22,357 research outputs found
Assessment of the potential of MERIS near-infrared water vapour products to correct ASAR interferometric measurements
Atmospheric water vapour is a major limitation for high precision Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) applications due to its significant impact on microwave signals. We propose a statistical criterion to test whether an independent water vapour product can reduce water vapour effects on InSAR interferograms, and assess the potential of the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) near-infrared water vapour products for correcting Advanced SAR (ASAR) data. Spatio-temporal comparisons show c. 1.1mm
agreement between MERIS and GPS/radiosonde water vapour products in terms of standard deviations. One major limitation with the use of MERIS water vapour products is the frequency of cloud free conditions. Our analysis indicates that in spite of the low global cloud free conditions (~25%), the frequency can be much higher for certain areas such as Eastern Tibet (~38%) and Southern
California (~48%). This suggests that MERIS water vapour products show potential for correcting ASAR interferometric measurements in certain regions
Wetting of anisotropic sinusoidal surfaces - experimental and numerical study of directional spreading
Directional wettability, i.e. variation of wetting properties depending on the surface orientation, can be achieved by anisotropic surface texturing. A new high precision process can produce homogeneous sinusoidal surfaces (in particular parallel grooves) at the micro-scale, with a nano-scale residual roughness five orders of magnitude smaller than the texture features. Static wetting experiments have shown that this pattern, even with a very small aspect ratio, can induce a strong variation of contact angle depending on the direction of observation. A comparison with numerical simulations (using Surface Evolver software) shows good agreement and could be used to predict the fluid-solid interaction and droplet behaviour on textured surfaces. Two primary mechanisms of directional spreading of water droplets on textured stainless steel surface have been identified. The first one is the mechanical barrier created by the textured surface peaks, this limits spreading in perpendicular direction to the surface anisotropy. The second one is the capillary action inside the sinusoidal grooves accelerating spreading along the grooves. Spreading has been shown to depend strongly on the history of wetting and internal drop dynamics
Spin-Orbit Coupling in LaAlO/SrTiO interfaces: Magnetism and Orbital Ordering
The combination of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations can
induce unusual phenomena in the metallic interface between SrTiO and
LaAlO. We consider effects of Rashba spin-orbit coupling at this interface
in the context of the recent observation of anisotropic magnetism. Firstly, we
show how Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a system near a band-edge can account
for the observed magnetic anisotropy. Secondly, we investigate the coupling
between in-plane magnetic-moment anisotropy and nematicity in the form of an
orbital imbalance between d / d orbitals. We estimate this
coupling to be substantial in the low electron density regime. Such an orbital
ordering can affect magneto transport
Perturbations of Spatially Closed Bianchi III Spacetimes
Motivated by the recent interest in dynamical properties of topologically
nontrivial spacetimes, we study linear perturbations of spatially closed
Bianchi III vacuum spacetimes, whose spatial topology is the direct product of
a higher genus surface and the circle. We first develop necessary mode
functions, vectors, and tensors, and then perform separations of (perturbation)
variables. The perturbation equations decouple in a way that is similar to but
a generalization of those of the Regge--Wheeler spherically symmetric case. We
further achieve a decoupling of each set of perturbation equations into
gauge-dependent and independent parts, by which we obtain wave equations for
the gauge-invariant variables. We then discuss choices of gauge and stability
properties. Details of the compactification of Bianchi III manifolds and
spacetimes are presented in an appendix. In the other appendices we study
scalar field and electromagnetic equations on the same background to compare
asymptotic properties.Comment: 61 pages, 1 figure, final version with minor corrections, to appear
in Class. Quant. Gravi
Numerical Studies of the Compressible Ising Spin Glass
We study a two-dimensional compressible Ising spin glass at constant volume.
The spin interactions are coupled to the distance between neighboring particles
in the Edwards-Anderson model with +/- J interactions. We find that the energy
of a given spin configuration is shifted from its incompressible value, E_0, by
an amount quadratic in E_0 and proportional to the coupling strength. We then
construct a simple model expressed only in terms of spin variables that
predicts the existence of a critical value of the coupling above which the
spin-glass transition disappears.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Heavy and Light Pentaquark Chiral Lagrangian
Using the SU(3) flavor symmetry, we construct the chiral Lagrangians for the
light and heavy pentaquarks. The correction from the nonzero quark is taken
into account perturbatively. We derive the Gell-MannOkubo type relations for
various pentaquark multiplet masses and Coleman-Glashow relations for
anti-sextet heavy pentaquark magnetic moments. We study possible decays of
pentaquarks into conventional hadrons. We also study the interactions between
and within various pentaquark multiplets and derive their coupling constants in
the symmetry limit. Possible kinematically allowed pionic decay modes are
pointed out
Ordering variable for parton showers
The parton splittings in a parton shower are ordered according to an ordering
variable, for example the transverse momentum of the daughter partons relative
to the direction of the mother, the virtuality of the splitting, or the angle
between the daughter partons. We analyze the choice of the ordering variable
and conclude that one particular choice has the advantage of factoring softer
splittings from harder splittings graph by graph in a physical gauge.Comment: 28 pages, 5 figure
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