5,541 research outputs found
Opinion: we need better data about the environmental persistence of plastic goods
Author Posting. © National Academy of Sciences, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117(26), (2020): 14618-14621, doi:10.1073/pnas.2008009117.Plastic pollution is one of the most visible and complex environmental issues today. Interested and concerned parties include researchers, governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, industry, media, and the general public. One key assumption behind the issue and the public outcry is that plastics last indefinitely in the environment, resulting in chronic exposure that harms animals and humans. But the data supporting this assumption are scant.We thank Briana Prado, Cassia Armstrong, and Anna Walsh for their help with the review, Kenneth Kostel, Katie Linehan, Daniel Ward, and Rose Cory for feedback on an earlier version of this piece, John Furfey for assistance with tracking down the original sources of the environmental lifetime estimates, and Natalie Reiner for help with Fig. 1. We acknowledge financial support from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (Woods Hole, MA) and the Seaver Institute (Los Angeles, CA).2020-12-1
Clues to Quasar Broad Line Region Geometry and Kinematics
We present evidence that the high-velocity CIV lambda 1549 emission line gas
of radio-loud quasars may originate in a disk-like configuration, in close
proximity to the accretion disk often assumed to emit the low-ionization lines.
For a sample of 36 radio-loud z~2 quasars we find the 20--30% peak width to
show significant inverse correlations with the fractional radio core-flux
density, R, the radio axis inclination indicator. Highly inclined systems have
broader line wings, consistent with a high-velocity field perpendicular to the
radio axis. By contrast, the narrow line-core shows no such relation with R, so
the lowest velocity CIV-emitting gas has an inclination independent velocity
field. We propose that this low-velocity gas is located at higher
disk-altitudes than the high-velocity gas. A planar origin of the high-velocity
CIV-emission is consistent with the current results and with an accretion
disk-wind emitting the broad lines. A spherical distribution of randomly
orbiting broad-line clouds and a polar high-ionization outflow are ruled out.Comment: 5 Latex pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Improved TPB-coated Light Guides for Liquid Argon TPC Light Detection Systems
Scintillation light produced in liquid argon (LAr) must be shifted from 128
nm to visible wavelengths in light detection systems used for liquid argon
time-projection chambers (LArTPCs). To date, LArTPC light collection systems
have employed tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) coatings on photomultiplier tubes
(PMTs) or plates placed in front of the PMTs. Recently, a new approach using
TPB-coated light guides was proposed. In this paper, we report on light guides
with improved attenuation lengths above 100 cm when measured in air. This is an
important step in the development of meter-scale light guides for future
LArTPCs. Improvements come from using a new acrylic-based coating,
diamond-polished cast UV transmitting acrylic bars, and a hand-dipping
technique to coat the bars. We discuss a model for connecting bar response in
air to response in liquid argon and compare this to data taken in liquid argon.
