Characterisation and representation of non-dissipative electromagnetic medium with a double light cone

We study Maxwell's equations on a 4-manifold N with a medium that is non-dissipative and has a linear and pointwise response. In this setting, the medium can be represented by a suitable (2,2)-tensor on the 4-manifold N. Moreover, in each cotangent space on N, the medium defines a Fresnel surface. Essentially, the Fresnel surface is a tensorial analogue of the dispersion equation that describes the response of the medium for signals in the geometric optics limit. For example, in isotropic medium the Fresnel surface is at each point a Lorentz light cone. In a recent paper, I. Lindell, A. Favaro and L. Bergamin introduced a condition that constrains the polarisation for plane waves. In this paper we show (under suitable assumptions) that a slight strengthening of this condition gives a pointwise characterisation of all medium tensors for which the Fresnel surface is the union of two distinct Lorentz null cones. This is for example the behaviour of uniaxial medium like calcite. Moreover, using the representation formulas from Lindell et al. we obtain a closed form representation formula that pointwise parameterises all medium tensors for which the Fresnel surface is the union of two distinct Lorentz null cones. Both the characterisation and the representation formula are tensorial and do not depend on local coordinates

Effects of ocean acidification and global warming on reef bioerosion—lessons from a clionaid sponge

Coral reefs are under threat, exerted by a number of interacting effects inherent to the present climate change, including ocean acidification and global warming. Bioerosion drives reef degradation by recycling carbonate skeletal material and is an important but understudied factor in this context. Twelve different combinations of pCO2 and temperature were applied to elucidate the consequences of ocean acidification and global warming on the physiological response and bioerosion rates of the zooxanthellate sponge Cliona orientalis—one of the most abundant and effective bioeroders on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Our results confirm a significant amplification of the sponges’ bioerosion capacity with increasing pCO2, which is expressed by more carbonate being chemically dissolved by etching. The health of the sponges and their photosymbionts was not affected by changes in pCO2, in contrast to temperature, which had significant negative impacts at higher levels. However, we could not conclusively explain the relationship between temperature and bioerosion rates, which were slightly reduced at both colder as well as warmer temperatures than ambient. The present findings on the effects of ocean acidification on chemical bioerosion, however, will have significant implications for predicting future reef carbonate budgets, as sponges often contribute the lion’s share of internal bioerosion on coral reefs

Reallocation Effects of the Minimum Wage

We investigate the wage, employment and reallocation effects of the introduction of a nationwide minimum wage in Germany that affected 15% of all employees. Based on identification designs that exploit variation in exposure across individuals and local areas, we find that the minimum wage raised wages, but did not lower employment. It also led to the reallocation of low-wage workers from smaller to larger, from lower- to higher-paying, and from less- to more-productive establishments. This worker upgrading accounts for up to 17% of the wage increase induced by the minimum wage. Moreover, at the regional level, average establishment quality increased in more affected areas in the years following the introduction of the minimum wage

Portable inhalation systemfor a dosed insulin supply

Интенсивная инсулинотерапия необходима для контроля состояния пациентов с диабетом.Несмотря на постоянное усовершенствование инсулинотерапии, все ещ? существует проблема неудобства режимов многократных инъекций инсулина. Целью данной работы является создание системы, позволяющей осуществлять ингаляцию инсулина.Intensive insulin therapy is necessary for the control of a condition diabetic patients. Despite the constant improvement of insulin therapy, there is still the problem of discomfort repeated regimes of insulin injections. The objective of this work is to create a system that allows the inhalation of insulin

Mid-Pliocene shifts in ocean overturning circulation and the onset of Quaternary-style climates

A major tipping point of Earth's history occurred during the mid-Pliocene: the onset of major Northern-Hemisphere Glaciation (NHG) and of pronounced, Quaternary-style cycles of glacial-to-interglacial climates, that contrast with more uniform climates over most of the preceding Cenozoic and continue until today (Zachos et al., 2001). The severe deterioration of climate occurred in three steps between 3.2 Ma (warm MIS K3) and 2.7 Ma (glacial MIS G6/4) (Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005). Various models (sensu Driscoll and Haug, 1998) and paleoceanographic records (intercalibrated using orbital age control) suggest clear linkages between the onset of NHG and the three steps in the final closure of the Central American Seaways (CAS), deduced from rising salinity differences between Caribbean and the East Pacific. Each closing event led to an enhanced North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and this strengthened the poleward transport of salt and heat (warmings of +2–3°C) (Bartoli et al., 2005). Also, the closing resulted in a slight rise in the poleward atmospheric moisture transport to northwestern Eurasia (Lunt et al., 2007), which probably led to an enhanced precipitation and fluvial run-off, lower sea surface salinity (SSS), and an increased sea-ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, hence promoting albedo and the build-up of continental ice sheets. Most important, new evidence shows that the closing of the CAS led to greater steric height of the North Pacific and thus doubled the low-saline Arctic Throughflow from the Bering Strait to the East Greenland Current (EGC). Accordingly, Labrador Sea IODP Site 1307 displays an abrupt but irreversible EGC cooling of 6°C and freshening by ~2 psu from 3.25/3.16–3.00 Ma, right after the first but still reversible attempt of closing the CAS

Form Geometry and the 'tHooft-Plebanski Action

Riemannian geometry in four dimensions, including Einstein's equations, can be described by means of a connection that annihilates a triad of two-forms (rather than a tetrad of vector fields). Our treatment of the conformal factor of the metric differs from the original presentation of this result, due to 'tHooft. In the action the conformal factor now appears as a field to be varied.Comment: 12pp, LaTe

Neighbours of Einstein's Equations: Connections and Curvatures

Once the action for Einstein's equations is rewritten as a functional of an SO(3,C) connection and a conformal factor of the metric, it admits a family of ``neighbours'' having the same number of degrees of freedom and a precisely defined metric tensor. This paper analyzes the relation between the Riemann tensor of that metric and the curvature tensor of the SO(3) connection. The relation is in general very complicated. The Einstein case is distinguished by the fact that two natural SO(3) metrics on the GL(3) fibers coincide. In the general case the theory is bimetric on the fibers.Comment: 16 pages, LaTe

Geochemical and Isotopic Evolution of Late Oligocene Magmatism in Quchan, NE Iran

Magmatic activity that accompanied the collision between Arabia and Eurasia at ∼27 Ma, provides unique opportunities for understanding the triggers and magma reservoirs for collisional magmatism and its different styles in magmatic fronts and back-arcs. We present new ages and geochemical-isotopic results for magmatic rocks that formed during the collision between Arabia and Eurasia in NE Iran, which was a back-arc region to the main magmatic arcs of Iran. Our new zircon U-Pb ages indicate that collisional magmatism began at ∼24 Ma in the NE Iran back-arc, although magmatism in this area started in the Late Cretaceous time and continued until the Pleistocene. The collisional igneous rocks are characteristically bimodal, and basaltic-andesitic and dacitic-rhyolitic components show significant isotopic differences; εNd(t) = +4.4 to +7.4 and εHf(t) = +5.4 to +9.5 for mafic rocks and εNd(t) = +0.2 to +8.4 and εHf(t) = +3.4 to +12.3 for silicic rocks. The isotopic values and modeling suggest that fractional crystallization and assimilation-fractional crystallization played important roles in the genesis of felsic rocks in the NE Iran collisional zone. Trace element and isotopic modeling further emphasize that the main triggers of the magmatism in NE Iran comprise a depleted to the enriched mantle and the Cadomian continental crust of Iran. Our results also emphasize the temporal magmatic variations in the NE Iran back-arc from Late Cretaceous to Pleistocene. © 2021. The Authors