The Behavior of Kasner Cosmologies with Induced Matter

We extend the induced matter model, previously applied to a variety of isotropic cases, to a generalization of Bianchi type-I anisotropic cosmologies. The induced matter model is a 5D Kaluza-Klein approach in which assumptions of compactness are relaxed for the fifth coordinate, leading to extra geometric terms. One interpretation of these extra terms is to identify them as an ``induced matter'' contribution to the stress-energy tensor. In similar spirit, we construct a five dimensional metric in which the spatial slices possess Bianchi type-I geometry. We find a set of solutions for the five dimensional Einstein equations, and determine the pressure and density of induced matter. We comment on the long-term dynamics of the model, showing that the assumption of positive density leads to the contraction over time of the fifth scale factor.Comment: 14 page

Interacting Kasner-type cosmologies

It is well known that Kasner-type cosmologies provide a useful framework for analyzing the three-dimensional anisotropic expansion because of the simplification of the anisotropic dynamics. In this paper relativistic multi-fluid Kasner-type scenarios are studied. We first consider the general case of a superposition of two ideal cosmic fluids, as well as the particular cases of non-interacting and interacting ones, by introducing a phenomenological coupling function $q(t)$. For two-fluid cosmological scenarios there exist only cosmological scaling solutions, while for three-fluid configurations there exist not only cosmological scaling ones, but also more general solutions. In the case of triply interacting cosmic fluids we can have energy transfer from two fluids to a third one, or energy transfer from one cosmic fluid to the other two. It is shown that by requiring the positivity of energy densities there always is a matter component which violates the dominant energy condition in this kind of anisotropic cosmological scenarios.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysics &Space Science, 8 page

A global map to aid the identification and screening of critical habitat for marine industries

Marine industries face a number of risks that necessitate careful analysis prior to making decisions on the siting of operations and facilities. An important emerging regulatory framework on environmental sustainability for business operations is the International Finance Corporation’s Performance Standard 6 (IFC PS6). Within PS6, identification of biodiversity significance is articulated through the concept of “Critical Habitat”, a definition developed by the IFC and detailed through criteria aligned with those that support internationally accepted biodiversity designations. No publicly available tools have been developed in either the marine or terrestrial realm to assess the likelihood of sites or operations being located within PS6-defined Critical Habitat. This paper presents a starting point towards filling this gap in the form of a preliminary global map that classifies more than 13 million km2 of marine and coastal areas of importance for biodiversity (protected areas, Key Biodiversity Areas [KBA], sea turtle nesting sites, cold- and warm-water corals, seamounts, seagrass beds, mangroves, saltmarshes, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps) based on their overlap with Critical Habitat criteria, as defined by IFC. In total, 5798×103 km2 (1.6%) of the analysis area (global ocean plus coastal land strip) were classed as Likely Critical Habitat, and 7526×103 km2 (2.1%) as Potential Critical Habitat; the remainder (96.3%) were Unclassified. The latter was primarily due to the paucity of biodiversity data in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction and/or in deep waters, and the comparatively fewer protected areas and KBAs in these regions. Globally, protected areas constituted 65.9% of the combined Likely and Potential Critical Habitat extent, and KBAs 29.3%, not accounting for the overlap between these two features. Relative Critical Habitat extent in Exclusive Economic Zones varied dramatically between countries. This work is likely to be of particular use for industries operating in the marine and coastal realms as an early screening aid prior to in situ Critical Habitat assessment; to financial institutions making investment decisions; and to those wishing to implement good practice policies relevant to biodiversity management. Supplementary material (available online) includes other global datasets considered, documentation and justification of biodiversity feature classification, detail of IFC PS6 criteria/scenarios, and coverage calculations

Applications of a New Proposal for Solving the "Problem of Time" to Some Simple Quantum Cosmological Models

We apply a recent proposal for defining states and observables in quantum gravity to simple models. First, we consider a Klein-Gordon particle in an ex- ternal potential in Minkowski space and compare our proposal to the theory ob- tained by deparametrizing with respect to a time slicing prior to quantiza- tion. We show explicitly that the dynamics of the deparametrization approach depends on the time slicing. Our proposal yields a dynamics independent of the choice of time slicing at intermediate times but after the potential is turned off, the dynamics does not return to the free particle dynamics. Next we apply our proposal to the closed Robertson-Walker quantum cosmology with a massless scalar field with the size of the universe as our time variable, so the only dynamical variable is the scalar field. We show that the resulting theory has the semi-classical behavior up to the classical turning point from expansion to contraction, i.e., given a classical solution which expands for much longer than the Planck time, there is a quantum state whose dynamical evolution closely approximates this classical solution during the expansion. However, when the "time" gets larger than the classical maximum, the scalar field be- comes "frozen" at its value at the maximum expansion. We also obtain similar results in the Taub model. In an Appendix we derive the form of the Wheeler- DeWitt equation for the Bianchi models by performing a proper quantum reduc- tion of the momentum constraints; this equation differs from the usual one ob- tained by solving the momentum constraints classically, prior to quantization.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX 3 figures (postscript file or hard copy) available upon request, BUTP-94/1

