Greenhouse gas profiling by infrared-laser and microwave occultation: retrieval algorithm and demonstration results from end-to-end simulations

Measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) profiles with global coverage and high accuracy and vertical resolution in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) is key for improved monitoring of GHG concentrations in the free atmosphere. In this respect a new satellite mission concept adding an infrared-laser part to the already well studied microwave occultation technique exploits the joint propagation of infrared-laser and microwave signals between Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. This synergetic combination, referred to as LEO-LEO microwave and infrared-laser occultation (LMIO) method, enables to retrieve thermodynamic profiles (pressure, temperature, humidity) and accurate altitude levels from the microwave signals and GHG profiles from the simultaneously measured infrared-laser signals. However, due to the novelty of the LMIO method, a retrieval algorithm for GHG profiling is not yet available. Here we introduce such an algorithm for retrieving GHGs from LEO-LEO infrared-laser occultation (LIO) data, applied as a second step after retrieving thermodynamic profiles from LEO-LEO microwave occultation (LMO) data. We thoroughly describe the LIO retrieval algorithm and unveil the synergy with the LMO-retrieved pressure, temperature, and altitude information. We furthermore demonstrate the effective independence of the GHG retrieval results from background (a priori) information in discussing demonstration results from LMIO end-to-end simulations for a representative set of GHG profiles, including carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), water vapor (H<sub>2</sub>O), methane (CH<sub>4</sub>), and ozone (O<sub>3</sub>). The GHGs except for ozone are well retrieved throughout the UTLS, while ozone is well retrieved from about 10 km to 15 km upwards, since the ozone layer resides in the lower stratosphere. The GHG retrieval errors are generally smaller than 1% to 3% r.m.s., at a vertical resolution of about 1 km. The retrieved profiles also appear unbiased, which points to the climate benchmarking capability of the LMIO method. This performance, found here for clear-air atmospheric conditions, is unprecedented for vertical profiling of GHGs in the free atmosphere and encouraging for future LMIO implementation. Subsequent work will examine GHG retrievals in cloudy air, addressing retrieval performance when scanning through intermittent upper tropospheric cloudiness

Conductivity in a symmetry broken phase: Spinless fermions with 1/d1/d corrections

The dynamic conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ of strongly correlated electrons in a symmetry broken phase is investigated in the present work. The model considered consists of spinless fermions with repulsive interaction on a simple cubic lattice. The investigated symmetry broken phase is the charge density wave (CDW) with wave vector $Q=(\pi,\pi,\pi)^\dagger$ which occurs at half-filling. The calculations are based on the high dimensional approach, i.e. an expansion in the inverse dimension $1/d$ is used. The finite dimensionality is accounted for by the inclusion of linear terms in $1/d$ and the true finite dimensional DOS. Special care is paid to the setup of a conserving approximation in the sense of Baym/Kadanoff without inconsistencies. The resulting Bethe-Salpeter equation is solved for the dynamic conductivity in the non symmetry broken and in the symmetry broken phase (AB-CDW). The dc-conductivity is reduced drastically in the CDW. Yet it does not vanish in the limit $T \to 0$ due to a subtle cancellation of diverging mobility and vanishing DOS. In the dynamic conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$ the energy gap induced by the symmetry breaking is clearly discernible. In addition, the vertex corrections of order $1/d$ lead to an excitonic resonance lying within the gap.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures included with psfig, Revtex; Physical Review B15, in press (October/November 1996) depending on the printer/screen driver, it might be necessary to comment out figures 3,4,5,10,11,12,19 and have them printed separatel

Uniformization and an Index Theorem for Elliptic Operators Associated with Diffeomorphisms of a Manifold

We consider the index problem for a wide class of nonlocal elliptic operators on a smooth closed manifold, namely differential operators with shifts induced by the action of an isometric diffeomorphism. The key to the solution is the method of uniformization: We assign to the nonlocal problem a pseudodifferential operator with the same index, acting in sections of an infinite-dimensional vector bundle on a compact manifold. We then determine the index in terms of topological invariants of the symbol, using the Atiyah-Singer index theorem.Comment: 16 pages, no figure

Heterogeneity shapes groups growth in social online communities

Many complex systems are characterized by broad distributions capturing, for example, the size of firms, the population of cities or the degree distribution of complex networks. Typically this feature is explained by means of a preferential growth mechanism. Although heterogeneity is expected to play a role in the evolution it is usually not considered in the modeling probably due to a lack of empirical evidence on how it is distributed. We characterize the intrinsic heterogeneity of groups in an online community and then show that together with a simple linear growth and an inhomogeneous birth rate it explains the broad distribution of group members.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure panel

Matrix stiffness mechanosensing modulates the expression and distribution of transcription factors in Schwann cells

