2,333 research outputs found
Can Universe Experience Many Cycles with Different Vacua ?
Recently, the notion that the number of vacua is enormous has received
increased attentions, which may be regarded as a possible anthropical
explanation to incredible small cosmological constant. Further, a dynamical
mechanisms to implement this possibility is required. We show in an operable
model of cyclic universe that the universe can experience many cycles with
different vacua, which is a generic behavior independent of the details of the
model. This might provide a distinct dynamical approach to an anthropically
favorable vacuum.Comment: RevTex, 10 pages, 4 eps figures, accepted by PRD(R), new title and
changes in the text to match publicatio
One-Step Synthesis of Graphene Oxide-Polyamidoamine Dendrimer Nanocomposite Hydrogels by Self-Assembly
Graphene oxide (GO)-polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimer nanocomposite hydrogels were prepared through a one-step synthesis by mixing a GO suspension and a PAMAM solution at varying ratios of GO to PAMAM. The materials self-assembled into physically cross-linked networks, mainly driven by electrostatic interactions between the oppositely charged GO nanosheets and PAMAM dendrimer. The chemical structure of PAMAM dendrimer was studied by mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and potentiometric titration. The structure and properties of GO-PAMAM nanocomposite hydrogels were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and rheometry. The nanocomposite hydrogels exhibited a relatively high mechanical performance with a storage modulus of up to 284 kPa, as well as self-healing property, owing to their reversible and multiple physical cross-links. These hydrogels may be further developed for biomedical applications
Controls on winter ecosystem respiration in temperate and boreal ecosystems
Winter CO2 fluxes represent an important component of the annual carbon budget in northern ecosystems. Understanding winter respiration processes and their responses to climate change is also central to our ability to assess terrestrial carbon cycle and climate feedbacks in the future. However, the factors influencing the spatial and temporal patterns of winter ecosystem respiration (Reco) of northern ecosystems are poorly understood. For this reason, we analyzed eddy covariance flux data from 57 ecosystem sites ranging from ~35° N to ~70° N. Deciduous forests were characterized by the highest winter Reco rates (0.90 ± 0.39 g C m-2 d-1), when winter is defined as the period during which daily air temperature remains below 0 °C. By contrast, arctic wetlands had the lowest winter Reco rates (0.02 ± 0.02 g C m-2 d-1). Mixed forests, evergreen needle-leaved forests, grasslands, croplands and boreal wetlands were characterized by intermediate winter Reco rates (g C m-2 d-1) of 0.70(±0.33), 0.60(±0.38), 0.62(±0.43), 0.49(±0.22) and 0.27(±0.08), respectively. Our cross site analysis showed that winter air (Tair) and soil (Tsoil) temperature played a dominating role in determining the spatial patterns of winter Reco in both forest and managed ecosystems (grasslands and croplands). Besides temperature, the seasonal amplitude of the leaf area index (LAI), inferred from satellite observation, or growing season gross primary productivity, which we use here as a proxy for the amount of recent carbon available for Reco in the subsequent winter, played a marginal role in winter CO2 emissions from forest ecosystems. We found that winter Reco sensitivity to temperature variation across space (QS) was higher than the one over time (interannual, QT). This can be expected because QS not only accounts for climate gradients across sites but also for (positively correlated) the spatial variability of substrate quantity. Thus, if the models estimate future warming impacts on Reco based on QS rather than QT, this could overestimate the impact of temperature change
Loop quantum gravity effects on inflation and the CMB
In loop quantum cosmology, the universe avoids a big bang singularity and
undergoes an early and short super-inflation phase. During super-inflation,
non-perturbative quantum corrections to the dynamics drive an inflaton field up
its potential hill, thus setting the initial conditions for standard inflation.
We show that this effect can raise the inflaton high enough to achieve
sufficient e-foldings in the standard inflation era. We analyze the
cosmological perturbations generated when slow-roll is violated after
super-inflation, and show that loop quantum effects can in principle leave an
indirect signature on the largest scales in the CMB, with some loss of power
and running of the spectral index.Comment: revtex4, 5 pages, 3 figures, significant improvements in explanation
of quantization and perturbation issues; version to appear Classical and
Quantum Gravit
Assisted Tachyonic Inflation
The model of inflation with a single tachyon field generates larger
anisotropy and has difficulties in describing the formation of the Universe .
In this paper we consider a model with multi tachyon fields and study the
assisted inflationary solution. Our results show that this model satisfies the
observation.Comment: 5 pages, no figures, a revised version and reference adde
Inflationary universe in loop quantum cosmology
Loop quantum cosmology provides a nice solution of avoiding the big bang
singularity through a big bounce mechanism in the high energy region. In loop
quantum cosmology an inflationary universe is emergent after the big bounce, no
matter what matter component is filled in the universe. A super-inflation phase
without phantom matter will appear in a certain way in the initial stage after
the bounce; then the universe will undergo a normal inflation stage. We discuss
the condition of inflation in detail in this framework. Also, for slow-roll
inflation, we expect the imprint from the effects of the loop quantum cosmology
should be left in the primordial perturbation power spectrum. However, we show
that this imprint is too weak to be observed.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in JCA
Inflationary Attractor in Braneworld Scenario
We demonstrate the attractor behavior of inflation driven by a scalar field
or a tachyon field in the context of recently proposed four-dimensional
effective gravity induced on the world-volume of a three-brane in
five-dimensional Einstein gravity, and we obtain a set of exact inflationary
solutions. Phase portraits indicate that an initial kinetic term decays rapidly
and it does not prevent the onset of inflation. The trajectories more rapidly
reach the slow-roll curve than in the standard cosmology.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, RevTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. D69 (2004
Curvature perturbation in multi-field inflation with non-minimal coupling
In this paper we discuss a multi-field model of inflation in which generally
all fields are non-minimally coupled to the Ricci scalar and have non-canonical
kinetic terms. The background evolution and first-order perturbations for the
model are evaluated in both the Jordan and Einstein frames, and the respective
curvature perturbations compared. We confirm that they are indeed not the same
- unlike in the single-field case - and also that the difference is a direct
consequence of the isocurvature perturbations inherent to multi-field models.
This result leads us to conclude that the notion of adiabaticity is not
invariant under conformal transformations. Using a two-field example we show
that even if in one frame the evolution is adiabatic, meaning that the
curvature perturbation is conserved on super-horizon scales, in general in the
other frame isocurvature perturbations continue to source the curvature
perturbation. We also find that it is possible to realise a particular model in
which curvature perturbations in both frames are conserved but with each being
of different magnitude. These examples highlight that the curvature
perturbation itself, despite being gauge-invariant, does not correspond
directly to an observable. The non-equivalence of the two curvature
perturbations would also be important when considering the addition of Standard
Model matter into the system.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures, references added, typos corrected, version to
appear in JCA
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