780 research outputs found
Pennsylvania and the Clean Power Plan: Towards a 111(d) Compliance Strategy
The Environmental Protection Agency released its proposed Clean Power Regulation in June 2014, and in mid-summer 2015, the finalized rule will be the first comprehensive regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants in American history. Compliance strategies will be expensive and complex decisions for states to make. Each state faces the choice of whether to comply individually or as a region, but posses the freedom to comply in whatever way they choose. Pennsylvania is unique. The commonwealth has an entrenched coal industry, a nascent natural gas industry, and is a net exporter of electricity. Joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a group of northeast states that borders Pennsylvania to the north, may be one compliance option, but joining a different region may be a more desirable lower cost solution. This analysis seeks to show that the cost of compliance would be lower if Pennsylvania joined a select group of states within the PJM Interconnection. One result of the analysis suggests that by joining with complementary states within PJM, relatively minor changes in Pennsylvania coal-fired generation would be required to meet Clean Power Plan compliance 2030 goals
Direct Interactions in Relativistic Statistical Mechanics
Directly interacting particles are considered in the multitime formalism of
predictive relativistic mechanics. When the equations of motion leave a
phase-space volume invariant, it turns out that the phase average of any first
integral, covariantly defined as a flux across a -dimensional surface, is
conserved. The Hamiltonian case is discussed, a class of simple models is
exhibited, and a tentative definition of equilibrium is proposed.Comment: Plain Tex file, 26 page
Probabilistic ballistic annihilation with continuous velocity distributions
We investigate the problem of ballistically controlled reactions where
particles either annihilate upon collision with probability , or undergo an
elastic shock with probability . Restricting to homogeneous systems, we
provide in the scaling regime that emerges in the long time limit, analytical
expressions for the exponents describing the time decay of the density and the
root-mean-square velocity, as continuous functions of the probability and
of a parameter related to the dissipation of energy. We work at the level of
molecular chaos (non-linear Boltzmann equation), and using a systematic Sonine
polynomials expansion of the velocity distribution, we obtain in arbitrary
dimension the first non-Gaussian correction and the corresponding expressions
for the decay exponents. We implement Monte-Carlo simulations in two
dimensions, that are in excellent agreement with our analytical predictions.
For , numerical simulations lead to conjecture that unlike for pure
annihilation (), the velocity distribution becomes universal, i.e. does
not depend on the initial conditions.Comment: 10 pages, 9 eps figures include
Dynamical real-space renormalization group calculations with a new clustering scheme on random networks
We have defined a new type of clustering scheme preserving the connectivity
of the nodes in network ignored by the conventional Migdal-Kadanoff bond moving
process. Our new clustering scheme performs much better for correlation length
and dynamical critical exponents in high dimensions, where the conventional
Migdal-Kadanoff bond moving scheme breaks down. In two and three dimensions we
find the dynamical critical exponents for the kinetic Ising Model to be z=2.13
and z=2.09, respectively at pure Ising fixed point. These values are in very
good agreement with recent Monte Carlo results. We investigate the phase
diagram and the critical behaviour for randomly bond diluted lattices in d=2
and 3, in the light of this new transformation. We also provide exact
correlation exponent and dynamical critical exponent values on hierarchical
lattices with power-law degree distributions, both in the pure and random
cases.Comment: 8 figure
On the universality of a class of annihilation-coagulation models
A class of -dimensional reaction-diffusion models interpolating
continuously between the diffusion-coagulation and the diffusion-annihilation
models is introduced. Exact relations among the observables of different models
are established. For the one-dimensional case, it is shown how correlations in
the initial state can lead to non-universal amplitudes for time-dependent
particles density.Comment: 18 pages with no figures. Latex file using REVTE
The PCA Lens-Finder: application to CFHTLS
We present the results of a new search for galaxy-scale strong lensing
systems in CFHTLS Wide. Our lens-finding technique involves a preselection of
potential lens galaxies, applying simple cuts in size and magnitude. We then
perform a Principal Component Analysis of the galaxy images, ensuring a clean
removal of the light profile. Lensed features are searched for in the residual
images using the clustering topometric algorithm DBSCAN. We find 1098 lens
candidates that we inspect visually, leading to a cleaned sample of 109 new
lens candidates. Using realistic image simulations we estimate the completeness
of our sample and show that it is independent of source surface brightness,
Einstein ring size (image separation) or lens redshift. We compare the
properties of our sample to previous lens searches in CFHTLS. Including the
present search, the total number of lenses found in CFHTLS amounts to 678,
which corresponds to ~4 lenses per square degree down to i=24.8. This is
equivalent to ~ 60.000 lenses in total in a survey as wide as Euclid, but at
the CFHTLS resolution and depth.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication on A&
A renormalization group study of a class of reaction-diffusion model, with particles input
We study a class of reaction-diffusion model extrapolating continuously
between the pure coagulation-diffusion case () and the pure
annihilation-diffusion one () with particles input
() at a rate . For dimension , the dynamics
strongly depends on the fluctuations while, for , the behaviour is
mean-field like. The models are mapped onto a field theory which properties are
studied in a renormalization group approach. Simple relations are found between
the time-dependent correlation functions of the different models of the class.
For the pure coagulation-diffusion model the time-dependent density is found to
be of the form , where
is the diffusion constant. The critical exponent and are
computed to all orders in , where is the dimension of the
system, while the scaling function is computed to second order in
. For the one-dimensional case an exact analytical solution is
provided which predictions are compared with the results of the renormalization
group approach for .Comment: Ten pages, using Latex and IOP macro. Two latex figures. Submitted to
Journal of Physics A. Also available at
http://mykonos.unige.ch/~rey/publi.htm
Complex population dynamics as a competition between multiple time-scale phenomena
The role of the selection pressure and mutation amplitude on the behavior of
a single-species population evolving on a two-dimensional lattice, in a
periodically changing environment, is studied both analytically and
numerically. The mean-field level of description allows to highlight the
delicate interplay between the different time-scale processes in the resulting
complex dynamics of the system. We clarify the influence of the amplitude and
period of the environmental changes on the critical value of the selection
pressure corresponding to a phase-transition "extinct-alive" of the population.
However, the intrinsic stochasticity and the dynamically-built in correlations
among the individuals, as well as the role of the mutation-induced variety in
population's evolution are not appropriately accounted for. A more refined
level of description, which is an individual-based one, has to be considered.
The inherent fluctuations do not destroy the phase transition "extinct-alive",
and the mutation amplitude is strongly influencing the value of the critical
selection pressure. The phase diagram in the plane of the population's
parameters -- selection and mutation is discussed as a function of the
environmental variation characteristics. The differences between a smooth
variation of the environment and an abrupt, catastrophic change are also
addressesd.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Familial amyloid polyneuropathy type I (Portuguese): distribution and characterization of renal amyloid deposits.
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