4,279 research outputs found
Derivation of tropospheric methane from TCCON CH₄ and HF total column observations
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a global ground-based network of Fourier transform spectrometers that produce precise measurements of column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of atmospheric methane (CH₄). Temporal variability in the total column of CH₄ due to stratospheric dynamics obscures fluctuations and trends driven by tropospheric transport and local surface fluxes that are critical for understanding CH₄ sources and sinks. We reduce the contribution of stratospheric variability from the total column average by subtracting an estimate of the stratospheric CH₄ derived from simultaneous measurements of hydrogen fluoride (HF). HF provides a proxy for stratospheric CH₄ because it is strongly correlated to CH₄ in the stratosphere, has an accurately known tropospheric abundance (of zero), and is measured at most TCCON stations. The stratospheric partial column of CH₄ is calculated as a function of the zonal and annual trends in the relationship between CH₄ and HF in the stratosphere, which we determine from ACE-FTS satellite data. We also explicitly take into account the CH₄ column averaging kernel to estimate the contribution of stratospheric CH₄ to the total column. The resulting tropospheric CH₄ columns are consistent with in situ aircraft measurements and augment existing observations in the troposphere
Accuracy of Trace Formulas
Using quantum maps we study the accuracy of semiclassical trace formulas. The
role of chaos in improving the semiclassical accuracy, in some systems, is
demonstrated quantitatively. However, our study of the standard map cautions
that this may not be most general. While studying a sawtooth map we demonstrate
the rather remarkable fact that at the level of the time one trace even in the
presence of fixed points on singularities the trace formula may be exact, and
in any case has no logarithmic divergences observed for the quantum bakers map.
As a byproduct we introduce fantastic periodic curves akin to curlicues.Comment: 20 pages, uuencoded and gzipped, 1 LaTex text file and 9 PS files for
figure
Two-dimensional turbulence in magnetised plasmas
In an inhomogeneous magnetised plasma the transport of energy and particles
perpendicular to the magnetic field is in general mainly caused by quasi
two-dimensional turbulent fluid mixing. The physics of turbulence and structure
formation is of ubiquitous importance to every magnetically confined laboratory
plasma for experimental or industrial application. Specifically, high
temperature plasmas for fusion energy research are also dominated by the
properties of this turbulent transport. Self-organisation of turbulent vortices
to mesoscopic structures like zonal flows is related to the formation of
transport barriers that can significantly enhance the confinement of a fusion
plasma. This subject of great importance in research is rarely touched on in
introductory plasma physics or continuum dynamics courses. Here a brief
tutorial on 2D fluid and plasma turbulence is presented as an introduction to
the field, appropriate for inclusion in undergraduate and graduate courses.Comment: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article
published in European Journal of Physics. IOP Publishing Ltd is not
responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or
any version derived from it. The definitive publisher authenticated version
is available online at doi: 10.1088/0143-0807/29/5/00
Stationary Flows of the Parabolic Potential Barrier in Two Dimensions
In the two-dimensional isotropic parabolic potential barrier , though it is a model of an unstable system in quantum
mechanics, we can obtain the stationary states corresponding to the real energy
eigenvalue . Further, they are infinitely degenerate. For the first few
eigenstates, we will find the stationary flows round a right angle that are
expressed by the complex velocity potentials .Comment: 12 pages, AmS-LaTeX, 4 figure
Semiclassical ionization dynamics of the hydrogen molecular ion in an electric field of arbitrary orientation
Quasi-static models of barrier suppression have played a major role in our
understanding of the ionization of atoms and molecules in strong laser fields.
