852 research outputs found
Identifying priority habitat for conservation and management of Australian humpback dolphins within a marine protected area
Increasing human activity along the coast has amplified the extinction risk of inshore delphinids. Informed selection and prioritisation of areas for the conservation of inshore delphinids requires a comprehensive understanding of their distribution and habitat use. In this study, we applied an ensemble species distribution modelling approach, combining results of six modelling algorithms to identify areas of high probability of occurrence of the globally Vulnerable Australian humpback dolphin in northern Ningaloo Marine Park (NMP), north-western Australia. Model outputs were based on sighting data collected during systematic, boat-based surveys between 2013 and 2015, and in relation to various ecogeographic variables. Water depth and distance to coast were identified as the most important variables influencing dolphin presence, with dolphins showing a preference for shallow waters (5–15 m) less than 2 km from the coast. Areas of high probability (> 0.6) of dolphin occurrence were primarily (90%) in multiple use areas where extractive human activities are permitted, and were poorly represented in sanctuary (no-take) zones. This spatial mismatch emphasises the need to reassess for future spatial planning and marine park management plan reviews for NMP. Shallow, coastal waters identified here should be considered priority areas for the conservation of this Vulnerable species
Equivalent thermo-mechanical parameters for perfect crystals
Thermo-elastic behavior of perfect single crystal is considered. The crystal
is represented as a set of interacting particles (atoms). The approach for
determination of equivalent continuum values for the discrete system is
proposed. Averaging of equations of particles' motion and long wave
approximation are used in order to make link between the discrete system and
equivalent continuum. Basic balance equations for equivalent continuum are
derived from microscopic equations. Macroscopic values such as Piola and Cauchy
stress tensors and heat flux are represented via microscopic parameters.
Connection between the heat flux and temperature is discussed. Equation of
state in Mie-Gruneisen form connecting Cauchy stress tensor with deformation
gradient and thermal energy is obtained from microscopic considerations.Comment: To be published in proceedings of IUTAM Simposium on "Vibration
Analysis of Structures with Uncertainties", 2009; 14 pages
The MOLDY short-range molecular dynamics package
We describe a parallelised version of the MOLDY molecular dynamics program.
This Fortran code is aimed at systems which may be described by short-range
potentials and specifically those which may be addressed with the embedded atom
method. This includes a wide range of transition metals and alloys. MOLDY
provides a range of options in terms of the molecular dynamics ensemble used
and the boundary conditions which may be applied. A number of standard
potentials are provided, and the modular structure of the code allows new
potentials to be added easily. The code is parallelised using OpenMP and can
therefore be run on shared memory systems, including modern multicore
processors. Particular attention is paid to the updates required in the main
force loop, where synchronisation is often required in OpenMP implementations
of molecular dynamics. We examine the performance of the parallel code in
detail and give some examples of applications to realistic problems, including
the dynamic compression of copper and carbon migration in an iron-carbon alloy
Testing metric-affine f(R)-gravity by relic scalar gravitational waves
We discuss the emergence of scalar gravitational waves in metric-affine
f(R)-gravity. Such a component allows to discriminate between metric and
metric-affine theories The intrinsic meaning of this result is that the
geodesic structure of the theory can be discriminated. We extend the formalism
of cross correlation analysis, including the additional polarization mode, and
calculate the detectable energy density of the spectrum for cosmological relic
gravitons. The possible detection of the signal is discussed against
sensitivities of VIRGO, LIGO and LISA interferometers.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
gravity constrained by PPN parameters and stochastic background of gravitational waves
We analyze seven different viable -gravities towards the Solar System
tests and stochastic gravitational waves background. The aim is to achieve
experimental bounds for the theory at local and cosmological scales in order to
select models capable of addressing the accelerating cosmological expansion
without cosmological constant but evading the weak field constraints. Beside
large scale structure and galactic dynamics, these bounds can be considered
complimentary in order to select self-consistent theories of gravity working at
the infrared limit. It is demonstrated that seven viable -gravities under
consideration not only satisfy the local tests, but additionally, pass the
above PPN-and stochastic gravitational waves bounds for large classes of
parameters.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure
DCC Dynamics in (2+1)D-O(3) model
The dynamics of symmetry-breaking after a quench is numerically simulated on
a lattice for the (2+1)-dimensional O(3) model. In addition to the standard
sigma-model with temperature-dependent Phi^4-potential the energy functional
includes a four-derivative current-current coupling to stabilize the size of
the emerging extended topological textures. The total winding number can be
conserved by constraint. As a model for the chiral phase transition during the
cooling phase after a hadronic collision this allows to investigate the
interference of 'baryon-antibaryon' production with the developing disoriented
aligned domains. The growth of angular correlations, condensate, average
orientation is studied in dependence of texture size, quench rate, symmetry
breaking. The classical dissipative dynamics determines the rate of energy
emitted from the relaxing source for each component of the 3-vector field which
provides a possible signature for domains of Disoriented Chiral Condensate. We
find that the 'pions' are emitted in two distinct pulses; for sufficiently
small lattice size the second one carries the DCC signal, but it is strongly
suppressed as compared to simultaneous 'sigma'-meson emission. We compare the
resulting anomalies in the distributions of DCC pions with probabilities
derived within the commonly used coherent state formalism.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figures; several minor insertions in the text; two
references adde
The implications of carbon dioxide and methane exchange for the heavy mitigation RCP2.6 scenario under two metrics
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with Representative Concentration Pathway RCP2.6 could limit global warming to around or below a 2 °C increase since pre-industrial times. However this scenario implies very large and rapid reductions in both carbon dioxide (CO2) and non-CO2 emissions, and suggests a need to understand available flexibility between how different greenhouse gases might be abated. There is a growing interest in developing a greater understanding of the particular role of shorter lived non-CO2 gases as abatement options. We address this here through a sensitivity study of different methane (CH4) emissions pathways to year 2100 and beyond, by including exchanges with CO2 emissions, and with a focus on related climate and economic advantages and disadvantages.
