2,004 research outputs found
Identification and model based assessment of the potential water retention caused by land-use changes
International audienceThe extreme summer flood in the Elbe River watershed initiated a debate on the role of forest conversion and afforestation as measures for preventive flood protection. To quantify the effect of forest conversion and afforestation on flood runoff from catchments reliable model calculations are essential. The article overviews the present state of our work and provides an example for a model- based assessment of potential water retention caused by land-use changes in a catchment in the Central Ore Mountains (Saxony, Germany). The potential of flood control by land-use management measures is highly dependant on the site-specific soil and relief conditions and the rainfall event characteristics. The pre-event soil moisture is distinctly lower under forest land-use. Furthermore, infiltration, percolation in the subsoil is increased. These effects exist for small/medium-scale events whereas they become marginal for extreme events
Quantum Spin Dynamics VIII. The Master Constraint
Recently the Master Constraint Programme (MCP) for Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG)
was launched which replaces the infinite number of Hamiltonian constraints by a
single Master constraint. The MCP is designed to overcome the complications
associated with the non -- Lie -- algebra structure of the Dirac algebra of
Hamiltonian constraints and was successfully tested in various field theory
models. For the case of 3+1 gravity itself, so far only a positive quadratic
form for the Master Constraint Operator was derived. In this paper we close
this gap and prove that the quadratic form is closable and thus stems from a
unique self -- adjoint Master Constraint Operator. The proof rests on a simple
feature of the general pattern according to which Hamiltonian constraints in
LQG are constructed and thus extends to arbitrary matter coupling and holds for
any metric signature. With this result the existence of a physical Hilbert
space for LQG is established by standard spectral analysis.Comment: 19p, no figure
Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG) III. Semiclassical Perturbation Theory
In the two previous papers of this series we defined a new combinatorical
approach to quantum gravity, Algebraic Quantum Gravity (AQG). We showed that
AQG reproduces the correct infinitesimal dynamics in the semiclassical limit,
provided one incorrectly substitutes the non -- Abelean group SU(2) by the
Abelean group in the calculations. The mere reason why that
substitution was performed at all is that in the non -- Abelean case the volume
operator, pivotal for the definition of the dynamics, is not diagonisable by
analytical methods. This, in contrast to the Abelean case, so far prohibited
semiclassical computations. In this paper we show why this unjustified
substitution nevertheless reproduces the correct physical result: Namely, we
introduce for the first time semiclassical perturbation theory within AQG (and
LQG) which allows to compute expectation values of interesting operators such
as the master constraint as a power series in with error control. That
is, in particular matrix elements of fractional powers of the volume operator
can be computed with extremely high precision for sufficiently large power of
in the expansion. With this new tool, the non -- Abelean
calculation, although technically more involved, is then exactly analogous to
the Abelean calculation, thus justifying the Abelean analysis in retrospect.
The results of this paper turn AQG into a calculational discipline
From the discrete to the continuous - towards a cylindrically consistent dynamics
Discrete models usually represent approximations to continuum physics.
