Occurrence Distribution of Polar Cap Patches: Dependences on UT, Season and Hemisphere

Polar cap patches are islands of enhanced electron density in the polar cap F region ionosphere, which sometimes affect the propagation of trans-ionospheric radio waves. Considering the intake of daytime sunlit plasma by the high-latitude convection as the primary cause of patches, the spatial overlap between the convection and the daytime sunlit plasma should be one of the critical factors controlling the generation of patches. To confirm this hypothesis, we statistically investigated the UT and seasonal distributions of patch occurrence frequency in both the hemispheres by using in situ plasma density data from the Swarm satellite. As a result, it was found that the occurrence distribution of patches is a complex function of UT, season and hemisphere, but it can be mostly interpreted by the spatial overlap between the high-latitude convection and the solar terminator. This suggests that polar cap patches are not necessarily phenomena that occur only during winter months. That is, patches can often be observed even in periods away from the winter solstice if the location of solar terminator in the magnetic coordinate system is appropriate for the generation of patches. For example, in the southern hemisphere, where the offset between the geographic and magnetic poles is larger than that in the northern hemisphere, the highest patch occurrence rate is obtained around the equinoctial periods. These results indicate that it is needed to take these dependences into account when we discuss and predict the space weather impacts of patches on the trans-ionospheric radio propagation

Sm-Nd age and mantle source characteristics of the Dhanjori volcanic rocks, Eastern India

Trace, Rare Earth Element (REE), Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotope analyses have been carried out on selected basic-ultrabasic rocks of Dhanjori volcanic belt from the Eastern Indian Craton (EIC). The Sm-Nd isotopic data of these rocks yield an isochron age of 2072 ± 106 Ma (MSWD = 1.56). Chondrite normalized REE plots display shallow fractionated REE pattern with LREE enrichment. In primitive mantle normalized plots also these rocks show shallow fractionated pattern with depletion of Nb and Ba and enrichment of LILE like Rb, Th and U. Depletion of Nb, Ba and Zr and enrichment of Rb, Th and U are found in N-MORB normalized plots as well. Compatible elements like Tb, Y and Yb on the other hand, show a flat pattern. Isotope, trace and REE modelling indicate that these were produced by 3− 5% partial melting of a spinel lherzolite source. The Nd isotopic data suggest that an enriched (εNd = -2.4) mantle existed below the Dhanjori basin during ~2.1 Ga. The enrichment was possibly caused by continuous recycling of the earlier crust into the mantle whereby subducted slab derived fluid modified the surrounding mantle. The process also affected the more easily susceptible Rb-Sr systematics producing variable Sri (0.702-0.717). The enriched mantle material, part of a thermal plume, pierced through the deep fractures produced due to the cooling and readjustment of the Archaean continental crust and ultimately outpoured within the Dhanjori basin. The plume magmatism was manifested by the extrusion of komatiitic/basaltic flows and basic/ultrabasic intrusives. The residence time of the plume within the upper mantle was possibly very small as no depleted signature (even in Nd isotope) has been obtained. This means a deep plume was fed by a recycled oceanic crust via globally extensive subduction process, already initiated by the end-Archaean period

Zero Temperature Chiral Phase Transition in (2+1)-Dimensional QED with a Chern-Simons Term

We investigate the zero temperature chiral phase transition in (2+1)-dimensional QED in the presence of a Chern-Simons term, changing the number of fermion flavors. In the symmetric phase, there are no light degrees of freedom even at the critical point. Unlike the case without a Chern-Simons term, the phase transition is first-order.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, no figure

Absence of Hybridization Gap in Heavy Electron Systems and Analysis of YbAl3 in terms of Nearly Free Electron Conduction Band

In the analysis of the heavy electron systems, theoretical models with c-f hybridization gap are often used. We point out that such a gap does not exist and the simple picture with the hybridization gap is misleading in the metallic systems, and present a correct picture by explicitly constructing an effective band model of YbAl_3. Hamiltonian consists of a nearly free electron model for conduction bands which hybridize with localized f-electrons, and includes only a few parameters. Density of states, Sommerfeld coefficient, f-electron number and optical conductivity are calculated and compared with the band calculations and the experiments.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Late Archaean mantle metasomatism below eastern Indian craton: evidence from trace elements, REE geochemistry and Sr-Nd-O isotope systematics of ultramafic dykes

Trace, rare earth elements (REE), Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and O isotope studies have been carried out on ultramafic (harzburgite and lherzolite) dykes belonging to the newer dolerite dyke swarms of eastern Indian craton. The dyke swarms were earlier considered to be the youngest mafic magmatic activity in this region having ages not older than middle to late Proterozoic. The study indicates that the ultramafic members of these swarms are in fact of late Archaean age (Rb-Sr isochron age 2613 ± 177 Ma, Sri ~ 0:702 ± 0:004) which attests that out of all the cratonic blocks of India, eastern Indian craton experienced earliest stabilization event. Primitive mantle normalized trace element plots of these dykes display enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILE), pronounced Ba, Nb and Sr depletions but very high concentrations of Cr and Ni. Chondrite normalised REE plots exhibit light REE (LREE) enrichment with nearly flat heavy REE (HREE; (ΣHREE)N ~ 2-3 times chondrite, (Gd/Yb)N ~ 1). The εNd(t) values vary from +1:23 to −3:27 whereas δ18O values vary from +3:16‰ to +5:29‰ (average +3:97‰±0:75‰) which is lighter than the average mantle value. Isotopic, trace and REE data together indicate that during 2.6 Ga the nearly primitive mantle below the eastern Indian Craton was metasomatised by the fluid (± silicate melt) coming out from the subducting early crust resulting in LILE and LREE enriched, Nb depleted, variable εNd, low Sri(0:702) and low δ18O bearing EMI type mantle. Magmatic blobs of this metasomatised mantle were subsequently emplaced in deeper levels of the granitic crust which possibly originated due to the same thermal pulse

Fabrication of nanoscale gaps using a combination of self-assembled molecular and electron beam lithographic techniques

Copyright 2006 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in Applied Physics Letters, 88(22), 223111, 2006 and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.220920