Measures to Protect the Environment and Conserve Energy Taken by the United States and Japan: Review of Quantitative Analysis

This paper reviews policy measures to deal with the environmental problems and energy conservation in Japan and the United States. First, we examine Japan’s policy toward air pollution. Second, we discuss the effects of energy conservation policies in the consumer sector in Japan and the United States. Third, we review the voluntary approach to ameliorating environmental problems that have recently garnered attention. By reviewing the studies evaluating these policies, we find that the policies have been mostly successful in both countries. We conclude the paper by discussing the necessity for the future research in applying these policies to local cities in Asian countries

Cohomogeneity one manifolds and selfmaps of nontrivial degree

We construct natural selfmaps of compact cohomgeneity one manifolds with finite Weyl group and compute their degrees and Lefschetz numbers. On manifolds with simple cohomology rings this yields in certain cases relations between the order of the Weyl group and the Euler characteristic of a principal orbit. We apply our construction to the compact Lie group SU(3) where we extend identity and transposition to an infinite family of selfmaps of every odd degree. The compositions of these selfmaps with the power maps realize all possible degrees of selfmaps of SU(3).Comment: v2, v3: minor improvement

Autoparametric Excitation and Self-powered SSHI for Power Enhancement in Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester

© Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. We proposed an autoparametric excitation harvester employing a microfabricated leaf spring for the base beam and a synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (SSHI) interface. Our harvester achieved miniaturization, low threshold acceleration of the autoparametric excitation, and increase in output power, compared with the previous work. The base beam for amplifying the excitation was microfabricated from a stainless steel film, through the photolithography followed by the wet-chemical etching. To trigger the autoparametric excitation, the main and the base beams are designed such that the resonance frequency for the base beam becomes twice higher than that for the main beam. The resonance frequencies obtained in experiment for the main and the base beams were 26.6 and 53.1 Hz, respectively. This study employed a self-powered parallel SSHI interface, which can increase the piezoelectric voltage and thus the output power, consuming only a small portion of the harvested energy. The harvester connected with the self-powered SSHI interface successfully displayed the autoparametric excitation at acceleration greater than 1.0 m/s2, and the output power showed 1.12 mW at the frequency of 53.1 Hz under the acceleration of 2.0 m/s2, which is 1.43-fold increase over the standard AC-DC interface

Precise study of asymptotic physics with subradiant ultracold molecules

Weakly bound molecules have physical properties without atomic analogues, even as the bond length approaches dissociation. In particular, the internal symmetries of homonuclear diatomic molecules result in formation of two-body superradiant and subradiant excited states. While superradiance has been demonstrated in a variety of systems, subradiance is more elusive due to the inherently weak interaction with the environment. Here we characterize the properties of deeply subradiant molecular states with intrinsic quality factors exceeding $10^{13}$ via precise optical spectroscopy with the longest molecule-light coherent interaction times to date. We find that two competing effects limit the lifetimes of the subradiant molecules, with different asymptotic behaviors. The first is radiative decay via weak magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole interactions. We prove that its rate increases quadratically with the bond length, confirming quantum mechanical predictions. The second is nonradiative decay through weak gyroscopic predissociation, with a rate proportional to the vibrational mode spacing and sensitive to short-range physics. This work bridges the gap between atomic and molecular metrology based on lattice-clock techniques, yielding new understanding of long-range interatomic interactions and placing ultracold molecules at the forefront of precision measurements.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure

High-precision spectroscopy of ultracold molecules in an optical lattice

The study of ultracold molecules tightly trapped in an optical lattice can expand the frontier of precision measurement and spectroscopy, and provide a deeper insight into molecular and fundamental physics. Here we create, probe, and image microkelvin $^{88}$Sr$_2$ molecules in a lattice, and demonstrate precise measurements of molecular parameters as well as coherent control of molecular quantum states using optical fields. We discuss the sensitivity of the system to dimensional effects, a new bound-to-continuum spectroscopy technique for highly accurate binding energy measurements, and prospects for new physics with this rich experimental system.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

A universal form of slow dynamics in zero-temperature random-field Ising model

The zero-temperature Glauber dynamics of the random-field Ising model describes various ubiquitous phenomena such as avalanches, hysteresis, and related critical phenomena. Here, for a model on a random graph with a special initial condition, we derive exactly an evolution equation for an order parameter. Through a bifurcation analysis of the obtained equation, we reveal a new class of cooperative slow dynamics with the determination of critical exponents.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Spermatophore dimorphism in the chokka squid <i>Loligo reynaudii</i> associated with alternative mating tactics

Chokka squid (Loligo reynaudii) have characteristic alternative mating tactics: ‘consort’ males temporarily pair with and guard a female and transfer spermatophores onto her oviduct opening inside the mantle cavity, whereas ‘sneaker’ males rush towards a mating pair and transfer spermatophores onto the female’s buccal membrane near her sperm storage organ. Differences in mating behaviours and their related sperm-storage sites clearly constrain the fertilization process and can drive dimorphism between consort and sneaker males. The presence and character of male dimorphism has not yet been fully examined in this species, but consort males are commonly much larger than sneaker males. We observed clear dimorphism in spermatangia (the sperm mass ejaculated from the spermatophore), consistently associated with the two alternative sperm storage sites on the female’s body. Observations of spermatophores stored in the Needham’s sac of mature males confirmed that small males produce ‘sneaker-type’ spermatangia whereas larger males produce ‘consort-type’ spermatangia, and no individuals possessed both types. Therefore, by association, the mating tactic adopted (including the sperm deposition site used) by individual males can be determined from observation of their spermatangial type, without requiring direct behavioural observation of mating. This ability to infer information about mating tactic will improve our understanding of the reproductive system and mating dynamics in this species