Incompatible sets of gradients and metastability

We give a mathematical analysis of a concept of metastability induced by incompatibility. The physical setting is a single parent phase, just about to undergo transformation to a product phase of lower energy density. Under certain conditions of incompatibility of the energy wells of this energy density, we show that the parent phase is metastable in a strong sense, namely it is a local minimizer of the free energy in an $L^1$ neighbourhood of its deformation. The reason behind this result is that, due to the incompatibility of the energy wells, a small nucleus of the product phase is necessarily accompanied by a stressed transition layer whose energetic cost exceeds the energy lowering capacity of the nucleus. We define and characterize incompatible sets of matrices, in terms of which the transition layer estimate at the heart of the proof of metastability is expressed. Finally we discuss connections with experiment and place this concept of metastability in the wider context of recent theoretical and experimental research on metastability and hysteresis.Comment: Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, to appea

Comments to paper entitled "Predicting scleral GP lens entrapped tear layer oxygen tensions"

(undefined

Profiling for run-time checking of computational properties and performance debugging in logic programs

Although several profiling techniques for identifying performance bottlenecks in logic programs have been developed, they are generally not automatic and in most cases they do not provide enough information for identifying the root causes of such bottlenecks. This complicates using their results for guiding performance improvement. We present a profiling method and tool that provides such explanations. Our profiler associates cost centers to certain program elements and can measure different types of resource-related properties that affect performance, preserving the precedence of cost centers in the cali graph. It includes an automatic method for detecting procedures that are performance bottlenecks. The profiling tool has been integrated in a previously developed run-time checking framework to allow verification of certain properties when they cannot be verified statically. The approach allows checking global computational properties which require complex instrumentation tracking information about previous execution states, such as, e.g., that the execution time accumulated by a given procedure is not greater than a given bound. We have built a prototype implementation, integrated it in the Ciao/CiaoPP system and successfully applied it to performance improvement, automatic optimization (e.g., resource-aware specialization of programs), run-time checking, and debugging of global computational properties (e.g., resource usage) in Prolog programs

Dynamics of Tachyon and Phantom Field beyond the Inverse Square Potentials

We investigate the cosmological evolution of the tachyon and phantom-tachyon scalar field by considering the potential parameter $\Gamma$($=\frac{V V"}{V'^2}$) as a function of another potential parameter $\lambda$($=\frac{V'}{\kappa V^{3/2}}$), which correspondingly extends the analysis of the evolution of our universe from two-dimensional autonomous dynamical system to the three-dimension. It allows us to investigate the more general situation where the potential is not restricted to inverse square potential and .One result is that, apart from the inverse square potential, there are a large number of potentials which can give the scaling and dominant solution when the function $\Gamma(\lambda)$ equals $3/2$ for one or some values of $\lambda_{*}$ as well as the parameter $\lambda_{*}$ satisfies condition Eq.(18) or Eq.(19). We also find that for a class of different potentials the dynamics evolution of the universe are actually the same and therefore undistinguishable.Comment: 8 pages, no figure, accepted by The European Physical Journal C(2010), online first, http://www.springerlink.com/content/323417h708gun5g8/?p=dd373adf23b84743b523a3fa249d51c7&pi=

Planck-scale quintessence and the physics of structure formation

In a recent paper we considered the possibility of a scalar field providing an explanation for the cosmic acceleration. Our model had the interesting properties of attractor-like behavior and having its parameters of O(1) in Planck units. Here we discuss the effect of the field on large scale structure and CMB anisotropies. We show how some versions of our model inspired by "brane" physics have novel features due to the fact that the scalar field has a significant role over a wider range of redshifts than for typical "dark energy" models. One of these features is the additional suppression of the formation of large scale structure, as compared with cosmological constant models. In light of the new pressures being placed on cosmological parameters (in particular H_0) by CMB data, this added suppression allows our "brane" models to give excellent fits to both CMB and large scale structure data.Comment: 18 pages, 12 figures, submitted to PR

Restructuring of the "Macaronesia" biogeografic unit: a marine multi-taxon biogeographical approach

The Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cabo Verde are commonly united under the term “Macaronesia”. This study investigates the coherency and validity of Macaronesia as a biogeographic unit using six marine groups with very different dispersal abilities: coastal fishes, echinoderms, gastropod molluscs, brachyuran decapod crustaceans, polychaete annelids, and macroalgae. We found no support for the current concept of Macaronesia as a coherent marine biogeographic unit. All marine groups studied suggest the exclusion of Cabo Verde from the remaining Macaronesian archipelagos and thus, Cabo Verde should be given the status of a biogeographic subprovince within the West African Transition province. We propose to redefine the Lusitanian biogeographical province, in which we include four ecoregions: the South European Atlantic Shelf, the Saharan Upwelling, the Azores, and a new ecoregion herein named Webbnesia, which comprises the archipelagos of Madeira, Selvagens and the Canary Islandsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A device for feasible fidelity, purity, Hilbert-Schmidt distance and entanglement witness measurements

