CMB Anisotropies Reveal Quantized Gravity

A novel primordial spectrum with a dynamical scale of quantum gravity origin is proposed to explain the sharp fall off of the angular power spectra at low multipoles in the COBE and WMAP observations. The spectrum is derived from quantum fluctuations of the scalar curvature in a renormalizable model of induced gravity. This model describes the very early universe by the conformal field fluctuating about an inflationary background with the expansion time constant of order of the Planck mass.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Vertex Operators in 4D Quantum Gravity Formulated as CFT

We study vertex operators in 4D conformal field theory derived from quantized gravity, whose dynamics is governed by the Wess-Zumino action by Riegert and the Weyl action. Conformal symmetry is equal to diffeomorphism symmetry in the ultraviolet limit, which mixes positive-metric and negative-metric modes of the gravitational field and thus these modes cannot be treated separately in physical operators. In this paper, we construct gravitational vertex operators such as the Ricci scalar, defined as space-time volume integrals of them are invariant under conformal transformations. Short distance singularities of these operator products are computed and it is shown that their coefficients have physically correct sign. Furthermore, we show that conformal algebra holds even in the system perturbed by the cosmological constant vertex operator as in the case of the Liouville theory shown by Curtright and Thorn.Comment: 26 pages, rewrote review part concisely, added explanation

Introdução ao geoprocessamento: princípios básicos e aplicação.

O objetivo desta revisão é apresentar o geoprocessamento como uma ferramenta útil na gestão e planejamento ambientais, destacando o SIG (Sistema de Informações Geográficas), principais conceitos, potencial e aplicabilidade, por meio de um estudo de caso de planejamento de seleção das terras para agricultura irrigada.bitstream/CNPMA/7489/1/documentos_67.pd

Role of covalency in the ground state properties of perovskite ruthenates: A first principle study using local spin density approximations

We investigate the electronic structure of SrRuO3 and CaRuO3 using full potential linearized augmented plane wave method within the local spin density approximations. The ferromagnetic ground state in SrRuO3 could exactly be described in these calculations and the calculated spin magnetic moment is found to be close to the experimentally observed values. Interestingly, the spin polarized calculations for CaRuO3 exhibit large spin moment as observed in the experiments but the magnetic ground state has higher energy than that in the non-magnetic solution. Various calculations for different structural configurations indicate that Ca-O covalency plays the key role in determining the electronic structure and thereby the magnetic ground state in this system.Comment: 8 figure

Impactos potenciais das mudanças climáticas sobre a distribuição geográfica do número de gerações do bicho-mineiro-do-cafeeiro (Leucoptera coffeella) no Brasil.

O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar o impacto potencial das mudanças climáticas na distribuição geográfica do número de gerações do bicho-mineiro-do-cafeeiro (Leucoptera coffella) para o Brasil, baseando-se nas condições climáticas futuras projetadas por dois cenários de emissões do Quarto Relatório do IPCC. Os mapas das projeções mensais do número de gerações da praga para os períodos de 2071-2100, cenários A2 e B1, e de 1961-1990 foram obtidos empregando-se o modelo matemático de desenvolvimento de Parra (1985), em função da temperatura média mensal. Os resultados obtidos prevêem tendência de aumento do número de gerações para ambos os cenários de emissão, com um número maior de número de gerações previsto para o cenário A2

Comparative study of macroscopic quantum tunneling in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_y intrinsic Josephson junctions with different device structures

We investigated macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT) of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_y$ intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) with two device structures. One is a nanometer-thick small mesa structure with only two or three IJJs and the other is a stack of a few hundreds of IJJs on a narrow bridge structure. Experimental results of switching current distribution for the first switching events from zero-voltage state showed a good agreement with the conventional theory for a single Josephson junction, indicating that a crossover temperature from thermal activation to MQT regime for the former device structure was as high as that for the latter device structure. Together with the observation of multiphoton transitions between quantized energy levels in MQT regime, these results strongly suggest that the observed MQT behavior is intrinsic to a single IJJ in high-$T_c$ cuprates, independent of device structures. The switching current distribution for the second switching events from the first resistive state, which were carefully distinguished from the first switchings, was also compared between two device structures. In spite of the difference in the heat transfer environment, the second switching events for both devices were found to show a similar temperature-independent behavior up to a much higher temperature than the crossover temperature for the first switching. We argue that it cannot be explained in terms of the self-heating owing to dissipative currents after the first switching. As possible candidates, the MQT process for the second switching and the effective increase of electronic temperature due to quasiparticle injection are discussed.Comment: 10pages, 7figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Métodos para estudar os efeitos das mudanças climáticas sobre doenças de plantas.

As mudanças climáticas causarão modificações na ocorrência de doenças de plantas, as quais estão entre os principais fatores responsáveis por reduções da produtividade agrícola. Esses impactos podem colocar em risco a sustentabilidade do agronegócio, devido às consequências econômicas, sociais e ambientais. O estudo dessas alterações tem a finalidade de fornecer subsídios para a elaboração de estratégias de adaptação. Muitos métodos estão descritos para avaliar os efeitos do ambiente sobre doenças de plantas, entretanto, o estudo das mudanças climáticas impõe algumas particularidades na utilização desses métodos. Garrett et al. (2006) apresentaram uma revisão sobre diferentes abordagens para o estudo do assunto, considerando diversas escalas de interação patógeno-hospedeiro, desde o microclima até o clima global. Posteriormente, Garrett et al. (2011) elaboraram um esquema para a análise da complexidade dos impactos das mudanças climáticas, baseado em um conjunto de perguntas para um determinado hospedeiro, patógeno, combinação patógeno-hospedeiro e região geográfica. Segundo os autores, na prática, pode ser necessário expandir os modelos com a inclusão de novos componentes, identificar os componentes mais importantes, ou sintetizar tais modelos até o nível ótimo de complexidade para o planejamento e priorização de pesquisa. No presente texto serão discutidas três abordagens para o estudo dos efeitos das mudanças climáticas sobre doenças de plantas: uso de séries históricas, experimentação e modelagem

Making a Universe

For understanding the origin of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background, rules to construct a quantized universe is proposed based on the dynamical triangulation method of the simplicial quantum gravity. A $d$-dimensional universe having the topology $D^d$ is created numerically in terms of a simplicial manifold with $d$-simplices as the building blocks. The space coordinates of a universe are identified on the boundary surface $S^{d-1}$, and the time coordinate is defined along the direction perpendicular to $S^{d-1}$. Numerical simulations are made mainly for 2-dimensional universes, and analyzed to examine appropriateness of the construction rules by comparing to analytic results of the matrix model and the Liouville theory. Furthermore, a simulation in 4-dimension is made, and the result suggests an ability to analyze the observations on anisotropies by comparing to the scalar curvature correlation of a $S^2$-surface formed as the last scattering surface in the $S^3$ universe.Comment: 27pages,18figures,using jpsj.st