29,801 research outputs found
Transitions in non-conserving models of Self-Organized Criticality
We investigate a random--neighbours version of the two dimensional
non-conserving earthquake model of Olami, Feder and Christensen [Phys. Rev.
Lett. {\bf 68}, 1244 (1992)]. We show both analytically and numerically that
criticality can be expected even in the presence of dissipation. As the
critical level of conservation, , is approached, the cut--off of the
avalanche size distribution scales as . The
transition from non-SOC to SOC behaviour is controlled by the average branching
ratio of an avalanche, which can thus be regarded as an order
parameter of the system. The relevance of the results are discussed in
connection to the nearest-neighbours OFC model (in particular we analyse the
relevance of synchronization in the latter).Comment: 8 pages in latex format; 5 figures available upon reques
High resolution thermal infrared mapping of Martian channels
Viking Infrared Thermal Mapper (IRTM) high resolution (2 to 5 km) data were compiled and compared to Viking Visual Imaging Subsystem (VIS) data and available 1:5M geologic maps for several Martian channels including Dao, Harmakhis, Mangala, Shalbatana, and Simud Valles in an effort to determine the surface characteristics and the processes active during and after the formation of these channels. Results show a dominance of aeolian processes active in and around the channels. These processes have left materials thick enough to mask any genuine channel deposits. Results also indicate that very comparable Martian channels and their surrounding terrain are blanketed by deposits which are homogeneous in their thermal inertia values. However, optimum IRTM data does not cover the entire Martian surface and because local deposits of high thermal inertia material may not be large enough in areal extent or may be in an unfavorable location on the planet, a high resolution data track may not always occur over these deposits. Therefore, aeolian processes may be even more active than the IRTM data tracts can always show
Characterization of surficial units on Mars using Viking orbiter multispectral image and thermal data
Albedo and thermal property correlations of the topography of Mars were conducted with emphases upon the types and origins of materials exposed in the central equatorial region. This area displays a wide variation in color, albedo and thermal properties, and is relatively free of dust and haze. The physical, mineralogical and elemental characteristics of this area are discussed
Data management study, volume 5. Appendix J - Contractor data package procurement and contracting /PC/ Final report
Contractor data package for administration of procurement and contracting of Voyager spacecraft system
Morphology of High-Multiplicity Events in Heavy Ion Collisions
We discuss opportunities that may arise from subjecting high-multiplicity
events in relativistic heavy ion collisions to an analysis similar to the one
used in cosmology for the study of fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave
Background (CMB). To this end, we discuss examples of how pertinent features of
heavy ion collisions including global characteristics, signatures of collective
flow and event-wise fluctuations are visually represented in a Mollweide
projection commonly used in CMB analysis, and how they are statistically
analyzed in an expansion over spherical harmonic functions. If applied to the
characterization of purely azimuthal dependent phenomena such as collective
flow, the expansion coefficients of spherical harmonics are seen to contain
redundancies compared to the set of harmonic flow coefficients commonly used in
heavy ion collisions. Our exploratory study indicates, however, that these
redundancies may offer novel opportunities for a detailed characterization of
those event-wise fluctuations that remain after subtraction of the dominant
collective flow signatures. By construction, the proposed approach allows also
for the characterization of more complex collective phenomena like higher-order
flow and other sources of fluctuations, and it may be extended to the
characterization of phenomena of non-collective origin such as jets.Comment: Matches version accepted for publication in Physical Review C. 13
pages, 9 figure
The Temperature Evolution of the Out-of-Plane Correlation Lengths of Charge-Stripe Ordered La(1.725)Sr(0.275)NiO(4)
The temperature dependence of the magnetic order of stripe-ordered
La(1.725)Sr(0.275)NiO(4) is investigated by neutron diffraction. Upon cooling,
the widths if the magnetic Bragg peaks are observed to broaden. The degree of
broadening is found to be very different for l = odd-integer and l =
even-integer magnetic peaks. We argue that the observed behaviour is a result
of competition between magnetic and charge order.Comment: 3 figure
Phytoplankton Community and Algal Toxicity at a Recurring Bloom in Sullivan Bay, Kabetogama Lake, Minnesota, USA
Kabetogama Lake in Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, USA suffers from recurring late summer algal blooms that often contain toxin-producing cyanobacteria. Previous research identified the toxin microcystin in blooms, but we wanted to better understand how the algal and cyanobacterial community changed throughout an open water season and how changes in community structure were related to toxin production. Therefore, we sampled one recurring bloom location throughout the entire open water season. The uniqueness of this study is the absence of urban and agricultural nutrient sources, the remote location, and the collection of samples before any visible blooms were present. Through quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), we discovered that toxin-forming cyanobacteria were present before visible blooms and toxins not previously detected in this region (anatoxin-a and saxitoxin) were present, indicating that sampling for additional toxins and sampling earlier in the season may be necessary to assess ecosystems and human health risk
Unified Scaling Law for Earthquakes
We show that the distribution of waiting times between earthquakes occurring
in California obeys a simple unified scaling law valid from tens of seconds to
tens of years, see Eq. (1) and Fig. 4. The short time clustering, commonly
referred to as aftershocks, is nothing but the short time limit of the general
hierarchical properties of earthquakes. There is no unique operational way of
distinguishing between main shocks and aftershocks. In the unified law, the
Gutenberg-Richter b-value, the exponent -1 of the Omori law for aftershocks,
and the fractal dimension d_f of earthquakes appear as critical indices.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Domain wall interacting with a black hole: A new example of critical phenomena
We study a simple system that comprises all main features of critical
gravitational collapse, originally discovered by Choptuik and discussed in many
subsequent publications. These features include universality of phenomena,
mass-scaling relations, self-similarity, symmetry between super-critical and
sub-critical solutions, etc.
The system we consider is a stationary membrane (representing a domain wall)
in a static gravitational field of a black hole. For a membrane that spreads to
infinity, the induced 2+1 geometry is asymptotically flat. Besides solutions
with Minkowski topology there exists also solutions with the induced metric and
topology of a 2+1 dimensional black hole. By changing boundary conditions at
infinity, one finds that there is a transition between these two families. This
transition is critical and it possesses all the above-mentioned properties of
critical gravitational collapse. It is remarkable that characteristics of this
transition can be obtained analytically. In particular, we find exact
analytical expressions for scaling exponents and wiggle-periods.
Our results imply that black hole formation as a critical phenomenon is far
more general than one might expect.Comment: 23 pages, 5 postscript figures include
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