4,163 research outputs found
Narain to Narnia
We generalize the holographic correspondence between topological gravity coupled to an abelian Chern-Simons theory in three dimensions and an ensemble average of Narain's family of massless free bosons in two dimensions, discovered by Afkhami-Jeddi et al. and by Maloney and Witten. We find that the correspondence also works for toroidal orbifolds but not for K3 or Calabi-Yau sigma-models and not always for the minimal models. We conjecture that the correspondence requires that the central charge is equal to the critical central charge defined by the asymptotic density of states of the chiral algebra. For toroidal orbifolds, we extend the holographic correspondence to correlation functions of twist operators by using topological properties of rational tangles in the three-dimensional ball, which represent configurations of vortices associated to a discrete gauge symmetry
On rational points in CFT moduli spaces
Motivated by the search for rational points in moduli spaces of two-dimensional conformal field theories, we investigate how points with enhanced symmetry algebras are distributed there. We first study the bosonic sigma-model with S1 target space in detail and uncover hitherto unknown features. We find for instance that the vanishing of the twist gap, though true for the S1 example, does not automatically follow from enhanced symmetry points being dense in the moduli space. We then explore the supersymmetric sigma-model on K3 by perturbing away from the torus orbifold locus. Though we do not reach a definite conclusion on the distribution of enhanced symmetry points in the K3 moduli space, we make several observations on how chiral currents can emerge and disappear under conformal perturbation theory
Anticoagulant rodenticides on our public and community lands: spatial distribution of exposure and poisoning of a rare forest carnivore.
Anticoagulant rodenticide (AR) poisoning has emerged as a significant concern for conservation and management of non-target wildlife. The purpose for these toxicants is to suppress pest populations in agricultural or urban settings. The potential of direct and indirect exposures and illicit use of ARs on public and community forest lands have recently raised concern for fishers (Martes pennanti), a candidate for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act in the Pacific states. In an investigation of threats to fisher population persistence in the two isolated California populations, we investigate the magnitude of this previously undocumented threat to fishers, we tested 58 carcasses for the presence and quantification of ARs, conducted spatial analysis of exposed fishers in an effort to identify potential point sources of AR, and identified fishers that died directly due to AR poisoning. We found 46 of 58 (79%) fishers exposed to an AR with 96% of those individuals having been exposed to one or more second-generation AR compounds. No spatial clustering of AR exposure was detected and the spatial distribution of exposure suggests that AR contamination is widespread within the fisher's range in California, which encompasses mostly public forest and park lands Additionally, we diagnosed four fisher deaths, including a lactating female, that were directly attributed to AR toxicosis and documented the first neonatal or milk transfer of an AR to an altricial fisher kit. These ARs, which some are acutely toxic, pose both a direct mortality or fitness risk to fishers, and a significant indirect risk to these isolated populations. Future research should be directed towards investigating risks to prey populations fishers are dependent on, exposure in other rare forest carnivores, and potential AR point sources such as illegal marijuana cultivation in the range of fishers on California public lands
Differential criterion of a bubble collapse in viscous liquids
The present work is devoted to a model of bubble collapse in a Newtonian
viscous liquid caused by an initial bubble wall motion. The obtained bubble
dynamics described by an analytic solution significantly depends on the liquid
and bubble parameters. The theory gives two types of bubble behavior: collapse
and viscous damping. This results in a general collapse condition proposed as
the sufficient differential criterion. The suggested criterion is discussed and
successfully applied to the analysis of the void and gas bubble collapses.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Multi-omics assessment of dilated cardiomyopathy using non-negative matrix factorization
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), a myocardial disease, is heterogeneous and often results in
heart failure and sudden cardiac death. Unavailability of cardiac tissue has hindered the
comprehensive exploration of gene regulatory networks and nodal players in DCM. In this
study, we carried out integrated analysis of transcriptome and methylome data using nonnegative matrix factorization from a cohort of DCM patients to uncover underlying latent factors and covarying features between whole-transcriptome and epigenome omics datasets
from tissue biopsies of living patients. DNA methylation data from Infinium HM450 and
mRNA Illumina sequencing of n = 33 DCM and n = 24 control probands were filtered, analyzed and used as input for matrix factorization using R NMF package. Mann-Whitney U test
