5,540 research outputs found
Geographical distribution and aspects of the ecology of the hemiparasitic angiosperm Striga asiatica (L) Kuntze: A herbarium study
Striga asiatica (Scrophulariaceae) is an obligate root hemiparasite of mainly C-4 grasses (including cereals). It is the most widespread of the 42 Striga species occurring in many semi-tropical, semi-arid regions of mainly the Old World. Examination of herbaria specimens revealed that S. asiatica has a wider geographical distribution, is present at higher altitudes and occurs in a more diverse range of habitats than previously reported. The host range is also larger than previously reported and is likely to include a large number of C-3 plants. Morphology of examined specimens revealed variation in size and corolla colour suggesting the existence of ecotypes. Climate may exert a significant influence on the distribution of S. asiatica given the diversity of potential host plants and their distribution beyond the current recorded range of S. asiatica
NIMBUS SPACECRAFT DEVELOPMENT
Nimbus meteorological satellite system for data on worldwide atmospheric processes - real-time weather forecasting and researc
Dipole Excitation of Dipositronium
The energy interval between the ground and the P-wave excited states of the
recently discovered positronium molecule Ps_2 is evaluated, including the
relativistic and the leading logarithmic radiative corrections, E_P-E_S = 0.181
586 7(8) a.u. The P-state, decaying usually via annihilation, is found to decay
into the ground state by an electric dipole transition 19 percent of the time.
Anticipated observation of this transition will provide insight into this
exotic system.Comment: 5 page
Stochastic Mean-Field Theory: Method and Application to the Disordered Bose-Hubbard Model at Finite Temperature and Speckle Disorder
We discuss the stochastic mean-field theory (SMFT) method which is a new
approach for describing disordered Bose systems in the thermodynamic limit
including localization and dimensional effects. We explicate the method in
detail and apply it to the disordered Bose-Hubbard model at finite temperature,
with on-site box disorder, as well as experimentally relevant unbounded speckle
disorder. We find that disorder-induced condensation and reentrant behavior at
constant filling are only possible at low temperatures, beyond the reach of
current experiments [Pasienski et al., arXiv:0908.1182]. Including off-diagonal
hopping disorder as well, we investigate its effect on the phase diagram in
addition to pure on-site disorder. To make contact to present experiments on a
quantitative level, we also combine SMFT with an LDA approach and obtain the
condensate fraction in the presence of an external trapping potential.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures. Extended definition of Bose glass phase, taking
collective excitations into account. 1 figure added, extended and updated
reference
A statistical mechanics model for free-for-all airplane passenger boarding
I present and discuss a model for the free-for-all passenger boarding which
is employed by some discount air carriers. The model is based on the principles
of statistical mechanics where each seat in the aircraft has an associated
energy which reflects the preferences of the population of air travelers. As
each passenger enters the airplane they select their seats using Boltzmann
statistics, proceed to that location, load their luggage, sit down, and the
partition function seen by remaining passengers is modified to reflect this
fact. I discuss the various model parameters and make qualitative comparisons
of this passenger boarding model with models which involve assigned seats. This
model can also be used to predict the probability that certain seats will be
occupied at different times during the boarding process. These results may be
of value to industry professionals as a useful description of this boarding
method. However, it also has significant value as a pedagogical tool since it
is a relatively unusual application of undergraduate level physics and it
describes a situation with which many students and faculty may be familiar.Comment: version 1: 4 pages 2 figures version 2: 7 pages with 5 figure
Solid-fluid transition in a granular shear flow
The rheology of a granular shear flow is studied in a quasi-2d rotating
cylinder. Measurements are carried out near the midpoint along the length of
the surface flowing layer where the flow is steady and non-accelerating.
Streakline photography and image analysis are used to obtain particle
velocities and positions. Different particle sizes and rotational speeds are
considered. We find a sharp transition in the apparent viscosity ()
variation with rms velocity (). In the fluid-like region above the depth
corresponding to the transition point (higher rms velocities) there is a rapid
increase in viscosity with decreasing rms velocity. Below the transition depth
we find for all the different cases studied and the
material approaches an amorphous solid-like state deep in the layer. The
velocity distribution is Maxwellian above the transition point and a Poisson
velocity distribution is obtained deep in the layer. The observed transition
appears to be analogous to a glass transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Numerical simulations of generic singuarities
Numerical simulations of the approach to the singularity in vacuum spacetimes
are presented here. The spacetimes examined have no symmetries and can be
regarded as representing the general behavior of singularities. It is found
that the singularity is spacelike and that as it is approached, the spacetime
dynamics becomes local and oscillatory.Comment: typos correcte
Numerical study of the localization length critical index in a network model of plateau-plateau transitions in the quantum Hall effect
We calculate numerically the localization length critical index within the
Chalker-Coddington (CC) model for plateau-plateau transitions in the quantum
Hall effect. Lyapunov exponents have been calculated with relative errors on
the order . Such high precision was obtained by considering the
distribution of Lyapunov exponents for large ensembles of relatively short
chains and calculating the ensemble average values. We analyze thoroughly
finite size effects and find the localization length critical index .Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Evolving Newton's Constant, Extended Gravity Theories and SnIa Data Analysis
If Newton's constant G evolves on cosmological timescales as predicted by
extended gravity theories then Type Ia supernovae (SnIa) can not be treated as
standard candles. The magnitude-redshift datasets however can still be useful.
They can be used to simultaneously fit for both H(z) and G(z) (so that local
G(z) constraints are also satisfied) in the context of appropriate
parametrizations. Here we demonstrate how can this analysis be done by applying
it to the Gold SnIa dataset. We compare the derived effective equation of state
parameter w(z) at best fit with the corresponding result obtained by neglecting
the evolution G(z). We show that even though the results clearly differ from
each other, in both cases the best fit w(z) crosses the phantom divide w=-1. We
then attempt to reconstruct a scalar tensor theory that predicts the derived
best fit forms of H(z) and G(z). Since the best fit G(z) fixes the scalar
tensor potential evolution F(z), there is no ambiguity in the reconstruction
and the potential U(z) can be derived uniquely. The particular reconstructed
scalar tensor theory however, involves a change of sign of the kinetic term
as in the minimally coupled case.Comment: Minor changes. Accepted in Phys. Rev. D. 7 revtex pages, 5 figures.
The mathematica file with the numerical analysis of the paper is available at
http://leandros.physics.uoi.gr/snevol.ht
Lower Bounds on Mutual Information
We correct claims about lower bounds on mutual information (MI) between
real-valued random variables made in A. Kraskov {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. E {\bf
69}, 066138 (2004). We show that non-trivial lower bounds on MI in terms of
linear correlations depend on the marginal (single variable) distributions.
This is so in spite of the invariance of MI under reparametrizations, because
linear correlations are not invariant under them. The simplest bounds are
obtained for Gaussians, but the most interesting ones for practical purposes
are obtained for uniform marginal distributions. The latter can be enforced in
general by using the ranks of the individual variables instead of their actual
values, in which case one obtains bounds on MI in terms of Spearman correlation
coefficients. We show with gene expression data that these bounds are in
general non-trivial, and the degree of their (non-)saturation yields valuable
insight.Comment: 4 page
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