Vacuum Instability in Chern-Simons Gravity

We explore perturbations about a Friedmann-Robertson-Walker background in Chern-Simons gravity. At large momenta one of the two circularly polarized tensor modes becomes ghostlike. We argue that nevertheless the theory does not exhibit classical runaway solutions, except possibly in the relativistic nonlinear regime. However, the ghost modes cause the vacuum state to be quantum mechanically unstable, with a decay rate that is naively infinite. The decay rate can be made finite only if one interprets the theory as an effective quantum field theory valid up to some momentum cutoff, which violates Lorentz invariance. By demanding that the energy density in photons created by vacuum decay over the lifetime of the Universe not violate observational bounds, we derive strong constraints on the two dimensional parameter space of the theory, consisting of the cutoff and the Chern-Simons mass.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures; final published versio

Comparison of a Simplified Cupric Oxide oxidation HPLC Method with the Traditional GC-MS Method for Characterization of Lignin Phenolics in Environmental Samples (vol 13, pg 1, 2015)

In our article entitled “Comparison of a simplified cupric oxide oxidation HPLC method with the traditional GC-MS method for characterization of lignin phenolics in environmental samples” (Limnol. Oceanogr.: Methods 13, 2015, 1–52), doi: 10.1002/lom3.10001, we would like to correct the errors in Fig. 2 and Table 2 as mentioned below. The label to Fig. 2(a) needs to be transposed as indicated in the corrected Fig. 2 image below

Temporal Controls on Dissolved Organic Matter and Lignin Biogeochemistry in a Pristine Tropical River, Democratic Republic of Congo

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), lignin biomarkers, and the optical properties of dissolved organic matter (DOM) were measured in the Epulu River (northeast Democratic Republic of Congo) with the aim of investigating temporal controls on the quantity and chemical composition of DOM in a tropical rainforest river. Three different periods defined by stages of the hydrologic regime of the region, (1) post dry flushing period, (2) intermediary period, and (3) start of the dry period/post flush, were sampled. Temporal variability in DOM quantity and quality was observed with highest DOC, lignin concentration (Σ8) and carbon‐normalized (Λ8) values during the flushing period attributed to greater surface runoff and leaching of organic‐rich horizons, with lowest values in the dry period/post flush once source materials were well leached. Chromophoric DOM (CDOM) was strongly correlated to DOC and Σ8 (r2 = 0.85 and 0.83, respectively; p \u3c 0.001), and CDOM quality measurements (SUVA254, spectral slope ratio and fluorescence index) were strongly correlated to Λ8 values (r2 = 0.77, 0.69, and 0.75, respectively; p \u3c 0.001), demonstrating the ability to derive DOC and lignin export and to track DOM quality in tropical riverine systems from simple optical measurements. This study demonstrates similar effects in the variability of DOM quantity and quality due to changing hydrologic inputs for a tropical river as has been previously reported for temperate and northern high‐latitude rivers. Therefore, flushing periods in tropical rivers warrant further study, as they are critical toward understanding ecosystem biogeochemistry as maximal export of freshly leached plant material occurs during this time period

The QTL Mapping of the important breeding traits in winter triticale (×Triticosecale Wittm.)

The increasing economic importance of triticale (×Triticosecale Wittm.) makes this synthetic hybrid cereal an interesting object of genetic studies. Genomic regions (QTL) of morphological winter triticale traits were determined using the mapping population of 89 doubled haploids lines (DHs) developed from F1 hybrid of cv. ‘Hewo’ and cv. ‘Magnat’ accompanied with the genetic map consisting of 20 linkage groups assigned to the A (7), B (7), and R (6) genomes (total of 3539 DArT, SNP-DArT and SSR markers, length of 4997.4 cM). Five independent experiments were performed in the field and greenhouse controlled conditions. A total of 12 major QTLs located on 2B, 5A, 5R, and 6B chromosomes connected to the stem length, the plant height, the spike length, the number of the productive spikelets per spike, the number of grains per spike, and the thousand kernel weight were identified by a composite interval mapping (CIM)

