Reduced dynamics and Lagrangian submanifolds of symplectic manifolds

In this paper, we will see that the symplectic creed by Weinstein "everything is a Lagrangian submanifold" also holds for Hamilton-Poincar\'e and Lagrange-Poincar\'e reduction. In fact, we show that solutions of the Hamilton-Poincar\'e equations and of the Lagrange-Poincar\'e equations are in one-to-one correspondence with distinguished curves in a Lagrangian submanifold of a symplectic manifold. For this purpose, we will combine the concept of a Tulczyjew triple with Marsden-Weinstein symplectic reduction.Comment: 26 page

Leibniz algebroid associated with a Nambu-Poisson structure

The notion of Leibniz algebroid is introduced, and it is shown that each Nambu-Poisson manifold has associated a canonical Leibniz algebroid. This fact permits to define the modular class of a Nambu-Poisson manifold as an appropiate cohomology class, extending the well-known modular class of Poisson manifolds

Air quality in the Industrial Heartland of Alberta, Canada and potential impacts on human health.

The "Industrial Heartland" of Alberta is Canada's largest hydrocarbon processing center, with more than 40 major chemical, petrochemical, and oil and gas facilities. Emissions from these industries affect local air quality and human health. This paper characterizes ambient levels of 77 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the region using high-precision measurements collected in summer 2010. Remarkably strong enhancements of 43 VOCs were detected, and concentrations in the industrial plumes were often similar to or even higher than levels measured in some of the world's largest cities and industrial regions. For example maximum levels of propene and i-pentane exceeded 100 ppbv, and 1,3-butadiene, a known carcinogen, reached 27 ppbv. Major VOC sources included propene fractionation, diluent separation and bitumen processing. Emissions of the measured VOCs increased the hydroxyl radical reactivity (kOH), a measure of the potential to form downwind ozone, from 3.4 s-1 in background air to 62 s-1 in the most concentrated plumes. The plume value was comparable to polluted megacity values, and acetaldehyde, propene and 1,3-butadiene contributed over half of the plume kOH. Based on a 13-year record (1994-2006) at the county level, the incidence of male hematopoietic cancers (leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma) was higher in communities closest to the Industrial Heartland compared to neighboring counties. While a causal association between these cancers and exposure to industrial emissions cannot be confirmed, this pattern and the elevated VOC levels warrant actions to reduce emissions of known carcinogens, including benzene and 1,3-butadiene

Near-infrared photometry of isolated spirals with and without an AGN. I: The Data

We present infrared imaging data in the J and K' bands obtained for 18 active spiral galaxies, together with 11 non active galaxies taken as a control sample. All of them were chosen to satisfy well defined isolation criteria so that the observed properties are not related to gravitational interaction. For each object we give: the image in the K' band, the sharp-divided image (obtained by dividing the observed image by a filtered one), the difference image (obtained by subtracting a model to the observed one), the color J-K' image, the ellipticity and position angle profiles, the surface brightness profiles in J and K', their fits by bulge+disk models and the color gradient. We have found that four (one) active (control) galaxies previously classified as non-barred turn out to have bars when observed in the near-infrared. One of these four galaxies (UGC 1395) also harbours a secondary bar. For 15 (9 active, 6 control) out of 24 (14 active, 10 control) of the optically classified barred galaxies (SB or SX) we find that a secondary bar (or a disk, a lense or an elongated ring) is present. The work presented here is part of a large program (DEGAS) aimed at finding whether there are differences between active and non active galaxies in the properties of their central regions that could be connected with the onset of nuclear activity.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplement Serie

A general framework for nonholonomic mechanics: Nonholonomic Systems on Lie affgebroids

This paper presents a geometric description of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems on Lie affgebroids subject to affine nonholonomic constraints. We define the notion of nonholonomically constrained system, and characterize regularity conditions that guarantee that the dynamics of the system can be obtained as a suitable projection of the unconstrained dynamics. It is shown that one can define an almost aff-Poisson bracket on the constraint AV-bundle, which plays a prominent role in the description of nonholonomic dynamics. Moreover, these developments give a general description of nonholonomic systems and the unified treatment permits to study nonholonomic systems after or before reduction in the same framework. Also, it is not necessary to distinguish between linear or affine constraints and the methods are valid for explicitly time-dependent systems.Comment: 50 page

Sensitivity study of surface wind flow of a limited area model simulating the extratropical storm Delta affecting the Canary Islands

In November 2005 an extratropical storm named Delta affected the Canary Islands (Spain). The high sustained wind and intense gusts experienced caused significant damage. A numerical sensitivity study of Delta was conducted using the Weather Research & Forecasting Model (WRF-ARW). A total of 27 simulations were performed. Non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic experiments were designed taking into account physical parameterizations and geometrical factors (size and position of the outer domain, definition or not of nested grids, horizontal resolution and number of vertical levels). The Factor Separation Method was applied in order to identify the major model sensitivity parameters under this unusual meteorological situation. Results associated to percentage changes relatives to a control run simulation demonstrated that boundary layer and surface layer schemes, horizontal resolutions, hydrostaticity option and nesting grid activation were the model configuration parameters with the greatest impact on the 48 h maximum 10 m horizontal wind speed solution