423 research outputs found
Tilted and crossing vortex chains in layered superconductors
In the presence of the Josephson vortex lattice in layered superconductors, a
small c-axis magnetic field penetrates in the form of vortex chains. In
general, the structure of a single chain is determined by the ratio of the
London [] and Josephson [] lengths, . The chain is composed of tilted vortices at large
's (tilted chain) and at small 's it consists of a crossing
array of Josephson vortices and pancake-vortex stacks (crossing chain). We
study chain structures at intermediate 's and found two types of phase
transitions. For the ground state is given by the crossing
chain in a wide range of pancake separations .
However, due to attractive coupling between deformed pancake stacks, the
equilibrium separation can not exceed some maximum value depending on the
in-plane field and . The first phase transition takes place with
decreasing pancake-stack separation at , and rather
wide range of the ratio , . With
decreasing , the crossing chain goes through intermediate strongly-deformed
configurations and smoothly transforms into a tilted chain via a second-order
phase transition. Another phase transition occurs at very small densities of
pancake vortices, , and only when exceeds a
certain critical value . In this case a small c-axis field penetrates
in the form of kinks. However, at very small concentration of kinks, the kinked
chains are replaced with strongly deformed crossing chains via a first-order
phase transition. This transition is accompanied by a very large jump in the
pancake density.Comment: Proceeding of the NATO ARW "Vortex dynamics in superconductors and
other complex systems", Yalta, Crimea, Ukraine, 13-17 September 2004, To be
published in the Journ. of Low Temp. Phys., 16 pages, 6 figure
Vortex-chain phases in layered superconductors
Layered superconductors in tilted magnetic field have a very rich spectrum of
vortex lattice configurations. In the presence of in-plane magnetic field, a
small c-axis field penetrates in the form of isolated vortex chains. The
structure of a single chain is mainly determined by the ratio of the London
[] and Josephson [] lengths, . At large the chain is composed of tilted
vortices [tilted chains] and at small it consists of a crossing array
of Josephson vortices and pancake stacks [crossing chains]. We studied the
chain structures at intermediate 's and found two types of behavior.
(I) In the range a c-axis field first penetrates in the
form of pancake-stack chains located on Josephson vortices. Due to attractive
coupling between deformed stacks, their density jumps from zero to a finite
value. With further increase of the c-axis field the chain structure smoothly
evolves into modulated tilted vortices and then transforms via a second-order
phase transition, into the tilted straight vortices. (II) In the range a c-axis field first penetrates in the form of kinks creating
kinked tilted vortices. With increasing the c-axis field this structure is
replaced via a first-order phase transition by the strongly deformed crossing
chain. This transition is accompanied by a large jump of pancake density.
Further evolution of the chain structure is similar to the higher anisotropy
scenario: it smoothly transforms back into the tilted straight vortices.Comment: Accepted to Phys. Rev. B, 20 pages 12 figures, animation of chain
structure is available in http://mti.msd.anl.gov/movies/Chains/Nl8al06Im.gif
(gif, 441 KB
Time turnover of species in bird communities: the role of landscape diversity and climate change
The challenge of searching for patterns of species turnover dynamics in communities of living organisms is directly related to solving problems of stability and functioning of ecosystems. Avian communities are an essential structural and functional component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems which are highly diverse and play an important role in a wide range of ecosystem functions. The issue of changes in the dynamics of amphibiotic landscape complexes, where terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems conjugate, is practically not solved. In this connection, a study was carried out within a landscape system, which presents terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems that were in different degrees of anthropogenic transformation. The dynamics of bird communities was considered in the context of recent global climate change. The investigation was conducted in the landscapes of the south and south-east of Ukraine in the nesting seasons 1988–2018. Within the landscape system associated with the Molochny estuary, the ten most important types of ecosystems were distinguished, which included : agricultural lands, artificial forest belts, meadows, islands and spits, reed beds, urban areas, solonchaks, steppe, cliffs, artificial forests. The temporal turnover of the bird communities was decomposed into two parts: the first term (D1) related to the amount of change in community composition, and the second term (D2) being dependent only on the amount of change in community size sensu its