The good agreement between the prediction of the model and the measured
response in liquid argon demonstrates that characterization in air is
sufficient for quality control of bar production. This model can be used in
simulations of light guides for future experiments.Comment: 25 pages, 20 figure
Cu NMR evidence for enhanced antiferromagnetic correlations around Zn impurities in YBa2Cu3O6.7
Doping the high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.7 with 1.5 % of non-magnetic Zn
impurities in CuO2 planes is shown to produce a considerable broadening of 63Cu
NMR spectra, as well as an increase of low-energy magnetic fluctuations
detected in 63Cu spin-lattice relaxation measurements. A model-independent
analysis demonstrates that these effects are due to the development of
staggered magnetic moments on many Cu sites around each Zn and that the
Zn-induced moment in the bulk susceptibility might be explained by this
staggered magnetization. Several implications of these enhanced
antiferromagnetic correlations are discussed.Comment: 4 pages including 2 figure
Intrinsic susceptibility and bond defects in the novel 2D frustrated antiferromagnet BaSnZnCrGaO
We present microscopic and macroscopic magnetic properties of the highly
frustrated antiferromagnet BaSnZnCrGaO,
respectively probed with NMR and SQUID experiments. The -variation of the
intrinsic susceptibility of the Cr frustrated kagom\'{e} bilayer,
, displays a maximum around 45 K. The dilution of the magnetic
lattice has been studied in detail for . Novel dilution
independent defects, likely related with magnetic bond disorder, are evidenced
and discussed. We compare our results to SrCrGaO. Both
bond defects and spin vacancies do not affect the average susceptibility of the
kagom\'{e} bilayers.Comment: Published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 217202 (2004). Only minor changes
as compared to previous version. 4 pages, 4 figure
The Effects of Dissolved Methane upon Liquid Argon Scintillation Light
In this paper we report on measurements of the effects of dissolved methane
upon argon scintillation light. We monitor the light yield from an alpha source
held 20 cm from a cryogenic photomultiplier tube (PMT) assembly as methane is
injected into a high-purity liquid argon volume. We observe significant
suppression of the scintillation light yield by dissolved methane at the 10
part per billion (ppb) level. By examining the late scintillation light time
constant, we determine that this loss is caused by an absorption process and
also see some evidence of methane-induced scintillation quenching at higher
concentrations (50-100 ppb). Using a second PMT assembly we look for visible
re-emission features from the dissolved methane which have been reported in
gas-phase argon methane mixtures, and we find no evidence of visible
re-emission from liquid-phase argon methane mixtures at concentrations between
10 ppb and 0.1%.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures Updated to match published versio
Measuring microwave quantum states: tomogram and moments
Two measurable characteristics of microwave one-mode photon states are
discussed: a rotated quadrature distribution (tomogram) and
normally/antinormally ordered moments of photon creation and annihilation
operators. Extraction of these characteristics from amplified microwave signal
is presented. Relations between the tomogram and the moments are found and can
be used as a cross check of experiments. Formalism of the ordered moments is
developed. The state purity and generalized uncertainty relations are
considered in terms of moments. Unitary and non-unitary time evolution of
moments is obtained in the form of linear differential equations in contrast to
partial differential equations for quasidistributions. Time evolution is
specified for the cases of a harmonic oscillator and a damped harmonic
oscillator, which describe noiseless and decoherence processes, respectively.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Normal State Magnetic Properties of Ni and Zn Substituted in YBa_{2}Cu_{3} O_{6+x}: Hole-Doping Dependence
We present SQUID susceptibility data on Zn and Ni substituted
YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x}. Cross-checks with NMR yield an unprecedented accuracy in
the estimate of the magnetic susceptibility associated with the substituants,
from the underdoped to the lightly overdoped case. This allows us to determine
the Weiss temperature \theta for YBCO: its value is very small for all hole
dopings n_h. Since in conventional metals, the Kondo temperature,
, magnetic screening effects would not be expected for ; in contrast, increasing n_h produces a reduction of the small moment
induced by Zn^{2+} and a nearly constant effective moment for Ni^{2+}
corresponding to a spin 1/2 rather than to a spin 1.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Europhysics Letter
On homogenization of electromagnetic crystals formed by uniaxial resonant scatterers
Dispersion properties of electromagnetic crystals formed by small uniaxial
resonant scatterers (magnetic or electric) are studied using the local field
approach. The goal of the study is to determine the conditions under which the
homogenization of such crystals can be made. Therefore the consideration is
limited by the frequency region where the wavelength in the host medium is
larger than the lattice periods. It is demonstrated that together with known
restriction for the homogenization related with the large values of the
material parameters there is an additional restriction related with their small
absolute values. From the other hand, the homogenization becomes allowed in
both cases of large and small material parameters for special directions of
propagation. Two unusual effects inherent to the crystals under consideration
are revealed: flat isofrequency contour which allows subwavelength imaging
using canalization regime and birefringence of extraordinary modes which can be
used for beam splitting.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PR
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