14,255 research outputs found
Rainfall threshold for hillslope outflow: an emergent property of flow pathway connectivity
Nonlinear relations between rain input and hillslope outflow are common observations in hillslope hydrology field studies. In this paper we use percolation theory to model the threshold relationship between rainfall amount and outflow and show that this nonlinear relationship may arise from simple linear processes at the smaller scale. When the rainfall amount exceeds a threshold value, the underlying elements become connected and water flows out of the base of the hillslope. The percolation approach shows how random variations in storage capacity and connectivity at the small spatial scale cause a threshold relationship between rainstorm amount and hillslope outflow. <br><br> As a test case, we applied percolation theory to the well characterized experimental hillslope at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed. Analysing the measured rainstorm events and the subsurface stormflow with percolation theory, we could determine the effect of bedrock permeability, spatial distribution of soil properties and initial water content within the hillslope. The measured variation in the relationship between rainstorm amount and subsurface flow could be reproduced by modelling the initial moisture deficit, the loss of free water to the bedrock, the limited size of the system and the connectivity that is a function of bedrock topography and existence of macropores. The values of the model parameters were in agreement with measured values of soil depth distribution and water saturation
Near-Infrared Spectroscopy of McNeil's Nebula Object
We present 0.8-5.2 micron spectroscopy of the compact source at the base of a
variable nebula (McNeil's Nebula Object) in the Lynds 1630 dark cloud that went
into outburst in late 2003. The spectrum of this object reveals an extremely
red continuum, CO bands at 2.3-2.5 microns in emission, a deep 3.0 micron ice
absorption feature, and a solid state CO absorption feature at 4.7 microns. In
addition, emission lines of H, Ca II, Mg I, and Na I are present. The Paschen
lines exhibit P Cygni profiles, as do two lines of He I, although the emission
features are very weak in the latter. The Brackett lines, however, are seen to
be purely in emission. The P Cygni profiles clearly indicate that mass outflow
is occurring in a wind with a velocity of ~400 km/s. The H line ratios do not
yield consistent estimates of the reddening, nor do they agree with the
extinction estimated from the ice feature (A_V ~ 11). We propose that these
lines are optically thick and are produced in a dense, ionized wind. The
near-infrared spectrum does not appear similar to any known FUor or EXor
object. However, all evidence suggests that McNeil's Nebula Object is a
heavily-embedded low-mass Class I protostar, surrounded by a disk, whose
brightening is due to a recent accretion event.Comment: 11 pages, 2 ps figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Extremely Metal-Poor Stars. VII. The Most Metal-Poor Dwarf, CS 22876-032
We report high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise, observations of the
extremely metal-poor double-lined spectroscopic binary CS 22876-032. The system
has a long period : P = 424.7 0.6 days. It comprises two main sequence
stars having effective temperatures 6300 K and 5600 K, with a ratio of
secondary to primary mass of 0.89 0.04. The metallicity of the system is
[Fe/H] = -3.71 0.11 0.12 (random and systematic errors) -- somewhat
higher than previous estimates. We find [Mg/Fe] = 0.50, typical of values of
less extreme halo material. [Si/Fe], [Ca/Fe], and [Ti/Fe], however, all have
significantly lower values, ~ 0.0-0.1, suggesting that the heavier elements
might have been underproduced relative to Mg in the material from which this
object formed. In the context of the hypothesis that the abundance patterns of
extremely metal-poor stars are driven by individual enrichment events and the
models of Woosley and Weaver (1995), the data for CS 22876-032 are consistent
with its having been enriched by a zero-metallicity supernova of mass 30
M. As the most metal-poor near-main-sequence-turnoff star currently
known, the primary of the system has the potential to strongly constrain the
primordial lithium abundance. We find A(Li) (= log(N(Li)/N(H)) + 12.00) = 2.03
0.07, which is consistent with the finding of Ryan et al. (1999) that for
stars of extremely low metallicity A(Li) is a function of [Fe/H].Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal, Sept. 1, 2000 issu
Algebras of Measurements: the logical structure of Quantum Mechanics
In Quantum Physics, a measurement is represented by a projection on some
closed subspace of a Hilbert space. We study algebras of operators that
abstract from the algebra of projections on closed subspaces of a Hilbert
space. The properties of such operators are justified on epistemological
grounds. Commutation of measurements is a central topic of interest. Classical
logical systems may be viewed as measurement algebras in which all measurements
commute. Keywords: Quantum measurements, Measurement algebras, Quantum Logic.
