5,992 research outputs found
Hydrostatics of a fluid between parallel plates at low bond numbers
Two-dimensional liquid vapor interface behavior between parallel plates under static equilibrium and low gravitational acceleratio
Mortality rates of the Alpine Chamois : the influence of snow-meteorological factors
Especially for animals inhabiting alpine areas, winter environmental conditions can be limiting. Cold temperatures, hampered food availability and natural perils are just three of many potential threats that mountain ungulates face in winter. Understanding their sensitivity to climate variability is essential for game management. Here we focus on analyzing the influence of snow and weather conditions on the mortality pattern of Alpine chamois. Our mortality data are derived from a systematic assessment of 6,500 chamois that died of natural causes over the course of 13 years. We use population- and habitat-specific data on snow, climate and avalanche danger to identify the key environmental factors that essentially determine the spatio-temporal variations in chamois mortality. Initially, we show that most fatalities occurred in winter, with a peak around March, when typically snow depths were highest. Death causes related to poor general conditions were the major component of seasonal variations. As for the interannual variations in mortality, snow depth and avalanche risk best explained the occurrence of winters with increased numbers of fatalities. Finally, analyzing differences in mortality rates between populations, we identified sun-exposed winter habitats with little snow accumulation as favourable for alpine chamois
Flash of photons from the early stage of heavy-ion collisions
The dynamics of partonic cascades may be an important aspect for particle
production in relativistic collisions of nuclei at CERN SPS and BNL RHIC
energies. Within the Parton-Cascade Model, we estimate the production of single
photons from such cascades due to scattering of quarks and gluons q g -> q
gamma, quark-antiquark annihilation q qbar -> g gamma, or gamma gamma, and from
electromagnetic brems-strahlung of quarks q -> q gamma. We find that the latter
QED branching process plays the dominant role for photon production, similarly
as the QCD branchings q -> q g and g -> g g play a crucial role for parton
multiplication. We conclude therefore that photons accompanying the parton
cascade evolution during the early stage of heavy-ion collisions shed light on
the formation of a partonic plasma.Comment: 4 pages including 3 postscript figure
Agricultural intensification and farmland birds
Samen met onderzoekers van acht Europese universiteiten, heeft Flavia Geiger de effecten van verschillende landbouwpraktijken op boerenlandvogels onderzocht. In negen Europese studiegebieden waren soortenrijkdom en dichtheid van boerenlandvogels lager op akkerbouwbedrijven met een hogere graanopbrengst. Het gebruik van gewasbeschermingsmiddelen had een negatief effect op boerenlandvogels. Soortenrijkdom en dichtheid van broedvogels verschilde niet tussen biologische en gangbare bedrijven
Out of Equilibrium Non-perturbative Quantum Field Dynamics in Homogeneous External Fields
The quantum dynamics of the symmetry broken lambda (Phi^2)^2 scalar field
theory in the presence of an homogeneous external field is investigated in the
large N limit. We choose as initial state the ground state for a constant
external field J .The sign of the external field is suddenly flipped from
J to - J at a given time and the subsequent quantum dynamics calculated.
Spinodal instabilities and parametric resonances produce large quantum
fluctuations in the field components transverse to the external field. This
allows the order parameter to turn around the maximum of the potential for
intermediate times. Subsequently, the order parameter starts to oscillate near
the global minimum for external field - J, entering a novel quasi-periodic
regime.Comment: LaTex, 30 pages, 12 .ps figures, improved version to appear in Phys
Rev
Detecting vapour bubbles in simulations of metastable water
International audienceThe investigation of cavitation in metastable liquids with molecular simulations requires an appropriate definition of the volume of the vapour bubble forming within the metastable liquid phase. Commonly used approaches for bubble detection exhibit two significant flaws: first, when applied to water they often identify the voids within the hydrogen bond network as bubbles thus masking the signature of emerging bubbles and, second, they lack thermodynamic consistency. Here, we present two grid-based methods, the M-method and the V-method, to detect bubbles in metastable water specifically designed to address these shortcomings. The M-method incorporates information about neighbouring grid cells to distinguish between liquid- and vapour-like cells, which allows for a very sensitive detection of small bubbles and high spatial resolution of the detected bubbles. The V-method is calibrated such that its estimates for the bubble volume correspond to the average change in system volume and are thus thermodynamically consistent. Both methods are computationally inexpensive such that they can be used in molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations of cavitation. We illustrate them by computing the free energy barrier and the size of the critical bubble for cavitation in water at negative pressure
Non-equilibrium dynamics in quantum field theory at high density: the tsunami
The dynamics of a dense relativistic quantum fluid out of thermodynamic
equilibrium is studied in the framework of the Phi^4 scalar field theory in the
large N limit. The time evolution of a particle distribution in momentum space
(the tsunami) is computed. The effective mass felt by the particles in such a
high density medium equals the tree level mass plus the expectation value of
the squared field. The case of negative tree level squared mass is particularly
interesting. In such case dynamical symmetry restoration as well as dynamical
symmetry breaking can happen. Furthermore, the symmetry may stay broken with
vanishing asymptotic squared mass showing the presence of out of equilibrium
Goldstone bosons. We study these phenomena and identify the set of initial
conditions that lead to each case. We compute the equation of state which turns
to depend on the initial state. Although the system does not thermalize, the
equation of state for asymptotically broken symmetry is of radiation type. We
compute the correlation functions at equal times. The two point correlator for
late times is the sum of different terms. One stems from the initial particle
distribution. Another term accounts for the out of equilibrium Goldstone bosons
created by spinodal unstabilities when the symmetry is asymptotically
broken.Both terms are of the order of the inverse of the coupling for distances
where causal signals can connect the two points. The contribution of the out of
equilibrium Goldstones exhibits scaling behaviour in a generalized sense.Comment: LaTex, 49 pages, 15 .ps figure
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