1,297 research outputs found
Novel resources: opportunities for and risks to species conservation
During the Anthropocene, ongoing rapid environmental changes are exposing many species to novel resources. However, scientists’ understanding of what novel resources are and how they impact species is still rudimentary. Here, we used a resource‐based approach to explore novel resources. First, we conceptualized novel resource use by species along two dimensions of novelty: namely, ecosystem novelty and resource novelty. We then examined characteristics that influence a species’ response to a novel resource and how novel resources can affect individuals, populations, species, and communities. In addition, we discuss potential management complications associated with novel resource use by threatened species. As conservation and management embrace global environmental change, it is critical that ecologists improve the current understanding of the opportunities and risks that novel resources present to species conservation
Stoichiometry control of magnetron sputtered BiSrCaYCuO (0x0.5) thin film, composition spread libraries: Substrate bias and gas density factors
A magnetron sputtering method for the production of thin-film libraries with
a spatially varying composition, x, in Bi2Sr2Ca1-xYxCu2Oy (0<=x<=0.5) has been
developed. Two targets with a composition of Bi2Sr2YCu2O_{8.5 + \delta} and
Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8 + \delta} are co-sputtered with appropriate masks. The
target masks produce a linear variation in opposite, but co-linear radial
direction, and the rotation speed of the substrate table is sufficient to
intimately mix the atoms. EDS/WDS composition studies of the films show a
depletion of Sr and Bi that is due to oxygen anion resputtering. The depletion
is most pronounced at the centre of the film (i.e. on-axis with the target) and
falls off symmetrically to either side of the 75 mm substrate. At either edge
of the film the stoichiometry matches the desired ratios. Using a 12 mTorr
process gas of argon and oxygen in a 2:1 ratio, the strontium depletion is
corrected. The bismuth depletion is eliminated by employing a rotating carbon
brush apparatus which supplies a -20 V DC bias to the sample substrate. The
negative substrate bias has been used successfully with an increased chamber
pressure to eliminate the resputtering effect across the film. The result is a
thin film composition spread library with the desired stoichiometry.Comment: 16 pages, 12 figures, 4 tables, submitted to Physica C -
Superconductivity (April 15, 2005), elsart.st
Running couplings for the simultaneous decoupling of heavy quarks
Scale-invariant running couplings are constructed for several quarks being
decoupled together, without reference to intermediate thresholds.
Large-momentum scales can also be included. The result is a multi-scale
generalization of the renormalization group applicable to any order.
Inconsistencies in the usual decoupling procedure with a single running
coupling can then be avoided, e.g. when cancelling anomalous corrections from
t,b quarks to the axial charge of the proton.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, version to appear in PLB. Pages 8-11 and Fig. 1
are new, with consequent changes to the abstract, page 2, and the references.
We show that our multi-scale renormalization group is needed to achieve
anomaly cancellation in t,b decoupling from the weak neutral current, and
extend it to include large moment
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Promising Copper Alloy for High Heat Load Applications in Neutron Environments
Four candidate copper alloys and two elemental coppers were irradiated in the Experimental Breeder Reactor to damage levels of about 3 and 15 dpa at 385/sup 0/C. The irradiated and control samples were evaluated to determine swelling, room temperature tensile properties, transmutation product levels, and electrical resistivity. Transmission electron microscopy was used to characterize the damaged microstructures. Among the six materials studied, the alumina-dispersed copper alloys (Glidcop Al-20 and Al-60 sheet material) exhibited the best, overall resistance to fast neutron damage, as they had minimal swelling and retained their original values of yield strength and electrical resistivity (corrected for transmuted elements) after irradiation. The two cold worked and age-hardened alloys (AMZIRC and MZC) suffered loss of yield strength after irradiation at 385/sup 0/C. The two elemental coppers and the AMZIRC alloy showed large swelling (3.6 to 6.8 vol %) due to void formation after the high neutron fluence. Further study is needed to understand microstructural alterations caused by neutron damage of the alumina-dispersed copper alloy. 10 refs
A class of ansatz wave functions for 1D spin systems and their relation to DMRG
We investigate the density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) discovered by
White and show that in the case where the renormalization eventually converges
to a fixed point the DMRG ground state can be simply written as a ``matrix
product'' form. This ground state can also be rederived through a simple
variational ansatz making no reference to the DMRG construction. We also show
how to construct the ``matrix product'' states and how to calculate their
properties, including the excitation spectrum. This paper provides details of
many results announced in an earlier letter.Comment: RevTeX, 49 pages including 4 figures (macro included). Uuencoded with
uufiles. A complete postscript file is available at
http://fy.chalmers.se/~tfksr/prb.dmrg.p
On the relation of Thomas rotation and angular velocity of reference frames
In the extensive literature dealing with the relativistic phenomenon of
Thomas rotation several methods have been developed for calculating the Thomas
rotation angle of a gyroscope along a circular world line. One of the most
appealing concepts, introduced in \cite{rindler}, is to consider a rotating
reference frame co-moving with the gyroscope, and relate the precession of the
gyroscope to the angular velocity of the reference frame. A recent paper
\cite{herrera}, however, applies this principle to three different co-moving
rotating reference frames and arrives at three different Thomas rotation
angles. The reason for this apparent paradox is that the principle of
\cite{rindler} is used for a situation to which it does not apply. In this
paper we rigorously examine the theoretical background and limitations of
applicability of the principle of \cite{rindler}. Along the way we also
establish some general properties of {\it rotating reference frames}, which may
be of independent interest.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
Rotating Resonator-Oscillator Experiments to Test Lorentz Invariance in Electrodynamics
In this work we outline the two most commonly used test theories (RMS and
SME) for testing Local Lorentz Invariance (LLI) of the photon. Then we develop
the general framework of applying these test theories to resonator experiments
with an emphasis on rotating experiments in the laboratory. We compare the
inherent sensitivity factors of common experiments and propose some new
configurations. Finally we apply the test theories to the rotating cryogenic
experiment at the University of Western Australia, which recently set new
limits in both the RMS and SME frameworks [hep-ph/0506074].Comment: Submitted to Lecture Notes in Physics, 36 pages, minor modifications,
updated list of reference
Recent Experimental Tests of Special Relativity
We review our recent Michelson-Morley (MM) and Kennedy-Thorndike (KT)
experiment, which tests Lorentz invariance in the photon sector, and report
first results of our ongoing atomic clock test of Lorentz invariance in the
matter sector. The MM-KT experiment compares a cryogenic microwave resonator to
a hydrogen maser, and has set the most stringent limit on a number of
parameters in alternative theories to special relativity. We also report first
results of a test of Lorentz invariance in the SME (Standard Model Extension)
matter sector, using Zeeman transitions in a laser cooled Cs atomic fountain
clock. We describe the experiment together with the theoretical model and
analysis. Recent experimental results are presented and we give a first
estimate of components of the parameters of the SME matter
sector. A full analysis of systematic effects is still in progress, and will be
the subject of a future publication together with our final results. If
confirmed, the present limits would correspond to first ever measurements of
some components, and improvements by 11 and 14 orders of
magnitude on others.Comment: 29 pages. Contribution to Springer Lecture Notes, "Special Relativity
- Will it survive the next 100 years ?", Proceedings, Potsdam, 200
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