171 research outputs found
Point perturbations of circle billiards
The spectral statistics of the circular billiard with a point-scatterer is
investigated. In the semiclassical limit, the spectrum is demonstrated to be
composed of two uncorrelated level sequences. The first corresponds to states
for which the scatterer is located in the classically forbidden region and its
energy levels are not affected by the scatterer in the semiclassical limit
while the second sequence contains the levels which are affected by the
point-scatterer. The nearest neighbor spacing distribution which results from
the superposition of these sequences is calculated analytically within some
approximation and good agreement with the distribution that was computed
numerically is found.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Intermediate statistics for a system with symplectic symmetry: the Dirac rose graph
We study the spectral statistics of the Dirac operator on a rose-shaped
graph---a graph with a single vertex and all bonds connected at both ends to
the vertex. We formulate a secular equation that generically determines the
eigenvalues of the Dirac rose graph, which is seen to generalise the secular
equation for a star graph with Neumann boundary conditions. We derive
approximations to the spectral pair correlation function at large and small
values of spectral spacings, in the limit as the number of bonds approaches
infinity, and compare these predictions with results of numerical calculations.
Our results represent the first example of intermediate statistics from the
symplectic symmetry class.Comment: 26 pages, references adde
Springtime Contribution of Dinitrogen Fixation to Primary Production Across the Mediterranean Sea
Dinitrogen (N-2) fixation rates were measured during early spring across the different provinces of Mediterranean Sea surface waters. N-2 fixation rates, measured using N-15(2) enriched seawater, were lowest in the eastern basin and increased westward with a maximum at the Strait of Gibraltar (0.10 to 2.35 nmol NL-1 d(-1), respectively). These rates were 3-7 fold higher than N-2 fixation rates measured previously in the Mediterranean Sea during summertime and we estimated that methodological differences alone did not account for the seasonal changes we observed. Higher contribution of N-2 fixation to primary production (4-8 %) was measured in the western basin compared to the eastern basin (similar to 2 %). Our data indicates that these differences between basins may be attributed to changes in N-2-fixing planktonic communities and that heterotrophic diazotrophy may play a significant role in the eastern Mediterranean while autotrophic diazotrophy has a more dominant role in the western basin
Classical limit of transport in quantum kicked maps
We investigate the behavior of weak localization, conductance fluctuations,
and shot noise of a chaotic scatterer in the semiclassical limit. Time resolved
numerical results, obtained by truncating the time-evolution of a kicked
quantum map after a certain number of iterations, are compared to semiclassical
theory. Considering how the appearance of quantum effects is delayed as a
function of the Ehrenfest time gives a new method to compare theory and
numerical simulations. We find that both weak localization and shot noise agree
with semiclassical theory, which predicts exponential suppression with
increasing Ehrenfest time. However, conductance fluctuations exhibit different
behavior, with only a slight dependence on the Ehrenfest time.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures. Final versio
The Impact of Atmospheric Dry Deposition Associated Microbes on the Southeastern Mediterranean Sea Surface Water following an Intense Dust Storm
This study explores the potential impacts of microbes deposited into the surface seawater of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea (SEMS) along with atmospheric particles on marine autotrophic and heterotrophic production. We compared in situ changes in autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial abundance and production rates before and during an intense dust storm event in early September 2015. Additionally, we measured the activity of microbes associated with atmospheric dry deposition (also referred to as airborne microbes) in sterile SEMS water using the same particles collected during the dust storm. A high diversity of prokaryotes and a low diversity of autotrophic eukaryotic algae were delivered to surface SEMS waters by the storm. Autotrophic airborne microbial abundance and activity were low, contributing ~1% of natural abundance in SEMS water and accounting for 1–4% to primary production. Airborne heterotrophic bacteria comprised 30–50% of the cells and accounted for 13–42% of bacterial production. Our results demonstrate that atmospheric dry deposition may supply not only chemical constitutes but also microbes that can affect ambient microbial populations and their activity in the surface ocean. Airborne microbes may play a greater role in ocean biogeochemistry in the future in light of the expected enhancement of dust storm durations and frequencies due to climate change and desertification processes
Lower bounds on dissipation upon coarse graining
By different coarse-graining procedures we derive lower bounds on the total
mean work dissipated in Brownian systems driven out of equilibrium. With
several analytically solvable examples we illustrate how, when, and where the
information on the dissipation is captured.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Planktonic Aggregates as Hotspots for Heterotrophic Diazotrophy: The Plot Thickens
