The luminosities of the brightest cluster galaxies and brightest satellites in SDSS groups

We show that the distribution of luminosities of Brightest Cluster Galaxies in an SDSS-based group catalog suggests that BCG luminosities are just the statistical extremes of the group galaxy luminosity function. This latter happens to be very well approximated by the all-galaxy luminosity function (restricted to Mr<-19.9), provided one uses a parametrization of this function that is accurate at the bright end. A similar analysis of the luminosity distribution of the Brightest Satellite Galaxies suggests that they are best thought of as being the second brightest pick from the same luminosity distribution of which BCGs are the brightest. I.e., BSGs are not the brightest of some universal satellite luminosity function, in contrast to what Halo Model analyses of the luminosity dependence of clustering suggest. However, we then use mark correlations to provide a novel test of these order statistics, showing that the hypothesis of a universal luminosity function (i.e. no halo mass dependence) from which the BCGs and BSGs are drawn is incompatible with the data, despite the fact that there was no hint of this in the BCG and BSG luminosity distributions themselves. We also discuss why, since extreme value statistics are explicitly a function of the number of draws, the consistency of BCG luminosities with extreme value statistics is most clearly seen if one is careful to perform the test at fixed group richness N. Tests at, e.g., fixed total group luminosity Ltot, will generally be biased and may lead to erroneous conclusions.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures; v2 -- Revised to match version accepted in MNRAS. Includes a new section on using mark correlations to test extreme value statistic

Characterization of one-dimensional quantum channels in InAs/AlSb

We report the magnetoresistance characteristics of one-dimensional electrons confined in a single InAs quantum well sandwiched between AlSb barriers. As a result of a novel nanofabrication scheme that utilizes a 3nm-shallow wet chemical etching to define the electrostatic lateral confinement, the system is found to possess three important properties: specular boundary scattering, a strong lateral confinement potential, and a conducting channel width that is approximately the lithography width. Ballistic transport phenomena, including the quenching of the Hall resistance, the last Hall plateau, and a strong negative bend resistance, are observed at 4K in cross junctions with sharp corners. In a ring geometry, we have observed Aharonov-Bohm interference that exhibits characteristics different from those of the GaAs counterpart due to the ballistic nature of electron transport and the narrowness of the conducting channel width.Comment: pdf-file, 8 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Sorption and fractionation of dissolved organic matter and associated phosphorus in agricultural soil

Molibility of dissolved organic matter (DOM) strongly affects the export of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from oils to surface waters. To study the sorption an mobility of dissolved organic C and P (DOC, DOP) in soil, the pH-dependent sorption of DOM to samples from Ap, EB, and Bt horizons from a Danish agircultural Humic Hapludult was investigated and a kinetic model applicable in field-scale model tested. Sorption experiments of 1 to 72 h duration were conducted at two pH levels (pH 5.0 and 7.0) and six initial DOC concentrtions (0-4.7 mmol L-1). Most sorption/desorption occurred during the first few hours. Dissolved organic carbon and DOP sorption decreased strongly with increased pH and desorption dominated at pH 7, especially for DOC. Due to fractionation during DOM sorption/desorption at DOC concentrations up to 2 mmol L-1, the solution fraction of DOM was enriched in P indicating preferred leaching of DOP. The kinetics of sorption was expressed as a function of how far the solution DOC or DOP concentrations deviate from "equilibrium". The model was able to simulate the kinetics of DOC and DOP sorption/desorption at all concentrations investigated and at both pH levels making it useful for incorporation in field-scale models for quantifying DOC and DOP dynamics

Ultraviolet photochemistry of ethane: implications for the atmospheric chemistry of the gas giants

Chemical processing in the stratospheres of the gas giants is driven by incident vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light. Ethane is an important constituent in the atmospheres of the gas giants in our solar system. The present work describes translational spectroscopy studies of the VUV photochemistry of ethane using tuneable radiation in the wavelength range 112 ≤ λ ≤ 126 nm from a free electron laser and event-triggered, fast-framing, multi-mass imaging detection methods. Contributions from at least five primary photofragmentation pathways yielding CH_{2}, CH_{3} and/or H atom products are demonstrated and interpreted in terms of unimolecular decay following rapid non-adiabatic coupling to the ground state potential energy surface. These data serve to highlight parallels with methane photochemistry and limitations in contemporary models of the photoinduced stratospheric chemistry of the gas giants. The work identifies additional photochemical reactions that require incorporation into next generation extraterrestrial atmospheric chemistry models which should help rationalise hitherto unexplained aspects of the atmospheric ethane/acetylene ratios revealed by the Cassini–Huygens fly-by of Jupiter

Crop models capture the impacts of climate variability on corn yield

We investigate the ability of three different crop models of varying complexity for capturing El Niño–Southern Oscillation-based climate variability impacts on the U.S. Corn Belt (1981–2010). Results indicate that crop models, irrespective of their complexity, are able to capture the impacts of climate variability on yield. Multiple-model ensemble analysis provides best results. There was no significant difference between using on-site and gridded meteorological data sets to drive the models. These results highlight the ability of using simpler crop models and gridded regional data sets for crop-climate assessments

Moments of the neutron g2g_2 structure function at intermediate Q2Q^2

We present new experimental results of the $^3$He spin structure function $g_2$ in the resonance region at $Q^2$ values between 1.2 and 3.0 (GeV/c)$^2$. Spin dependent moments of the neutron were then extracted. Our main result, the resonance contribution to the neutron $d_2$ matrix element, was found to be small at $$=2.4 (GeV/c)$^2$ and in agreement with the Lattice QCD calculation. The Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule for $^3$He and the neutron was tested with the measured data and using the Wandzura-Wilczek relation for the low $x$ unmeasured region. A small deviation was observed at $Q^2$ values between 0.5 and 1.2 (GeV/c)$^2$ for the neutron

Quark-Hadron Duality in Neutron (3He) Spin Structure

We present experimental results of the first high-precision test of quark-hadron duality in the spin-structure function g_1 of the neutron and $^3$He using a polarized 3He target in the four-momentum-transfer-squared range from 0.7 to 4.0 (GeV/c)^2. Global duality is observed for the spin-structure function g_1 down to at least Q^2 = 1.8 (GeV/c)^2 in both targets. We have also formed the photon-nucleon asymmetry A_1 in the resonance region for 3He and found no strong Q^2-dependence above 2.2 (GeV/c)^2.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure