Torsion as electromagnetism and spin

We show that it is possible to formulate the classical Einstein-Maxwell-Dirac theory of spinors interacting with the gravitational and electromagnetic fields as the Einstein-Cartan-Kibble-Sciama theory with the Ricci scalar of the traceless torsion, describing gravity, and the torsion trace acting as the electromagnetic potential.Comment: 6 pages; published versio

Inter-element fractionation of highly siderophile elements in the Tonga Arc due to flux melting of a depleted source

Highly siderophile element concentrations (HSEs: Os, Ir, Ru, Pt, Pd, and Re) have been determined for a suite of fresh, submarine mafic lavas from the northern Tonga Arc front and the nascent backarc Fonualei Spreading Centre (FSC). Prior melt depletion of the Tongan mantle wedge combined with a high degree of fluid fluxed melting is thought to have produced boninitic magmas at several arc and FSC locations. As such, this arc system provides an opportunity to assess the fluid mobility of HSEs and to investigate the effects of fluid-induced melting and prior melt depletion on HSE behaviour during both mantle melting and magma evolution. Tongan lavas display extreme enrichment of Pt (2.5–32 ng/g) and Pd over Os (0.002–0.6 ng/g), Ir, and Ru, significantly greater than basalts from mid-ocean ridges. Magma evolution increases the degree of fractionation, resulting in the highest recorded Pt/Ru ratios (>300) in arc front samples with MgO <8 wt.%. This increasing fractionation is due to the mild incompatibility of Pt and Pd, and concurrent compatibility of Ru, during sulphide undersaturated magma evolution. However, the fractionation of Pt and Pd from Os, Ir, and Ru is observed in the highest MgO samples, indicating source inheritance. Prior melt depletion of the mantle and elevated oxygen fugacity both increase the likelihood of complete consumption of sulphide in the source during melting, which typically leads to melts with high concentrations of all the HSE. Indeed, modelling indicates that 25% aggregate partial melting of a depleted MORB-mantle source, proposed for the Tonga Arc, will lead to complete base-metal sulphide consumption unless there is considerable addition of S by the slab flux (at least 200 μg/g). Although source enrichment of Pt, Pd, and Re by slab fluids may take place, the fractionation of Pt and Pd from Os, Ir, and Ru can largely be explained by relatively low-temperature, yet high-degree, melting of fluid-fluxed melt-depleted mantle. The high Pt and Pd contents can be produced by the exhaustion of sulphide in the source, while the presence of Ru–Os–(Ir) alloys or sulphides (e.g. laurite) associated with Cr-spinel can explain Os, Ir, and Ru retention in the source residue. Such phases have been documented in fluid-fluxed sub-arc mantle from ophiolites. Osmium isotopes co-vary negatively with Os abundance and thus appear to be dominated by shallow level contamination. The most Os-rich samples, however, have 187Os/188Os ratios (0.126–0.132) which are typical of DMM and MORB, suggesting an indistinguishable flux of radiogenic Os from the slab. The significant fractionation of Pt and Re from Os in arc settings will lead, over time, to elevated 186Os and 187Os which may be relevant to the observed enrichments of these isotopes in some mantle regions. In addition, the differing behaviour of Ru and Ir, and the implication of a mantle source containing Ru-rich microphases, may have consequences for the estimation of the HSE composition of primitive upper mantle

Stoichiometry control of magnetron sputtered Bi2_2Sr2_2Ca1−x_{1-x}Yx_xCu2_2Oy_y (0≤\lex≤\le0.5) thin film, composition spread libraries: Substrate bias and gas density factors

A magnetron sputtering method for the production of thin-film libraries with a spatially varying composition, x, in Bi2Sr2Ca1-xYxCu2Oy (0<=x<=0.5) has been developed. Two targets with a composition of Bi2Sr2YCu2O_{8.5 + \delta} and Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8 + \delta} are co-sputtered with appropriate masks. The target masks produce a linear variation in opposite, but co-linear radial direction, and the rotation speed of the substrate table is sufficient to intimately mix the atoms. EDS/WDS composition studies of the films show a depletion of Sr and Bi that is due to oxygen anion resputtering. The depletion is most pronounced at the centre of the film (i.e. on-axis with the target) and falls off symmetrically to either side of the 75 mm substrate. At either edge of the film the stoichiometry matches the desired ratios. Using a 12 mTorr process gas of argon and oxygen in a 2:1 ratio, the strontium depletion is corrected. The bismuth depletion is eliminated by employing a rotating carbon brush apparatus which supplies a -20 V DC bias to the sample substrate. The negative substrate bias has been used successfully with an increased chamber pressure to eliminate the resputtering effect across the film. The result is a thin film composition spread library with the desired stoichiometry.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Physica C - Superconductivity (April 15, 2005), elsart.st