PACS: 02.10.-v.Comment: Submitted, 30 page
Starlight Demonstration of the Dragonfly Instrument: an Integrated Photonic Pupil Remapping Interferometer for High Contrast Imaging
In the two decades since the first extra-solar planet was discovered, the
detection and characterization of extra-solar planets has become one of the key
endeavors in all of modern science. Recently direct detection techniques such
as interferometry or coronography have received growing attention because they
reveal the population of exoplanets inaccessible to Doppler or transit
techniques, and moreover they allow the faint signal from the planet itself to
be investigated. Next-generation stellar interferometers are increasingly
incorporating photonic technologies due to the increase in fidelity of the data
generated. Here, we report the design, construction and commissioning of a new
high contrast imager; the integrated pupil-remapping interferometer; an
instrument we expect will find application in the detection of young faint
companions in the nearest star-forming regions. The laboratory characterisation
of the instrument demonstrated high visibility fringes on all interferometer
baselines in addition to stable closure phase signals. We also report the first
successful on-sky experiments with the prototype instrument at the 3.9-m
Anglo-Australian Telescope. Performance metrics recovered were consistent with
ideal device behaviour after accounting for expected levels of decoherence and
signal loss from the uncompensated seeing. The prospect of complete
Fourier-coverage coupled with the current performance metrics means that this
photonically-enhanced instrument is well positioned to contribute to the
science of high contrast companions.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Mon. Not. of Roy. Ast. Soc., 201
Consequences of a covariant Description of Heavy Ion Reactions at intermediate Energies
Heavy ion collisions at intermediate energies are studied by using a new RQMD
code, which is a covariant generalization of the QMD approach. We show that
this new implementation is able to produce the same results in the
nonrelativistic limit (i.e. 50MeV/nucl.) as the non-covariant QMD. Such a
comparison is not available in the literature. At higher energies (i.e. 1.5
GeV/nucl. and 2 GeV/nucl.) RQMD and QMD give different results in respect to
the time evolution of the phase space, for example for the directed transverse
flow. These differences show that consequences of a covariant description of
heavy ion reactions within the framework of RQMD are existing even at
intermediate energies.Comment: LaTex-file, 28 pages, 8 figures (available upon request), accepted
for publication in Physical Review
Detailed studies of non-linear magneto-optical resonances at D1 excitation of Rb-85 and Rb-87 for partially resolved hyperfine F-levels
Experimental signals of non-linear magneto-optical resonances at D1
excitation of natural rubidium in a vapor cell have been obtained and described
with experimental accuracy by a detailed theoretical model based on the optical
Bloch equations. The D1 transition of rubidium is a challenging system to
analyze theoretically because it contains transitions that are only partially
resolved under Doppler broadening. The theoretical model took into account all
nearby transitions, the coherence properties of the exciting laser radiation,
and the mixing of magnetic sublevels in an external magnetic field and also
included averaging over the Doppler profile. Great care was taken to obtain
accurate experimental signals and avoid systematic errors. The experimental
signals were reproduced very well at each hyperfine transition and over a wide
range of laser power densities, beam diameters, and laser detunings from the
exact transition frequency. The bright resonance expected at the F_g=1 -->
F_e=2 transition of Rb-87 has been observed. A bright resonance was observed at
the F_g=2 --> F_e=3 transition of Rb-85, but displaced from the exact position
of the transition due to the influence of the nearby F_g=2 --> F_e=2
transition, which is a dark resonance whose contrast is almost two orders of
magnitude larger than the contrast of the bright resonance at the F_g=2 -->
F_e=3 transition. Even in this very delicate situation, the theoretical model
described in detail the experimental signals at different laser detunings.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Improvements to the Method of Dispersion Relations for B Nonleptonic Decays
We bring some clarifications and improvements to the method of dispersion
relations in the external masses variables, that we proposed recently for
investigating the final state interactions in the B nonleptonic decays. We
first present arguments for the existence of an additional term in the
dispersion representation, which arises from an equal-time commutator in the
LSZ formalism and can be approximated by the conventional factorized amplitude.
The reality properties of the spectral function and the Goldberger-Treiman
procedure to perform the hadronic unitarity sum are analyzed in more detail. We
also improve the treatment of the strong interaction part by including the
contributions of both t and u-channel trajectories in the Regge amplitudes.
Applications to the and decays are
presented.Comment: 16 pages, 4 new figures. modifications of the dispersion
representatio
Dispersion Relations and Rescattering Effects in B Nonleptonic Decays
Recently, the final state strong interactions in nonleptonic B decays were
investigated in a formalism based on hadronic unitarity and dispersion
relations in terms of the off-shell mass squared of the meson. We consider
an heuristic derivation of the dispersion relations in the mass variables using
the reduction LSZ formalism and find a discrepancy between the spectral
function and the dispersive variable used in the recent works. The part of the
unitarity sum which describes final state interactions is shown to appear as
spectral function in a dispersion relation based on the analytic continuation
in the mass squared of one final particles. As an application, by combining
this formalism with Regge theory and SU(3) flavour symmetry we obtain
constraints on the tree and the penguin amplitudes of the decay .Comment: 17 pages, Latex, 2 figure
Generic Modal Cut Elimination Applied to Conditional Logics
We develop a general criterion for cut elimination in sequent calculi for
propositional modal logics, which rests on absorption of cut, contraction,
weakening and inversion by the purely modal part of the rule system. Our
criterion applies also to a wide variety of logics outside the realm of normal
modal logic. We give extensive example instantiations of our framework to
various conditional logics. For these, we obtain fully internalised calculi
which are substantially simpler than those known in the literature, along with
leaner proofs of cut elimination and complexity. In one case, conditional logic
with modus ponens and conditional excluded middle, cut elimination and
complexity were explicitly stated as open in the literature
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