8,106 research outputs found
Covariant spinor representation of and quantization of the spinning relativistic particle
A covariant spinor representation of is constructed for the
quantization of the spinning relativistic particle. It is found that, with
appropriately defined wavefunctions, this representation can be identified with
the state space arising from the canonical extended BFV-BRST quantization of
the spinning particle with admissible gauge fixing conditions after a
contraction procedure. For this model, the cohomological determination of
physical states can thus be obtained purely from the representation theory of
the algebra.Comment: Updated version with references included and covariant form of
equation 1. 23 pages, no figure
The Effect of Foot and Mouth Disease on Trade and Prices in International Beef Markets
The paper develops and uses a two step quantitative model to analyze the effect of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) on international beef markets over time. Using monthly data from 1990-2002 for 7 major beef exporters and for 22 major beef importers, we use a probit equation to estimate the probability that country i exports to country j, taking account of foot and mouth status of exporter, sanitary policy of importer, beef quality, trade preferences, distance, and other factors affecting whether beef trade occurs. We then use OLS to estimate the export prices that are obtained for beef, taking account of beef quality, country per capita, trading preferences, region, per capita income, and a time trend, including terms to adjust for censorship in the first stage. Using the estimated equations, we compare the predicted change in trading partners and in the prices received by the two exporters in our sample that are not FMD free, Brazil and Uruguay, under the assumption that their status switches from having FMD to being FMD free. The model performs well. The results suggest that FMD continues to impede trade between many countries and does accordingly reduce the price received for beef from countries with FMD. Nonetheless, the "sanction" from FMD appears smaller than previously believed.International Relations/Trade,
On Combining Lensing Shear Information from Multiple Filters
We consider the possible gain in the measurement of lensing shear from
imaging data in multiple filters. Galaxy shapes may differ significantly across
filters, so that the same galaxy offers multiple samples of the shear. On the
other extreme, if galaxy shapes are identical in different filters, one can
combine them to improve the signal-to-noise and thus increase the effective
number density of faint, high redshift galaxies. We use the GOODS dataset to
test these scenarios by calculating the covariance matrix of galaxy
ellipticities in four visual filters (B,V,i,z). We find that galaxy shapes are
highly correlated, and estimate the gain in galaxy number density by combining
their shapes.Comment: 8 pages, no figures, submitted to JCA
Weak Lensing Determination of the Mass in Galaxy Halos
We detect the weak gravitational lensing distortion of 450,000 background
galaxies (20<R<23) by 790 foreground galaxies (R<18) selected from the Las
Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). This is the first detection of weak lensing by
field galaxies of known redshift, and as such permits us to reconstruct the
shear profile of the typical field galaxy halo in absolute physical units
(modulo H_0), and to investigate the dependence of halo mass upon galaxy
luminosity. This is also the first galaxy-galaxy lensing study for which the
calibration errors are negligible. Within a projected radius of 200 \hkpc, the
shear profile is consistent with an isothermal profile with circular velocity
164+-20 km/s for an L* galaxy, consistent with typical disk rotation at this
luminosity. This halo mass normalization, combined with the halo profile
derived by Fischer et al (2000) from lensing analysis SDSS data, places a lower
limit of (2.7+-0.6) x 10^{12}h^{-1} solar masses on the mass of an L* galaxy
halo, in good agreement with satellite galaxy studies. Given the known
luminosity function of LCRS galaxies, and the assumption that for galaxies, we determine that the mass within 260\hkpc of normal
galaxies contributes to the density of the Universe (for
) or for . These lensing data suggest
that (95% CL), only marginally in agreement with the usual
Faber-Jackson or Tully-Fisher scaling. This is the most
complete direct inventory of the matter content of the Universe to date.Comment: 18 pages, incl. 3 figures. Submitted to ApJ 6/7/00, still no response
from the referee after four months
Ecological indicators for abandoned mines, Phase 1: Review of the literature
Mine waters have been identified as a significant issue in the majority of Environment Agency draft River Basin Management Plans. They are one of the largest drivers for chemical pollution in the draft Impact Assessment for the Water Framework Directive (WFD), with significant failures of environmental quality standards (EQS) for metals (particularly Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe) in many rivers linked to abandoned mines. Existing EQS may be overprotective of aquatic life which may have adapted over centuries of exposure. This study forms part of a larger project to investigate the ecological impact of metals in rivers, to develop water quality targets (alternative objectives for the WFD) for aquatic ecosystems impacted by long-term mining pollution. The report reviews literature on EQS failures, metal effects on aquatic biota and effects of water chemistry, and uses this information to consider further work.
