988 research outputs found
Experiences in wetland co-management: the MACH project
Wetlands, Fishery management
Self-optimization, community stability, and fluctuations in two individual-based models of biological coevolution
We compare and contrast the long-time dynamical properties of two
individual-based models of biological coevolution. Selection occurs via
multispecies, stochastic population dynamics with reproduction probabilities
that depend nonlinearly on the population densities of all species resident in
the community. New species are introduced through mutation. Both models are
amenable to exact linear stability analysis, and we compare the analytic
results with large-scale kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, obtaining the
population size as a function of an average interspecies interaction strength.
Over time, the models self-optimize through mutation and selection to
approximately maximize a community fitness function, subject only to
constraints internal to the particular model. If the interspecies interactions
are randomly distributed on an interval including positive values, the system
evolves toward self-sustaining, mutualistic communities. In contrast, for the
predator-prey case the matrix of interactions is antisymmetric, and a nonzero
population size must be sustained by an external resource. Time series of the
diversity and population size for both models show approximate 1/f noise and
power-law distributions for the lifetimes of communities and species. For the
mutualistic model, these two lifetime distributions have the same exponent,
while their exponents are different for the predator-prey model. The difference
is probably due to greater resilience toward mass extinctions in the food-web
like communities produced by the predator-prey model.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures. Discussion of early-time dynamics added. J.
Math. Biol., in pres
Motion of a driven tracer particle in a one-dimensional symmetric lattice gas
We study the dynamics of a tracer particle subject to a constant driving
force in a one-dimensional lattice gas of hard-core particles whose
transition rates are symmetric. We show that the mean displacement of the
driven tracer grows in time, , as , rather than the linear
time dependence found for driven diffusion in the bath of non-interacting
(ghost) particles. The prefactor is determined implicitly, as the
solution of a transcendental equation, for an arbitrary magnitude of the
driving force and an arbitrary concentration of the lattice gas particles. In
limiting cases the prefactor is obtained explicitly. Analytical predictions are
seen to be in a good agreement with the results of numerical simulations.Comment: 21 pages, LaTeX, 4 Postscript fugures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
E, (01Sep, 1996
Finite slice analysis (FINA) of sliced and velocity mapped images on a Cartesian grid
Contains fulltext :
187488.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)9 p
TeV-scale bileptons, see-saw type II and lepton flavor violation in core-collapse supernova
Electrons and electron neutrinos in the inner core of the core-collapse
supernova are highly degenerate and therefore numerous during a few seconds of
explosion. In contrast, leptons of other flavors are non-degenerate and
therefore relatively scarce. This is due to lepton flavor conservation. If this
conservation law is broken by some non-standard interactions, electron
neutrinos are converted to muon and tau-neutrinos, and electrons - to muons.
This affects the supernova dynamics and the supernova neutrino signal. We
consider lepton flavor violating interactions mediated by scalar bileptons,
i.e. heavy scalars with lepton number 2. It is shown that in case of TeV-mass
bileptons the electron fermi gas is equilibrated with non-electron species
inside the inner supernova core at a time-scale of order of (1-100) ms. In
particular, a scalar triplet which generates neutrino masses through the
see-saw type II mechanism is considered. It is found that supernova core is
sensitive to yet unprobed values of masses and couplings of the triplet.Comment: accepted to Eur.Phys.J.
CHIMPS: the 13CO/C18O (J = 3 to 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey
We present the 13CO/C18O (J = 3 → 2) Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey (CHIMPS) which has been carried out using the Heterodyne Array Receiver Program on the 15 m James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) in Hawaii. The high-resolution spectral survey currently covers |b| ≤ 0.5° and 28° ≲ l ≲ 46°, with an angular resolution of 15 arcsec in 0.5 km s-1 velocity channels. The spectra have a median rms of ˜0.6 K at this resolution, and for optically thin gas at an excitation temperature of 10 K, this sensitivity corresponds to column densities of NH2 ˜ 3 × 1020 cm-2 and NH2 ˜ 4 × 1021 cm-2 for 13CO and C18O, respectively. The molecular gas that CHIMPS traces is at higher column densities and is also more optically thin than in other publicly available CO surveys due to its rarer isotopologues, and thus more representative of the three-dimensional structure of the clouds. The critical density of the J = 3 → 2 transition of CO is ≳104 cm-3 at temperatures of ≤20 K, and so the higher density gas associated with star formation is well traced. These data complement other existing Galactic plane surveys, especially the JCMT Galactic Plane Survey which has similar spatial resolution and column density sensitivity, and the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey. In this paper, we discuss the observations, data reduction and characteristics of the survey, presenting integrated-emission maps for the region covered. Position-velocity diagrams allow comparison with Galactic structure models of the Milky Way, and while we find good agreement with a particular four-arm model, there are some significant deviations.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio
NMR and NQR Fluctuation Effects in Layered Superconductors
We study the effect of thermal fluctuations of the s-wave order parameter of
a quasi two dimensional superconductor on the nuclear spin relaxation rate near
