59,635 research outputs found
Super-hard Superconductivity
We present a study of the magnetic response of Type-II superconductivity in
the extreme pinning limit, where screening currents within an order of
magnitude of the Ginzburg-Landau depairing critical current density develop
upon the application of a magnetic field. We show that this "super-hard" limit
is well approximated in highly disordered, cold drawn, Nb and V wires whose
magnetization response is characterized by a cascade of Meissner-like phases,
each terminated by a catastrophic collapse of the magnetization. Direct
magneto-optic measurements of the flux penetration depth in the virgin
magnetization branch are in excellent agreement with the exponential model in
which J_c(B)=J_co exp(-B/B_o), where J_co~5x10^6 A/cm^2 for Nb. The
implications for the fundamental limiting hardness of a superconductor are
discussed.Comment: corrected Fig.
Infrared Lighting Does Not Suppress Catch of Codling Moth (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) in Pheromone-Baited Monitoring Traps
Video cameras are increasingly being used to record insect behaviors in the field over prolonged intervals. A nagging question about crepuscular and nocturnal recordings is whether or not infrared light emitted by such cameras to illuminate the scene influences the behaviors of the subjects or study outcomes. Here we quantified catches of male codling moths, Cydia pomonella (L.), responding to sex pheromone-baited monitoring traps illuminated with infrared, red, white, or no light. No statistically significant differences were found between any of these treatments
Poincare duality for K-theory of equivariant complex projective spaces
We make explicit Poincare duality for the equivariant K-theory of equivariant complex projective spaces. The case of the trivial group provides a new approach to the K-theory orientation
Efficiency of cloud condensation nuclei formation from ultrafine particles
Atmospheric cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations are a key uncertainty in the assessment of the effect of anthropogenic aerosol on clouds and climate. The ability of new ultrafine particles to grow to become CCN varies throughout the atmosphere and must be understood in order to understand CCN formation. We have developed the Probability of Ultrafine particle Growth (PUG) model to answer questions regarding which growth and sink mechanisms control this growth, how the growth varies between different parts of the atmosphere and how uncertainties with respect to the magnitude and size distribution of ultrafine emissions translates into uncertainty in CCN generation. The inputs to the PUG model are the concentrations of condensable gases, the size distribution of ambient aerosol, particle deposition timescales and physical properties of the particles and condensable gases. It was found in most cases that condensation is the dominant growth mechanism and coagulation with larger particles is the dominant sink mechanism for ultrafine particles. In this work we found that the probability of a new ultrafine particle generating a CCN varies from <0.1% to ~90% in different parts of the atmosphere, though in the boundary layer a large fraction of ultrafine particles have a probability between 1% and 40%. Some regions, such as the tropical free troposphere, are areas with high probabilities; however, variability within regions makes it difficult to predict which regions of the atmosphere are most efficient for generating CCN from ultrafine particles. For a given mass of primary ultrafine aerosol, an uncertainty of a factor of two in the modal diameter can lead to an uncertainty in the number of CCN generated as high as a factor for eight. It was found that no single moment of the primary aerosol size distribution, such as total mass or number, is a robust predictor of the number of CCN ultimately generated. Therefore, a complete description of the emissions size distribution is generally required for global aerosol microphysics models
Discriminating between a Stochastic Gravitational Wave Background and Instrument Noise
The detection of a stochastic background of gravitational waves could
significantly impact our understanding of the physical processes that shaped
the early Universe. The challenge lies in separating the cosmological signal
from other stochastic processes such as instrument noise and astrophysical
foregrounds. One approach is to build two or more detectors and cross correlate
their output, thereby enhancing the common gravitational wave signal relative
to the uncorrelated instrument noise. When only one detector is available, as
will likely be the case with the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA),
alternative analysis techniques must be developed. Here we show that models of
the noise and signal transfer functions can be used to tease apart the
gravitational and instrument noise contributions. We discuss the role of
gravitational wave insensitive "null channels" formed from particular
combinations of the time delay interferometry, and derive a new combination
that maintains this insensitivity for unequal arm length detectors. We show
that, in the absence of astrophysical foregrounds, LISA could detect signals
with energy densities as low as with just
one month of data. We describe an end-to-end Bayesian analysis pipeline that is
able to search for, characterize and assign confidence levels for the detection
of a stochastic gravitational wave background, and demonstrate the
effectiveness of this approach using simulated data from the third round of
Mock LISA Data Challenges.Comment: 10 Pages, 10 Figure
Slow synaptic transmission in frog sympathetic ganglia
Bullfrog ganglia contain two classes of neurone, B and C cells, which receive different inputs and exhibit different slow synaptic potentials. B cells, to which most effort has been directed, possess slow and late slow EPSPs. The sEPSP reflects a muscarinic action of acetylcholine released from boutons on B cells, whereas the late sEPSP is caused by a peptide (similar to teleost LHRH) released from boutons on C cells. During either sEPSP there is a selective reduction in two slow potassium conductances, designated 'M' and 'AHP'. The M conductance is voltage dependent and the AHP conductance is calcium dependent. Normally they act synergistically to prevent repetitive firing of action potentials during maintained stimuli. Computer stimulation of the interactions of these conductances with the other five voltage-dependent conductances present in the membrane allows a complete reconstruction of the effects of slow synaptic transmission on electrical behaviour
Anti-Lambda polarization in high energy pp collisions with polarized beam
We study the polarization of the anti-Lambda particle in polarized high
energy pp collisions at large transverse momenta. The anti-Lambda polarization
is found to be sensitive to the polarization of the anti-strange sea of the
nucleon. We make predictions using different parameterizations of the polarized
quark distribution functions. The results show that the measurement of
longitudinal anti-Lambda polarization can distinguish different
parameterizations, and that similar measurements in the transversely polarized
case can give some insights into the transversity distribution of the
anti-strange sea of nucleon.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Darboux Coordinates and Liouville-Arnold Integration in Loop Algebras
Darboux coordinates are constructed on rational coadjoint orbits of the
positive frequency part \wt{\frak{g}}^+ of loop algebras. These are given by
the values of the spectral parameters at the divisors corresponding to
eigenvector line bundles over the associated spectral curves, defined within a
given matrix representation. A Liouville generating function is obtained in
completely separated form and shown, through the Liouville-Arnold integration
method, to lead to the Abel map linearization of all Hamiltonian flows induced
by the spectral invariants. Serre duality is used to define a natural
symplectic structure on the space of line bundles of suitable degree over a
permissible class of spectral curves, and this is shown to be equivalent to the
Kostant-Kirillov symplectic structure on rational coadjoint orbits. The general
construction is given for or , with
reductions to orbits of subalgebras determined as invariant fixed point sets
under involutive automorphisms. The case is shown to reproduce
the classical integration methods for finite dimensional systems defined on
quadrics, as well as the quasi-periodic solutions of the cubically nonlinear
Schr\"odinger equation. For , the method is applied to the
computation of quasi-periodic solutions of the two component coupled nonlinear
Schr\"odinger equation.Comment: 61 pg
Radar mapping, archaeology, and ancient land use in the Maya lowlands
Data from the use of synthetic aperture radar in aerial survey of the southern Maya lowlands suggest the presence of very large areas drained by ancient canals for the purpose of intensive cultivation. Preliminary ground checks in several very limited areas confirm the existence of canals and raised fields. Excavations and ground surveys by several scholars provide valuable comparative information. Taken together, the new data suggest that Late Classic period Maya civilization was firmly grounded in large-scale and intensive cultivation of swampy zones
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