1,654 research outputs found
Planetary biology and microbial ecology. Biochemistry of carbon and early life
Experiments made with cyanobacteria, phototrophic bacteria, and methanogenic bacteria are detailed. Significant carbon isotope fractionation data is included. Taken from well documented extant microbial communities, this data provides a basis of comparison for isotope fractionation values measured in Archean and Proterozoic (preCambrian) rocks. Media, methods, and techniques used to acquire data are also described
Morphological, Structural, and Spectral Characteristics of Amorphous Iron Sulfates
Current or past brine hydrologic activity on Mars may provide suitable conditions for the formation of amorphous ferric sulfates. Once formed, these phases would likely be stable under current Martian conditions, particularly at low- to mid-latitudes. Therefore, we consider amorphous iron sulfates (AIS) as possible components of Martian surface materials. Laboratory AIS were created through multiple synthesis routes and characterized with total X-ray scattering, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, visible/near-infrared (VNIR), thermal infrared (TIR), and Mössbauer techniques. We synthesized amorphous ferric sulfates (Fe(III)2(SO4)3 · ~ 6–8H2O) from sulfate-saturated fluids via vacuum dehydration or exposure to low relative humidity
Semiclassical kinetic theory of electron spin relaxation in semiconductors
We develop a semiclassical kinetic theory for electron spin relaxation in
semiconductors. Our approach accounts for elastic as well as inelastic
scattering and treats Elliott-Yafet and motional-narrowing processes, such as
D'yakonov-Perel' and variable g-factor processes, on an equal footing. Focusing
on small spin polarizations and small momentum transfer scattering, we derive,
starting from the full quantum kinetic equations, a Fokker-Planck equation for
the electron spin polarization. We then construct, using a rigorous multiple
time scale approach, a Bloch equation for the macroscopic (-averaged)
spin polarization on the long time scale, where the spin polarization decays.
Spin-conserving energy relaxation and diffusion, which occur on a fast time
scale, after the initial spin polarization has been injected, are incorporated
and shown to give rise to a weight function which defines the energy averages
required for the calculation of the spin relaxation tensor in the Bloch
equation. Our approach provides an intuitive way to conceptualize the dynamics
of the spin polarization in terms of a ``test'' spin polarization which
scatters off ``field'' particles (electrons, impurities, phonons). To
illustrate our approach, we calculate for a quantum well the spin lifetime at
temperatures and densities where electron-electron and electron-impurity
scattering dominate. The spin lifetimes are non-monotonic functions of
temperature and density. Our results show that at electron densities and
temperatures, where the cross-over from the non-degenerate to the degenerate
regime occurs, spin lifetimes are particularly long.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figures, final versio
Fano resonances in a three-terminal nanodevice
The electron transport through a quantum sphere with three one-dimensional
wires attached to it is investigated. An explicit form for the transmission
coefficient as a function of the electron energy is found from the first
principles. The asymmetric Fano resonances are detected in transmission of the
system. The collapse of the resonances is shown to appear under certain
conditions. A two-terminal nanodevice with an additional gate lead is studied
using the developed approach. Additional resonances and minima of transmission
are indicated in the device.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, 2 equations are added, misprints in 5 equations
are removed, published in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matte
Superrigid subgroups and syndetic hulls in solvable Lie groups
This is an expository paper. It is not difficult to see that every group
homomorphism from the additive group Z of integers to the additive group R of
real numbers extends to a homomorphism from R to R. We discuss other examples
of discrete subgroups D of connected Lie groups G, such that the homomorphisms
defined on D can ("virtually") be extended to homomorphisms defined on all of
G. For the case where G is solvable, we give a simple proof that D has this
property if it is Zariski dense. The key ingredient is a result on the
existence of syndetic hulls.Comment: 17 pages. This is the final version that will appear in the volume
"Rigidity in Dynamics and Geometry," edited by M. Burger and A. Iozzi
(Springer, 2002
Property (T) and rigidity for actions on Banach spaces
We study property (T) and the fixed point property for actions on and
other Banach spaces. We show that property (T) holds when is replaced by
(and even a subspace/quotient of ), and that in fact it is
independent of . We show that the fixed point property for
follows from property (T) when 1
. For simple Lie groups and their lattices, we prove that the fixed point property for holds for any if and only if the rank is at least two. Finally, we obtain a superrigidity result for actions of irreducible lattices in products of general groups on superreflexive Banach spaces.Comment: Many minor improvement
Automatic estimation of harmonic tension by distributed representation of chords
The buildup and release of a sense of tension is one of the most essential
aspects of the process of listening to music. A veridical computational model
of perceived musical tension would be an important ingredient for many music
informatics applications. The present paper presents a new approach to
modelling harmonic tension based on a distributed representation of chords. The
starting hypothesis is that harmonic tension as perceived by human listeners is
related, among other things, to the expectedness of harmonic units (chords) in
their local harmonic context. We train a word2vec-type neural network to learn
a vector space that captures contextual similarity and expectedness, and define
a quantitative measure of harmonic tension on top of this. To assess the
veridicality of the model, we compare its outputs on a number of well-defined
chord classes and cadential contexts to results from pertinent empirical
studies in music psychology. Statistical analysis shows that the model's
predictions conform very well with empirical evidence obtained from human
listeners.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Proceedings of the 13th
International Symposium on Computer Music Multidisciplinary Research (CMMR),
Porto, Portuga
Remote Sensing Of The Cryosphere In High Mountain Asia
High Mountain Asia (HMA), often referred to as the "third pole" of the world because its high elevation glaciers, contains the largest amount of fresh water outside the polar ice sheets. The region's hydrology is strongly controlled by variations in the timing and distribution of runoff from snow and glacier melt. Recent improvements in remote sensing technologies and atmospheric / land surface models provides new approaches for assessing the HMA cryosphere. A recently-funded NASA program aims to apply these tools to advance understanding of HMA cryospheric processes. Here we present an overview of planned team activities during the three-year project
Chaotic maps and flows: Exact Riemann-Siegel lookalike for spectral fluctuations
To treat the spectral statistics of quantum maps and flows that are fully
chaotic classically, we use the rigorous Riemann-Siegel lookalike available for
the spectral determinant of unitary time evolution operators . Concentrating
on dynamics without time reversal invariance we get the exact two-point
correlator of the spectral density for finite dimension of the matrix
representative of , as phenomenologically given by random matrix theory. In
the limit the correlator of the Gaussian unitary ensemble is
recovered. Previously conjectured cancellations of contributions of
pseudo-orbits with periods beyond half the Heisenberg time are shown to be
implied by the Riemann-Siegel lookalike
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