10,749 research outputs found
Evaluation of Potential Translocation Sites for an Imperiled Cyprinid, the Hornyhead Chub
Translocation of isolated species into suitable habitats may help to secure vulnerable, geographically limited species. Due to the decline of Wyoming Hornyhead Chub Nocomis biguttatus, conservation actions, such as the translocation of populations within the plausible historical range, are being considered to improve population redundancy and resiliency to disturbance events. Translocation of Wyoming Hornyhead Chub must be rigorously evaluated because a hatchery stock does not exist, so all fish used in translocations will come from the wild population. We present an approach to identify the best available translocation sites prior to translocation efforts taking place. We evaluated fish community composition and habitat conditions at 54 potential translocation sites for Hornyhead Chub within 12 streams of the North Platte River basin of Wyoming. We used two analyses to identify translocation sites that were most similar to currently occupied Hornyhead Chub sites on the Laramie River: hurdle models to predict hypothetical abundance of Hornyhead Chub at translocation sites and nonmetric multidimensional scaling with fish community and habitat conditions. Presence and abundance of Hornyhead Chub were positively related to a lack of nonnative predators and to habitat features characteristic of backwater and velocity refuge habitats (e.g., minimum water velocity and width-to-depth ratio). We used a rank scoring system to weight the outcomes of each analysis, and the highest-ranking translocation sites occurred at a historically occupied locality, the Sweetwater River. Our approach may be appropriate for other at-risk species with isolated distributions and little historical data
Virasoro Conformal Blocks and Thermality from Classical Background Fields
We show that in 2d CFTs at large central charge, the coupling of the stress
tensor to heavy operators can be re-absorbed by placing the CFT in a
non-trivial background metric. This leads to a more precise computation of the
Virasoro conformal blocks between heavy and light operators, which are shown to
be equivalent to global conformal blocks evaluated in the new background. We
also generalize to the case where the operators carry U(1) charges. The refined
Virasoro blocks can be used as the seed for a new Virasoro block recursion
relation expanded in the heavy-light limit. We comment on the implications of
our results for the universality of black hole thermality in , or
equivalently, the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis for at large
central charge.Comment: 27+7 pages, 3 figures; typos corrected, citations adde
Universality of Long-Distance AdS Physics from the CFT Bootstrap
We begin by explicating a recent proof of the cluster decomposition principle
in AdS_{d+1} from the CFT_d bootstrap in d > 2. The CFT argument also computes
the leading interactions between distant objects in AdS, and we confirm the
universal agreement between the CFT bootstrap and AdS gravity in the
semi-classical limit. We proceed to study the generalization to 2d CFTs, which
requires knowledge of the Virasoro conformal blocks in a lightcone OPE limit.
We compute these blocks in a semiclassical, large central charge approximation,
and use them to prove a suitably modified theorem. In particular, from the 2d
bootstrap we prove the existence of large spin operators with fixed 'anomalous
dimensions' indicative of the presence of deficit angles in AdS_3. As we
approach the threshold for the BTZ black hole, interpreted as a CFT scaling
dimension, the twist spectrum of large spin operators becomes dense. Due to the
exchange of the Virasoro identity block, primary states above the BTZ threshold
mimic a thermal background for light operators. We derive the BTZ quasi-normal
modes, and we use the bootstrap equation to prove that the twist spectrum is
dense. Corrections to thermality could be obtained from a more refined
computation of the Virasoro conformal blocks.Comment: 34+31 pages, references added, typo in higher-dimensional energy
shift corrected, discussion of coefficient density bounds expande
Nonperturbative Matching Between Equal-Time and Lightcone Quantization
We investigate the nonperturbative relation between lightcone (LC) and
standard equal-time (ET) quantization in the context of theory
in . We discuss the perturbative matching between bare parameters and the
failure of its naive nonperturbative extension. We argue that they are
nevertheless the same theory nonperturbatively, and that furthermore the
nonperturbative map between bare parameters can be extracted from ET
perturbation theory via Borel resummation of the mass gap. We test this map by
using it to compare physical quantities computed using numerical Hamiltonian
truncation methods in ET and LC.Comment: 22+8 pages, 10 figure
A Conformal Truncation Framework for Infinite-Volume Dynamics
