3,486 research outputs found
Generalised action-angle coordinates defined on island chains
Straight-field-line coordinates are very useful for representing magnetic
fields in toroidally confined plasmas, but fundamental problems arise regarding
their definition in 3-D geometries because of the formation of islands and
chaotic field regions, ie non-integrability. In Hamiltonian dynamical systems
terms these coordinates are a form of action-angle variables, which are
normally defined only for integrable systems. In order to describe 3-D magnetic
field systems, a generalisation of this concept was proposed recently by the
present authors that unified the concepts of ghost surfaces and
quadratic-flux-minimising (QFMin) surfaces. This was based on a simple
canonical transformation generated by a change of variable , where and are poloidal and toroidal
angles, respectively, with a new poloidal angle chosen to give
pseudo-orbits that are a) straight when plotted in the plane and
b) QFMin pseudo-orbits in the transformed coordinate. These two requirements
ensure that the pseudo-orbits are also c) ghost pseudo-orbits. In the present
paper, it is demonstrated that these requirements do not \emph{uniquely}
specify the transformation owing to a relabelling symmetry. A variational
method of solution that removes this lack of uniqueness is proposed.Comment: 10 pages. Accepted by Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion as part of
a cluster of refereed papers in a special issue containing papers arising
from the Joint International Stellarator & Heliotron Workshop and
Asia-Pacific Plasma Theory Conference, held in Canberra and Murramarang
Resort, Australia, 30 January - 3 February, 201
Field Playback of Male Display Attracts Females in Lek Breeding Sage Grouse
Recent correlational studies of lekking sage grouse suggest that male vocal display attracts females. To test this hypothesis further, the natural displays of a territorial male were supplemented with the tape-recorded display of another reproductively successful individual. Significantly, more females approached the speaker\u27s location on days when the recording was played, and also on nonplayback days immediately following a playback, than on other nonplayback days. Analysis of male displays indicated that females were responding to the playback itself rather than to changes in male behavior. The after-response following a playback suggests that some females present during a playback remembered its location and approached on a subsequent lek visit. The results provide necessary support for the epigamic function of vocal display, and suggest ways in which female responses to male display may influence lek structure
Microsatellite analysis of female mating behaviour in lek-breeding sage grouse
We used microsatellite DNA markers to genotype chicks in 10 broods of lek-breeding sage grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, whose mothers’ behaviour was studied by radio tracking and observing leks. Previous behavioural studies suggested that almost all matings are performed by territorial males on leks and that multiple mating is rare. Two broods (20%) were sired by more than one male. Genetic analyses of the broods of eight females that visited an intensively studied lek were consistent with behavioural observations. Four females observed mating produced singly sired broods and males other than the individual observed copulating were excluded as sires for most or all of their chicks. Territorial males at the study lek were excluded as sires of broods of four other females that visited the lek but were not observed mating there. Radio-tracking suggested that two of these females mated at other leks. Our results confirm the reliability of mating observations at leks, but do not rule out a possible unseen component of the mating system
Sexual Selection in Lekking Sage Grouse: Phenotypic Correlates of Male Mating Success
Mate choice cues in sage grouse were reinvestigated by analyzing relationships between male mating success and a range of suggested cues. Display cues were implicated by significant relationships between mating status (whether or not a male mated) and lek attendance, display rate (corrected for effects of female proximity and time of day) and an acoustic component related to temporal and frequency measures of a whistle emitted during the strut display. Although display rate and the acoustic component were intercorrelated, both exerted significant partial effects on mating success in multivariate analyses. These display measures also differed significantly between males. In contrast, mating success was not significantly related to measures of territory characteristics, including size and proximity to the lek center, or to body size. These results resolve discrepancies between previous studies and provide a basis for experimental analysis of the role of female choice in this lek system
Physicians and Lawyers: Science, Art, and Conflict
The relations between physicians and lawyers have deteriorated rapidly over the past several decades, most particularly since the early 70s when the perception that a medical malpractice crisis existed in America became widespread. Some believe that the factors dividing the two professions . are linked (1) to professional jealousy, (2) to sometimes conflicting economic interests, or (3) to difficulties in communication, since both professions use many of the same words, or terms of art, but with different intended meanings. While the authors agree that these factors may have aggravated the problem, they believe that the conflict\u27s real roots are in the very different ways in which physicians and lawyers are trained and in the different epistemologies that each profession has accepted, as a result of which each reasons and solves problems in a manner that not only diverges from but sometimes contradicts the other\u27s. The authors conclude that only as the varying epistemologies begin to converge can physicians and lawyers begin to approach problems in more similar ways, and to discover the underlying compatibility of many of their interests and goals
Potential ring of Dirac nodes in a new polymorph of CaP
We report the crystal structure of a new polymorph of CaP, and an
analysis of its electronic structure. The crystal structure was determined
through Rietveld refinements of powder synchrotron x-ray diffraction data.
CaP is found to be a variant of the MnSi structure type, with a
Ca ion deficiency compared to the ideal 5:3 stoichiometry to yield a
charge-balanced compound. We also report the observation of a secondary phase,
CaPH, in which the Ca and P sites are fully occupied and the presence
of interstitial hydride ions creates a closed-shell electron-precise compound.
We show via electronic structure calculations of CaP that the compound
is stabilized by a gap in the density of states compared to the hypothetical
compound CaP. Moreover, the calculated band structure of CaP
indicates that it should be a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal with a highly
unusual ring of Dirac nodes at the Fermi level. The Dirac states are protected
against gap opening by a mirror plane in a manner analogous to graphene. The
results suggest that further study of the electronic properties of CaP
will be of interest
The X-Ray Properties of the Optically Brightest Mini-BAL Quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We have compiled a sample of 14 of the optically brightest radio-quiet
quasars (~~17.5 and ~~1.9) in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Data Release 5 quasar catalog that have C IV mini-BALs present in their
spectra. X-ray data for 12 of the objects were obtained via a Chandra snapshot
survey using ACIS-S, while data for the other two quasars were obtained from
archival XMM-Newton observations. Joint X-ray spectral analysis shows the
mini-BAL quasars have a similar average power-law photon index
() and level of intrinsic absorption () as non-BMB (neither BAL nor mini-BAL) quasars.
Mini-BAL quasars are more similar to non-BMB quasars than to BAL quasars in
their distribution of relative X-ray brightness (assessed with
). Relative colors indicate mild dust reddening in the
optical spectra of mini-BAL quasars. Significant correlations between
and UV absorption properties are confirmed for a sample
of 56 sources combining mini-BAL and BAL quasars with high signal-to-noise
ratio rest-frame UV spectra, which generally supports models in which X-ray
absorption is important in enabling driving of the UV absorption-line wind. We
also propose alternative parametrizations of the UV absorption properties of
mini-BAL and BAL quasars, which may better describe the broad absorption
troughs in some respects.Comment: ApJ accepted; 21 pages, 11 figures, and 9 table
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