Entomopathogenic nematodes for biological control of codling moth

Entomopathogenic nematodes are often found naturally infecting codling moth larvae. The effect of an autumn treatment with S. feltiae on the fruit damage in the following summer was evaluated by treating 4 different apple orchards in October 2004 and 2005 at application rates of 3.75; 2 and 1.5 billion nematodes in 4000 l / ha. In three of the treated orchards, one treated with 3.75x109 nematodes/ha the other two treated with 2e9 nematode/ha, reduction in fruit damage was around 50%. In the most heavily infested orchard, which was treated with 1.5x109 nematode/ha only 33% reduction in fruit damage was achieved. Compared to previous studies, this was the first assessing the effect on the fruit damage in the summer following the treatment rather than assessing the mortality of sentinel larvae fixed to the treated tree trunks

Analysis of integration error in the ODP-L program and the effect of selenopotential parameters on the solution vector

Analysis of integration error in lunar orbit trajectory program and effect of selenopotential parameters on solution vecto

Perfect Scalars on the Lattice

We perform renormalization group transformations to construct optimally local perfect lattice actions for free scalar fields of any mass. Their couplings decay exponentially. The spectrum is identical to the continuum spectrum, while thermodynamic quantities have tiny lattice artifacts. To make such actions applicable in simulations, we truncate the couplings to a unit hypercube and observe that spectrum and thermodynamics are still drastically improved compared to the standard lattice action. We show how preconditioning techniques can be applied successfully to this type of action. We also consider a number of variants of the perfect lattice action, such as the use of an anisotropic or triangular lattice, and modifications of the renormalization group transformations motivated by wavelets. Along the way we illuminate the consistent treatment of gauge fields, and we find a new fermionic fixed point action with attractive properties.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figure

Four-dimensional lattice results on the MSSM electroweak phase transition

We present the results of our large scale 4-dimensional (4d) lattice simulations for the MSSM electroweak phase transition (EWPT). We carried out infinite volume and continuum limit extrapolations and found a transition whose strength agrees well with perturbation theory. We determined the properties of the bubble wall that are important for a successful baryogenesis.Comment: 5 pages, 3figures. Talk presented at Johns Hopkins Workshop on Nonperturbative Quantum Field Theory Methods and their Applications (19-21 August 2000.

Electroweak Phase Transition in the MSSM: 4-Dimensional Lattice Simulations

Recent lattice results have shown that there is no Standard Model (SM) electroweak phase transition (EWPT) for Higgs boson masses above \approx 72 GeV, which is below the present experimental limit. According to perturbation theory and 3-dimensional (3d) lattice simulations there could be an EWPT in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) that is strong enough for baryogenesis up to m_h \approx 105 GeV. In this letter we present the results of our large scale 4-dimensional (4d) lattice simulations for the MSSM EWPT. We carried out infinite volume and continuum limits and found a transition whose strength agrees well with perturbation theory, allowing MSSM electroweak baryogenesis at least up to m_h = 103 \pm 4 GeV. We determined the properties of the bubble wall that are important for a successful baryogenesis.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures included; lightest Higgs mass bound relaxed (abstract, fig. 3 changed), version to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Single-growth embedded epitaxy AlGaAs injection lasers with extremely low threshold currents

A new type of strip-geometry AlGaAs double-heterostructure laser with an embedded optical waveguide has been developed. The new structure is fabricated using a single step of epitaxial growth. Lasers with threshold currents as low as 9.5 mA (150 µm long) were obtained. These lasers exhibit operation in a single spatial and longitudinal mode, have differential quantum efficiencies exceeding 45%, and a characteristic temperature of 175° C. They emit more than 12 mW/facet of optical power without any kinks

Single contact tailored gain phased array of semiconductor lasers

We demonstrate a single contact tailored gain-guided array in which the gain profile across the array is made strongly asymmetric by varying the width of the contact stripes. A proton isolated array of six (GaAl)As lasers with 5-µm separations and widths varying linearly between 3 and 8 µm had a single lobed far field 2° wide, close to the diffraction limit for a single supermode. Fabrication of this device is simple, and suited to large-scale processing techniques. We also show that in such an asymmetric gain-guided array the fundamental mode is favored over higher order modes, and that higher order modes can have single lobed far-field patterns differing only slightly from that of the fundamental

The age structure of stellar populations in the solar vicinity. Clues of a two-phase formation history of the Milky Way disk

We analyze high quality abundances data of solar neighborhood stars and show that there are two distinct regimes of [alpha/Fe] versus age which we identify as the epochs of the thick and thin disk formation. A tight correlation between metallicity and [alpha/Fe] versus age is clearly identifiable on thick disk stars, implying that this population formed from a well mixed ISM, over a time scale of 4-5 Gyr. Thick disk stars vertical velocity dispersion correlate with age, with the youngest objects having as small scale heights as those of thin disk stars. A natural consequence of these two results is that a vertical metallicity gradient is expected in this population. We suggest that the thick disk set the initial conditions for the formation of the inner thin disk. This provides also an explanation of the apparent coincidence between the step in metallicity at 7-10 kpc in the thin disk and the confinment of the thick disk at about R<10 kpc. We suggest that the outer thin disk developped outside the influence of the thick disk, but also that the high alpha-enrichment of the outer regions may originate from a primordial pollution by the gas expelled from the thick disk. Local metal-poor thin disk stars, whose properties are best explained by an origin in the outer disk, are shown to be as old as the youngest thick disk (9-10 Gyr), implying that the outer thin disk started to form while the thick disk formation was still on-going in the inner Galaxy. We point out that, given the tight age-abundance relations in the thick disk, an inside-out process would give rise to a radial gradient in abundances in this population which is not observed. Finally, we argue that the data discussed here leave little room for radial migration, either to have contaminated the solar vicinity, or, to have redistributed stars in significant proportion across the solar annulus.Comment: Accepted in A&A, Revised version with new figures and extended discussio

Phase transitions, double-scaling limit, and topological strings

Topological strings on Calabi--Yau manifolds are known to undergo phase transitions at small distances. We study this issue in the case of perturbative topological strings on local Calabi--Yau threefolds given by a bundle over a two-sphere. This theory can be regarded as a q--deformation of Hurwitz theory, and it has a conjectural nonperturbative description in terms of q--deformed 2d Yang--Mills theory. We solve the planar model and find a phase transition at small radius in the universality class of 2d gravity. We give strong evidence that there is a double--scaled theory at the critical point whose all genus free energy is governed by the Painlev\'e I equation. We compare the critical behavior of the perturbative theory to the critical behavior of its nonperturbative description, which belongs to the universality class of 2d supergravity. We also give evidence for a new open/closed duality relating these Calabi--Yau backgrounds to open strings with framing.Comment: 49 pages, 3 eps figures; section added on non-perturbative proposal and 2d gravity; minor typos correcte