105 research outputs found
Note on the Existence of Hydrogen Atoms in Higher Dimensional Euclidean Spaces
The question of whether hydrogen atoms can exist or not in spaces with a
number of dimensions greater than 3 is revisited, considering higher
dimensional Euclidean spaces. Previous results which lead to different answers
to this question are briefly reviewed. The scenario where not only the
kinematical term of Schr\"odinger equation is generalized to a D-dimensional
space but also the electric charge conservation law (expressed here by the
Poisson law) should actually remains valid is assumed. In this case, the
potential energy in the Schr\"odinger equation goes like 1/r^{D-2}. The lowest
quantum mechanical bound states and the corresponding wave functions are
determined by applying the Numerov numerical method to solve Schr\"odinger's
eigenvalue equation. States for different angular momentum quantum number (l =
0; 1) and dimensionality (5 \leq D \leq 10) are considered. One is lead to the
result that hydrogen atoms in higher dimensions could actually exist. For the
same range of the dimensionality D, the energy eigenvalues and wave functions
are determined for l = 1. The most probable distance between the electron and
the nucleus are then computed as a function of D showing the possibility of
tiny bound states.Comment: 19 pages, 6 figure
On the Parameters of the QCD-Motivated Potential in the Relativistic Independent Quark Model
In the framework of the relativistic independent quark model the parameters
of the QCD-motivated static potential and the quark masses are calculated on
the basis of the meson mass spectra. The value of the confining
potential coefficient is found to be ({}^2q\bar qe^+e^-$ decay widths are estimated with the help of relativistic
modification of the Van Royen-Weisskopf formula.Comment: 10 pages, LaTex; added references for the beginning, changed the last
paragraph at the end, made a few stylistic correction
Host species determines egg size in Oriental cuckoo
© 2018 The Zoological Society of London.The Oriental cuckoo Cuculus optatus is an obligate brood parasite associated with species of the genus Phylloscopus. Four distinct phenotypes of Oriental cuckoo eggs, matching eggshell colour patterns of Arctic warbler Phylloscopus borealis, common chiffchaff (Siberian) P. collybita tristis, yellow-browed warbler P. inornatus and Pallas's leaf warbler P. proregulus, have been identified in the Russian part of its breeding area. We compared egg length, breadth and volume of Oriental cuckoo egg phenotypes with eggs of the corresponding hosts from three geographical regions in Russia: the Urals, Siberia and the Far East. We found significant oometric differences between Oriental cuckoo egg phenotypes. Egg breadth of each cuckoo group matched the egg breadth of the host species, while the length of cuckoo eggs did not match egg length in host species. Our results can be explained in terms of clutch geometry. An egg sticking out above the clutch is likely to be rejected by the host and so breadth should match the host's egg. This constrains cuckoos in maintaining large egg volumes, which are essential for providing a cuckoo chick with the energy required to eject the host eggs and chicks. An increased egg length might compensate for breadth constraints. We suggest that the size of cuckoo eggs might also be affected by parental care - when only one parent is involved in feeding, eggs need to be larger. This might explain why the longest cuckoo eggs belonged to the phenotype parasitizing the smallest host, Pallas's leaf warbler, where only one parent feeds the chicks. In our view, differences in egg sizes of Oriental cuckoo phenotypes provide evidence of their adaptations to brood parasitism on small leaf warbler species.Peer reviewe
Variation and long-term trends in the timing of breeding of different Eurasian populations of Common Redstart Phoenicurus phoenicurus
Intersubband-induced spin-orbit interaction in quantum wells
Recently, we have found an additional spin-orbit (SO) interaction in quantum
wells with two subbands [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 076603 (2007)]. This new SO term
is non-zero even in symmetric geometries, as it arises from the intersubband
coupling between confined states of distinct parities, and its strength is
comparable to that of the ordinary Rashba. Starting from the Kane
model, here we present a detailed derivation of this new SO Hamiltonian and the
corresponding SO coupling. In addition, within the self-consistent Hartree
approximation, we calculate the strength of this new SO coupling for realistic
symmetric modulation-doped wells with two subbands. We consider gated
structures with either a constant areal electron density or a constant chemical
potential. In the parameter range studied, both models give similar results. By
considering the effects of an external applied bias, which breaks the
structural inversion symmetry of the wells, we also calculate the strength of
the resulting induced Rashba couplings within each subband. Interestingly, we
find that for double wells the Rashba couplings for the first and second
subbands interchange signs abruptly across the zero bias, while the
intersubband SO coupling exhibits a resonant behavior near this symmetric
configuration. For completeness we also determine the strength of the
Dresselhaus couplings and find them essentially constant as function of the
applied bias.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figure
Outcomes of Brood Parasite–Host Interactions Mediated by Egg Matching: Common Cuckoos Cuculus canorus versus Fringilla Finches
Antagonistic species often interact via matching of phenotypes, and interactions between brood parasitic common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus) and their hosts constitute classic examples. The outcome of a parasitic event is often determined by the match between host and cuckoo eggs, giving rise to potentially strong associations between fitness and egg phenotype. Yet, empirical efforts aiming to document and understand the resulting evolutionary outcomes are in short supply.We used avian color space models to analyze patterns of egg color variation within and between the cuckoo and two closely related hosts, the nomadic brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) and the site fidelic chaffinch (F. coelebs). We found that there is pronounced opportunity for disruptive selection on brambling egg coloration. The corresponding cuckoo host race has evolved egg colors that maximize fitness in both sympatric and allopatric brambling populations. By contrast, the chaffinch has a more bimodal egg color distribution consistent with the evolutionary direction predicted for the brambling. Whereas the brambling and its cuckoo host race show little geographical variation in their egg color distributions, the chaffinch's distribution becomes increasingly dissimilar to the brambling's distribution towards the core area of the brambling cuckoo host race.High rates of brambling gene flow is likely to cool down coevolutionary hot spots by cancelling out the selection imposed by a patchily distributed cuckoo host race, thereby promoting a matching equilibrium. By contrast, the site fidelic chaffinch is more likely to respond to selection from adapting cuckoos, resulting in a markedly more bimodal egg color distribution. The geographic variation in the chaffinch's egg color distribution could reflect a historical gradient in parasitism pressure. Finally, marked cuckoo egg polymorphisms are unlikely to evolve in these systems unless the hosts evolve even more exquisite egg recognition capabilities than currently possessed
The effect of climate change on avian offspring production: A global meta-analysis
Climate change affects timing of reproduction in many bird species, but few studies have investigated its influence on annual reproductive output. Here, we assess changes in the annual production of young by female breeders in 201 populations of 104 bird species (N = 745,962 clutches) covering all continents between 1970 and 2019. Overall, average offspring production has declined in recent decades, but considerable differences were found among species and populations. A total of 56.7% of populations showed a declining trend in offspring production (significant in 17.4%), whereas 43.3% exhibited an increase (significant in 10.4%). The results show that climatic changes affect offspring production through compounded effects on ecological and life history traits of species. Migratory and larger-bodied species experienced reduced offspring production with increasing temperatures during the chick-rearing period, whereas smaller-bodied, sedentary species tended to produce more offspring. Likewise, multi-brooded species showed increased breeding success with increasing temperatures, whereas rising temperatures were unrelated to repro- ductive success in single-brooded species. Our study suggests that rapid declines in size of bird populations reported by many studies from different parts of the world are driven only to a small degree by changes in the production of young
On the subject of numerical integration of the equations of perturbed motion in special coordinates
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