613 research outputs found
Biomass Leaching and Dynamics of Nutrients, Microbial Abundance and Activity during Decomposition of Seagrass Cymodocea rotundata Necromass
Examining how seagrass decomposition contributes to trophic pathways in marine ecosystems is crucial in understanding seagrass production. Decomposition rates of seagrasses may depend on many factors such as chemical composition and microbial colonization. In this study, microbial colonization and changes in chemical composition of decomposing material (necromass) of Smooth Ribbon Seagrass, Cymodocea rotundata of Bogtong Bay, Lahuy Island, Caramoan, Philippines were monitored. Seagrass litter were placed in litterbags and incubated in the seagrass meadow in situ for 56 d. Serial dilution, viable plate counts and microbial oxygen consumption analyses were done and gravimetry, Kjeldahl method and acid hydrolysis were used respectively to measure the change in carbohydrate, protein and nitrogen content of the decomposing necromass. Results showed that the decomposition processing rate was 0.27 to 2.51% biomass (g dw) loss per day with a half-life of 2.36 to 2.88 d. Growth of bacteria was greater than fungi throughout the course of experiment. Bacterial abundance (CFU mL-1) fluctuated throughout the experimental period while fungal abundance initially increased but gradually decreased and the initially observed marine fungi ceased to grow in decaying litter until the end of the experiment indicating that heterotrophic bacteria contribute more in the decomposition of seagrass litter. Oxygen consumption as well as protein, lipids and nitrogen content of litter decreased by as over the days of incubation. Therefore, as decomposition proceeds, litter biomass was leached resulting in carbohydrate content loss. But the remaining tissues of decaying C. rotundata were eventually colonized by bacteria and fungi. This further contributes to mineralization of the litter and gradual release of nutrients that could be considered as important trophic inputs to the ecosystem
Bubble divergences: sorting out topology from cell structure
We conclude our analysis of bubble divergences in the flat spinfoam model. In
[arXiv:1008.1476] we showed that the divergence degree of an arbitrary
two-complex Gamma can be evaluated exactly by means of twisted cohomology.
Here, we specialize this result to the case where Gamma is the two-skeleton of
the cell decomposition of a pseudomanifold, and sharpen it with a careful
analysis of the cellular and topological structures involved. Moreover, we
explain in detail how this approach reproduces all the previous powercounting
results for the Boulatov-Ooguri (colored) tensor models, and sheds light on
algebraic-topological aspects of Gurau's 1/N expansion.Comment: 19 page
Low-energy effects in brane worlds: Liennard-Wiechert potentials and Hydrogen Lamb shift
Testing extra dimensions at low-energies may lead to interesting effects. In
this work a test point charge is taken to move uniformly in the 3-dimensional
subspace of a (3+)-brane embedded in a (3++1)-space with compact and
one warped infinite spatial extra dimensions. We found that the electromagnetic
potentials of the point charge match standard Liennard-Wiechert's at large
distances but differ from them close to it. These are finite at the position of
the charge and produce finite self-energies. We also studied a localized
Hydrogen atom and take the deviation from the standard Coulomb potential as a
perturbation. This produces a Lamb shift that is compared with known
experimental data to set bounds for the parameter of the model. This work
provides details and extends results reported in a previous Letter.Comment: Manuscript (LaTeX) and 2 figure files (eps format) used by the
manuscript LaTeX fil
Colored Group Field Theory
Group field theories are higher dimensional generalizations of matrix models.
Their Feynman graphs are fat and in addition to vertices, edges and faces, they
also contain higher dimensional cells, called bubbles. In this paper, we
propose a new, fermionic Group Field Theory, posessing a color symmetry, and
take the first steps in a systematic study of the topological properties of its
graphs. Unlike its bosonic counterpart, the bubbles of the Feynman graphs of
this theory are well defined and readily identified. We prove that this graphs
are combinatorial cellular complexes. We define and study the cellular homology
of this graphs. Furthermore we define a homotopy transformation appropriate to
this graphs. Finally, the amplitude of the Feynman graphs is shown to be
related to the fundamental group of the cellular complex
The strong coupling constant at small momentum as an instanton detector
We present a study of at small p computed from the lattice.
