108 research outputs found
Fact sheet: Assessing restoration objectives following a second-entry prescribed fire in an unharvested mixed conifer forest
Efforts to restore degraded forest ecosystems often involve thinning small-diameter trees and reintroducing surface fire; however, in some areas, such as national parks, mechanical tree thinning is kept to a minimum. In these situations, prescribed fire is the best tool available to restore historical fire regimes and forest structure over broad spatial scales
Spatio-temporal properties of motion detectors matched to low image velocities in hovering insects
AbstractOur recent study [O'Carroll et al. (1996). Nature 382, 63–66) described a correlation between the spatio-temporal properties of motion detecting neurons in the optic lobes of flying insects and behaviour. We consider here theoretical properties of insect motion detectors at very low image velocities and measure spatial and temporal sensitivity of neurons in the lobula complex of two specialised hovering insects, the bee-fly Bombylius and the hummingbird hawkmoth, Macroglossum. The spatio-temporal optima of direction-selective neurons in these insects lie at lower velocities than those of other insects which we have studied, including large syrphid flies, which are also excellent hoverers. We argue that spatio-temporal optima reflect a compromise between the demands of diverse behaviour, which can involve prolonged periods of stationary, hovering flight followed by spectacular high speed pursuits of conspecifics. Males of the syrphid Eristalis which engage in such behaviour, have higher temporal frequency optima than females. High contrast sensitivity in these flies nevertheless results in reliable responses at very low image velocities. Neurons of Bombylius have two distinct velocity optima, suggesting that they sum inputs from two classes of motion correlator with different time constants. This also provides sensitivity to a large range of velocities
Formation of an Edge Striped Phase in Fractional Quantum Hall Systems
We have performed an exact diagonalization study of up to N=12 interacting
electrons on a disk at filling for both Coulomb and
short-range interaction for which Laughlin wave function is the exact solution.
For Coulomb interaction and we find persistent radial oscillations
in electron density, which are not captured by the Laughlin wave function. Our
results srongly suggest formation of a chiral edge striped phase in quantum
Hall systems. The amplitude of the charge density oscillations decays slowly,
perhaps as a square root of the distance from the edge; thus the spectrum of
edge excitations is likely to be affected.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Figs. include
Electromagnetic field angular momentum in condensed matter systems
Various electromagnetic systems can carry an angular momentum in their {\bf
E} and {\bf B} fields. The electromagnetic field angular momentum (EMAM) of
these systems can combine with the spin angular momentum to give composite
fermions or composite bosons. In this paper we examine the possiblity that an
EMAM could provide an explanation of the fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE)
which is complimentary to the Chern-Simons explanation. We also examine a toy
model of a non-BCS superconductor (e.g. high superconductors) in terms of
an EMAM. The models presented give a common, simple picture of these two
systems in terms of an EMAM. The presence of an EMAM in these systems might be
tested through the observation of the decay modes of a charged, spin zero
unstable particle inside one of these systems.Comment: 17 pages, no figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Theory of Shubnikov--De Haas Oscillations Around the Filling Factor of the Landau Level: Effect of Gauge Field Fluctuations
We present a theory of magnetooscillations around the Landau level
filling factor based on a model with a fluctuating Chern--Simons field. The
quasiclassical treatment of the problem is appropriate and leads to an
unconventional behavior of the
amplitude of oscillations. This result is in good qualitative agreement with
available experimental data.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 1 figure attached as PostScript fil
The Hartree-Fock state for the 2DEG at filling factor 1/2 revisited: analytic solution, dynamics and correlation energy
The CDW Hartree-Fock state at half filling and half electron per unit cell is
examined. Firstly, an exact solution in terms of Bloch-like states is
presented. Using this solution we discuss the dynamics near half filling and
show the mass to diverge logarithmically as this filling is approached. We also
show how a uniform density state may be constructed from a linear combination
of two degenerate solutions. Finally we show the second order correction to the
energy to be an order of magnitude larger than that for competing CDW solutions
with one electron per unit cell.Comment: 14 pages, no figures, extended acknowledgements, two new references
include
Quasiparticle Interactions in Fractional Quantum Hall Systems: Justification of Different Hierarchy Schemes
The pseudopotentials describing the interactions of quasiparticles in
fractional quantum Hall (FQH) states are studied. Rules for the identification
of incompressible quantum fluid ground states are found, based upon the form of
the pseudopotentials. States belonging to the Jain sequence nu=n/(1+2pn), where
n and p are integers, appear to be the only incompressible states in the
thermodynamic limit, although other FQH hierarchy states occur for finite size
systems. This explains the success of the composite Fermion picture.Comment: RevTeX, 10 pages, 7 EPS figures, submitted fo Phys.Rev.
Critical Statistical Charge for Anyonic Superconductivity
We examine a criterion for the anyonic superconductivity at zero temperature
in Abelian matter-coupled Chern-Simons gauge field theories in three
dimensions. By solving the Dyson-Schwinger equations, we obtain a critical
value of the statistical charge for the superconducting phase in a massless
fermion-Chern-Simons model.Comment: 11 pages; to appear in Phys Rev
Composite Fermions and the Energy Gap in the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
The energy gaps for the fractional quantum Hall effect at filling fractions
1/3, 1/5, and 1/7 have been calculated by variational Monte Carlo using Jain's
composite fermion wave functions before and after projection onto the lowest
Landau level. Before projection there is a contribution to the energy gaps from
the first excited Landau level. After projection this contribution vanishes,
the quasielectron charge becomes more localized, and the Coulomb energy
contribution increases. The projected gaps agree well with previous
calculations, lending support to the composite fermion theory.Comment: 12 pages, Revtex 3.0, 2 compressed and uuencoded postscript figures
appended, NHMFL-94-062
Various spin-polarization states beyond the maximum-density droplet: a quantum Monte Carlo study
Using variational quantum Monte Carlo method, the effect of Landau-level
mixing on the lowest-energy--state diagram of small quantum dots is studied in
the magnetic field range where the density of magnetic flux quanta just exceeds
the density of electrons. An accurate analytical many-body wave function is
constructed for various angular momentum and spin states in the lowest Landau
level, and Landau-level mixing is then introduced using a Jastrow factor. The
effect of higher Landau levels is shown to be significant; the transition lines
are shifted considerably towards higher values of magnetic field and certain
lowest-energy states vanish altogether.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
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