The Energy-Momentum tensor on SpincSpin^c manifolds

On $Spin^c$ manifolds, we study the Energy-Momentum tensor associated with a spinor field. First, we give a spinorial Gauss type formula for oriented hypersurfaces of a $Spin^c$ manifold. Using the notion of generalized cylinders, we derive the variationnal formula for the Dirac operator under metric deformation and point out that the Energy-Momentum tensor appears naturally as the second fundamental form of an isometric immersion. Finally, we show that generalized $Spin^c$ Killing spinors for Codazzi Energy-Momentum tensor are restrictions of parallel spinors.Comment: To appear in IJGMMP (International Journal of Geometric Methods in Modern Physics), 22 page

Horizontal gene transfer of acetyltransferases, invertases and chorismate mutases from different bacteria to diverse recipients

Background: Hoplolaimina plant-parasitic nematodes (PPN) are a lineage of animals with many documented cases of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). In a recent study, we reported on three likely HGT candidate genes in the soybean cyst nematode Heterodera glycines, all of which encode secreted candidate effectors with putative functions in the host plant. Hg-GLAND1 is a putative GCN5-related N-acetyltransferase (GNAT), Hg-GLAND13 is a putative invertase (INV), and Hg-GLAND16 is a putative chorismate mutase (CM), and blastp searches of the non- redundant database resulted in highest similarity to bacterial sequences. Here, we searched nematode and non- nematode sequence databases to identify all the nematodes possible that contain these three genes, and to formulate hypotheses about when they most likely appeared in the phylum Nematoda. We then performed phylogenetic analyses combined with model selection tests of alternative models of sequence evolution to determine whether these genes were horizontally acquired from bacteria. Results: Mining of nematode sequence databases determined that GNATs appeared in Hoplolaimina PPN late in evolution, while both INVs and CMs appeared before the radiation of the Hoplolaimina suborder. Also, Hoplolaimina GNATs, INVs and CMs formed well-supported clusters with different rhizosphere bacteria in the phylogenetic trees, and the model selection tests greatly supported models of HGT over descent via common ancestry. Surprisingly, the phylogenetic trees also revealed additional, well-supported clusters of bacterial GNATs, INVs and CMs with diverse eukaryotes and archaea. There were at least eleven and eight well-supported clusters of GNATs and INVs, respectively, from different bacteria with diverse eukaryotes and archaea. Though less frequent, CMs from different bacteria formed supported clusters with multiple different eukaryotes. Moreover, almost all individual clusters containing bacteria and eukaryotes or archaea contained species that inhabit very similar niches. Conclusions: GNATs were horizontally acquired late in Hoplolaimina PPN evolution from bacteria most similar to the saprophytic and plant-pathogenic actinomycetes. INVs and CMs were horizontally acquired from bacteria most similar to rhizobacteria and Burkholderia soil bacteria, respectively, before the radiation of Hoplolaimina. Also, these three gene groups appear to have been frequent subjects of HGT from different bacteria to numerous, diverse lineages of eukaryotes and archaea, which suggests that these genes may confer important evolutionary advantages to many taxa. In the case of Hoplolaimina PPN, this advantage likely was an improved ability to parasitize plants

Comparison of cloud statistics from spaceborne lidar systems

The distribution of clouds in a vertical column is assessed on the global scale through analysis of lidar measurements obtained from three spaceborne lidar systems: LITE (Lidar In-space Technology Experiment, NASA), GLAS (Geoscience Laser Altimeter System, NASA), and CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol LIdar with Orthogonal Polarization). Cloud top height (CTH) is obtained from the LITE profiles based on a simple algorithm that accounts for multilayer cloud structures. The resulting CTH results are compared to those obtained by the operational algorithms of the GLAS and CALIOP instruments. Based on our method, spaceborne lidar data are analyzed to establish statistics on the cloud top height. The resulting columnar results are used to investigate the inter-annual variability in the lidar cloud top heights. Statistical analyses are performed for a range of CTH (high, middle, low) and latitudes (polar, middle latitude and tropical). Probability density functions of CTH are developed. Comparisons of CTH developed from LITE, for 2 weeks of data in 1994, with ISCCP (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) cloud products show that the cloud fraction observed from spaceborne lidar is much higher than that from ISCCP. Another key result is that ISCCP products tend to underestimate the CTH of optically thin cirrus clouds. Significant differences are observed between LITE-derived cirrus CTH and both GLAS and CALIOP-derived cirrus CTH. Such a difference is due primarily to the lidar signal-to-noise ratio that is approximately a factor of 3 larger for the LITE system than for the other lidars. A statistical analysis for a full year of data highlights the influence of both the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and polar stratospheric clouds

Spatially resolved spectra of 3C galaxy nuclei

We present and discuss visible-wavelength long-slit spectra of four low redshift 3C galaxies obtained with the STIS instrument on the Hubble Space Telescope. The slit was aligned with near-nuclear jet-like structure seen in HST images of the galaxies, to give unprecedented spatial resolution of the galaxy inner regions. In 3C 135 and 3C 171, the spectra reveal clumpy emission line structures that indicate outward motions of a few hundred km s$^{-1}$ within a centrally illuminated and ionised biconical region. There may also be some low-ionisation high-velocity material associated with 3C 135. In 3C 264 and 3C 78, the jets have blue featureless spectra consistent with their proposed synchrotron origin. There is weak associated line emission in the innermost part of the jets with mild outflow velocity. These jets are bright and highly collimated only within a circumnuclear region of lower galaxy luminosity, which is not dusty. We discuss the origins of these central regions and their connection with relativistic jets.Comment: 15 pages incl Tables, 12 diagrams, To appear in A