abundance. The contribution ratio of the species and of the environment variable were calculated to identify drivers that influence the turnover measure. The average annual temperature and the sum of annual temperatures were considered as environment variables. The bird metacommunity of the studied landscape system was represented by 132 species from 86 genera, 42 families and 13 orders. During the research period the average annual temperature varied from 9.5 to 12.5 ˚C. and the temperature dynamics were subject to the linear trend. An oscillatory component was also present in the temperature dynamics. The annual rainfall ranged 220–761 mm. A coherent change in precipitation and temperature was observed in the period until 2011. After that, the temperature growth stabilized and the amount of precipitation began to fall sharply. The steppe bird community was represented by an extremely small number of species, but demonstrated the ability to maintain a stable structure for a long time. The main fluctuations of the community were quantitative changes in abundance, while the turnover of species was practically absent. Species of the community replace each other cyclically, but there were no targeted changes in community structure. Temperature and precipitation were the main drivers of the bird community in the steppe. The bird communities on salt marshes were characterized by a stable abundance, but a constant directed turnover of species. Reduced water levels and the disappearance of islands in the salt marshes increased the risk of threats from predators, which could lead to a decrease in the abundance of some species. The islands and spits were characterized by high species turnover with quasi-cyclical population dynamics. The main feature of the community dynamics was a decrease in the role of precipitation and an increase in the role of the time factor. The role of temperature remained stably low. The species richness of bird communities in agrarian lands was higher than in steppe communities. The turnover measure was significant because of the increased abundance of Alauda arvensis. Over time, the role of precipitation in the community dynamics has been decreasing and the role of time has been increasing. The value of temperature varied, but was at a stationary level. The turnover of species was compensated by an increase in the abundance of bird communities. The obtained results are in line with findings indicating that despite more stable land use intensities in recent years, climate change has not overtaken land use intensities as the main driver of bird population dynamics
Anthropogenic load іs a leading factor in the morphological variability of Chondrula tridens (Gastropoda, Enidae) in the northwestern Azov Sea region
Morphometric data are widely used in biology to assess intraspecific and inter-population variability and for bioindication and environmental condition assessment. The following hypotheses have been experimentally tested in the paper: 1) the vegetation type affects the change in the shell shape of Chondrula tridens martynovi Gural-Sverlova & Gural, 2010; 2) the change in the shell shape of this species is influenced by the biotope moisture regime; 3) the shell shape changes depending on the anthropogenic load level. The material in the form of empty, fully formed Ch. tridens shells was collected in 2019 in the north-western Azov region within the basin of the Molochna River. The collection points were located in settlements and outside them and differed in vegetation, moisture regime and level of anthropogenic load. The vegetation has been expertly attributed to two alternative types: herbaceous vegetation and tree plantations. By moisture level, the locations have been assessed as xerophytic and mesoxerophytic. The anthropogenic load levels have been assessed as low, medium and high. The study revealed that the morphological characteristics of Ch. tridens demonstrate a significant component of variability, which is due to the shell size. The shell size depends on the anthropogenic impact level. Under conditions of high anthropogenic impact, the shell size increases. Mollusks from locations with low and medium anthropogenic impact levels did not differ in shell size. After extraction of the size component, morphological properties develop three main trends of variability. The mouth apparatus development of mollusks does not depend on the vegetation type, but depends on the biotope moisture level and the anthropogenic transformation level. The mollusk shell elongation was observed to have the opposite dynamics of the height parameters in relation to the width and depended on the level of anthropogenic load. Rearrangement in the mouth apparatus depended on the biotope moisture level and the anthropogenic load level. There were distinguished four clusters, the quantitative morphological features of which allowed us to identify them as morphotypes. Each location was characterized by a combination of different morphotypes, according to which the sampling points may be classified. Morphotype 1 corresponds to biotopes with low level of anthropogenic load, morphotype 4 corresponded to biotopes with high anthropogenic load. Morphotypes 2 and 3 corresponded to moderate level of anthropogenic load. Vegetation type is not an important factor in determining the morphotypic diversity of populations. Under xerophytic conditions, morphotypes 2 and 3 are more common, and under mesoxerophytic conditions, morphotypes 1 and 4 are more common. The range of molluscs in different habitats needs to be expanded in the future to clarify climatic and other patterns
