393 research outputs found
A perspective from extinct radionuclides on a Young Stellar Object: The Sun and its accretion disk
Meteorites, which are remnants of solar system formation, provide a direct
glimpse into the dynamics and evolution of a young stellar object (YSO), namely
our Sun. Much of our knowledge about the astrophysical context of the birth of
the Sun, the chronology of planetary growth from micrometer-sized dust to
terrestrial planets, and the activity of the young Sun comes from the study of
extinct radionuclides such as 26Al (t1/2 = 0.717 Myr). Here we review how the
signatures of extinct radionuclides (short-lived isotopes that were present
when the solar system formed and that have now decayed below detection level)
in planetary materials influence the current paradigm of solar system
formation. Particular attention is given to tying meteorite measurements to
remote astronomical observations of YSOs and modeling efforts. Some extinct
radionuclides were inherited from the long-term chemical evolution of the
Galaxy, others were injected into the solar system by a nearby supernova, and
some were produced by particle irradiation from the T-Tauri Sun. The chronology
inferred from extinct radionuclides reveals that dust agglomeration to form
centimeter-sized particles in the inner part of the disk was very rapid (<50
kyr), planetesimal formation started early and spanned several million years,
planetary embryos (possibly like Mars) were formed in a few million years, and
terrestrial planets (like Earth) completed their growths several tens of
million years after the birth of the Sun.Comment: 49 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. Uncorrected preprin
Genus-one correction to asymptotically free Seiberg-Witten prepotential from Dijkgraaf-Vafa matrix model
We find perfect agreements on the genus-one correction to the prepotential of
SU(2) Seiberg-Witten theory with N_f=2, 3 between field theoretical and
Dijkgraaf-Vafa-Penner type matrix model results.Comment: 12 pages; v2: minor revision; v3: more structured, submitted versio
Transplanckian axions !?
We discuss quantum gravitational effects in Einstein theory coupled to
periodic axion scalars to analyze the viability of several proposals to achieve
superplanckian axion periods (aka decay constants) and their possible
application to large field inflation models. The effects we study correspond to
the nucleation of euclidean gravitational instantons charged under the axion,
and our results are essentially compatible with (but independent of) the Weak
Gravity Conjecture, as follows: Single axion theories with superplanckian
periods contain gravitational instantons inducing sizable higher harmonics in
the axion potential, which spoil superplanckian inflaton field range. A similar
result holds for multi-axion models with lattice alignment (like the
Kim-Nilles-Peloso model). Finally, theories with axions can still achieve a
moderately superplanckian periodicity (by a factor) with no higher
harmonics in the axion potential. The Weak Gravity Conjecture fails to hold in
this case due to the absence of some instantons, which are forbidden by a
discrete gauge symmetry. Finally we discuss the realization of
these instantons as euclidean D-branes in string compactifications.Comment: 46 pages, 6 figures. Added references, clarifications, and missing
factor of 1/2 to instanton action. Conclusions unchange
Habitat structure: a fundamental concept and framework for urban soil ecology
Habitat structure is defined as the composition and arrangement of physical matter at a location. Although habitat structure is the physical template underlying ecological patterns and processes, the concept is relatively unappreciated and underdeveloped in ecology. However, it provides a fundamental concept for urban ecology because human activities in urban ecosystems are often targeted toward management of habitat structure. In addition, the concept emphasizes the fine-scale, on-the-ground perspective needed in the study of urban soil ecology. To illustrate this, urban soil ecology research is summarized from the perspective of habitat structure effects. Among the key conclusions emerging from the literature review are: (1) habitat structure provides a unifying theme for multivariate research about urban soil ecology; (2) heterogeneous urban habitat structures influence soil ecological variables in different ways; (3) more research is needed to understand relationships among sociological variables, habitat structure patterns and urban soil ecology. To stimulate urban soil ecology research, a conceptual framework is presented to show the direct and indirect relationships among habitat structure and ecological variables. Because habitat structure serves as a physical link between sociocultural and ecological systems, it can be used as a focus for interdisciplinary and applied research (e.g., pest management) about the multiple, interactive effects of urbanization on the ecology of soils
Stringy instanton corrections to N=2 gauge couplings
We discuss a string model where a conformal four-dimensional N=2 gauge theory
receives corrections to its gauge kinetic functions from "stringy" instantons.