Biological dinitrogen (N-2) fixation is performed solely by specialized bacteria and archaea termed diazotrophs, introducing new reactive nitrogen into aquatic environments. Conventionally, phototrophic cyanobacteria are considered the major diazotrophs in aquatic environments. However, accumulating evidence indicates that diverse non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs (NCDs) inhabit a wide range of aquatic ecosystems, including temperate and polar latitudes, coastal environments and the deep ocean. NCDs are thus suspected to impact global nitrogen cycling decisively, yet their ecological and quantitative importance remain unknown. Here we review recent molecular and biogeochemical evidence demonstrating that pelagic NCDs inhabit and thrive especially on aggregates in diverse aquatic ecosystems. Aggregates are characterized by reduced-oxygen microzones, high C:N ratio (above Redfield) and high availability of labile carbon as compared to the ambient water. We argue that planktonic aggregates are important loci for energetically-expensive N-2 fixation by NCDs and propose a conceptual framework for aggregate-associated N-2 fixation. Future studies on aggregate-associated diazotrophy, using novel methodological approaches, are encouraged to address the ecological relevance of NCDs for nitrogen cycling in aquatic environments
Spectral properties of quantized barrier billiards
The properties of energy levels in a family of classically pseudointegrable
systems, the barrier billiards, are investigated. An extensive numerical study
of nearest-neighbor spacing distributions, next-to-nearest spacing
distributions, number variances, spectral form factors, and the level dynamics
is carried out. For a special member of the billiard family, the form factor is
calculated analytically for small arguments in the diagonal approximation. All
results together are consistent with the so-called semi-Poisson statistics.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figure
Relationship between thermohaline and biochemical patterns in the levantine upper and intermediate water masses, Southeastern Mediterranean Sea (2013–2021)
The relationships between the interannual variations of the Levantine intermediate water (LIW) core properties and the corresponding biochemical variations in the euphotic zone were systematically studied in the Southeastern Mediterranean during 2013–2021 and since 2002 based on a previous study. Salinity and temperature interannual fluctuations in the LIW continue to follow the Adriatic–Ionian Bimodal Oscillating System (BiOS) mechanism, with salinity and temperature peaks in the years 2008–2010, 2014–2015, and 2018–2019 coinciding with periods of anticyclonic circulation of the North Ionian Gyre (NIG). During these anticyclonic periods, the transport of Atlantic Water into the Levant is reduced together with the transport of LIW out of the basin. These interannual fluctuations are superimposed on a long-term warming trend clearly evident from previous studies, showing a maximal temperature in 2018–2019, higher than the previously mentioned temperature peaks by ~0.7°C and ~0.4°C. The enhanced warming in 2018–2019 has caused a decrease in density (sigma) values of the LIW core, which gave way to the shallowest record of this water mass (~110-m depth), bringing it well within the lower photic zone. We suggest that a higher level of nutrients became available, supporting the observed long-term rise of the intergraded chlorophyll a (Chl.a) (0.89 mg m−2 year−1), with a maximum recorded during 2018–2019. The long-term record of the mixed layer depths shows no significant change; thus, the uplift of nutrients during winter mixing cannot support the trend and variations of the integrated Chl.a. Additional biological parameters of specific pico-phytoplankton populations and integrated bacterial production and abundance were measured in 2013–2021, but the measurements were too sparse to follow a clear interannual dynamics. Yet significantly higher average levels for integrated primary production and bacterial abundances were observed during the anticyclonic period (as for Chl.a). The combined impacts of the BiOS mechanism and global warming, and hence the increase in LIW residence time and buoyancy, may impact the primary producers’ biomass at the photic zone. This latter feedback may slightly counter the enhanced oligotrophication due to enhanced stratification
The interaction in nuclear matter from a study of the reactions
The pion-production reactions were studied on
, , , and nuclei at an incident pion energy
of =283 MeV. Pions were detected in coincidence using the CHAOS
spectrometer. The experimental results are reduced to differential cross
sections and compared to both theoretical predictions and the reaction phase
space. The composite ratio between the
invariant masses on nuclei and on the nucleon is also presented. Near the
threshold pion pairs couple to when produced in
the reaction channel. There is a marked near-threshold
enhancement of which is consistent with theoretical
predictions addressing the partial restoration of chiral symmetry in nuclear
matter. Furthermore, the behaviour of is well
described when the restoration of chiral symmetry is combined with standard
P-wave renormalization of pions in nuclear matter. On the other hand, nuclear
matter only weakly influences , which displays a flat
behaviour throughout the energy range regardless of .Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, PS format, accepted for publication in Nucl.
Phys
- …