17,273 research outputs found
Numerical constraints on the model of stochastic excitation of solar-type oscillations
Analyses of a 3D simulation of the upper layers of a solar convective
envelope provide constraints on the physical quantities which enter the
theoretical formulation of a stochastic excitation model of solar p modes, for
instance the convective velocities and the turbulent kinetic energy spectrum.
These constraints are then used to compute the acoustic excitation rate for
solar p modes, P. The resulting values are found ~5 times larger than the
values resulting from a computation in which convective velocities and entropy
fluctuations are obtained with a 1D solar envelope model built with the
time-dependent, nonlocal Gough (1977) extension of the mixing length
formulation for convection (GMLT). This difference is mainly due to the assumed
mean anisotropy properties of the velocity field in the excitation region. The
3D simulation suggests much larger horizontal velocities compared to vertical
ones than in the 1D GMLT solar model. The values of P obtained with the 3D
simulation constraints however are still too small compared with the values
inferred from solar observations. Improvements in the description of the
turbulent kinetic energy spectrum and its depth dependence yield further
increased theoretical values of P which bring them closer to the observations.
It is also found that the source of excitation arising from the advection of
the turbulent fluctuations of entropy by the turbulent movements contributes ~
65-75 % to the excitation and therefore remains dominant over the Reynolds
stress contribution. The derived theoretical values of P obtained with the 3D
simulation constraints remain smaller by a factor ~3 compared with the solar
observations. This shows that the stochastic excitation model still needs to be
improved.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in A&
The Order of Phase Transitions in Barrier Crossing
A spatially extended classical system with metastable states subject to weak
spatiotemporal noise can exhibit a transition in its activation behavior when
one or more external parameters are varied. Depending on the potential, the
transition can be first or second-order, but there exists no systematic theory
of the relation between the order of the transition and the shape of the
potential barrier. In this paper, we address that question in detail for a
general class of systems whose order parameter is describable by a classical
field that can vary both in space and time, and whose zero-noise dynamics are
governed by a smooth polynomial potential. We show that a quartic potential
barrier can only have second-order transitions, confirming an earlier
conjecture [1]. We then derive, through a combination of analytical and
numerical arguments, both necessary conditions and sufficient conditions to
have a first-order vs. a second-order transition in noise-induced activation
behavior, for a large class of systems with smooth polynomial potentials of
arbitrary order. We find in particular that the order of the transition is
especially sensitive to the potential behavior near the top of the barrier.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures with extended introduction and discussion; version
accepted for publication by Phys. Rev.
Continuous harvesting costs in sole-owner fisheries with increasing marginal returns
We develop a bioeconomic model to analyze a sole-owner fishery with fixed costs as well as a continuous cost function for the generalized Cobb-Douglas production function with increasing marginal returns to effort level. On the basis of data from the North Sea herring fishery, we analyze the consequences of the combined effects of increasing marginal returns and fixed costs. We find that regardless of the magnitude of the fixed costs, cyclical policies can be optimal instead of the optimal steady state equilibrium advocated in much of the existing literature. We also show that the risk of stock collapse increases significantly with increasing fixed costs as this implies higher period cycles which is a quite counterintuitive result as higher costs usually are considered to have a conservative effect on resources.Bioeconomic modelling; Stock collapse; Fixed costs; Pulse fishing; Cyclical dynamics; Increasing marginal returns
Asymptotic behavior of small solutions for the discrete nonlinear Schr\"odinger and Klein-Gordon equations
We show decay estimates for the propagator of the discrete Schr\"odinger and
Klein-Gordon equations in the form \norm{U(t)f}{l^\infty}\leq C
(1+|t|)^{-d/3}\norm{f}{l^1}. This implies a corresponding (restricted) set of
Strichartz estimates. Applications of the latter include the existence of
excitation thresholds for certain regimes of the parameters and the decay of
small initial data for relevant norms. The analytical decay estimates are
corroborated with numerical results.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Giant Spin Relaxation Anisotropy in Zinc-Blende Heterostructures