Cylindrical consistency provides a framework in which discretizations mirror
exactly the continuum limit. Being a standard tool for the kinematics of loop
quantum gravity we propose a coarse graining procedure that aims at
constructing a cylindrically consistent dynamics in the form of transition
amplitudes and Hamilton's principal functions. The coarse graining procedure,
which is motivated by tensor network renormalization methods, provides a
systematic approximation scheme towards this end. A crucial role in this coarse
graining scheme is played by embedding maps that allow the interpretation of
discrete boundary data as continuum configurations. These embedding maps should
be selected according to the dynamics of the system, as a choice of embedding
maps will determine a truncation of the renormalization flow.Comment: 22 page
Loop quantization of spherically symmetric midi-superspaces
We quantize the exterior of spherically symmetric vacuum space-times using a
midi-superspace reduction within the Ashtekar new variables. Through a partial
gauge fixing we eliminate the diffeomorphism constraint and are left with a
Hamiltonian constraint that is first class. We complete the quantization in the
loop representation. We also use the model to discuss the issues that will
arise in more general contexts in the ``uniform discretization'' approach to
the dynamics.Comment: 18 pages, RevTex, no figures, some typos corrected, published
version, for some reason a series of figures were incorrectly added to the
previous versio
Die Zusammensetzung der Anthocyane in den Beeren verschiedener Rebsorten
Anthocyanin composition in berries of different grape vadetiesThe percentages of the anthocyanins of 50 grape varieties were determined by HPLC. On account of the percentage differences the grape varieties couJd be classified in 5 groups : 1. Pinot noir group, 2. Trollinger group, 3. malvidin group, 4. varieties with an approximately even distribution, and 5. hybrid group. Only small changes were observed in the percentages during ripening. The differences in the percentages between the 1984 and 1985 vintage were srnall. A direct linear correlation existed between the anthocyanidin 3-glucosides and the conesponding acetates. Cyanidin 3-glucoside and peonidin 3-glucoside were the main pigments of the leaves
Laser photon merging in proton-laser collisions
The quantum electrodynamical vacuum polarization effects arising in the
collision of a high-energy proton beam and a strong, linearly polarized laser
field are investigated. The probability that laser photons merge into one
photon by interacting with the proton`s electromagnetic field is calculated
taking into account the laser field exactly. Asymptotics of the probability are
then derived according to different experimental setups suitable for detecting
perturbative and nonperturbative vacuum polarization effects. The
experimentally most feasible setup involves the use of a strong optical laser
field. It is shown that in this case measurements of the polarization of the
outgoing photon and and of its angular distribution provide promising tools to
detect these effects for the first time.Comment: 38 pages, 9 figure
A Note on B-observables in Ponzano-Regge 3d Quantum Gravity
We study the insertion and value of metric observables in the (discrete) path
integral formulation of the Ponzano-Regge spinfoam model for 3d quantum
gravity. In particular, we discuss the length spectrum and the relation between
insertion of such B-observables and gauge fixing in the path integral.Comment: 17 page
On (Cosmological) Singularity Avoidance in Loop Quantum Gravity
Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC), mainly due to Bojowald, is not the cosmological
sector of Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). Rather, LQC consists of a truncation of
the phase space of classical General Relativity to spatially homogeneous
situations which is then quantized by the methods of LQG. Thus, LQC is a
quantum mechanical toy model (finite number of degrees of freedom) for LQG(a
genuine QFT with an infinite number of degrees of freedom) which provides
important consistency checks. However, it is a non trivial question whether the
predictions of LQC are robust after switching on the inhomogeneous fluctuations
present in full LQG. Two of the most spectacular findings of LQC are that 1.
the inverse scale factor is bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates which
hints at the avoidance of the local curvature singularity and 2. that the
Quantum Einstein Equations are non -- singular which hints at the avoidance of
the global initial singularity. We display the result of a calculation for LQG
which proves that the (analogon of the) inverse scale factor, while densely
defined, is {\it not} bounded from above on zero volume eigenstates. Thus, in
full LQG, if curvature singularity avoidance is realized, then not in this
simple way. In fact, it turns out that the boundedness of the inverse scale
factor is neither necessary nor sufficient for curvature singularity avoidance
and that non -- singular evolution equations are neither necessary nor
sufficient for initial singularity avoidance because none of these criteria are
formulated in terms of observable quantities.After outlining what would be
required, we present the results of a calculation for LQG which could be a
first indication that our criteria at least for curvature singularity avoidance
are satisfied in LQG.Comment: 34 pages, 16 figure
Light diffraction by a strong standing electromagnetic wave
The nonlinear quantum interaction of a linearly polarized x-ray probe beam
with a focused intense standing laser wave is studied theoretically. Because of
the tight focusing of the standing laser pulse, diffraction effects arise for
the probe beam as opposed to the corresponding plane wave scenario. A
quantitative estimate for realistic experimental conditions of the ellipticity
and the rotation of the main polarization plane acquired by the x-ray probe
after the interaction shows that the implementation of such vacuum effects is
feasible with future X-ray Free Electron Laser light.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Published versio
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