(Re)constructing Dimensions

Compactifying a higher-dimensional theory defined in R^{1,3+n} on an n-dimensional manifold {\cal M} results in a spectrum of four-dimensional (bosonic) fields with masses m^2_i = \lambda_i, where - \lambda_i are the eigenvalues of the Laplacian on the compact manifold. The question we address in this paper is the inverse: given the masses of the Kaluza-Klein fields in four dimensions, what can we say about the size and shape (i.e. the topology and the metric) of the compact manifold? We present some examples of isospectral manifolds (i.e., different manifolds which give rise to the same Kaluza-Klein mass spectrum). Some of these examples are Ricci-flat, complex and K\"{a}hler and so they are isospectral backgrounds for string theory. Utilizing results from finite spectral geometry, we also discuss the accuracy of reconstructing the properties of the compact manifold (e.g., its dimension, volume, and curvature etc) from measuring the masses of only a finite number of Kaluza-Klein modes.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, 2 references adde

On the energy of charged black holes in generalized dilaton-axion gravity

In this paper we calculate the energy distribution of some charged black holes in generalized dilaton-axion gravity. The solutions correspond to charged black holes arising in a Kalb-Ramond-dilaton background and some existing non-rotating black hole solutions are recovered in special cases. We focus our study to asymptotically flat and asymptotically non-flat types of solutions and resort for this purpose to the M{\o}ller prescription. Various aspects of energy are also analyzed.Comment: LaTe

Overstory influences on light attenuation patterns and understory plant community diversity and composition in southern boreal forests of Quebec

We have characterized overstory light transmission, understory light levels, and plant communities in mixedwood boreal forests of northwestern Quebec with the objective of understanding how overstory light transmission interacts with composition and time since disturbance to influence the diversity and composition of understory vegetation, and, in turn, the further attenuation of light to the forest floor by the understory. Overstory light transmission differed among three forest types (aspen, mixed deciduous-conifer, and old cedar-dominated), with old forests having higher proportions of high light levels than aspen and mixed forests, which were characterized by intermediate light levels. The composition of the understory plant communities in old forests showed the weakest correlation to overstory light transmission, although those forests had the largest range of light transmission. The strongest correlation between characteristics of overstory light transmission and understory communities was found in aspen forests. Species diversity indices were consistently higher in aspen forests but showed weak relationships with overstory light transmission. Light attenuation by the understory vegetation and total height of the understory vegetation were strongly and positively related to overstory light transmission but not forest type. Therefore, light transmission through the overstory influenced the structure and function of understory plants more than their diversity and composition. This is likely due to the strong effect of the upper understory layers, which tend to homogenize light levels at the forest floor regardless of forest type. The understory plant community acts as a filter, thereby reducing light levels at the forest floor to uniformly low levels

Number preferences in lotteries

We explore people's preferences for numbers in large proprietary data sets from two different lottery games. We find that choice is far from uniform, and exhibits some familiar and some new tendencies and biases. Players favor personally meaningful and situationally available numbers, and are attracted towards numbers in the center of the choice form. Frequent players avoid winning numbers from recent draws, whereas infrequent players chase these. Combinations of numbers are formed with an eye for aesthetics, and players tend to spread their numbers relatively evenly across the possible range

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli and Vibrio cholerae

This review highlighted the following: (i) pathogenic mechanism of the thermostable direct hemolysin produced by Vibrio parahaemolyticus, especially on its cardiotoxicity, (ii) heat-labile and heat-stable enterotoxins produced by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, especially structure–activity relationship of heat-stable enterotoxin, (iii) RNA N-glycosidase activity of Vero toxins (VT1 and VT2) produced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7, (iv) discovery of Vibrio cholerae O139, (v) isolation of new variant of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor that carries classical ctxB, and production of high concentration of cholera toxin by these strains, and (vi) conversion of viable but nonculturable (VBNC) Vibrio cholerae to culturable state by co-culture with eukaryotic cells

A Theoretical Model of a Molecular-Motor-Powered Pump

The motion of a cylindrical bead in a fluid contained within a two-dimensional channel is investigated using the boundary element method as a model of a biomolecular-motor-powered microfluidics pump. The novelty of the pump lies in the use of motor proteins (kinesin) to power the bead motion and the few moving parts comprising the pump. The performance and feasibility of this pump design is investigated using two model geometries: a straight channel, and a curved channel with two concentric circular walls. In the straight channel geometry, it is shown that increasing the bead radius relative to the channel width, increases the flow rate at the expense of increasing the force the kinesins must generate in order to move the bead. Pump efficiency is generally higher for larger bead radii, and larger beads can support higher imposed loads. In the circular channel geometry, it is shown that bead rotation modifies the force required to move the bead and that shifting the bead inward slightly reduces the required force. Bead rotation has a minimal effect on flow rate. Recirculation regions, which can develop between the bead and the channel walls, influence the stresses and force on the bead. These results suggest this pump design is feasible, and the kinesin molecules provide sufficient force to deliver pico- to atto- l/s flows.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/44478/1/10544_2005_Article_6168.pd