Coexistence of spherical states with deformed and superdeformed bands in doubly magic 40-Ca; A shell model challenge

Large scale shell model calculations, with dimensions reaching 10**9, are carried out to describe the recently observed deformed (ND) and superdeformed (SD) bands based on the first and second excited 0+ states of 40-Ca at 3.35-MeV and 5.21-MeV respectively. A valence space comprising two major oscillator shells, sd and pf, can accommodate most of the relevant degrees of freedom of this problem. The ND band is dominated by configurations with four particles promoted to the pf-shell (4p-4h in short). The SD band by 8p-8h configurations. The ground state of 40-Ca is strongly correlated, but the closed shell still amounts to 65%. The energies of the bands are very well reproduced by the calculations. The out-band transitions connecting the SD band with other states are very small and depend on the details of the mixing among the different np-nh configurations, in spite of that, the calculation describes them reasonably. For the in-band transition probabilities along the SD band, we predict a fairly constant transition quadrupole moment Q_0(t)~170 e fm**2 up to J=10, that decreases toward the higher spins. We submit also that the J=8 states of the deformed and superdeformed band are maximally mixed.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figure

Deformation of the lowermost mantle from seismic anisotropy

Understanding the lowermost part of the Earth’s mantle—known as D''—can help us investigate whole-mantle dynamics, core-mantle interactions and processes such as slab deformation in the deep Earth. D'' shows significant seismic anisotropy, the variation of seismic wave speed with direction. This is likely due to deformation- induced alignment of MgSiO3-post-perovskite (ppv), believed to be the main mineral phase present in the region; however if this is the case, then previous measurements of D'' anisotropy, which are generally made in one direction only, are insufficient to distinguish candidate mechanisms of slip in ppv because the mineral is orthorhombic. Here we measure anisotropy in D'' beneath North and Central America, where slab material impinges6 on the core-mantle boundary (CMB), using shallow as well as deep earthquakes to increase the azimuthal coverage in D!. We make >700 individual measurements of shear wave splitting in D'' in three regions from two different azimuths in each case, and we show that the previously-assumed case of vertical transverse isotropy (VTI, where wave speed shows no azimuthal variation) is not possible; more complicated mechanisms must be involved. We test the fit of different MgSiO3-ppv deformation mechanisms to our results and find that shear on (001) is most consistent with observations and expected shear above the CMB beneath subduction zones. With new models of mantle flow, or improved experimental evidence of which ppv slip systems dominate, this method will allow us to map deformation at the CMB and link processes in D'', such as plume initiation, to the rest of the mantle

Storm impacts on hydrodynamics and suspended-sediment fluxes in a microtidal back-barrier estuary

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Geology 404 (2018): 1-14, doi:10.1016/j.margeo.2018.06.016.Recent major storms have piqued interest in understanding the responses of estuarine hydrodynamics and sediment transport to these events. To that end, flow velocity, wave characteristics, and suspended-sediment concentration (SSC) were measured for 11 months at eight locations in Chincoteague Bay, MD/VA, USA, a shallow back-barrier estuary. Daily breezes and episodic storms generated sediment-resuspending waves and modified the flow velocity at all sites, which occupied channel, shoal, and sheltered-bay environments with different bed-sediment characteristics. Despite comparable SSC during calm periods, SSC at the channel locations was considerably greater than at the shoal sites during windy periods because of relatively more erodible bed sediment in the channels. Sediment fluxes were strongly wind modulated: within the bay's main channel, depth-integrated unit-width sediment flux increased nonlinearly with increasing wind speed. When averaged over all sites, about 35% of the flux occurred during windy periods (wind speed greater than 6 m s−1), which represented just 15% of the deployment time. At channel sites, the net water and sediment fluxes were opposite to the direction of the wind forcing, while at shoal sites, the fluxes generally were aligned with the wind, implying complex channel–shoal dynamics. Yearly sediment fluxes exceed previous estimates of sediment delivery to the entirety of Chincoteague Bay. These observations illustrate the dynamic sedimentary processes occurring within microtidal back-barrier lagoons and highlight the importance of storm events in the hydrodynamics and overall sediment budgets of these systems.his study was part of the Estuarine Physical Response to Storms project (GS2-2D), supported by the Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy Recovery program

Sediment dynamics of a divergent bay-marsh complex

Author Posting. © Springer Nature , 2020. This article is posted here by permission of Springer Nature for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nowacki, D. J., & Ganju, N. K. Sediment dynamics of a divergent bay-marsh complex. Estuaries and Coasts, (2020), doi:10.1007/s12237-020-00855-5.Bay–marsh systems, composed of an embayment surrounded by fringing marsh incised by tidal channels, are widely distributed coastal environments. External sediment availability, marsh-edge erosion, and sea-level rise acting on such bay–marsh complexes may drive diverse sediment-flux regimes. These factors reinforce the ephemeral and dynamic nature of fringing marshes: material released by marsh-edge erosion becomes part of a bay–marsh exchange that fuels the geomorphic evolution of the coupled system. The dynamics of this sediment exchange determine the balance among seaward export, deposition on the embayment seabed, flux into tidal channels, and import to the marsh platform. In this work, we investigate the sediment dynamics of a transgressive bay–marsh complex and link them to larger-scale considerations of its geomorphic trajectory. Grand Bay, Alabama/Mississippi, is a shallow microtidal embayment surrounded by salt marshes with lateral erosion rates of up to 5 m year−1. We collected 6 months of oceanographic data at four moorings within Grand Bay and its tidal channels to assess hydrographic conditions and net sediment-flux patterns and augmented the observations with numerical modeling. The observations imply a divergent sedimentary system in which a majority of the suspended sediment is exported seaward, while a smaller fraction is imported landward via tidal channels, assisting in vertical marsh-plain accumulation, maintenance of channel and intertidal-flat morphologies, and landward transgression. These results describe a dynamic system that is responsive to episodic atmospheric forcing in the absence of a strong tidal signal and the presence of severe lateral marsh loss.We thank the staff of the Grand Bay NERR for their role in facilitating fieldwork within Grand Bay. Jonathan Pitchford, also of the Grand Bay NERR, provided the SET data. Giulio Mariotti and an anonymous reviewer are acknowledged for their helpful comments

Continuation-based numerical detection of after-depolarization and spike-adding thresholds.