Temporal dynamic of the phylogenetic diversity of the bird community of agricultural lands in Ukrainian steppe drylands
This study discussed the importance of the phylogenetic components in the structure of bird communities of anthropogenically transformed ecosystems. The investigation was conducted in the landscapes of the south and south-east of Ukraine in the nesting seasons 1988–2018. The bird community in the agricultural landscape was found to be presented by 10 species. The number of species was closely correlated with its phylogenetic analogue – Faith’s index. Both indices were stationary over time, as they do not show a statistically significant time trend. The two axes were extracted as a result of the DPCOA procedure and the permutation test showed their statistical significance. The axis 1 was the most sensitive to the opposite dynamics of the abundance of Coturnix coturnix and Burhinus oedicnemus on the one hand and Alauda arvensis and Melanocorypha calandra on the other. The axis 2 is the most sensitive to the opposite dynamics of Corvus monedula and Melanocorypha calandra on the one hand and Coturnix coturnix and Motacilla flava on the other. Based on phylogenetic diversity, the years can be clustered with the extraction of four relatively homogeneous phylogenetic structures of bird communities. The indicator of the initial period of dynamics (1988–1992) was Burhinus oedicnemus. Sowing or mechanical weeding may be considered as a major factor of nest destruction of Burhinus oedicnemus. The decreasing of the abundance of the trophic recourses because of agricultural activity may have caused the monotonous negative trend over time of the Burhinus oedicnemus populations. The period 1993–2003 was a transitional one, for which there were no clear indicators, as a characteristic feature of this period was the processes of bird community restructuring. The period 2004–2013 was characterized by the loss of Burhinus oedicnemus from the community and a sharp increase in the abundance of Corvus monedula. These species are distinguished by their phylogenetic specificity and are located on the periphery relative to the phylogenetic core of the community. There was growing importance in the community of such species as Alauda arvensis, Anthus campestris, and Melanocorypha calandra between 2014 and 2018. Our results also confirm the assumption that phylogenetic overdispersion is an important requirement for the stability of the bird community in anthropogenically transformed landscapes
Noncommutative Field Theories and (Super)String Field Theories
In this lecture notes we explain and discuss some ideas concerning
noncommutative geometry in general, as well as noncommutative field theories
and string field theories. We consider noncommutative quantum field theories
emphasizing an issue of their renormalizability and the UV/IR mixing. Sen's
conjectures on open string tachyon condensation and their application to the
D-brane physics have led to wide investigations of the covariant string field
theory proposed by Witten about 15 years ago. We review main ingredients of
cubic (super)string field theories using various formulations: functional,
operator, conformal and the half string formalisms. The main technical tools
that are used to study conjectured D-brane decay into closed string vacuum
through the tachyon condensation are presented. We describe also methods which
are used to study the cubic open string field theory around the tachyon vacuum:
construction of the sliver state, ``comma'' and matrix representations of
vertices.Comment: 160 pages, LaTeX, 29 EPS figures. Lectures given by I.Ya.Aref'eva at
the Swieca Summer School, Brazil, January 2001; Summer School in Modern
Mathematical Physics, Sokobanja, Yugoslavia, August 2001; Max Born Symposium,
Karpacz, Poland, September, 2001; Workshop "Noncommutative Geometry, Strings
and Renormalization", Leipzig, Germany, September 2001. Typos corrected,
references adde
Microscopic theory of thermal phase slips in clean narrow superconducting wires
We consider structure of a thermal phase-slip center for a simple microscopic
model of a clean one-dimensional superconductors in which superconductivity
occurs only within one conducting channel or several identical channels.
Surprisingly, the Eilenberger equations describing the saddle-point
configuration allow for exact analytical solution in the whole temperature and
current range. This solution allows us to derive a closed expression for the
free-energy barrier, which we use to compute its temperature and current
dependences
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