showed 4 out of 5 latent factors are significantly different between DCM and control probands (P<0.05). Characterization of top 10% features driving each latent factor showed a
significant enrichment of biological processes known to be involved in DCM pathogenesis,
including immune response (P = 3.97E-21), nucleic acid binding (P = 1.42E-18), extracellular matrix (P = 9.23E-14) and myofibrillar structure (P = 8.46E-12). Correlation network analysis revealed interaction of important sarcomeric genes like Nebulin, Tropomyosin alpha-3
and ERC-protein 2 with CpG methylation of ATPase Phospholipid Transporting 11A0, Solute Carrier Family 12 Member 7 and Leucine Rich Repeat Containing 14B, all with significant P values associated with correlation coefficients >0.7. Using matrix factorization, multiomics data derived from human tissue samples can be integrated and novel interactions
can be identified. Hypothesis generating nature of such analysis could help to better understand the pathophysiology of complex traits such as DCM
Magic Numbers and Optical Absorption Spectrum in Vertically Coupled Quantum Dots in the Fractional Quantum Hall Regime
Exact diagonalization is used to study the quantum states of vertically
coupled quantum dots in strong magnetic fields. We find a new sequence of
angular momentum magic numbers which are a consequence of the electron
correlation in the double dot. The new sequence occurs at low angular momenta
and changes into the single dot sequence at a critical angular momentum
determined by the strength of the inter-dot electron tunneling. We also propose
that the magic numbers can be investigated experimentally in vertically coupled
dots. Because of the generalized Kohn theorem, the far-infrared optical
absorption spectrum of a single dot is unaffected by correlation but the
theorem does not hold for two vertically coupled dots which have different
confining potentials. We show that the absorption energy of the double dot
should exhibit discontinuities at the magnetic fields where the total angular
momentum changes from one magic number to another.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures, RevTeX. (to appear in Phys.Rev.B
Patterns of Natural and Human-Caused Mortality Factors of a Rare Forest Carnivore, the Fisher (Pekania pennanti) in California.
Wildlife populations of conservation concern are limited in distribution, population size and persistence by various factors, including mortality. The fisher (Pekania pennanti), a North American mid-sized carnivore whose range in the western Pacific United States has retracted considerably in the past century, was proposed for threatened status protection in late 2014 under the United States Endangered Species Act by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in its West Coast Distinct Population Segment. We investigated mortality in 167 fishers from two genetically and geographically distinct sub-populations in California within this West Coast Distinct Population Segment using a combination of gross necropsy, histology, toxicology and molecular methods. Overall, predation (70%), natural disease (16%), toxicant poisoning (10%) and, less commonly, vehicular strike (2%) and other anthropogenic causes (2%) were causes of mortality observed. We documented both an increase in mortality to (57% increase) and exposure (6%) from pesticides in fishers in just the past three years, highlighting further that toxicants from marijuana cultivation still pose a threat. Additionally, exposure to multiple rodenticides significantly increased the likelihood of mortality from rodenticide poisoning. Poisoning was significantly more common in male than female fishers and was 7 times more likely than disease to kill males. Based on necropsy findings, suspected causes of mortality based on field evidence alone tended to underestimate the frequency of disease-related mortalities. This study is the first comprehensive investigation of mortality causes of fishers and provides essential information to assist in the conservation of this species
The Mid-infrared Evolution of the FU Orionis Disk
We present new SOFIA-FORCAST observations obtained in 2016 February of the archetypal outbursting low-mass young stellar object FU Orionis, and we compare the continuum, solid-state, and gas properties with mid-infrared data obtained at the same wavelengths in 2004 with Spitzer-IRS. In this study, we conduct the first mid-infrared spectroscopic comparison of an FUor over a long time period. Over a 12-year period, UBVR monitoring indicates that FU Orionis has continued its steady decrease in overall brightness by ~14%. We find that this decrease in luminosity occurs only at wavelengths ≾20 μm. In particular, the continuum shortward of the silicate emission complex at 10 μm exhibits a ~12% (~3σ) drop in flux density but no apparent change in slope; both the Spitzer and SOFIA spectra are consistent with a 7200 K blackbody. Additionally, the detection of water absorption is consistent with the Spitzer spectrum. The silicate emission feature at 10 μm continues to be consistent with unprocessed grains, unchanged over 12 years. We conclude that either the accretion rate in FU Orionis has decreased by ~12–14% over this time baseline or the inner disk has cooled, but the accretion disk remains in a superheated state outside the innermost region
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