After peripheral nerve injury, mature Schwann cells (SCs) de-differentiate and undergo cell reprogramming to convert into a specialized cell repair phenotype that promotes nerve regeneration. Reprogramming of SCs into the repair phenotype is tightly controlled at the genome level and includes downregulation of pro-myelinating genes and activation of nerve repair-associated genes. Nerve injuries induce not only biochemical but also mechanical changes in the tissue architecture which impact SCs. Recently, we showed that SCs mechanically sense the stiffness of the extracellular matrix and that SC mechanosensitivity modulates their morphology and migratory behavior. Here, we explore the expression levels of key transcription factors and myelin-associated genes in SCs, and the outgrowth of primary dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurites, in response to changes in the stiffness of generated matrices. The selected stiffness range matches the physiological conditions of both utilized cell types as determined in our previous investigations. We find that stiffer matrices induce upregulation of the expression of transcription factors Sox2, Oct6, and Krox20, and concomitantly reduce the expression of the repair-associated transcription factor c-Jun, suggesting a link between SC substrate mechanosensing and gene expression regulation. Likewise, DRG neurite outgrowth correlates with substrate stiffness. The remarkable intrinsic physiological plasticity of SCs, and the mechanosensitivity of SCs and neurites, may be exploited in the design of bioengineered scaffolds that promote nerve regeneration upon injury

Thermoelectric properties of the degenerate Hubbard model

We investigate the thermoelectric properties of a system near a pressure driven Mott-Hubbard transition. The dependence of the thermopower and the figure of merit on pressure and temperature within a degenerate Hubbard model for integer filling n=1 is calculated using dynamical mean field theory. Quantum Monte Carlo method is used to solve the impurity model. Obtained results can qualitatively explain thermoelectric properties of various strongly correlated materials.Comment: RevTex, 7 pages, 6 figure

Reduction Techniques for Graph Isomorphism in the Context of Width Parameters

We study the parameterized complexity of the graph isomorphism problem when parameterized by width parameters related to tree decompositions. We apply the following technique to obtain fixed-parameter tractability for such parameters. We first compute an isomorphism invariant set of potential bags for a decomposition and then apply a restricted version of the Weisfeiler-Lehman algorithm to solve isomorphism. With this we show fixed-parameter tractability for several parameters and provide a unified explanation for various isomorphism results concerned with parameters related to tree decompositions. As a possibly first step towards intractability results for parameterized graph isomorphism we develop an fpt Turing-reduction from strong tree width to the a priori unrelated parameter maximum degree.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure

Critical spectral statistics in two-dimensional interacting disordered systems

The effect of Coulomb and short-range interactions on the spectral properties of two-dimensional disordered systems with two spinless fermions is investigated by numerical scaling techniques. The size independent universality of the critical nearest level-spacing distribution $P(s)$ allows one to find a delocalization transition at a critical disorder $W_{\rm c}$ for any non-zero value of the interaction strength. At the critical point the spacings distribution has a small-$s$ behavior $P_c(s)\propto s$, and a Poisson-like decay at large spacings.Comment: 4 two-column pages, 3 eps figures, RevTeX, new results adde

Polynomiality of unpolarized off-forward distribution functions and the D-term in the chiral quark-soliton model

Mellin moments of off-forward distribution functions are even polynomials of the skewedness parameter. This constraint, called polynomiality property, follows from Lorentz- and time-reversal invariance. We prove that the unpolarized off-forward distribution functions in the chiral quark-soliton model satisfy the polynomiality property. The proof is an important contribution to the demonstration that the description of off-forward distribution functions in the model is consistent. As a byproduct of the proof we derive explicit model expressions for moments of the D-term and compute the first coefficient in the Gegenbauer expansion for this term.Comment: 18 pages, no figures. Corrections and improvements in section 6. To appear in Phys.Rev.

Self-Consistent Second Order Perturbation Theory for the Hubbard Model in Two Dimensions

We apply self-consistent second order perturbation theory (SCSOPT) with respect to the on-site repulsive interaction U to study the Hubbard model in two dimensions. We investigate single particle properties of the model over the entire doping range at zero temperature. It is shown that as doping decreases toward half-filling $\omega$-mass enhancement factor increases, while k-mass enhancement factor decreases. The increase in $\omega$-mass enhancement factor is larger than the decrease in k-mass enhancement factor, so that total-mass is larger than that in the non-interacting case. When particle number density per unit cell n is given by 0.64<n<1.0 interaction enhances anisotropy of the Fermi surface, whereas at lower densities n<0.64 interaction suppresses anisotropy of it. Due to the decrease in k-mass enhancement factor the density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level is suppressed. It is possible to understand the results within the framework of the weak coupling Fermi liquid theory.Comment: 8 pages, 12 embedded EPS figures, to appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 68-3 (1999