PublishedJournal ArticleResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov'tThe changes in neuronal firing pattern are signatures of brain function, and it is of interest to understand how such changes evolve as a function of neuronal biophysical properties. We address this important problem by the analysis and numerical investigation of a class of mechanistic mathematical models. We focus on a hippocampal pyramidal neuron model and study the occurrence of bursting related to the after-depolarization (ADP) that follows a brief current injection. This type of burst is a transient phenomenon that is not amenable to the classical bifurcation analysis done, for example, for periodic bursting oscillators. In this letter, we show how to formulate such transient behavior as a two-point boundary value problem (2PBVP), which can be solved using well-known continuation methods. The 2PBVP is formulated such that the transient response is represented by a finite orbit segment for which onsets of ADP and additional spikes in a burst can be detected as bifurcations during a one-parameter continuation. This in turn provides us with a direct method to approximate the boundaries of regions in a two-parameter plane where certain model behavior of interest occurs. More precisely, we use two-parameter continuation of the detected onset points to identify the boundaries between regions with and without ADP and bursts with different numbers of spikes. Our 2PBVP formulation is a novel approach to parameter sensitivity analysis that can be applied to a wide range of problems.The research for this letter was done while J.N. was a Ph.D. student at the University of Bristol, supported by grant EP/E032249/1 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). The research of K.T-A. was supported by EPSRC grant EP/I018638/1 and that of H.M.O. by grant UOA0718 of the Royal Society of NZ Marsden Fun

Dynamical systems analysis of spike-adding mechanisms in transient bursts

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: doi:10.1186/2190-8567-2-7Open Access ArticleTransient bursting behaviour of excitable cells, such as neurons, is a common feature observed experimentally, but theoretically, it is not well understood. We analyse a five-dimensional simplified model of after-depolarisation that exhibits transient bursting behaviour when perturbed with a short current injection. Using one-parameter continuation of the perturbed orbit segment formulated as a well-posed boundary value problem, we show that the spike-adding mechanism is a canard-like transition that has a different character from known mechanisms for periodic burst solutions. The biophysical basis of the model gives a natural time-scale separation, which allows us to explain the spike-adding mechanism using geometric singular perturbation theory, but it does not involve actual bifurcations as for periodic bursts. We show that unstable sheets of the critical manifold, formed by saddle equilibria of the system that only exist in a singular limit, are responsible for the spike-adding transition; the transition is organised by the slow flow on the critical manifold near folds of this manifold. Our analysis shows that the orbit segment during the spike-adding transition includes a fast transition between two unstable sheets of the slow manifold that are of saddle type. We also discuss a different parameter regime where the presence of additional saddle equilibria of the full system alters the spike-adding mechanism.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Backbending in 50Cr

The collective yrast band and the high spin states of the nucleus 50Cr are studied using the spherical shell model and the HFB method. The two descriptions lead to nearly the same values for the relevant observables. A first backbending is predicted at I=10\hbar corresponding to a collective to non-collective transition. At I=16\hbar a second backbending occurs, associated to a configuration change that can also be interpreted as an spherical to triaxial transition.Comment: ReVTeX v 3.0 epsf.sty, 5 pages, 5 figures included. Full Postscript version available at http://www.ft.uam.es/~gabriel/Cr50art.ps.g

Spectral wave dissipation by submerged aquatic vegetation in a back-barrier estuary

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Limnology and Oceanography 62 (2017): 736–753, doi:10.1002/lno.10456.Submerged aquatic vegetation is generally thought to attenuate waves, but this interaction remains poorly characterized in shallow-water field settings with locally generated wind waves. Better quantification of wave–vegetation interaction can provide insight to morphodynamic changes in a variety of environments and also is relevant to the planning of nature-based coastal protection measures. Toward that end, an instrumented transect was deployed across a Zostera marina (common eelgrass) meadow in Chincoteague Bay, Maryland/Virginia, U.S.A., to characterize wind-wave transformation within the vegetated region. Field observations revealed wave-height reduction, wave-period transformation, and wave-energy dissipation with distance into the meadow, and the data informed and calibrated a spectral wave model of the study area. The field observations and model results agreed well when local wind forcing and vegetation-induced drag were included in the model, either explicitly as rigid vegetation elements or implicitly as large bed-roughness values. Mean modeled parameters were similar for both the explicit and implicit approaches, but the spectral performance of the explicit approach was poor compared to the implicit approach. The explicit approach over-predicted low-frequency energy within the meadow because the vegetation scheme determines dissipation using mean wavenumber and frequency, in contrast to the bed-friction formulations, which dissipate energy in a variable fashion across frequency bands. Regardless of the vegetation scheme used, vegetation was the most important component of wave dissipation within much of the study area. These results help to quantify the influence of submerged aquatic vegetation on wave dynamics in future model parameterizations, field efforts, and coastal-protection measures.Department of the Interior Hurricane Sandy Recovery. U.S. Governmen