279 research outputs found
Oscillatory wave fronts in chains of coupled nonlinear oscillators
Wave front pinning and propagation in damped chains of coupled oscillators
are studied. There are two important thresholds for an applied constant stress
: for (dynamic Peierls stress), wave fronts fail to propagate,
for stable static and moving wave fronts coexist, and
for (static Peierls stress) there are only stable moving wave
fronts. For piecewise linear models, extending an exact method of Atkinson and
Cabrera's to chains with damped dynamics corroborates this description. For
smooth nonlinearities, an approximate analytical description is found by means
of the active point theory. Generically for small or zero damping, stable wave
front profiles are non-monotone and become wavy (oscillatory) in one of their
tails.Comment: 18 pages, 21 figures, 2 column revtex. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Moving lattice kinks and pulses: an inverse method
We develop a general mapping from given kink or pulse shaped travelling-wave
solutions including their velocity to the equations of motion on
one-dimensional lattices which support these solutions. We apply this mapping -
by definition an inverse method - to acoustic solitons in chains with nonlinear
intersite interactions, to nonlinear Klein-Gordon chains, to reaction-diffusion
equations and to discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger systems. Potential functions
can be found in at least a unique way provided the pulse shape is reflection
symmetric and pulse and kink shapes are at least functions. For kinks we
discuss the relation of our results to the problem of a Peierls-Nabarro
potential and continuous symmetries. We then generalize our method to higher
dimensional lattices for reaction-diffusion systems. We find that increasing
also the number of components easily allows for moving solutions.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure
Incidence and control of bovine gastrointestinal nematodes in the East of the Province of La Pampa, Argentina
A cross-sectional survey including 350 stocking farms and bovine establishments that operate the full cycle (FC) as well as fattening operations (IN) was carried out in the East of the Province of La Pampa to record cases of verminous gastroenteritis (VGE) as well as control and management practices applied by the farmers.Farms were stratified by herd size into three categories: more than 900 (G), 900-500 (M) and 500-300 (P) bovines. Samples from each category were collected at random. 33% of the farmers surveyed indicated that their animals had been affected by clinical cases of VGE with morbidity and mortality rates between 11.2% and 0.42%, respectively. More cases of VEG (P<0.004, X2 8.33) occurred in herds on FC establishments (37%) that on fattening farms (IN) (21%); the relative risk (RR) was 1.77 (95%; IC 1.18 – 2.74) but no differences were noted between categories. Ninety-four percent of the farmers use avermectins alone (AVM) (71%) or combined with benzimidazole (BZD, 20%) or levamisole (3%); 6% use BZD alone. The percentage of use of other drugs in addition to AVM increases (P<0.005, X2 7.80) with larger herds (G: 32%, M: 21%, P: 15%). Of the treatments, 95.2% include avermectins alone in injectable form (82.6%) or combined with oral (16.5%) or intraruminal (0.9%) forms. Approximately 2.42 treatments per year are performed and are more prevalent (P<0.01) in G and IN farms (2.7 treatments). 35% of the farmers deworm twice a year, in the fall (between March and July) and in late winter-spring (between August and October-), 16% deworm only once (between February and April) and 12% twice (between late summer and early winter). 18% of the farmers (G: 24%, M: 18%; P: 13%) prevent VGE losses by administering treatment at a specific time of the year. 60% of the farmers consult the veterinarian although only 29% perform an egg count (hpg) although differences (P<0.001) between herd sizes were noted: G: 41%, M: 26%; P 19%. 12% (FC 10%; IN 16%). 12% of the farmers (FC 10%; IN 16%) perform a follow-up of parasite infections with an egg count and administer treatment based on this monitoring and the recommendation of a veterinarian. 94% of those surveyed indicated that VGE alone (55%) or in conjunction with other pathologies were a major problem and 30% said it was the main health problem. The study shows the economic importance of GIPs for the competitiveness of the systems in the region. The use of a significant quantity of anthelmintics, mainly avermectins, and a low participation of veterinarians in planning the controls were observed. A trend indicating that large farms and fattening operations assign more importance to control, use of anthelmintics and participation of professionals was noted
Nonlinear stability of oscillatory wave fronts in chains of coupled oscillators
We present a stability theory for kink propagation in chains of coupled
oscillators and a new algorithm for the numerical study of kink dynamics. The
numerical solutions are computed using an equivalent integral equation instead
of a system of differential equations. This avoids uncertainty about the impact
of artificial boundary conditions and discretization in time. Stability results
also follow from the integral version. Stable kinks have a monotone leading
edge and move with a velocity larger than a critical value which depends on the
damping strength.Comment: 11 figure
Discrete kink dynamics in hydrogen-bonded chains I: The one-component model
We study topological solitary waves (kinks and antikinks) in a nonlinear
one-dimensional Klein-Gordon chain with the on-site potential of a double-Morse
type. This chain is used to describe the collective proton dynamics in
quasi-one-dimensional networks of hydrogen bonds, where the on-site potential
plays role of the proton potential in the hydrogen bond. The system supports a
rich variety of stationary kink solutions with different symmetry properties.
We study the stability and bifurcation structure of all these stationary kink
states. An exactly solvable model with a piecewise ``parabola-constant''
approximation of the double-Morse potential is suggested and studied
analytically. The dependence of the Peierls-Nabarro potential on the system
parameters is studied. Discrete travelling-wave solutions of a narrow permanent
profile are shown to exist, depending on the anharmonicity of the Morse
potential and the cooperativity of the hydrogen bond (the coupling constant of
the interaction between nearest-neighbor protons).Comment: 12 pages, 20 figure
Atmospheric effects on extensive air showers observed with the Surface Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Atmospheric parameters, such as pressure (P), temperature (T) and density,
affect the development of extensive air showers initiated by energetic cosmic
rays. We have studied the impact of atmospheric variations on extensive air
showers by means of the surface detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. The
rate of events shows a ~10% seasonal modulation and ~2% diurnal one. We find
that the observed behaviour is explained by a model including the effects
associated with the variations of pressure and density. The former affects the
longitudinal development of air showers while the latter influences the Moliere
radius and hence the lateral distribution of the shower particles. The model is
validated with full simulations of extensive air showers using atmospheric
profiles measured at the site of the Pierre Auger Observatory.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy
cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at
ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development
of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector
comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen
fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this
paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its
optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for
relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the
monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and
precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section
The exposure of the hybrid detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a detector for ultra-high energy cosmic rays.
It consists of a surface array to measure secondary particles at ground level
and a fluorescence detector to measure the development of air showers in the
atmosphere above the array. The "hybrid" detection mode combines the
information from the two subsystems. We describe the determination of the
hybrid exposure for events observed by the fluorescence telescopes in
coincidence with at least one water-Cherenkov detector of the surface array. A
detailed knowledge of the time dependence of the detection operations is
crucial for an accurate evaluation of the exposure. We discuss the relevance of
monitoring data collected during operations, such as the status of the
fluorescence detector, background light and atmospheric conditions, that are
used in both simulation and reconstruction.Comment: Paper accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
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