33 research outputs found
Generalized Toric Codes Coupled to Thermal Baths
We have studied the dynamics of a generalized toric code based on qudits at
finite temperature by finding the master equation coupling the code's degrees
of freedom to a thermal bath. As a consequence, we find that for qutrits new
types of anyons and thermal processes appear that are forbidden for qubits.
These include creation, annihilation and diffusion throughout the system code.
It is possible to solve the master equation in a short-time regime and find
expressions for the decay rates as a function of the dimension of the
qudits. Although we provide an explicit proof that the system relax to the
Gibbs state for arbitrary qudits, we also prove that above a certain crossing
temperature, qutrits initial decay rate is smaller than the original case for
qubits. Surprisingly this behavior only happens with qutrits and not with other
qudits with .Comment: Revtex4 file, color figures. New Journal of Physics' versio
Heavy metal and nitrogen concentrations in mosses are declining across Europe whilst some “hotspots” remain in 2010
In recent decades, naturally growing mosses have been used successfully as biomonitors of atmospheric deposition of heavy metals and nitrogen. Since 1990, the European moss survey has been repeated at five-yearly intervals. In 2010, the lowest concentrations of metals and nitrogen in mosses were generally found in northern Europe, whereas the highest concentrations were observed in (south-)eastern Europe for metals and the central belt for nitrogen. Averaged across Europe, since 1990, the median concentration in mosses has declined the most for lead (77%), followed by vanadium (55%), cadmium (51%), chromium (43%), zinc (34%), nickel (33%), iron (27%), arsenic (21%, since 1995), mercury (14%, since 1995) and copper (11%). Between 2005 and 2010, the decline ranged from 6% for copper to 36% for lead; for nitrogen the decline was 5%. Despite the Europe-wide decline, no changes or increases have been observed between 2005 and 2010 in some (regions of) countries
Modelling spatial patterns of correlations between concentrations of heavy metals in mosses and atmospheric deposition in 2010 across Europe
BackgroundThis paper aims to investigate the correlations between the concentrations of nine heavy metals in moss and atmospheric deposition within ecological land classes covering Europe. Additionally, it is examined to what extent the statistical relations are affected by the land use around the moss sampling sites. Based on moss data collected in 2010/2011 throughout Europe and data on total atmospheric deposition modelled by two chemical transport models (EMEP MSC-E, LOTOS-EUROS), correlation coefficients between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were specified for spatial subsamples defined by ecological land classes of Europe (ELCE) as a spatial reference system. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and logistic regression (LR) were then used to separate moss sampling sites regarding their contribution to the strength of correlation considering the areal percentage of urban, agricultural and forestry land use around the sampling location. After verification LDA models by LR, LDA models were used to transform spatial information on the land use to maps of potential correlation levels, applicable for future network planning in the European Moss Survey.ResultsCorrelations between concentrations of heavy metals in moss and in modelled atmospheric deposition were found to be specific for elements and ELCE units. Land use around the sampling sites mainly influences the correlation level. Small radiuses around the sampling sites examined (5km) are more relevant for Cd, Cu, Ni, and Zn, while the areal percentage of urban and agricultural land use within large radiuses (75-100km) is more relevant for As, Cr, Hg, Pb, and V. Most valid LDA models pattern with error rates of <40% were found for As, Cr, Cu, Hg, Pb, and V. Land use-dependent predictions of spatial patterns split up Europe into investigation areas revealing potentially high (=above-average) or low (=below-average) correlation coefficients.ConclusionsLDA is an eligible method identifying and ranking boundary conditions of correlations between atmospheric deposition and respective concentrations of heavy metals in moss and related mapping considering the influence of the land use around moss sampling sites
Monitoring aktuálních a starých zátěží území ČR‚ mezinárodní biomonitoring depozice stopových prvků‚ ICP-MS analýzy mechu‚ humusu‚ půdy
Projekt 0211 Mezinárodní program monitorování aktuální atmosférické depozice prvků sleduje koncentraci prvků na vybraných lokalitách jižní Moravy v porovnání s kontrolní lokalitou na Klatovsku. Byly sledovány především prvky skupiny lanthanoidů ve vzorcích mechu. Získané výsledky jsou diskutovány a interpretovány. Projekt 0212 Sledování aktuálních, starých a dlouhodobých zátěží území atmosférickými depozicemi pomocí analýz mechu a nadložního humusu hodnotí výsledky analýzy mechu a humusu na jižní Moravě s cílem zjistit, zda dlouhodobé zátěže prvků akumulované humusem a úroveň aktuálních depozičních zátěží indikovaná prvkovým obsahem mechů jsou ovlivněny stejnými faktory. Zájmová oblast je vyjimečná tím, že zde byla zjištěna nejvyšší míra kontaminace lanthanoidy a doprovodnými prvky v mechu a lesním humusu z celého území ČR. Nepodařilo se uspokojivě vysvětlit původ znečištění. Projekt 0213 Analýzy stopových a ultrastopových prvků v přírodních matricích jako podklad pro posouzení kvality složek ŽP sledovaných území testoval několik metod rozkladu vzorků, které zajistí nejvyšší výtěžnost analytů. Metodika, průběh a výsledky měření jsou detailně popsány u všech projektů
Country-specific correlations across Europe between modelled atmospheric cadmium and lead deposition and concentrations in mosses
Previous analyses at the European scale have shown that cadmium and lead concentrations in mosses are
primarily determined by the total deposition of these metals. Further analyses in the current study show
that Spearman rank correlations between the concentration in mosses and the deposition modelled by
the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) are country and metal-specific. Significant
positive correlations were found for about two thirds or more of the participating countries in 1990,
1995, 2000 and 2005 (except for Cd in 1990). Correlations were often not significant and sometimes
negative in countries where mosses were only sampled in a relatively small number of EMEP grids.
Correlations frequently improved when only data for EMEP grids with at least three moss sampling sites
per grid were included. It was concluded that spatial patterns and temporal trends agree reasonably well
between lead and cadmium concentrations in mosses and modelled atmospheric deposition