Metrics exist that characterise gas equivalence in terms of climate change effect per tonne emitted. We analyse the implications of CO2 and CH4 emission exchanges under two commonly considered metrics: the 100-yr Global Warming Potential (GWP-100) and Global Temperature Potential (GTP-100). This is whilst keeping CO2-equivalent emissions pathways fixed, based on the standard set of emissions usually associated with RCP2.6. An idealised situation of anthropogenic CH4 emissions being reduced to zero across a period of two decades and with the implementation of such cuts starting almost immediately gives lower warming than for standard RCP2.6 emissions during the 21st and 22nd Century. This is despite exchanging for higher CO2 emissions. Introducing Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC) curves provides an economic assessment of alternative gas reduction strategies. Whilst simpler than utilising full Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), MAC curves are more transparent for illustrative modelling. The GWP-100 metric places a relatively high value on climate change prevented for methane emission reduction, as compared to an equivalent mass of CO2 reduction. This in combination with the strong non-linearity in MAC curves (moving quickly from relatively cheap removal to emissions difficult to cut at any cost) causes little change under cost minimisation from standard RCP2.6 emissions. This reflects the original development of RCP2.6 standard emissions from similar minimisation. With gas exchange under GTP-100, however, we find much less methane is abated, resulting in higher temperatures, whilst costs are slightly lower.
Our results also highlight the point at which greater methane mitigation would become beneficial from both a climate and economic aspect. If by 2030 removal of all methane were to become possible at an average cost less than $1000 per tonne of CH4, then this would be the cheapest option, for GWP-100 metric and our CO2 MAC curve. Critically this would increase the possibility of constraining warming to two degrees
Orientational order in dipolar fluids consisting of nonspherical hard particles
We investigate fluids of dipolar hard particles by a certain variant of
density-functional theory. The proper treatment of the long range of the
dipolar interactions yields a contribution to the free energy which favors
ferromagnetic order. This corrects previous theoretical analyses. We determine
phase diagrams for dipolar ellipsoids and spherocylinders as a function of the
aspect ratio of the particles and their dipole moment. In the nonpolar limit
the results for the phase boundary between the isotropic and nematic phase
agree well with simulation data. Adding a longitudinal dipole moment favors the
nematic phase. For oblate or slightly elongated particles we find a
ferromagnetic liquid phase, which has also been detected in computer
simulations of fluids consisting of spherical dipolar particles. The detailed
structure of the phase diagram and its evolution upon changing the aspect ratio
are discussed in detail.Comment: 35 pages LaTeX with epsf style, 11 figures in eps format, submitted
to Phys. Rev.
Ab initio atomistic thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of surface properties and functions
Previous and present "academic" research aiming at atomic scale understanding
is mainly concerned with the study of individual molecular processes possibly
underlying materials science applications. Appealing properties of an
individual process are then frequently discussed in terms of their direct
importance for the envisioned material function, or reciprocally, the function
of materials is somehow believed to be understandable by essentially one
prominent elementary process only. What is often overlooked in this approach is
that in macroscopic systems of technological relevance typically a large number
of distinct atomic scale processes take place. Which of them are decisive for
observable system properties and functions is then not only determined by the
detailed individual properties of each process alone, but in many, if not most
cases also the interplay of all processes, i.e. how they act together, plays a
crucial role. For a "predictive materials science modeling with microscopic
understanding", a description that treats the statistical interplay of a large
number of microscopically well-described elementary processes must therefore be
applied. Modern electronic structure theory methods such as DFT have become a
standard tool for the accurate description of individual molecular processes.
Here, we discuss the present status of emerging methodologies which attempt to
achieve a (hopefully seamless) match of DFT with concepts from statistical
mechanics or thermodynamics, in order to also address the interplay of the
various molecular processes. The new quality of, and the novel insights that
can be gained by, such techniques is illustrated by how they allow the
description of crystal surfaces in contact with realistic gas-phase
environments.Comment: 24 pages including 17 figures, related publications can be found at
http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm
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