1,522 research outputs found
The Energy Density of "Wound" Fields in a Toroidal Universe
The observational limits on the present energy density of the Universe allow
for a component that redshifts like and can contribute significantly to
the total. We show that a possible origin for such a contribution is that the
universe has a toroidal topology with "wound" scalar fields around its cycles.Comment: 11 pages, 1figur
Caracterização físico-química de frutos de novos híbridos e linhagens de mamoeiro
O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar genótipos de mamoeiro quanto às suas características físicas e físico-químicas, para identificar os mais promissores como novas cultivares comerciais. Foram realizadas análises de comprimento, diâmetro, diâmetro da cavidade interna, massa do fruto, espessura da polpa, firmeza do fruto com casca, firmeza da polpa, cor da polpa, acidez titulável, sólidos solúveis, pH, carotenoides totais e vitamina C em 22 genótipos. Observou-se variação significativa entre os genótipos para as características comprimento e massa dos frutos. Em relação à firmeza dos frutos com casca, 12 genótipos apresentaram firmeza superior à das cultivares comerciais Tainung No 1 e Sunrise Solo. A análise de correlação indicou que frutos com maior comprimento, diâmetro e diâmetro da cavidade interna tendem a apresentar maior peso e espessura de polpa, enquanto frutos com maiores teores de sólidos solúveis tendem a apresentar maior razão sólidos solúveis/acidez titulável, vitamina C e carotenoides totais. A linhagem L72, do grupo Solo, e o híbrido H36.45, do grupo Formosa, apresentam frutos com características físicas e físico-químicas semelhantes ou superiores às das cultivares comerciais Sunrise Solo e Tainung No 1, respectivamente, e, portanto, são promissoras para o mercado
Scalar perturbation spectra from warm inflation
We present a numerical integration of the cosmological scalar perturbation
equations in warm inflation. The initial conditions are provided by a
discussion of the thermal fluctuations of an inflaton field and thermal
radiation using a combination of thermal field theory and thermodynamics. The
perturbation equations include the effects of a damping coefficient
and a thermodynamic potential . We give an analytic expression for the
spectral index of scalar fluctuations in terms of a new slow-roll parameter
constructed from . A series of toy models, inspired by spontaneous
symmetry breaking and a known form of the damping coefficient, lead to a
spectrum with on large scales and on small scales.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, RevTeX 4, revised with extra figure
Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi model and accelerating expansion
I discuss the spherically symmetric but inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman- Bondi
(LTB) metric, which provides an exact toy model for an inhomogeneous universe.
Since we observe light rays from the past light cone, not the expansion of the
universe, spatial variation in matter density and Hubble rate can have the same
effect on redshift as acceleration in a perfectly homogeneous universe. As a
consequence, a simple spatial variation in the Hubble rate can account for the
distant supernova data in a dust universe without any dark energy. I also
review various attempts towards a semirealistic description of the universe
based on the LTB model.Comment: Invited Review for a special Gen. Rel. Grav. issue on Dark Energy. 17
pages, 3 figure
Bianchi type I space and the stability of inflationary Friedmann-Robertson-Walker space
Stability analysis of the Bianchi type I universe in pure gravity theory is
studied in details. We first derive the non-redundant field equation of the
system by introducing the generalized Bianchi type I metric. This non-redundant
equation reduces to the Friedmann equation in the isotropic limit. It is shown
further that any unstable mode of the isotropic perturbation with respect to a
de Sitter background is also unstable with respect to anisotropic
perturbations. Implications to the choice of physical theories are discussed in
details in this paper.Comment: 5 pages, some comment adde
Observational Constraints on Chaplygin Quartessence: Background Results
We derive the constraints set by several experiments on the quartessence
Chaplygin model (QCM). In this scenario, a single fluid component drives the
Universe from a nonrelativistic matter-dominated phase to an accelerated
expansion phase behaving, first, like dark matter and in a more recent epoch
like dark energy. We consider current data from SNIa experiments, statistics of
gravitational lensing, FR IIb radio galaxies, and x-ray gas mass fraction in
galaxy clusters. We investigate the constraints from this data set on flat
Chaplygin quartessence cosmologies. The observables considered here are
dependent essentially on the background geometry, and not on the specific form
of the QCM fluctuations. We obtain the confidence region on the two parameters
of the model from a combined analysis of all the above tests. We find that the
best-fit occurs close to the CDM limit (). The standard
Chaplygin quartessence () is also allowed by the data, but only at
the level.Comment: Replaced to match the published version, references update
Molecular-assisted selection for resistance to cassava mosaic disease in Manihot esculenta Crantz
The geminivirus complex known as cassava mosaic disease (CMD) is one of the most devastating viruses for cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz). The aim of this study was to use molecular-assisted selection (MAS) to identify CMD-resistant accessions and ascertain promising crosses with elite Brazilian varieties. One thousand two hundred twenty-four accessions were genotyped using five molecular markers (NS169, NS158, SSRY028, SSRY040 and RME1) that were associated with resistance to CMD, along with 402 SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphism). The promising crosses were identified using a discriminant analysis of main component (DAPC), and the matrix of genomic relationship was estimated with SNP markers. The CMD1 gene, previously described in M. glaziovii, was not found in M. esculenta. In contrast, the CMD2 gene was found in 5, 4 and 5 % of cassava accessions, with flanking markers NS169+RME1, NS158+RME1 and SSRY28+RME1, respectively. Only seven accessions presented all markers linked to the CMD resistance. The DAPC of the seven accessions along with 17 elite cassava varieties led to the formation of three divergent clusters. Potential sources of resistance to CMD were divided into two groups, while the elite varieties were distributed into three groups. The low estimates of the genomic relationship (ranging from -0.167 to 0.681 with an average of 0.076) contributed to the success in identifying contrasting genotypes. The use of MAS in countries where CMD is a quarantine disease constitutes a successful strategy not only for identifying the resistant accessions but also for determining the promising crosses
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