A preliminary assessment of water quality and biology data for 87 sites across Gwynedd and Ceredigion (Wales) shows that existing Environment Agency water quality and biology data could be used to establish statistical relations between chemical variables and metrics of ecological quality. Visual representation and preliminary statistical analyses show that invertebrate diversity declines with increasing zinc concentration. However, the situation is more complex because the effects of other metals are not readily apparent. Furthermore, pH and aluminium also affect streamwater invertebrates, making it difficult to tease out toxicity due to individual mine-derived metals.
The most characteristic feature of the plant communities of metal-impacted systems is a reduction in diversity, compared to that found in comparable unimpacted streams. Some species thrive in the presence of heavy metals, presumably because they are able to develop metal tolerance, whilst others consistently disappear. Effects are, however, confounded by water chemistry, particularly pH. Tolerant species are spread across a number of divisions of photosynthetic organisms, though green algae, diatoms and blue-green algae are usually most abundant, often thriving in the absence of competition and/or grazing. Current UK monitoring techniques focus on community composition and, whilst these provide a sampling and analytical framework for studies of metal impacts, the metrics are not sensitive to these impacts. There is scope for developing new metrics, based on community-level analyses and for looking at morphological variations common in some taxa at elevated metal concentrations. On the whole, community-based metrics are recommended, as these are easier to relate to ecological status definitions.
With respect to invertebrates and fish, metals affect individuals, population and communities but sensitivity varies among species, life stages, sexes, trophic groups and with body condition. Acclimation or adaptation may cause varying sensitivity even within species. Ecosystem-scale effects, for example on ecological function, are poorly understood. Effects vary between metals such as cadmium, copper, lead, chromium, zinc and nickel in order of decreasing toxicity. Aluminium is important in acidified headwaters. Biological effects depend on speciation, toxicity, availability, mixtures, complexation and exposure conditions, for example discharge (flow). Current water quality monitoring is unlikely to detect short-term episodic increases in metal concentrations or evaluate the bioavailability of elevated metal concentrations in sediments. These factors create uncertainty in detecting ecological impairment in metal-impacted ecosystems. Moreover, most widely used biological indicators for UK freshwaters were developed for other pressures and none distinguishes metal impacts from other causes of impairment. Key ecological needs for better regulation and management of metals in rivers include: i) models relating metal data to ecological data that better represent influences on metal toxicity; ii) biodiagnostic indices to reflect metal effects; iii) better methods to identify metal acclimation or adaptation among sensitive taxa; iv) better investigative procedures to isolate metal effects from other pressures.
Laboratory data on the effects of water chemistry on cationic metal toxicity and bioaccumulation show that a number of chemical parameters, particularly pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and major cations (Na, Mg, K, Ca) exert a major influence on the toxicity and/or bioaccumulation of cationic metals. The biotic ligand model (BLM) provides a conceptual framework for understanding these water chemistry effects as a combination of the influence of chemical speciation, and metal uptake by organisms in competition with H+ and other cations. In some cases where the BLM cannot describe effects, empirical bioavailable models have been successfully used. Laboratory data on the effects of metal mixtures across different water chemistries are sparse, with implications for transferring understanding to mining-impacted sites in the field where mixture effects are likely.
The available field data, although relatively sparse, indicate that water chemistry influences metal effects on aquatic ecosystems. This occurs through complexation reactions, notably involving dissolved organic matter and metals such as Al, Cu and Pb. Secondly, because bioaccumulation and toxicity are partly governed by complexation reactions, competition effects among metals, and between metals and H+, give rise to dependences upon water chemistry. There is evidence that combinations of metals are active in the field; the main study conducted so far demonstrated the combined effects of Al and Zn, and suggested, less certainly, that Cu and H+ can also contribute. Chemical speciation is essential to interpret and predict observed effects in the field. Speciation results need to be combined with a model that relates free ion concentrations to toxic effect. Understanding the toxic effects of heavy metals derived from abandoned mines requires the simultaneous consideration of the acidity-related components Al and H+.