These contributions are explicitly evaluated by exploiting the localization
properties of the integral over the stringy instanton moduli space. The model
we consider corresponds to a setup with D7/D3-branes in type I' theory
compactified on T4/Z2 x T2, and possesses a perturbatively computable heterotic
dual. In the heteoric side the corrections to the quadratic gauge couplings are
provided by a 1-loop threshold computation and, under the duality map, match
precisely the first few stringy instanton effects in the type I' setup. This
agreement represents a very non-trivial test of our approach to the exotic
instanton calculus.Comment: 63 pages, 5 figures. V2: final version with minor corrections
published on JHEP05(2010)10
Off-shell supergravity-matter couplings in three dimensions
We develop the superspace geometry of N-extended conformal supergravity in
three space-time dimensions. General off-shell supergravity-matter couplings
are constructed in the cases N=1,2,3,4.Comment: 73 pages; V5: typos in eqs. (3.4b), (3.17) and (4.24) correcte
Multiple ITS Copies Reveal Extensive Hybridization within Rheum (Polygonaceae), a Genus That Has Undergone Rapid Radiation
During adaptive radiation events, characters can arise multiple times due to parallel evolution, but transfer of traits through hybridization provides an alternative explanation for the same character appearing in apparently non-sister lineages. The signature of hybridization can be detected in incongruence between phylogenies derived from different markers, or from the presence of two divergent versions of a nuclear marker such as ITS within one individual.In this study, we cloned and sequenced ITS regions for 30 species of the genus Rheum, and compared them with a cpDNA phylogeny. Seven species contained two divergent copies of ITS that resolved in different clades from one another in each case, indicating hybridization events too recent for concerted evolution to have homogenised the ITS sequences. Hybridization was also indicated in at least two further species via incongruence in their position between ITS and cpDNA phylogenies. None of the ITS sequences present in these nine species matched those detected in any other species, which provides tentative evidence against recent introgression as an explanation. Rheum globulosum, previously indicated by cpDNA to represent an independent origin of decumbent habit, is indicated by ITS to be part of clade of decumbent species, which acquired cpDNA of another clade via hybridization. However decumbent and glasshouse morphology are confirmed to have arisen three and two times, respectively.These findings suggested that hybridization among QTP species of Rheum has been extensive, and that a role of hybridization in diversification of Rheum requires investigation
Matrix Model Conjecture for Exact BS Periods and Nekrasov Functions
We give a concise summary of the impressive recent development unifying a
number of different fundamental subjects. The quiver Nekrasov functions
(generalized hypergeometric series) form a full basis for all conformal blocks
of the Virasoro algebra and are sufficient to provide the same for some
(special) conformal blocks of W-algebras. They can be described in terms of
Seiberg-Witten theory, with the SW differential given by the 1-point resolvent
in the DV phase of the quiver (discrete or conformal) matrix model
(\beta-ensemble), dS = ydz + O(\epsilon^2) = \sum_p \epsilon^{2p}
\rho_\beta^{(p|1)}(z), where \epsilon and \beta are related to the LNS
parameters \epsilon_1 and \epsilon_2. This provides explicit formulas for
conformal blocks in terms of analytically continued contour integrals and
resolves the old puzzle of the free-field description of generic conformal
blocks through the Dotsenko-Fateev integrals. Most important, this completes
the GKMMM description of SW theory in terms of integrability theory with the
help of exact BS integrals, and provides an extended manifestation of the basic
principle which states that the effective actions are the tau-functions of
integrable hierarchies.Comment: 14 page
AxPcoords & parallel AxParafit: statistical co-phylogenetic analyses on thousands of taxa
Background
Current tools for Co-phylogenetic analyses are not able to cope with the continuous accumulation of phylogenetic data. The sophisticated statistical test for host-parasite co-phylogenetic analyses implemented in Parafit does not allow it to handle large datasets in reasonable times. The Parafit and DistPCoA programs are the by far most compute-intensive components of the Parafit analysis pipeline. We present AxParafit and AxPcoords (Ax stands for Accelerated) which are highly optimized versions of Parafit and DistPCoA respectively.
Results
Both programs have been entirely re-written in C. Via optimization of the algorithm and the C code as well as integration of highly tuned BLAS and LAPACK methods AxParafit runs 5–61 times faster than Parafit with a lower memory footprint (up to 35% reduction) while the performance benefit increases with growing dataset size. The MPI-based parallel implementation of AxParafit shows good scalability on up to 128 processors, even on medium-sized datasets. The parallel analysis with AxParafit on 128 CPUs for a medium-sized dataset with an 512 by 512 association matrix is more than 1,200/128 times faster per processor than the sequential Parafit run. AxPcoords is 8–26 times faster than DistPCoA and numerically stable on large datasets. We outline the substantial benefits of using parallel AxParafit by example of a large-scale empirical study on smut fungi and their host plants. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the largest co-phylogenetic analysis to date.
Conclusion
The highly efficient AxPcoords and AxParafit programs allow for large-scale co-phylogenetic analyses on several thousands of taxa for the first time. In addition, AxParafit and AxPcoords have been integrated into the easy-to-use CopyCat tool
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