Struggling for food in a time of crisis: A comment on Caplan in this issue

This commentary sets Caplan’s arguments about food banks and food poverty in the broader context of changes to the welfare state, the ‘charitization’ of state welfare and the need to address food poverty within a framework of dignity rather than charity

An entomocentric view of the Janzen-Connell hypothesis

In 1987, in the first issue of Conservation Biology, Edward O. Wilson wrote about the “little things that run the world” – the importance and conservation of insects (Wilson, 1987). Readers of Insect Conservation and Diversity will no doubt be very familiar with the concept. Sadly, however, this perception is not as widely shared among the rest of the scientific community as it should be, and insects are still comparatively neglected as a prime focus of scientific investigations

Discussing Quantum Aspects of Higher-Derivative 3D-Gravity in the First-Order Formalism

In this paper, we reassess the issue of deriving the propagators and identifying the spectrum of excitations associated to the vielbein and spin connection of (1+2)-D gravity in the presence of dynamical torsion, while working in the first-order formulation. A number of peculiarities is pointed out whenever the Chern-Simons term is taken into account along with a combination of bilinear terms in the torsion tensor. We present a procedure to derive the full set of propagators, based on an algebra of enlarged spin-type operators, and we discuss under which conditions the poles of the tree-level 2-point functions correspond to physical excitations that do not conflict with causality and unitarity

Detector Description and Performance for the First Coincidence Observations between LIGO and GEO

For 17 days in August and September 2002, the LIGO and GEO interferometer gravitational wave detectors were operated in coincidence to produce their first data for scientific analysis. Although the detectors were still far from their design sensitivity levels, the data can be used to place better upper limits on the flux of gravitational waves incident on the earth than previous direct measurements. This paper describes the instruments and the data in some detail, as a companion to analysis papers based on the first data.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures 17 Sept 03: author list amended, minor editorial change

Search for Gravitational Waves from Primordial Black Hole Binary Coalescences in the Galactic Halo

We use data from the second science run of the LIGO gravitational-wave detectors to search for the gravitational waves from primordial black hole (PBH) binary coalescence with component masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$. The analysis requires a signal to be found in the data from both LIGO observatories, according to a set of coincidence criteria. No inspiral signals were found. Assuming a spherical halo with core radius 5 kpc extending to 50 kpc containing non-spinning black holes with masses in the range 0.2--$1.0 M_\odot$, we place an observational upper limit on the rate of PBH coalescence of 63 per year per Milky Way halo (MWH) with 90% confidence.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, to be submitted to Phys. Rev.

Developing a predictive modelling capacity for a climate change-vulnerable blanket bog habitat: Assessing 1961-1990 baseline relationships

Aim: Understanding the spatial distribution of high priority habitats and developing predictive models using climate and environmental variables to replicate these distributions are desirable conservation goals. The aim of this study was to model and elucidate the contributions of climate and topography to the distribution of a priority blanket bog habitat in Ireland, and to examine how this might inform the development of a climate change predictive capacity for peat-lands in Ireland. Methods: Ten climatic and two topographic variables were recorded for grid cells with a spatial resolution of 1010 km, covering 87% of the mainland land surface of Ireland. Presence-absence data were matched to these variables and generalised linear models (GLMs) fitted to identify the main climatic and terrain predictor variables for occurrence of the habitat. Candidate predictor variables were screened for collinearity, and the accuracy of the final fitted GLM was evaluated using fourfold cross-validation based on the area under the curve (AUC) derived from a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot. The GLM predicted habitat occurrence probability maps were mapped against the actual distributions using GIS techniques. Results: Despite the apparent parsimony of the initial GLM using only climatic variables, further testing indicated collinearity among temperature and precipitation variables for example. Subsequent elimination of the collinear variables and inclusion of elevation data produced an excellent performance based on the AUC scores of the final GLM. Mean annual temperature and total mean annual precipitation in combination with elevation range were the most powerful explanatory variable group among those explored for the presence of blanket bog habitat. Main conclusions: The results confirm that this habitat distribution in general can be modelled well using the non-collinear climatic and terrain variables tested at the grid resolution used. Mapping the GLM-predicted distribution to the observed distribution produced useful results in replicating the projected occurrence of the habitat distribution over an extensive area. The methods developed will usefully inform future climate change predictive modelling for Irelan