Фітоценологічна типологія букових лісів Карпатського біосферного заповідника

Carpathian Biosphere Reserve is located in the Transcarpathian region on the south-western macro-slope of the Ukrainian Carpathians. Beech forests on the territory of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve are represented by 16 subformations and 124 associations. The construction of a generalized typological scheme of beech forests of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve on the basis of a dominance classification was carried out by means of graphical visualization of the results of indirect ordination in relation to the distribution of 33 species-dominants of herbal coverage in the context of 16 subformations. The evaluation of complex environmental gradients that determine the structure and direction of variation of forest vegetation was performed on the basis of Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). To interpret the axes of ordination, the correlation of species coordinates with their environmental parameters on Ellenberg's ecological scales was determined. Organizing phytocoenological data on the basis of Detrended Correspondence Analysis allows executing a geometric interpretation of phytocoenological data and presents a dominance classification in the form of a typological scheme. The phytocoenological typological scheme of beech forests of Carpathian Biosphere Reserve can be represented as a hexagon, in the centre of which there is the subformation of Fageta (sylvaticae), and in the corners are as follows: 1) Carpineto (betuli)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Fageta (sylvaticae) 2) Abieto (albae)-Piceeto (abietis)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Piceeto (abietis)-Abieto (albae)-Fageta (sylvaticae) 3) Piceeto (abietis)-Fageta (sylvaticae) 4) Sorbeto (aucupariae)-Fageta (sylvaticae) 5) Querceto (petraeae)-Fageta (sylvaticae) 6) Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Ulmeto (glabrae)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Querceto (roboris)-Fageta (sylvaticae). In a three-dimensional space, the typological scheme has the form of a hexagonal pyramid, on the top of which there are the subformations Acereto (pseudoplatani)-Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Fageta (sylvaticae) and Ulmeto (glabrae)-Fageta (sylvaticae).Конструювання фітоценологічної типологічної схеми букових лісів Карпатського біосферного заповідника на основі домінантної класифікації здійснено способом графічної візуалізації результатів непрямої ординації щодо розподілу 33 видів-домінантів трав'яного покриву в розрізі 16 субформацій. Оцінку комплексних градієнтів середовища, які визначають структуру і напрямок варіювання лісової рослинності, виконано на основі аналізу відповідностей із видаленим трендом (DCA, Detrended Correspondence Analysis). Для інтерпретації осей ординації визначено кореляцію координат видів з їх екологічними параметрами за екологічними шкалами Г. Елленберга. Фітоценологічну типологічну схему букових лісів Карпатського біосферного заповідника можна представити у вигляді шестикутника, у центрі якого розташована субформація Fageta (sylvaticae), а в кутах: 1) Carpineto (betuli)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Fageta (sylvaticae); 2) Abieto (albae)-Piceeto (abietis)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Piceeto (abietis)-Abieto (albae)-Fageta (sylvaticae); 3) Piceeto (abietis)-Fageta (sylvaticae); 4) Sorbeto (aucupariae)-Fageta (sylvaticae); 5) Querceto (petraeae)-Fageta (sylvaticae); 6) Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Ulmeto (glabrae)-Fageta (sylvaticae), Querceto (roboris)-Fageta (sylvaticae). У тривимірному просторі типологічна схема має вигляд шестикутної піраміди, на вершині якої розташовані субформації Acereto (pseudoplatani)-Fraxineto (excelsioris)-Fageta (sylvaticae) і Ulmeto (glabrae)-Fageta (sylvaticae)

Gravitational Wave Bursts from Cosmic Superstring Reconnections

We compute the gravitational waveform produced by cosmic superstring reconnections. This is done by first constructing the superstring reconnection trajectory, which closely resembles that of classical, instantaneous reconnection but with the singularities smoothed out due to the string path integral. We then evaluate the graviton vertex operator in this background to obtain the burst amplitude. The result is compared to the detection threshold for current and future gravitational wave detectors, finding that neither bursts nor the stochastic background would be detectable by Advanced LIGO. This disappointing but anticipated conclusion holds even for the most optimistic values of the reconnection probability and loop sizes.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures; v2: references added and typos correcte