A complete gauge-invariant formalism for arbitrary second-order perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole

Using recently developed efficient symbolic manipulations tools, we present a general gauge-invariant formalism to study arbitrary radiative $(l\geq 2)$ second-order perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole. In particular, we construct the second order Zerilli and Regge-Wheeler equations under the presence of any two first-order modes, reconstruct the perturbed metric in terms of the master scalars, and compute the radiated energy at null infinity. The results of this paper enable systematic studies of generic second order perturbations of the Schwarzschild spacetime. In particular, studies of mode-mode coupling and non-linear effects in gravitational radiation, the second-order stability of the Schwarzschild spacetime, or the geometry of the black hole horizon.Comment: 14 page

High-order gauge-invariant perturbations of a spherical spacetime

We complete the formulation of a general framework for the analysis of high-order nonspherical perturbations of a four-dimensional spherical spacetime by including a gauge-invariant description of the perturbations. We present a general algorithm to construct these invariants and provide explicit formulas for the case of second-order metric perturbations. We show that the well-known problem of lack of invariance for the first-order perturbations with l=0,1 propagates to increasing values of l for perturbations of higher order, owing to mode coupling. We also discuss in which circumstances it is possible to construct the invariants

Conserved quantities in isotropic loop quantum cosmology

We develop an action principle for those models arising from isotropic loop quantum cosmology, and show that there is a natural conserved quantity $Q$ for the discrete difference equation arising from the Hamiltonian constraint. This quantity $Q$ relates the semi-classical limit of the wavefunction at large values of the spatial volume, but opposite triad orientations. Moreover, there is a similar quantity for generic difference equations of one parameter arising from a self-adjoint operator.Comment: 6 pages, to be published in Europhysics Letter

Características agronómicas de cuatro híbridos de pepino en el ambiente de Buenos Aires

p.69-77Se estudiaron cuatro híbridos diferentes de pepinos: Monarch, Dasher II, Sprint 44O S y Victory; sus rendimientos, precocidad y características morfológicas en dos fechas de siembra diferentes. No se encontraron diferencias significativas para los cuatro híbridos en todas las características estudiadas

Mode coupling of Schwarzschild perturbations: Ringdown frequencies

Within linearized perturbation theory, black holes decay to their final stationary state through the well-known spectrum of quasinormal modes. Here we numerically study whether nonlinearities change this picture. For that purpose we study the ringdown frequencies of gauge-invariant second-order gravitational perturbations induced by self-coupling of linearized perturbations of Schwarzschild black holes. We do so through high-accuracy simulations in the time domain of first and second-order Regge-Wheeler-Zerilli type equations, for a variety of initial data sets. We consider first-order even-parity $(\ell=2,m=\pm 2)$ perturbations and odd-parity $(\ell=2,m=0)$ ones, and all the multipoles that they generate through self-coupling. For all of them and all the initial data sets considered we find that ---in contrast to previous predictions in the literature--- the numerical decay frequencies of second-order perturbations are the same ones of linearized theory, and we explain the observed behavior. This would indicate, in particular, that when modeling or searching for ringdown gravitational waves, appropriately including the standard quasinormal modes already takes into account nonlinear effects

Estimation of Organic Matter Digestibility and Intake from Faecal Organic Matter and Daily N Excretion and Concentration

This study was performed with grazing sheep, to establish: a) if the amount of total faecal N (C; in g 100g-1 of organic matter intake (OMI)) remains constant at three feeding levels, in four utilisation periods of deferred Panicum coloratum cv. Verde; b) the relationship between C and faecal N fractions, and c) the relationship between faecal daily excretion of OM and N, and OMI. Intake increased (P\u3c 0.01) with utilisation period, and was related (r = - 0.82; P\u3c 0.01) to the protein content of food, the insoluble N fraction (r = -0.49; P\u3c 0.01) and the soluble:insoluble N ratio (r = 0.41; P\u3c 0.01) in faeces. No relation with total N concentration (r = -0.22; P\u3e 0.05) or soluble N fraction (r = -0.02; P\u3e 0.05) in faeces could be found. Daily excretion of OM and N were positively related (R2 = 0.93 and 0.96, respectively; P\u3c 0.01) to OMI. The slopes of regression lines, but not the intercepts, were different (P\u3c 0.01) between evaluation periods. The digestibility can be estimated from OMI and faecal N whenever time of the year is taken into consideration

Big Bounce and inhomogeneities

The dynamics of an inhomogeneous universe is studied with the methods of Loop Quantum Cosmology as an example of the quantization of vacuum cosmological spacetimes containing gravitational waves (Gowdy spacetimes). The analysis performed at the effective level shows that: (i) The initial Big Bang singularity is replaced (as in the case of homogeneous cosmological models) by a Big Bounce, joining deterministically two large universes, (ii) the universe size at the bounce is at least of the same order of magnitude as that of the background homogeneous universe, (iii) for each gravitational wave mode, the difference in amplitude at very early and very late times has a vanishing statistical average when the bounce dynamics is strongly dominated by the inhomogeneities, whereas this average is positive when the dynamics is in a near-vacuum regime, so that statistically the inhomogeneities are amplified.Comment: RevTex4, 4 pages, 2 figure

Improving Software Quality Through the Use of Statistics: An Initial Approach

Information systems development is a very important activity that is performed continuously in Information Systems departments. We can say that quality is a complex measurement of a product or service that people demands. However, quality is a measurement that is composed by a set of aspects. Quality measurement can be performed in concrete or abstract form. Software quality is a very important issue that developers must address properly, but a lot has to do with abstract aspects of it nonetheless. We proposed an approach that could reduce the abstractness of software quality measurement. In order to prove it, we conducted a study with encouraging results. We found that end-user participation in the evaluation IS quality can be improved

Microhistological Estimation of Leaf Blade Percentage in Diets from Monoespecific Pastures

Although a decrease in the leaf-stem ratio affects the nutritive value of pastures, herbivores can reinforce selection for leaf blades to maintain the quality of their diets. This study evaluated whether the percentage of fragments with furrows in blades could be used to estimate the relative intake of this part of the leaves by herbivores grazing monoespecific pastures. It was worked with vegetation of kleingrass (Panicum coloratum L.) from paddocks with three deferment periods. Blade samples, and different plant part mixtures hand compounded were in vitro digested. The digestion residues were microhistological analyzed determining the number of fragment with furrows (#FWF), and the total number of fragments (T#F). The blade percentages in mixtures was computed as: Estimated %Blademixtures = ((#FWFmixtures*100/ %FWFblades)/ T#Fmixtures))*100. The %FWF in blade samples (19+ 1.5%) was not affected (P\u3e 0.05) by changes in plant maturity determined by the length of the deferment period. The relationship between the actual blade percentages (y), and those determined by microanalysis (x) in mixtures was 1:1. This suggests that the microanalysis of feces or digestive contents could be used to estimate the percentages of blades in the diet of herbivores grazing monoespecific pastures