It shows a dramatic law which can be understood within an
instanton liquid model. In this framework the prefactor gives a direct measure
of the instanton density in thermalised configurations. A preliminary result
for this density is 5.27(4) fm^{-4}.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Fermions in three-dimensional spinfoam quantum gravity
We study the coupling of massive fermions to the quantum mechanical dynamics
of spacetime emerging from the spinfoam approach in three dimensions. We first
recall the classical theory before constructing a spinfoam model of quantum
gravity coupled to spinors. The technique used is based on a finite expansion
in inverse fermion masses leading to the computation of the vacuum to vacuum
transition amplitude of the theory. The path integral is derived as a sum over
closed fermionic loops wrapping around the spinfoam. The effects of quantum
torsion are realised as a modification of the intertwining operators assigned
to the edges of the two-complex, in accordance with loop quantum gravity. The
creation of non-trivial curvature is modelled by a modification of the pure
gravity vertex amplitudes. The appendix contains a review of the geometrical
and algebraic structures underlying the classical coupling of fermions to three
dimensional gravity.Comment: 40 pages, 3 figures, version accepted for publication in GER
Spin-based all-optical quantum computation with quantum dots: understanding and suppressing decoherence
We present an all-optical implementation of quantum computation using
semiconductor quantum dots. Quantum memory is represented by the spin of an
excess electron stored in each dot. Two-qubit gates are realized by switching
on trion-trion interactions between different dots. State selectivity is
achieved via conditional laser excitation exploiting Pauli exclusion principle.
Read-out is performed via a quantum-jump technique. We analyze the effect on
our scheme's performance of the main imperfections present in real quantum
dots: exciton decay, hole mixing and phonon decoherence. We introduce an
adiabatic gate procedure that allows one to circumvent these effects, and
evaluate quantitatively its fidelity
Advances in ab-initio theory of Multiferroics. Materials and mechanisms: modelling and understanding
Within the broad class of multiferroics (compounds showing a coexistence of
magnetism and ferroelectricity), we focus on the subclass of "improper
electronic ferroelectrics", i.e. correlated materials where electronic degrees
of freedom (such as spin, charge or orbital) drive ferroelectricity. In
particular, in spin-induced ferroelectrics, there is not only a {\em
coexistence} of the two intriguing magnetic and dipolar orders; rather, there
is such an intimate link that one drives the other, suggesting a giant
magnetoelectric coupling. Via first-principles approaches based on density
functional theory, we review the microscopic mechanisms at the basis of
multiferroicity in several compounds, ranging from transition metal oxides to
organic multiferroics (MFs) to organic-inorganic hybrids (i.e. metal-organic
frameworks, MOFs)Comment: 22 pages, 9 figure
Probing quantum gravity using photons from a flare of the active galactic nucleus Markarian 501 observed by the MAGIC telescope
We analyze the timing of photons observed by the MAGIC telescope during a
flare of the active galactic nucleus Mkn 501 for a possible correlation with
energy, as suggested by some models of quantum gravity (QG), which predict a
vacuum refractive index \simeq 1 + (E/M_{QGn})^n, n = 1,2. Parametrizing the
delay between gamma-rays of different energies as \Delta t =\pm\tau_l E or
\Delta t =\pm\tau_q E^2, we find \tau_l=(0.030\pm0.012) s/GeV at the 2.5-sigma
level, and \tau_q=(3.71\pm2.57)x10^{-6} s/GeV^2, respectively. We use these
results to establish lower limits M_{QG1} > 0.21x10^{18} GeV and M_{QG2} >
0.26x10^{11} GeV at the 95% C.L. Monte Carlo studies confirm the MAGIC
sensitivity to propagation effects at these levels. Thermal plasma effects in
the source are negligible, but we cannot exclude the importance of some other
source effect.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Lett. B, reflects published versio
Probing exotic phenomena at the interface of nuclear and particle physics with the electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms: A unique window to hadronic and semi-leptonic CP violation
The current status of electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms which
involves the synergy between atomic experiments and three different theoretical
areas -- particle, nuclear and atomic is reviewed. Various models of particle
physics that predict CP violation, which is necessary for the existence of such
electric dipole moments, are presented. These include the standard model of
particle physics and various extensions of it. Effective hadron level combined
charge conjugation (C) and parity (P) symmetry violating interactions are
derived taking into consideration different ways in which a nucleon interacts
with other nucleons as well as with electrons. Nuclear structure calculations
of the CP-odd nuclear Schiff moment are discussed using the shell model and
other theoretical approaches. Results of the calculations of atomic electric
dipole moments due to the interaction of the nuclear Schiff moment with the
electrons and the P and time-reversal (T) symmetry violating
tensor-pseudotensor electron-nucleus are elucidated using different
relativistic many-body theories. The principles of the measurement of the
electric dipole moments of diamagnetic atoms are outlined. Upper limits for the
nuclear Schiff moment and tensor-pseudotensor coupling constant are obtained
combining the results of atomic experiments and relativistic many-body
theories. The coefficients for the different sources of CP violation have been
estimated at the elementary particle level for all the diamagnetic atoms of
current experimental interest and their implications for physics beyond the
standard model is discussed. Possible improvements of the current results of
the measurements as well as quantum chromodynamics, nuclear and atomic
calculations are suggested.Comment: 46 pages, 19 tables and 16 figures. A review article accepted for
EPJ
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