The magnitude distribution of earthquakes near Southern California faults

We investigate seismicity near faults in the Southern California Earthquake Center Community Fault Model. We search for anomalously large events that might be signs of a characteristic earthquake distribution. We find that seismicity near major fault zones in Southern California is well modeled by a Gutenberg-Richter distribution, with no evidence of characteristic earthquakes within the resolution limits of the modern instrumental catalog. However, the b value of the locally observed magnitude distribution is found to depend on distance to the nearest mapped fault segment, which suggests that earthquakes nucleating near major faults are likely to have larger magnitudes relative to earthquakes nucleating far from major faults

The parallel projection operators of a nonlinear feedback system

The authors define and study a pair of nonlinear parallel projection operators associated with a nonlinear feedback system. The input-output L_2-stability of a feedback system is shown to be equivalent to a coordinating of the input and output spaces, which is also equivalent to the existence of a pair of nonlinear parallel projection operators onto the graph of the plant and the inverse graph of the controller. These projections have equal norms whenever one of the feedback elements is linear. A bound on this norm is given in the case of passive systems with unity negative feedback

Cold N+NH Collisions in a Magnetic Trap

We present an experimental and theoretical study of atom-molecule collisions in a mixture of cold, trapped atomic nitrogen and NH molecules at a temperature of $\sim 600$~mK. We measure a small N+NH trap loss rate coefficient of $k^{(\mathrm{N+NH})}_\mathrm{loss} = 8(4) \times 10^{-13}$~cm$^{3}$s$^{-1}$. Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on {\it ab initio} interaction potentials are in agreement with experiment and indicate the magnetic dipole interaction to be the dominant loss mechanism. Our theory further indicates the ratio of N+NH elastic to inelastic collisions remains large ($>100$) into the mK regime

Cold heteromolecular dipolar collisions

We present the first experimental observation of cold collisions between two different species of neutral polar molecules, each prepared in a single internal quantum state. Combining for the first time the techniques of Stark deceleration, magnetic trapping, and cryogenic buffer gas cooling allows the enhancement of molecular interaction time by 10$^5$. This has enabled an absolute measurement of the total trap loss cross sections between OH and ND$_3$ at a mean collision energy of 3.6 cm$^{-1}$ (5 K). Due to the dipolar interaction, the total cross section increases upon application of an external polarizing electric field. Cross sections computed from \emph{ab initio} potential energy surfaces are in excellent agreement with the measured value at zero external electric field. The theory presented here represents the first such analysis of collisions between a $^2\Pi$ radical and a closed-shell polyatomic molecule.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Intertidal transect studies of northern Monterey Bay

In accordance with a contract dated 10/22/71 between the Association of the Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) and the University of California, Santa Cruz, (UCSC), two permanent intertidal transects with 14 permanent meter-square quadrats were established on the north shore of Monterey Bay during November, 1971. One transect (6 quadrats) was placed on the shore near the Santa Cruz Sanitation outfall, while the second (8 quadrats) was placed near the Eastcliff Sanitation District outfall at Soquel Polnt (Pleasure Point). Animals and plants within the quadrats were listed, their abundance estimated, and representative specimens collected for a reference collection maintained at UCSC. Additional species of animals and plants in the areas of the transects were collected for the reference collection. These collections will serve as a base-line for comparative studies which can follow the magnitude and direction of future changes in these areas

Magnetic Trapping of NH Molecules with 20 s Lifetimes

Buffer gas cooling is used to trap NH molecules with 1/e lifetimes exceeding 20 s. Helium vapor generated by laser desorption of a helium film is employed to thermalize 10$^5$ molecules at a temperature of 500 mK in a 3.9 T magnetic trap. Long molecule trapping times are attained through rapid pumpout of residual buffer gas. Molecules experience a helium background gas density below 1×10$^{12}$ cm$^{−3}$.Engineering and Applied SciencesPhysic

Chiral Rings and Physical States in c<1 String Theory

We show how the double cohomology of the String and Felder BRST charges naturally leads to the ring structure of $c<1$ strings. The chiral ring is a ring of polynomials in two variables modulo an equivalence relation of the form $x^p \simeq y^{p+1}$ for the (p+1,p) model. We also study the states corresponding to the edges of the conformal grid whose inclusion is crucial for the closure of the ring. We introduce candidate operators that correspond to the observables of the matrix models. Their existence is motivated by the relation of one of the screening operators of the minimal model to the zero momentum dilaton.Comment: 20 pages, harvmac, 4 figures (drawn using LaTeX appended to the end of the file), IMSc--92/3

Observation of two-dimensional Fermi surface and Dirac dispersion in YbMnSb2_2

We present the crystal structure, electronic structure, and transport properties of the material YbMnSb$_2$, a candidate system for the investigation of Dirac physics in the presence of magnetic order. Our measurements reveal that this system is a low-carrier-density semimetal with a 2D Fermi surface arising from a Dirac dispersion, consistent with the predictions of density functional theory calculations of the antiferromagnetic system. The low temperature resistivity is very large, suggesting scattering in this system is highly efficient at dissipating momentum despite its Dirac-like nature.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure