308 research outputs found
Changes in growth of tropical forests: evaluating potential biases
Over the past century almost every ecosystem on Earth has come under the
influence of changes in atmospheric composition and climate caused by human activity.
Tropical forests are among the most productive and extensive ecosystems, and it has been
hypothesized that both the dynamics and biomass of apparently undisturbed, old-growth
tropical forests have been changing in response to atmospheric changes. Long-term forest
sample plots are a critical tool in detecting and monitoring such changes, and our recent
analysis of pan-tropical-forest plot data has suggested that the biomass of tropical forests
has been increasing, providing a modest negative feedback on the rate of accumulation of
atmospheric CO2. However, it has been argued that some of these old forest plot data sets
have significant problems in interpretation because of the use of nonstandardized methodologies.
In this paper we examine the extent to which potential field methodological errors may
bias estimates of total biomass change by detailed examination of tree-by-tree records from
up to 120 Neotropical plots to test predictions from theory. Potential positive biases on
measurements of biomass change include a bias in site selection, tree deformities introduced
by the measurement process, poor methodologies to deal with tree deformities or buttresses,
and nonrecording of negative growth increments. We show that, while it is important to
improve and standardize methodologies in current and future forest-plot work, any systematic
errors introduced by currently identified biases in past studies are small and calculable.
We conclude that most tropical-forest plot data are of useful quality, and that the evidence
does still weigh conclusively in favor of a recent increase of biomass in old-growth tropical
forests
Statistical significance of fine structure in the frequency spectrum of Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations
We discuss a statistical analysis of Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillations
measured in a two-dimensional ring, in the presence of Rashba spin-orbit
interaction. Measurements performed at different values of gate voltage are
used to calculate the ensemble-averaged modulus of the Fourier spectrum and, at
each frequency, the standard deviation associated to the average. This allows
us to prove the statistical significance of a splitting that we observe in the
h/e peak of the averaged spectrum. Our work illustrates in detail the role of
sample specific effects on the frequency spectrum of Aharonov-Bohm conductance
oscillations and it demonstrates how fine structures of a different physical
origin can be discriminated from sample specific features.Comment: accepted for publication in PR
Massive skyrmions in quantum Hall ferromagnets
We apply the theory of elasticity to study the effects of skyrmion mass on
lattice dynamics in quantum Hall systems. We find that massive Skyrme lattices
behave like a Wigner crystal in the presence of a uniform perpendicular
magnetic field. We make a comparison with the microscopic Hartree-Fock results
to characterize the mass of quantum Hall skyrmions at and investigate
how the low temperature phase of Skyrme lattices may be affected by the
skyrmion mass.Comment: 6 pages and 2 figure
Interlayer Exchange Interactions, SU(4) Soft Waves and Skyrmions in Bilayer Quantum Hall Ferromagnets
The Coulomb exchange interaction is the driving force for quantum coherence
in quantum Hall systems. We construct a microscopic Landau-site Hamiltonian for
the exchange interaction in bilayer quantum Hall ferromagnets, which is
characterized by the SU(4) isospin structure. By taking a continuous limit, the
Hamiltonian gives rise to the SU(4) nonlinear sigma model in the
von-Neumann-lattice formulation. The ground-state energy is evaluated at
filling factors . It is shown at that there are 3
independent soft waves, where only one soft wave is responsible for the
coherent tunneling of electrons between the two layers. It is also shown at
that there are 3 independent skyrmion states apart from the
translational degree of freedom. They are CP skyrmions enjoying the
spin-charge entanglement confined within the \LLL.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
The Effects of Disorder on the Quantum Hall State
A disorder-averaged Hartree-Fock treatment is used to compute the density of
single particle states for quantum Hall systems at filling factor . It
is found that transport and spin polarization experiments can be simultaneously
explained by a model of mostly short-range effective disorder. The slope of the
transport gap (due to quasiparticles) in parallel field emerges as a result of
the interplay between disorder-induced broadening and exchange, and has
implications for skyrmion localization.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figure
Electromagnetic characteristics of bilayer quantum Hall systems in the presence of interlayer coherence and tunneling
The electromagnetic characteristics of bilayer quantum Hall systems in the
presence of interlayer coherence and tunneling are studied by means of a
pseudospin-texture effective theory and an algebraic framework of the
single-mode approximation, with emphasis on clarifying the nature of the
low-lying neutral collective mode responsible for interlayer tunneling
phenomena. A long-wavelength effective theory, consisting of the collective
mode as well as the cyclotron modes, is constructed. It is seen explicitly from
the electromagnetic response that gauge invariance is kept exact, this
implying, in particular, the absence of the Meissner effect in bilayer systems.
Special emphasis is placed on exploring the advantage of looking into quantum
Hall systems through their response; in particular, subtleties inherent to the
standard Chern-Simons theories are critically examined.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Jet disc coupling in black hole binaries
In the last decade multi-wavelength observations have demonstrated the
importance of jets in the energy output of accreting black hole binaries. The
observed correlations between the presence of a jet and the state of the
accretion flow provide important information on the coupling between accretion
and ejection processes. After a brief review of the properties of black hole
binaries, I illustrate the connection between accretion and ejection through
two particularly interesting examples. First, an INTEGRAL observation of Cygnus
X-1 during a 'mini-' state transition reveals disc jet coupling on time scales
of orders of hours. Second, the black hole XTEJ1118+480 shows complex
correlations between the X-ray and optical emission. Those correlations are
interpreted in terms of coupling between disc and jet on time scales of seconds
or less. Those observations are discussed in the framework of current models.Comment: Invited talk at the Fifth Stromlo Symposium: Disks, Winds & Jets -
from Planets to Quasars. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space
Scienc
Hamiltonian Theory of the FQHE: Conserving Approximation for Incompressible Fractions
A microscopic Hamiltonian theory of the FQHE developed by Shankar and the
present author based on the fermionic Chern-Simons approach has recently been
quite successful in calculating gaps and finite tempertature properties in
Fractional Quantum Hall states. Initially proposed as a small- theory, it
was subsequently extended by Shankar to form an algebraically consistent theory
for all in the lowest Landau level. Such a theory is amenable to a
conserving approximation in which the constraints have vanishing correlators
and decouple from physical response functions. Properties of the incompressible
fractions are explored in this conserving approximation, including the
magnetoexciton dispersions and the evolution of the small- structure factor
as \nu\to\half. Finally, a formalism capable of dealing with a nonuniform
ground state charge density is developed and used to show how the correct
fractional value of the quasiparticle charge emerges from the theory.Comment: 15 pages, 2 eps figure
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