact on primary productivity in forest ecosystems and in turn, affect the quality and quantity of resources entering the soil food web. However, C, N, and P soil dynamics have been mostly studied without considering their coupling effects on soil organisms. This is of critical interest because changes in nutrient stoichiometry may have a strong effect on soil biota and the ecosystem functions they drive. Further, most studies have focused on global change effects on bacteria and fungi and their C:N:P stoichiometry, while neglecting other soil organisms at higher trophic levels. This has led to an incomplete understanding of how the entire soil food web drives ecosystem processes involved in organic matter turnover and nutrient cycling. Here, we review studies that investigated how global change drivers impact C:N:P stoichiometry of soil organisms at different trophic levels in forest ecosystems and identify important knowledge gaps. We propose future directions for research on global change impacts on the linkages between soil biota and C:N:P stoichiometry

Dynamic magnetic response of infinite arrays of ferromagnetic particles

Recently developed techniques to find the eigenmodes of a ferromagnetic particle of arbitrary shape, as well as the absorption in the presence of an inhomogeneous radio-frequency field, are extended to treat infinite lattices of such particles. The method is applied to analyze the results of recent FMR experiments, and yields substantially good agreement between theory and experiment

Made-to-measure galaxy models - II Elliptical and Lenticular Galaxies

We take a sample of 24 elliptical and lenticular galaxies previously analysed by the SAURON project using three-integral dynamical models created with Schwarzschild's method, and re-analyse them using the made-to-measure (M2M) method of dynamical modelling. We obtain good agreement between the two methods in determining the dynamical mass-to-light (M/L) ratios for the galaxies with over 80% of ratios differing by < 10% and over 95% differing by < 20%. We show that (M/L)_M2M is approximately equal to (M/L)_Sch. For the global velocity dispersion anisotropy parameter delta, we find similar values but with fewer of the made-to-measure models tangentially anisotropic by comparison with their SAURON Schwarzschild counterparts. Our investigation is the largest comparative application of the made-to-measure method to date.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures and 5 table

Structure and Physical Properties of SrNiRu\u3csub\u3e5\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e11\u3c/sub\u3e Single Crystals: An \u3cem\u3eR\u3c/em\u3e-Type Ferrite Based on Ordered Kagome Nets

Single crystals of the R-type ferrite SrNiRu5O11 were grown from a chloride flux. The hexagonal crystal structure contains ruthenium located on distorted kagome nets. The low-temperature dc magnetic susceptibilities (χ⊥ and χ∥, perpendicular and parallel to the c axis, respectively) diverge as T−0.3, and do not exhibit any indication of long-range magnetic order down to 4.5 K. The electrical resistivity varies as T1.6 below 40 K, which is typical of non-Fermi liquids, and may originate from a competition between residual magnetic interactions among Ni2+ (S = 1) spins and geometrical frustration on the two-dimensional kagome lattice of Ru3+ (S = ½) spins. The transverse magnetoresistivity ρxy at constant temperature T = 5 K for current (J) -magnetic field (H) configurations, J⊥H ∥ c axis and J ∥ H⊥c axis, reveals no anomalous contribution, which is consistent with the absence of magnetic order. Fits of the specific heat data below 10 K require a dominant, but unusual electronic term of the form Cel = γT1.2, which is expected for massless Dirac fermion states in topological insulators, or spin-liquid phases

Higgs-gauge boson interactions in the economical 3-3-1 model

Interactions among the standard model gauge bosons and scalar fields in the framework of SU(3)_C X SU(3)_L X U(1)_X gauge model with minimal (economical) Higgs content are presented. From these couplings, all scalar fields including the neutral scalar $h$ and the Goldstone bosons can be identified and their couplings with the usual gauge bosons such as the photon, the charged $W^\pm$ and the neutral $Z$, without any additional condition, are recovered. In the effective approximation, full content of scalar sector can be recognized. The CP-odd part of Goldstone associated with the neutral non-Hermitian bilepton gauge boson $G_{X^0}$ is decouple, while its CP-even counterpart has the mixing by the same way in the gauge boson sector. Masses of the new neutral Higgs boson $H^0_1$ and the neutral non-Hermitian bilepton $X^0$ are dependent on a coefficient of Higgs self-coupling ($\lambda_1$). Similarly, masses of the singly-charged Higgs boson $H_2^\pm$ and of the charged bilepton $Y^\pm$ are proportional through a coefficient of Higgs self-interaction ($\lambda_4$). The hadronic cross section for production of this Higgs boson at the LHC in the effective vector boson approximation is calculated. Numerical evaluation shows that the cross section can exceed 260 $fb$.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Made-to measure galaxy models - I Methodology

We re-derive the made-to-measure method of Syer and Tremaine 1996, for modelling stellar systems and individual galaxies, and demonstrate how extensions to the made-to-measure method may be implemented and used. We illustrate the enhanced made-to-measure method by determining the mass-to-light ratio of a galaxy modelled as a Plummer sphere. From the standard galactic observables of surface brightness and line-of-sight velocity dispersion together with the h_4 Gauss-Hermite coefficient of the line-of-sight velocity distribution, we successfully recover the true mass-to-light ratio of our toy galaxy. Using kinematic data from Kleyna et al 2002, we then estimate the mass-to-light ratio of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy Draco achieving a V-band value of 539 \pm 136 M_{\odot} / L_{\odot}. We describe the main aspects of creating a made-to-measure galaxy model and show how the key modelling parameters may be determined.Comment: 18 pages, 15 figure