We present a new framework for studying conformal field theories deformed by
one or more relevant operators. The original CFT is described in infinite
volume using a basis of states with definite momentum, , and conformal
Casimir, . The relevant deformation is then considered using
lightcone quantization, with the resulting Hamiltonian expressed in terms of
this CFT basis. Truncating to states with , one can numerically find the resulting spectrum, as well
as other dynamical quantities, such as spectral densities of operators. This
method requires the introduction of an appropriate regulator, which can be
chosen to preserve the conformal structure of the basis. We check this
framework in three dimensions for various perturbative deformations of a free
scalar CFT, and for the case of a free CFT deformed by a mass term and a
non-perturbative quartic interaction at large-. In all cases, the truncation
scheme correctly reproduces known analytic results. We also discuss a general
procedure for generating a basis of Casimir eigenstates for a free CFT in any
number of dimensions.Comment: 48+37 pages, 17 figures; v2: references added, small clarification
New Light Species and the CMB
We consider the effects of new light species on the Cosmic Microwave
Background. In the massless limit, these effects can be parameterized in terms
of a single number, the relativistic degrees of freedom. We perform a thorough
survey of natural, minimal models containing new light species and numerically
calculate the precise contribution of each of these models to this number in
the framework of effective field theory. After reviewing the relevant details
of early universe thermodynamics, we provide a map between the parameters of
any particular theory and the predicted effective number of degrees of freedom.
We then use this map to interpret the recent results from the Cosmic Microwave
Background survey done by the Planck satellite. Using this data, we present new
constraints on the parameter space of several models containing new light
species. Future measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background can be used
with this map to further constrain the parameter space of all such models.Comment: 38 pages plus appendices and references; 10 figures and 1 table;
references added, discussion of anapole moments added; supernovae cooling
bounds added, discussion of models condense
An Audience Centred Approach to Business Process Reengineering
This paper describes a method for process modelling which is designed to provide guidance to the business process modeller. The method has evolved from our experience of attempting to apply software process modelling approaches to business processes. A major influence on the method has been our observations that a pragmatic approach to notation selection is required in order to maintain a
meaningful dialogue with end-users. Business process modelling methods typically fall into two camps. General methods attempt to describe the managerial activities which surround the modelling itself (Coulson-Thomas, 94; GISIP, 95). Specific methods, on the other hand, tend to
concentrate on the details of a particular notational approach. However, as with programming languages or design methods, no single notational approach is best suited to all problems. Ideally, the process modeller should be able to incorporate the appropriate notational approach into some coherent generic modelling method.This paper addresses the needs of the modeller at the detailed level without prescribing a specific notation. This is achieved by describing categories of modelling activities which the modeller should undertake within process modelling, and
suggesting how notations may be used within these categories. Our method is generally applicable, and is illustrated here by models of processes within the
Construction industry
Eikonalization of Conformal Blocks
Classical field configurations such as the Coulomb potential and
Schwarzschild solution are built from the t-channel exchange of many light
degrees of freedom. We study the CFT analog of this phenomenon, which we term
the `eikonalization' of conformal blocks. We show that when an operator
appears in the OPE , then the large spin
Fock space states also appear in this OPE with a
computable coefficient. The sum over the exchange of these Fock space states in
an correlator
build the classical ` field' in the dual AdS description. In some limits the
sum of all Fock space exchanges can be represented as the exponential of a
single exchange in the 4-pt correlator of . Our results should
be useful for systematizing perturbation theory in general CFTs and
simplifying the computation of large spin OPE coefficients. As examples we
obtain the leading dependence of Fock space conformal block
coefficients, and we directly compute the OPE coefficients of the simplest
`triple-trace' operators.Comment: 32+17 pages, 6 figures; references added, discussion of eikonal limit
clarifie
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