Spin relaxation in-plane anisotropy is predicted for heterostructures based
on zinc-blende semiconductors. It is shown that it manifests itself especially
brightly if the two spin relaxation mechanisms (D'yakonov-Perel' and Rashba)
are comparable in efficiency. It is demonstrated that for the quantum well
grown along the [0 0 1] direction, the main axes of spin relaxation rate tensor
are [1 1 0] and [1 -1 0].Comment: 3 pages, NO figure
Research review: young people leaving care
This paper reviews the international research on young people leaving care. Set in the context of a social exclusion framework, it explores young people's accelerated and compressed transitions to adulthood, and discusses the development and classification of leaving care services in responding to their needs. It then considers the evidence from outcome studies and argues that adopting a resilience framework suggests that young people leaving care may fall into three groups: young people 'moving on', 'survivors' and 'victims'. In concluding, it argues that these three pathways are associated with the quality of care young people receive, their transitions from care and the support they receive after care
Pointwise consistency of the kriging predictor with known mean and covariance functions
This paper deals with several issues related to the pointwise consistency of
the kriging predictor when the mean and the covariance functions are known.
These questions are of general importance in the context of computer
experiments. The analysis is based on the properties of approximations in
reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces. We fix an erroneous claim of Yakowitz and
Szidarovszky (J. Multivariate Analysis, 1985) that the kriging predictor is
pointwise consistent for all continuous sample paths under some assumptions.Comment: Submitted to mODa9 (the Model-Oriented Data Analysis and Optimum
Design Conference), 14th-19th June 2010, Bertinoro, Ital
Conservative Quantum Computing
Conservation laws limit the accuracy of physical implementations of
elementary quantum logic gates. If the computational basis is represented by a
component of spin and physical implementations obey the angular momentum
conservation law, any physically realizable unitary operators with size less
than n qubits cannot implement the controlled-NOT gate within the error
probability 1/(4n^2), where the size is defined as the total number of the
computational qubits and the ancilla qubits. An analogous limit for bosonic
ancillae is also obtained to show that the lower bound of the error probability
is inversely proportional to the average number of photons. Any set of
universal gates inevitably obeys a related limitation with error probability
O(1/n^2)$. To circumvent the above or related limitations yielded by
conservation laws, it is recommended that the computational basis should be
chosen as the one commuting with the additively conserved quantities.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex. Corrected to include a new statement that for
bosonic ancillae the lower bound of the error probability is inversely
proportional to the average number of photons, kindly suggested by Julio
Gea-Banacloch
The Poisson-Boltzmann model for implicit solvation of electrolyte solutions: Quantum chemical implementation and assessment via Sechenov coefficients.
We present the theory and implementation of a Poisson-Boltzmann implicit solvation model for electrolyte solutions. This model can be combined with arbitrary electronic structure methods that provide an accurate charge density of the solute. A hierarchy of approximations for this model includes a linear approximation for weak electrostatic potentials, finite size of the mobile electrolyte ions, and a Stern-layer correction. Recasting the Poisson-Boltzmann equations into Euler-Lagrange equations then significantly simplifies the derivation of the free energy of solvation for these approximate models. The parameters of the model are either fit directly to experimental observables-e.g., the finite ion size-or optimized for agreement with experimental results. Experimental data for this optimization are available in the form of Sechenov coefficients that describe the linear dependence of the salting-out effect of solutes with respect to the electrolyte concentration. In the final part, we rationalize the qualitative disagreement of the finite ion size modification to the Poisson-Boltzmann model with experimental observations by taking into account the electrolyte concentration dependence of the Stern layer. A route toward a revised model that captures the experimental observations while including the finite ion size effects is then outlined. This implementation paves the way for the study of electrochemical and electrocatalytic processes of molecules and cluster models with accurate electronic structure methods
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