17,186 research outputs found
A mathematical model of plant nutrient uptake
The classical model of plant root nutrient uptake due to Nye. Tinker and Barber is developed and extended. We provide an explicit closed formula for the uptake by a single cylindrical root for all cases of practical interest by solving the absorption-diffusion equation for the soil nutrient concentration asymptotically in the limit of large time. We then use this single root model as a building block to construct a model which allows for root size distribution in a more realistic plant root system, and we include the effects of root branching and growth. The results are compared with previous theoretical and experimental studies
On the Nature of Precursors in the Radio Pulsar Profiles
In the average profiles of several radio pulsars, the main pulse is
accompanied by the preceding component. This so called precursor is known for
its distinctive polarization, spectral, and fluctuation properties. Recent
single-pulse observations hint that the sporadic activity at the extreme
leading edge of the pulse may be prevalent in pulsars. We for the first time
propose a physical mechanism of this phenomenon. It is based on the induced
scattering of the main pulse radiation into the background. We show that the
scattered component is directed approximately along the ambient magnetic field
and, because of rotational aberration in the scattering region, appears in the
pulse profile as a precursor to the main pulse. Our model naturally explains
high linear polarization of the precursor emission, its spectral and
fluctuation peculiarities as well as suggests a specific connection between the
precursor and the main pulse at widely spaced frequencies. This is believed to
stimulate multifrequency single-pulse studies of intensity modulation in
different pulsars.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter
Cross-level Validation of Topological Quantum Circuits
Quantum computing promises a new approach to solving difficult computational
problems, and the quest of building a quantum computer has started. While the
first attempts on construction were succesful, scalability has never been
achieved, due to the inherent fragile nature of the quantum bits (qubits). From
the multitude of approaches to achieve scalability topological quantum
computing (TQC) is the most promising one, by being based on an flexible
approach to error-correction and making use of the straightforward
measurement-based computing technique. TQC circuits are defined within a large,
uniform, 3-dimensional lattice of physical qubits produced by the hardware and
the physical volume of this lattice directly relates to the resources required
for computation. Circuit optimization may result in non-intuitive mismatches
between circuit specification and implementation. In this paper we introduce
the first method for cross-level validation of TQC circuits. The specification
of the circuit is expressed based on the stabilizer formalism, and the
stabilizer table is checked by mapping the topology on the physical qubit
level, followed by quantum circuit simulation. Simulation results show that
cross-level validation of error-corrected circuits is feasible.Comment: 12 Pages, 5 Figures. Comments Welcome. RC2014, Springer Lecture Notes
on Computer Science (LNCS) 8507, pp. 189-200. Springer International
Publishing, Switzerland (2014), Y. Shigeru and M.Shin-ichi (Eds.
Surface Code Threshold in the Presence of Correlated Errors
We study the fidelity of the surface code in the presence of correlated
errors induced by the coupling of physical qubits to a bosonic environment. By
mapping the time evolution of the system after one quantum error correction
cycle onto a statistical spin model, we show that the existence of an error
threshold is related to the appearance of an order-disorder phase transition in
the statistical model in the thermodynamic limit. This allows us to relate the
error threshold to bath parameters and to the spatial range of the correlated
errors.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figure
The application of remote sensing to the development and formulation of hydrologic planning models
A hydrologic planning model is developed based on remotely sensed inputs. Data from LANDSAT 1 are used to supply the model's quantitative parameters and coefficients. The use of LANDSAT data as information input to all categories of hydrologic models requiring quantitative surface parameters for their effects functioning is also investigated
The application of remote sensing to the development and formulation of hydrologic planning models
For abstract, see N76-18632
Infrared ground-based astronomy with the Hughes 256 X 256 PtSi array
It is shown that large format PtSi Schottky diode infrared arrays, the Hughes 256 X 256 hybrid Schottky array in particular, are competitive alternatives to the smaller format photovoltaic arrays for ground-based astronomy. The modest quantum efficiency of the PtSi compared to the photovoltaic devices is more than compensated for by the larger format. The use of hybrid technology yields effective fill factors of nearly 100 percent, and the low dark current, noise, excellent imaging characteristics, cost, and solid nitrogen operating temperature add to the effectiveness of this array for ground-based imaging. In addition to discussing the characteristics of this array, researchers present laboratory test data and astronomical results achieved at Kitt Peak
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