Despite their success, in the case of diatomic molecules these studies have so
far been restricted to fields aligned with the molecular axis. In this paper we
investigate the locations and heights of the potential barriers in the hydrogen
molecular ion in an electric field of arbitrary orientation. We find that the
barriers undergo bifurcations as the external field strength and direction are
varied. This phenomenon represents an unexpected level of intricacy even on
this most elementary level of the dynamics. We describe the dynamics of
tunnelling ionization through the barriers semiclassically and use our results
to shed new light on the success of a recent theory of molecular tunnelling
ionization as well as earlier theories that restrict the electric field to be
aligned with the molecular axis
Numerical simulations of a non-commutative theory: the scalar model on the fuzzy sphere
We address a detailed non-perturbative numerical study of the scalar theory
on the fuzzy sphere. We use a novel algorithm which strongly reduces the
correlation problems in the matrix update process, and allows the investigation
of different regimes of the model in a precise and reliable way. We study the
modes associated to different momenta and the role they play in the ``striped
phase'', pointing out a consistent interpretation which is corroborated by our
data, and which sheds further light on the results obtained in some previous
works. Next, we test a quantitative, non-trivial theoretical prediction for
this model, which has been formulated in the literature: The existence of an
eigenvalue sector characterised by a precise probability density, and the
emergence of the phase transition associated with the opening of a gap around
the origin in the eigenvalue distribution. The theoretical predictions are
confirmed by our numerical results. Finally, we propose a possible method to
detect numerically the non-commutative anomaly predicted in a one-loop
perturbative analysis of the model, which is expected to induce a distortion of
the dispersion relation on the fuzzy sphere.Comment: 1+36 pages, 18 figures; v2: 1+55 pages, 38 figures: added the study
of the eigenvalue distribution, added figures, tables and references, typos
corrected; v3: 1+20 pages, 10 eps figures, new results, plots and references
added, technical details about the tests at small matrix size skipped,
version published in JHE
Derivation of tropospheric methane from TCCON CH₄ and HF total column observations
The Total Carbon Column Observing Network (TCCON) is a global ground-based network of Fourier transform spectrometers that produce precise measurements of column-averaged dry-air mole fractions of atmospheric methane (CH₄). Temporal variability in the total column of CH₄ due to stratospheric dynamics obscures fluctuations and trends driven by tropospheric transport and local surface fluxes that are critical for understanding CH₄ sources and sinks. We reduce the contribution of stratospheric variability from the total column average by subtracting an estimate of the stratospheric CH₄ derived from simultaneous measurements of hydrogen fluoride (HF). HF provides a proxy for stratospheric CH₄ because it is strongly correlated to CH₄ in the stratosphere, has an accurately known tropospheric abundance (of zero), and is measured at most TCCON stations. The stratospheric partial column of CH₄ is calculated as a function of the zonal and annual trends in the relationship between CH₄ and HF in the stratosphere, which we determine from ACE-FTS satellite data. We also explicitly take into account the CH₄ column averaging kernel to estimate the contribution of stratospheric CH₄ to the total column. The resulting tropospheric CH₄ columns are consistent with in situ aircraft measurements and augment existing observations in the troposphere
Drivers of column-average CO_2 variability at Southern Hemispheric Total Carbon Column Observing Network sites
We investigate factors that drive the variability in total column CO_2 at the Total Carbon Column Observing Network sites in the Southern Hemisphere using fluxes tagged by process and by source region from the CarbonTracker analysed product as well as the Simple Biosphere model. We show that the terrestrial biosphere is the largest driver of variability in the Southern Hemisphere column CO_2. However, it does not dominate in the same fashion as in the Northern Hemisphere. Local- and hemispheric-scale biomass burning can also play an important role, particularly at the tropical site, Darwin. The magnitude of seasonal variability in the column-average dry-air mole fraction of CO_2, X_CO_2, is also much smaller in the Southern Hemisphere and comparable in magnitude to the annual increase. Comparison of measurements to the model simulations highlights that there is some discrepancy between the two time series, especially in the early part of the Darwin data record. We show that this mismatch is most likely due to erroneously estimated local fluxes in the Australian tropical region, which are associated with enhanced photosynthesis caused by early rainfall during the tropical monsoon season
ELM triggering conditions for the integrated modeling of H-mode plasmas
Recent advances in the integrated modeling of ELMy H-mode plasmas are
presented. A model for the H-mode pedestal and for the triggering of ELMs
predicts the height, width, and shape of the H-mode pedestal and the frequency
and width of ELMs. Formation of the pedestal and the L-H transition is the
direct result of ExB flow shear suppression of anomalous transport. The
periodic ELM crashes are triggered by either the ballooning or peeling MHD
instabilities. The BALOO, DCON, and ELITE ideal MHD stability codes are used to
derive a new parametric expression for the peeling-ballooning threshold. The
new dependence for the peeling-ballooning threshold is implemented in the ASTRA
transport code. Results of integrated modeling of DIII-D like discharges are
presented and compared with experimental observations. The results from the
ideal MHD stability codes are compared with results from the resistive MHD
stability code NIMROD.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004,
Nice (France
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