Formation of superfluid liquid pocket in aerogel and its solidification by cooling

Formation of superfluid liquid pockets of ⁴He surrounded by ⁴He crystals were observed in an aerogel of 96% porosity. The liquid pockets did not crystallize by application of pressure but crystallized via avalanche by cool-ing below a particular temperature. The crystallization by cooling was also observed when crystals occupied a smaller portion of the aerogel. Driving force for the crystallization by cooling and possible mass transport process are discussed

Formation of superfluid liquid pocket in aerogel and its solidification by cooling

Formation of superfluid liquid pockets of ⁴He surrounded by ⁴He crystals were observed in an aerogel of 96% porosity. The liquid pockets did not crystallize by application of pressure but crystallized via avalanche by cool-ing below a particular temperature. The crystallization by cooling was also observed when crystals occupied a smaller portion of the aerogel. Driving force for the crystallization by cooling and possible mass transport process are discussed

Provenance changes of eolian dust at Lingtai section in the Chinese Loess Plateau since 7 Ma and its implication for desert development in East Asia

International audienceIt is suggested that the uplift of Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau enhanced interior aridity in East Asia and resulted in development of middle latitude gobi and sandy deserts and accumulation of the eolian sediments in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Therefore, estimation of the provenance for eolian sediments in the Chinese Loess Plateau is critical to reconstruct the environmental changes in East Asia and their relation to the Himalaya-Tibetan Plateau uplift. We recently developed a new provenance tracing method by using a combination of Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) signal intensity and Crystallinity Index (CI) of quartz, and demonstrated that fine fraction of the surface sediments from nine major deserts in East Asia could be distinguished one another on the ESR signal intensity versus CI diagram. Here, we measured ESR signal intensity and CI of quartz in fine fractions of samples covering the last 7 Ma obtained from Lingtai section in the central Chinese Loess Plateau, and compared the results with those of the surface samples from nine major deserts in East Asia. The results suggest that the provenance of fine fraction of the eolian sediment in Lingtai section changed at 4.3, 2.1, 1.4, 1.1, 0.8 and 0.4 Ma. During 7 to 4.3 Ma, the dust might be have been supplied from Precambrian to Paleozoic metamorphic and granitic rocks and granite exposed in the present central to eastern part of the Tian Shan Mountains. The contribution from the Taklimakan desert appeared at 4.3 Ma, increased drastically at 1.1 Ma, and persisted till 0.8 Ma, whereas the main source of detrital material to the Taklimakan desert might have changed from eastern part of the Kunlun and the Altyn Mountains to western part of the Kunlun and the Tian Shan Mountains. During 0.8 to 0.4 Ma, contribution from the Badain Juran desert gradually increased. Finally, contribution from the Tengger desert appeared from 0.4 to 0 Ma. Together with tectonic evidences from literatures, the provenance changes from 4.3 to 0.8 Ma seem to reflect uplift of the Tian Shan and the Kunlun Mountains and consequent formation of the Taklimakan desert, whereas the change at 0.4 Ma may reflect uplift of the Qilian Mountains although formation of mountain glaciers could be an alternative possibility. These provenance changes will provide important constraints not only on the development of arid areas and evolution of monsoon but also on the uplift and erosion of mountains in East Asia

Stability with respect to domain of the low Mach number limit of compressible viscous fluids

We study the asymptotic limit of solutions to the barotropic Navier-Stokes system, when the Mach number is proportional to a small parameter \ep \to 0 and the fluid is confined to an exterior spatial domain \Omega_\ep that may vary with \ep. As $\epsilon \rightarrow 0$, it is shown that the fluid density becomes constant while the velocity converges to a solenoidal vector field satisfying the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations on a limit domain. The velocities approach the limit strongly (a.a.) on any compact set, uniformly with respect to a certain class of domains. The proof is based on spectral analysis of the associated wave propagator (Neumann Laplacian) governing the motion of acoustic waves.Comment: 32 page

On Inverse Scattering at a Fixed Energy for Potentials with a Regular Behaviour at Infinity

We study the inverse scattering problem for electric potentials and magnetic fields in \ere^d, d\geq 3, that are asymptotic sums of homogeneous terms at infinity. The main result is that all these terms can be uniquely reconstructed from the singularities in the forward direction of the scattering amplitude at some positive energy.Comment: This is a slightly edited version of the previous pape

Recovering the mass and the charge of a Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole by an inverse scattering experiment

In this paper, we study inverse scattering of massless Dirac fields that propagate in the exterior region of a Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. Using a stationary approach we determine precisely the leading terms of the high-energy asymptotic expansion of the scattering matrix that, in turn, permit us to recover uniquely the mass of the black hole and its charge up to a sign

Inverse Scattering at a Fixed Quasi-Energy for Potentials Periodic in Time

We prove that the scattering matrix at a fixed quasi--energy determines uniquely a time--periodic potential that decays exponentially at infinity. We consider potentials that for each fixed time belong to $L^{3/2}$ in space. The exponent 3/2 is critical for the singularities of the potential in space. For this singular class of potentials the result is new even in the time--independent case, where it was only known for bounded exponentially decreasing potentials.Comment: In this revised version I give a more detailed motivation of the class of potentials that I consider and I have corrected some typo

Limiting Carleman weights and anisotropic inverse problems

In this article we consider the anisotropic Calderon problem and related inverse problems. The approach is based on limiting Carleman weights, introduced in Kenig-Sjoestrand-Uhlmann (Ann. of Math. 2007) in the Euclidean case. We characterize those Riemannian manifolds which admit limiting Carleman weights, and give a complex geometrical optics construction for a class of such manifolds. This is used to prove uniqueness results for anisotropic inverse problems, via the attenuated geodesic X-ray transform. Earlier results in dimension $n \geq 3$ were restricted to real-analytic metrics.Comment: 58 page

Earliest Triassic microbialites in the South China Block and other areas; controls on their growth and distribution

Earliest Triassic microbialites (ETMs) and inorganic carbonate crystal fans formed after the end-Permian mass extinction (ca. 251.4 Ma) within the basal Triassic Hindeodus parvus conodont zone. ETMs are distinguished from rarer, and more regional, subsequent Triassic microbialites. Large differences in ETMs between northern and southern areas of the South China block suggest geographic provinces, and ETMs are most abundant throughout the equatorial Tethys Ocean with further geographic variation. ETMs occur in shallow-marine shelves in a superanoxic stratified ocean and form the only widespread Phanerozoic microbialites with structures similar to those of the Cambro-Ordovician, and briefly after the latest Ordovician, Late Silurian and Late Devonian extinctions. ETMs disappeared long before the mid-Triassic biotic recovery, but it is not clear why, if they are interpreted as disaster taxa. In general, ETM occurrence suggests that microbially mediated calcification occurred where upwelled carbonate-rich anoxic waters mixed with warm aerated surface waters, forming regional dysoxia, so that extreme carbonate supersaturation and dysoxic conditions were both required for their growth. Long-term oceanic and atmospheric changes may have contributed to a trigger for ETM formation. In equatorial western Pangea, the earliest microbialites are late Early Triassic, but it is possible that ETMs could exist in western Pangea, if well-preserved earliest Triassic facies are discovered in future work