6,670 research outputs found
Solid helium at high pressure: A path-integral Monte Carlo simulation
Solid helium (3He and 4He) in the hcp and fcc phases has been studied by
path-integral Monte Carlo. Simulations were carried out in the
isothermal-isobaric (NPT) ensemble at pressures up to 52 GPa. This allows one
to study the temperature and pressure dependences of isotopic effects on the
crystal volume and vibrational energy in a wide parameter range. The obtained
equation of state at room temperature agrees with available experimental data.
The kinetic energy, E_k, of solid helium is found to be larger than the
vibrational potential energy, E_p. The ratio E_k/E_p amounts to about 1.4 at
low pressures, and decreases as the applied pressure is raised, converging to
1, as in a harmonic solid. Results of these simulations have been compared with
those yielded by previous path integral simulations in the NVT ensemble. The
validity range of earlier approximations is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Origin of the X-ray Quasi-Periodic Oscillations and Identification of a Transient Ultraluminous X-Ray Source in M82
The starburst galaxy M82 contains two ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs),
CXOM82 J095550.2+694047 (=X41.4+60) and CXOM82 J095551.1+694045 (=X42.3+59),
which are unresolved by XMM-Newton. We revisited the two XMM-Newton
observations of M82 and analyzed the surface brightness profiles using the
known Chandra source positions. We show that the quasi-periodic oscillations
(QPOs) detected with XMM-Newton originate from X41.4+60, the brightest X-ray
source in M82. Correcting for the contributions of the unresolved sources, the
QPO at a frequency of 55.8+/-1.3 mHz on 2001 May 06 had a fractional rms
amplitude of 32%, and the QPO at 112.9+/-1.3 mHz on 2004 April 21 had an
amplitude of 21%. The QPO frequency may possibly be correlated with the source
flux, similar to the type C QPOs in XTE 1550-564 and GRS 1915+105, but at
luminosities two orders of magnitude higher. X42.3+59, the second brightest
source in M82, displayed a strikingly high flux of 1.4E-11 ergs/cm^2/s in the
2-10 keV band on 2001 May 6. A seven-year light curve of X42.3+59 shows extreme
variability over a factor of 1000; the source is not detected in several
Chandra observations. This transient behavior suggests accretion from an
unstable disk. If the companion star is massive, as might be expected in the
young stellar environment, then the compact object would likely be an IMBH.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ on May 08, 200
The fractional Keller-Segel model
The Keller-Segel model is a system of partial differential equations
modelling chemotactic aggregation in cellular systems. This model has blowing
up solutions for large enough initial conditions in dimensions d >= 2, but all
the solutions are regular in one dimension; a mathematical fact that crucially
affects the patterns that can form in the biological system. One of the
strongest assumptions of the Keller-Segel model is the diffusive character of
the cellular motion, known to be false in many situations. We extend this model
to such situations in which the cellular dispersal is better modelled by a
fractional operator. We analyze this fractional Keller-Segel model and find
that all solutions are again globally bounded in time in one dimension. This
fact shows the robustness of the main biological conclusions obtained from the
Keller-Segel model
Long wavelength local density of states oscillations near graphene step edges
Using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, we have studied the
local density of states (LDOS) of graphene over step edges in boron nitride.
Long wavelength oscillations in the LDOS are observed with maxima parallel to
the step edge. Their wavelength and amplitude are controlled by the energy of
the quasiparticles allowing a direct probe of the graphene dispersion relation.
We also observe a faster decay of the LDOS oscillations away from the step edge
than in conventional metals. This is due to the chiral nature of the Dirac
fermions in graphene.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Climate change adaptation in mixed cropâlivestock systems in developing countries
Mixed cropâlivestock systems produce most of the worldâs milk and ruminant meat, and are
particularly important for the livelihoods and food security of poor people in developing
countries. These systems will bear the brunt of helping to satisfy the burgeoning demand
for food from increasing populations, particularly in subâSaharan Africa and South Asia,
where rural poverty and hunger are already concentrated. The potential impacts of changes
in climate and climate variability on these mixed systems are not that well understood,
particularly as regards how the food security of vulnerable households may be affected.
There are many ways in which the mixed systems may be able to adapt to climate change in
the future, including via increased efficiencies of production that sometimes provide
important mitigation coâbenefits as well. But effective adaptation will require an enabling
policy, technical, infrastructural and informational environment, and the development
challenge is daunting
The inter-linkages between rapid growth in livestock production, climate change, and the impacts on water resources, land use, and deforestation
Livestock systems globally are changing rapidly in response to human population growth, urbanization, and growing incomes. This paper discusses the linkages between burgeoning demand for livestock products, growth in livestock production, and the impacts this may have on natural resources, and how these may both affect and be affected by climate change in the coming decades. Water and land scarcity will increasingly have the potential to constrain food production growth, with adverse impacts on food security and human well-being. Climate change will exacerbate many of these trends, with direct effects on agricultural yields, water availability, and production risk. In the transition to a carbon-constrained economy, livestock systems will have a key role to play in mitigating future emissions. At the same time, appropriate pricing of greenhouse gas emissions will modify livestock production costs and patterns. Health and ethical considerations can also be expected to play an increasing role in modifying consumption patterns of livestock products, particularly in more developed countries. Livestock systems are heterogeneous, and a highly differentiated approach needs to be taken to assessing impacts and options, particularly as they affect the resource-poor and those vulnerable to global change. Development of comprehensive frameworks that can be used for assessing impacts and analyzing trade-offs at both local and regional levels is needed for identifying and targeting production practices and policies that are locally appropriate and can contribute to environmental sustainability, poverty alleviation, and economic development
Massive stars in the hinterland of the young cluster, Westerlund 2
Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 13 July 2018. 16 pages, plus one-page table in an appendix.An unsettled question concerning the formation and distribution of massive stars is whether they must be born in massive clusters and, if found in less dense environments, whether they must have migrated there. With the advent of wide-area digital photometric surveys, it is now possible to identify massive stars away from prominent Galactic clusters without bias. In this study we consider 40 candidate OB stars found in the field around the young massive cluster, Westerlund 2, by Mohr-Smith et al.: these are located inside a box of 1.5 à 1.5 deg 2 and are selected on the basis of their extinctions and K magnitudes.We present VLT/X-shooter spectra of two of the hottest O stars, respectively 11 and 22 arcmin from the centre of Westerlund 2. They are confirmed as O4V stars, with stellar masses likely to be in excess of 40 M ·. Their radial velocities relative to the non-binary reference object, MSP 182, in Westerlund 2 are -29.4 ± 1.7 and -14.4 ± 2.2 km s -1, respectively. Using Gaia DR2 proper motions we find that between 8 and 11 early O/WR stars in the studied region (including the two VLT targets, plus WR 20c and WR 20aa) could have been ejected fromWesterlund 2 in the last one million years. This represents an efficiency of massive-star ejection of up to ~ 25 per cent. On sky, the positions of these stars and their proper motions show a near N-S alignment. We discuss the possibility that these results are a consequence of prior sub-cluster merging combining with dynamical ejection.Peer reviewe
Multiple peak aggregations for the Keller-Segel system
In this paper we derive matched asymptotic expansions for a solution of the
Keller-Segel system in two space dimensions for which the amount of mass
aggregation is , where Previously available asymptotics
had been computed only for the case in which N=1
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