The Emergence of the Modern Universe: Tracing the Cosmic Web

This is the report of the Ultraviolet-Optical Working Group (UVOWG) commissioned by NASA to study the scientific rationale for new missions in ultraviolet/optical space astronomy approximately ten years from now, when the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is de-orbited. The UVOWG focused on a scientific theme, The Emergence of the Modern Universe, the period from redshifts z = 3 to 0, occupying over 80% of cosmic time and beginning after the first galaxies, quasars, and stars emerged into their present form. We considered high-throughput UV spectroscopy (10-50x throughput of HST/COS) and wide-field optical imaging (at least 10 arcmin square). The exciting science to be addressed in the post-HST era includes studies of dark matter and baryons, the origin and evolution of the elements, and the major construction phase of galaxies and quasars. Key unanswered questions include: Where is the rest of the unseen universe? What is the interplay of the dark and luminous universe? How did the IGM collapse to form the galaxies and clusters? When were galaxies, clusters, and stellar populations assembled into their current form? What is the history of star formation and chemical evolution? Are massive black holes a natural part of most galaxies? A large-aperture UV/O telescope in space (ST-2010) will provide a major facility in the 21st century for solving these scientific problems. The UVOWG recommends that the first mission be a 4m aperture, SIRTF-class mission that focuses on UV spectroscopy and wide-field imaging. In the coming decade, NASA should investigate the feasibility of an 8m telescope, by 2010, with deployable optics similar to NGST. No high-throughput UV/Optical mission will be possible without significant NASA investments in technology, including UV detectors, gratings, mirrors, and imagers.Comment: Report of UV/O Working Group to NASA, 72 pages, 13 figures, Full document with postscript figures available at http://casa.colorado.edu/~uvconf/UVOWG.htm

Spinorial Characterizations of Surfaces into 3-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian Space Forms

We give a spinorial characterization of isometrically immersed surfaces of arbitrary signature into 3-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian space forms. For Lorentzian surfaces, this generalizes a recent work of the first author in $\mathbb{R}^{2,1}$ to other Lorentzian space forms. We also characterize immersions of Riemannian surfaces in these spaces. From this we can deduce analogous results for timelike immersions of Lorentzian surfaces in space forms of corresponding signature, as well as for spacelike and timelike immersions of surfaces of signature (0,2), hence achieving a complete spinorial description for this class of pseudo-Riemannian immersions.Comment: 9 page

Evidence for a Peierls phase-transition in a three-dimensional multiple charge-density waves solid

The effect of dimensionality on materials properties has become strikingly evident with the recent discovery of graphene. Charge ordering phenomena can be induced in one dimension by periodic distortions of a material's crystal structure, termed Peierls ordering transition. Charge-density waves can also be induced in solids by strong Coulomb repulsion between carriers, and at the extreme limit, Wigner predicted that crystallization itself can be induced in an electrons gas in free space close to the absolute zero of temperature. Similar phenomena are observed also in higher dimensions, but the microscopic description of the corresponding phase transition is often controversial, and remains an open field of research for fundamental physics. Here, we photoinduce the melting of the charge ordering in a complex three-dimensional solid and monitor the consequent charge redistribution by probing the optical response over a broad spectral range with ultrashort laser pulses. Although the photoinduced electronic temperature far exceeds the critical value, the charge-density wave is preserved until the lattice is sufficiently distorted to induce the phase transition. Combining this result with it ab initio} electronic structure calculations, we identified the Peierls origin of multiple charge-density waves in a three-dimensional system for the first time.Comment: Accepted for publication in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. US

4D visualization of embryonic, structural crystallization by single-pulse microscopy

In many physical and biological systems the transition from an amorphous to ordered native structure involves complex energy landscapes, and understanding such transformations requires not only their thermodynamics but also the structural dynamics during the process. Here, we extend our 4D visualization method with electron imaging to include the study of irreversible processes with a single pulse in the same ultrafast electron microscope (UEM) as used before in the single-electron mode for the study of reversible processes. With this augmentation, we report on the transformation of amorphous to crystalline structure with silicon as an example. A single heating pulse was used to initiate crystallization from the amorphous phase while a single packet of electrons imaged selectively in space the transformation as the structure continuously changes with time. From the evolution of crystallinity in real time and the changes in morphology, for nanosecond and femtosecond pulse heating, we describe two types of processes, one that occurs at early time and involves a nondiffusive motion and another that takes place on a longer time scale. Similar mechanisms of two distinct time scales may perhaps be important in biomolecular folding

Production of J/ψJ/\psi-pairs at HERA-N⃗\vec{{\rm N}}

The production of $J/\psi$-pairs as a possible measure of the polarized gluon distribution $\Delta G(x)$ is studied for proton--nucleon collisions at \sqrt{s} =40\;\mbox{GeV}^2 (HERA-$\vec{{\rm N}}$). Possibilities of reconstructing the helicity state of at least one of the $J/\psi$'s are critically reviewed. The observation of production asymmetries in the single polarized mode of HERA-$\vec{{\rm N}}$ is found to be not feasible.Comment: 8 pages, LATeX, 3 figures availabe as .uu-fil