the transition temperature Tc. We consider both the effects of the amplitude
fluctuations and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase fluctuations
in weakly coupled layered superconductors. In the treatment of the amplitude
fluctuations we employ the Gaussian approximation and evaluate the longitudinal
relaxation rate 1/T1 for a clean s-wave superconductor, with and without pair
breaking effects, using the static pair fluctuation propagator D. The increase
in 1/T1 due to pair breaking in D is overcompensated by the decrease arising
from the single particle Green's functions. The result is a strong effect on
1/T1 for even a small amount of pair breaking. The phase fluctuations are
described in terms of dynamical BKT excitations in the form of pancake
vortex-antivortex (VA) pairs. We calculate the effect of the magnetic field
fluctuations caused by the translational motion of VA excitations on 1/T1 and
on the transverse relaxation rate 1/T2 on both sides of the BKT transitation
temperature T(BKT)<Tc. The results for the NQR relaxation rates depend strongly
on the diffusion constant that governs the motion of free and bound vortices as
well as the annihilation of VA pairs. We discuss the relaxation rates for real
multilayer systems where the diffusion constant can be small and thus increase
the lifetime of a VA pair, leading to an enhancement of the rates. We also
discuss in some detail the experimental feasibility of observing the effects of
amplitude fluctuations in layered s-wave superconductors such as the
dichalcogenides and the effects of phase fluctuations in s- or d-wave
superconductors such as the layered cuprates.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure
The HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS) - I. Techniques and HO maser data
The definitive version can be found at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ Copyright Royal Astronomical SocietyWe present first results of the HO Southern Galactic Plane Survey (HOPS), using the Mopra Radio Telescope with a broad-band backend and a beam size of about 2 arcmin. We have observed 100 deg of the southern Galactic plane at 12mm (19.5-27.5GHz), including spectral line emission from HO masers, multiple metastable transitions of ammonia, cyanoacetylene, methanol and radio recombination lines. In this paper, we report on the characteristics of the survey and HO maser emission. We find 540 HO masers, of which 334 are new detections. The strongest maser is 3933Jy and the weakest is 0.7Jy, with 62 masers over 100Jy. In 14 maser sites, the spread in the velocity of the HO maser emission exceeds 100kms. In one region, the HO maser velocities are separated by 351.3kms. The rms noise levels are typically between 1 and 2Jy, with 95 per cent of the survey under 2Jy. We estimate completeness limits of 98 per cent at around 8.4Jy and 50 per cent at around 5.5Jy. We estimate that there are between 800 and 1500 HO masers in the Galaxy that are detectable in a survey with similar completeness limits to HOPS. We report possible masers in NH (11,9) and (8,6) emission towards G19.61-0.23 and in the NH (3,3) line towards G23.33-0.30.Peer reviewe
Measuring the Neutron Lifetime Using Magnetically Trapped Neutrons
The neutron beta-decay lifetime plays an important role both in understanding
weak interactions within the framework of the Standard Model and in theoretical
predictions of the primordial abundance of 4He in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. In
previous work, we successfully demonstrated the trapping of ultracold neutrons
(UCN) in a conservative potential magnetic trap. A major upgrade of the
apparatus is nearing completion at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology Center for Neutron Research (NCNR). In our approach, a beam of 0.89
nm neutrons is incident on a superfluid 4He target within the minimum field
region of an Ioffe-type magnetic trap. A fraction of the neutrons is
downscattered in the helium to energies <200 neV, and those in the appropriate
spin state become trapped. The inverse process is suppressed by the low phonon
density of helium at temperatures less than 200 mK, allowing the neutron to
travel undisturbed. When the neutron decays the energetic electron ionizes the
helium, producing scintillation light that is detected using photomultiplier
tubes. Statistical limitations of the previous apparatus will be alleviated by
significant increases in field strength and trap volume resulting in twenty
times more trapped neutrons.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Kepler-22b: A 2.4 Earth-radius Planet in the Habitable Zone of a Sun-like Star
A search of the time-series photometry from NASA's Kepler spacecraft reveals
a transiting planet candidate orbiting the 11th magnitude G5 dwarf KIC 10593626
with a period of 290 days. The characteristics of the host star are well
constrained by high-resolution spectroscopy combined with an asteroseismic
analysis of the Kepler photometry, leading to an estimated mass and radius of
0.970 +/- 0.060 MSun and 0.979 +/- 0.020 RSun. The depth of 492 +/- 10ppm for
the three observed transits yields a radius of 2.38 +/- 0.13 REarth for the
planet. The system passes a battery of tests for false positives, including
reconnaissance spectroscopy, high-resolution imaging, and centroid motion. A
full BLENDER analysis provides further validation of the planet interpretation
by showing that contamination of the target by an eclipsing system would rarely
mimic the observed shape of the transits. The final validation of the planet is
provided by 16 radial velocities obtained with HIRES on Keck 1 over a one year
span. Although the velocities do not lead to a reliable orbit and mass
determination, they are able to constrain the mass to a 3{\sigma} upper limit
of 124 MEarth, safely in the regime of planetary masses, thus earning the
designation Kepler-22b. The radiative equilibrium temperature is 262K for a
planet in Kepler-22b's orbit. Although there is no evidence that Kepler-22b is
a rocky planet, it is the first confirmed planet with a measured radius to
orbit in the Habitable Zone of any star other than the Sun.Comment: Accepted to Ap
- …