Quantum phase transitions in bilayer SU(N) anti-ferromagnets

We present a detailed study of the destruction of SU(N) magnetic order in square lattice bilayer anti-ferromagnets using unbiased quantum Monte Carlo numerical simulations and field theoretic techniques. We study phase transitions from an SU(N) N\'eel state into two distinct quantum disordered "valence-bond" phases: a valence-bond liquid (VBL) with no broken symmetries and a lattice-symmetry breaking valence-bond solid (VBS) state. For finite inter-layer coupling, the cancellation of Berry phases between the layers has dramatic consequences on the two phase transitions: the N\'eel-VBS transition is first order for all $N\geq5$ accesible in our model, whereas the N\'eel-VBL transition is continuous for N=2 and first order for N>= 4; for N=3 the N\'eel-VBL transition show no signs of first-order behavior

Logarithmic correction to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the BTZ black hole

We derive an exact expression for the partition function of the Euclidean BTZ black hole. Using this, we show that for a black hole with large horizon area, the correction to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is $-3/2 log(Area)$, in agreement with that for the Schwarzschild black hole obtained in the canonical gravity formalism and also in a Lorentzian computation of BTZ black hole entropy. We find that the right expression for the logarithmic correction in the context of the BTZ black hole comes from the modular invariance associated with the toral boundary of the black hole.Comment: LaTeX, 10 pages, typos corrected, clarifications adde

Carbon budgets and carbon sequestration potential of Indian forests

Keywords: Carbon uptake, Forest biomass, Bioenergy, Land use change, Indian forests, Deforestation, Afforestation, Rotation length, Trees outside forests. Global climate change is a widespread and growing concern that has led to extensive international discussions and negotiations. Responses to this concern have focused on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, especially carbon dioxide, and on measuring carbon absorbed by and stored in forests and soils. Forests are a significant part of the global carbon cycle. The amount of carbon stored, however, changes over time as forests grow and mature. Land use changes, especially afforestation and deforestation may have major impacts on carbon storage. An option for mitigating the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere is the enhanced sequestration of carbon by the biosphere through massive reforestation or sustainable afforestation programs. Reducing the rate of deforestation reduces carbon losses from the biosphere. Establishing plantations on former agricultural land may have less of an impact on increasing carbon sequestration than restoring natural forests. The focus of this study was to estimate the carbon budgets and carbon sequestration potential of Indian forests, assessing the possible impacts of land-use changes and climate change on carbon stocks of Indian forests, and the mitigation potential of using forest-based bioenergy for fossil fuel substitution. The results from this study show that over a 10-year period from 1992-2002, Indian forests have acted as a small carbon sink. Thus, India with high population density, low forest cover per capita, high dependence of a large part of human population on forests, and a predominantly agrarian economy, has been able to reduce deforestation rate and increase its forest cover and associated carbon sink in the terrestrial biosphere. Due to fast growth rate and adaptability to a range of environments, short rotation plantations, in addition to carbon storage, rapidly produce biomass for energy and contribute to reduced greenhouse gas emissions. India has the potential to create additional carbon sinks using marginal lands, while at the same time balancing economic development and environmental concerns. </p

Towards a mathematical system for extension education - II

A brief description is given of a mathematical model for use in extension education regarding fisheries in developing countries

Minimizing the Age of Information in Wireless Networks with Stochastic Arrivals

We consider a wireless network with a base station serving multiple traffic streams to different destinations. Packets from each stream arrive to the base station according to a stochastic process and are enqueued in a separate (per stream) queue. The queueing discipline controls which packet within each queue is available for transmission. The base station decides, at every time t, which stream to serve to the corresponding destination. The goal of scheduling decisions is to keep the information at the destinations fresh. Information freshness is captured by the Age of Information (AoI) metric. In this paper, we derive a lower bound on the AoI performance achievable by any given network operating under any queueing discipline. Then, we consider three common queueing disciplines and develop both an Optimal Stationary Randomized policy and a Max-Weight policy under each discipline. Our approach allows us to evaluate the combined impact of the stochastic arrivals, queueing discipline and scheduling policy on AoI. We evaluate the AoI performance both analytically and using simulations. Numerical results show that the performance of the Max-Weight policy is close to the analytical lower bound