There are a number of reasons why organisms in waters affected by abandoned mines may experience different levels of metal toxicity than in the laboratory. This could lead to discrepancies between actual field behaviour and that predicted by EQS derived from laboratory experiments, as would be applied within the WFD. The main factors to consider are adaptation/acclimation, water chemistry, and the effects of combinations of metals. Secondary effects are metals in food, metals supplied by sediments, and variability in stream flows. Two of the most prominent factors, namely adaptation/ acclimation and bioavailability, could justify changes in EQS or the adoption of an alternative measure of toxic effects in the field. Given that abandoned mines are widespread in England and Wales, and the high cost of their remediation to meet proposed WFD EQS criteria, further research into the question is clearly justified.
Although ecological communities of mine-affected streamwaters might be over-protected by proposed WFD EQS, there are some conditions under which metals emanating from abandoned mines definitely exert toxic effects on biota. The main issue is therefore the reliable identification of chemical conditions that are unacceptable and comparison of those conditions with those predicted by WFD EQS. If significant differences can convincingly be demonstrated, the argument could be made for alternative standards for waters affected by abandoned mines. Therefore in our view, the immediate research priority is to improve the quantification of metal effects under field circumstances. Demonstration of dose-response relationships, based on metal mixtures and their chemical speciation, and the use of better biological tools to detect and diagnose community-level impairment, would provide the necessary scientific information
On the Structure of the Observable Algebra of QCD on the Lattice
The structure of the observable algebra of lattice
QCD in the Hamiltonian approach is investigated. As was shown earlier,
is isomorphic to the tensor product of a gluonic
-subalgebra, built from gauge fields and a hadronic subalgebra
constructed from gauge invariant combinations of quark fields. The gluonic
component is isomorphic to a standard CCR algebra over the group manifold
SU(3). The structure of the hadronic part, as presented in terms of a number of
generators and relations, is studied in detail. It is shown that its
irreducible representations are classified by triality. Using this, it is
proved that the hadronic algebra is isomorphic to the commutant of the triality
operator in the enveloping algebra of the Lie super algebra
(factorized by a certain ideal).Comment: 33 page
A note on monopole moduli spaces
We discuss the structure of the framed moduli space of Bogomolny monopoles
for arbitrary symmetry breaking and extend the definition of its stratification
to the case of arbitrary compact Lie groups. We show that each stratum is a
union of submanifolds for which we conjecture that the natural metric is
hyperKahler. The dimensions of the strata and of these submanifolds are
calculated, and it is found that for the latter, the dimension is always a
multiple of four.Comment: 17 pages, LaTe
Polynomial super-gl(n) algebras
We introduce a class of finite dimensional nonlinear superalgebras providing gradings of . Odd generators close by anticommutation on polynomials (of
degree ) in the generators. Specifically, we investigate `type I'
super- algebras, having odd generators transforming in a single
irreducible representation of together with its contragredient.
Admissible structure constants are discussed in terms of available
couplings, and various special cases and candidate superalgebras are identified
and exemplified via concrete oscillator constructions. For the case of the
-dimensional defining representation, with odd generators , and even generators , , a three
parameter family of quadratic super- algebras (deformations of
) is defined. In general, additional covariant Serre-type conditions
are imposed, in order that the Jacobi identities be fulfilled. For these
quadratic super- algebras, the construction of Kac modules, and
conditions for atypicality, are briefly considered. Applications in quantum
field theory, including Hamiltonian lattice QCD and space-time supersymmetry,
are discussed.Comment: 31 pages, LaTeX, including minor corrections to equation (3) and
reference [60
The Dynamics of the M87 Globular Cluster System
We present the results from a study of the dynamics of the system of globular
clusters around M87. After eliminating foreground galactic stars and background
galaxies, we end up with a sample of 205 bona fide M87 globular clusters for
which we have radial velocities determined from multi-slit spectra taken with
the LRIS on the Keck Telescope. We find that the mean radial velocity of the
M87 globular clusters agrees well with that of M87 itself, and that the
velocity histogram is well represented by a Gaussian distribution. We find
evidence for rotation in the globular cluster system. We find that the observed
velocity dispersion of the M87 globular cluster system increases with radius
from 270 \kms~ at = 9 kpc to 400 \kms~ at = 40 kpc. The
inferred mass-to-light ratio in solar units increases from 5 at = 9 kpc to
30 at = 40 kpc with . The long slit optical
spectroscopy near the center of M87 and the recent analysis of the ROSAT X-ray
data are in good agreement with this analysis near the nucleus and in the outer
parts of M87 respectively.Comment: 29 pages, TeX, with 6 Figures. Accepted for publication in the Ap
- …