A generic model of measurement device which is able to directly measure commonly used quantum-state characteristics such as fidelity, overlap, purity and Hilbert-Schmidt distance for two general uncorrelated mixed states is proposed. In addition, for two correlated mixed states, the measurement realizes an entanglement witness for Werner's separability criterion. To determine these observables, the estimation only one parameter - the visibility of interference, is needed. The implementations in cavity QED, trapped ion and electromagnetically induced transparency experiments are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Inflation, cold dark matter, and the central density problem

A problem with high central densities in dark halos has arisen in the context of LCDM cosmologies with scale-invariant initial power spectra. Although n=1 is often justified by appealing to the inflation scenario, inflationary models with mild deviations from scale-invariance are not uncommon and models with significant running of the spectral index are plausible. Even mild deviations from scale-invariance can be important because halo collapse times and densities depend on the relative amount of small-scale power. We choose several popular models of inflation and work out the ramifications for galaxy central densities. For each model, we calculate its COBE-normalized power spectrum and deduce the implied halo densities using a semi-analytic method calibrated against N-body simulations. We compare our predictions to a sample of dark matter-dominated galaxies using a non-parametric measure of the density. While standard n=1, LCDM halos are overdense by a factor of 6, several of our example inflation+CDM models predict halo densities well within the range preferred by observations. We also show how the presence of massive (0.5 eV) neutrinos may help to alleviate the central density problem even with n=1. We conclude that galaxy central densities may not be as problematic for the CDM paradigm as is sometimes assumed: rather than telling us something about the nature of the dark matter, galaxy rotation curves may be telling us something about inflation and/or neutrinos. An important test of this idea will be an eventual consensus on the value of sigma_8, the rms overdensity on the scale 8 h^-1 Mpc. Our successful models have values of sigma_8 approximately 0.75, which is within the range of recent determinations. Finally, models with n>1 (or sigma_8 > 1) are highly disfavored.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Minor changes made to reflect referee's Comments, error in Eq. (18) corrected, references updated and corrected, conclusions unchanged. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D, scheduled for 15 August 200

Green manure in coffee systems in the region of Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais: characteristics and kinetics of carbon and nitrogen mineralization.

The use of green manure may contribute to reduce soil erosion and increase the soil organic matter content and N availability in coffee plantations in the Zona da Mata, State of Minas Gerais, in Southeastern Brazil. The potential of four legumes (A. pintoi, C. mucunoides, S. aterrimum and S. guianensis)to produce above-ground biomass, accumulate nutrients and mineralize N was studied in two coffee plantations of subsistence farmers under different climate conditions. The biomass production of C. mucunoides was influenced by the shade of the coffee plantation.C. mucunoides tended to mineralize more N than the other legumes due to the low polyphenol content and polyphenol/N ratio. In the first year, the crop establishment of A. pintoi in the area took longer than of the other legumes, resulting in lower biomass production and N2 fixation. In the long term, cellulose was the main factor controlling N mineralization. The biochemical characteristics, nutrient accumulation and biomass production of the legumes were greatly influenced by the altitude and position of the area relative to the sun

Dark energy and dark matter from an inhomogeneous dilaton

A cosmological scenario is proposed where the dark matter (DM) and dark energy (DE) of the universe are two simultaneous manifestations of an inhomogenous dilaton. The equation of state of the field is scale-dependent and pressureless at galactic and larger scales and it has negative pressure as a DE at very large scales. The dilaton drives an inflationary phase followed by a kinetic energy-dominated one, as in the "quintessential inflation" model introduced by Peebles & Vilenkin, and soon after the end of inflation particle production seeds the first inhomogeneities that lead to galaxy formation. The dilaton is trapped near the minimum of the potential where it oscillates like a massive field, and the excess of kinetic energy is dissipated via the mechanism of "gravitational cooling" first introduced by Seidel & Suen. The inhomogeneities therefore behave like solitonic oscillations around the minimum of the potential, known as "oscillatons", that we propose account for most DM in galaxies. Those regions where the dilaton does not transform enough kinetic energy into reheating or carry an excess of it from regions that have cooled, evolve to the tail of the potential as DE, driving the acceleration of the universe.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, uses revtex, submitted PR