504 research outputs found
Modular properties of two-loop maximal supergravity and connections with string theory
The low-momentum expansion of the two-loop four-graviton scattering amplitude
in eleven-dimensional supergravity compactified on a circle and a two-torus is
considered up to terms of order S^6R^4 (where S is a Mandelstam invariant and R
is the linearized Weyl curvature). In the case of the toroidal compactification
the coefficient of each term in the low energy expansion is generically a sum
of a number of SL(2,Z)-invariant functions of the complex structure of the
torus. Each such function satisfies a separate Poisson equation on moduli space
with particular source terms that are bilinear in coefficients of lower order
terms, consistent with qualitative arguments based on supersymmetry. Comparison
is made with the low-energy expansion of type II string theories in ten and
nine dimensions. Although the detailed behaviour of the string amplitude is not
generally expected to be reproduced by supergravity perturbation theory to all
orders, for the terms considered here we find agreement with direct results
from string perturbation theory. These results point to a fascinating pattern
of interrelated Poisson equations for the IIB coefficients at higher orders in
the momentum expansion which may have a significance beyond the particular
methods by which they were motivated.Comment: 79 pages, 4 figures. Latex format. v2: Small corrections made,
version to appear in JHE
Eisenstein series for higher-rank groups and string theory amplitudes
Scattering amplitudes of superstring theory are strongly constrained by the
requirement that they be invariant under dualities generated by discrete
subgroups, E_n(Z), of simply-laced Lie groups in the E_n series (n<= 8). In
particular, expanding the four-supergraviton amplitude at low energy gives a
series of higher derivative corrections to Einstein's theory, with coefficients
that are automorphic functions with a rich dependence on the moduli. Boundary
conditions supplied by string and supergravity perturbation theory, together
with a chain of relations between successive groups in the E_n series,
constrain the constant terms of these coefficients in three distinct parabolic
subgroups. Using this information we are able to determine the expressions for
the first two higher derivative interactions (which are BPS-protected) in terms
of specific Eisenstein series. Further, we determine key features of the
coefficient of the third term in the low energy expansion of the
four-supergraviton amplitude (which is also BPS-protected) in the E_8 case.
This is an automorphic function that satisfies an inhomogeneous Laplace
equation and has constant terms in certain parabolic subgroups that contain
information about all the preceding terms.Comment: Latex. 38 pages. 1 figure. v2: minor changes and clarifications. v3:
minor corrections, version to appear in Communications in Number Theory and
Physics. v4: corrections to table
Utilizing micro-computed tomography to evaluate bone structure surrounding dental implants: a comparison with histomorphometry
Although histology has proven to be a reliable method to evaluate the ossoeintegration of a dental implant, it is costly, time consuming, destructive, and limited to one or few sections. Microcomputed tomography (µCT) is fast and delivers three-dimensional information, but this technique has not been widely used and validated for histomorphometric parameters yet. This study compared µCT and histomorphometry by means of evaluating their accuracy in determining the bone response to two different implant materials. In total, 32 titanium (Ti) and 16 hydroxyapatite (HA) implants were installed in 16 lop-eared rabbits. After 2 and 4 weeks, the animals were scarified, and the samples retrieved. After embedding, the samples were scanned with µCT and analyzed three-dimensionally for bone area (BA) and bone-implant contact (BIC). Thereafter, all samples were sectioned and stained for histomorphometry. For the Ti implants, the mean BIC was 25.25 and 28.86% after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively, when measured by histomorphometry, while it was 24.11 and 24.53% when measured with µCT. BA was 35.4 and 31.97% after 2 and 4 weeks for histomorphometry and 29.06 and 27.65% for µCT. For the HA implants, the mean BIC was 28.49 and 42.51% after 2 and 4 weeks, respectively, when measured by histomorphometry, while it was 33.74 and 42.19% when measured with µCT. BA was 30.59 and 47.17% after 2 and 4 weeks for histomorphometry and 37.16 and 44.95% for µCT. Direct comparison showed that only the 2 weeks BA for the titanium implants was significantly different between µCT and histology (p = 0.008). Although the technique has its limitations, µCT corresponded well with histomorphometry and should be considered as a tool to evaluate bone structure around implants
Combining High Yields and Blast Resistance in Rice (Oryza spp.): A Screening under Upland and Lowland Conditions in Benin
The future security of the supply of rice for food in Africa depends on improving the level of local production to achieve self-sufficiency. In order to cope with the existing gap between production and actual demand, combining a high level of rice blast tolerance and a high-yield potential is necessary. The current study was conducted under upland and lowland conditions in Benin to gain insight into the performance of selected blast-resistant accessions along with some currently grown varieties. This study revealed a high phenotypic variability among these accessions. Furthermore, differences in the performance of these accessions under lowland and upland conditions were observed. Principal component analysis showed their grouping in three clusters. The analysis also demonstrated a high yield potential among the blast-resistant rice accessions whether they were Oryza sativa or O. glaberrima. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between yield and both spikelet fertility and growth cycle duration. In conclusion, the present study identified promising rice accessions for future breeding. High phenotypic variability in combination with interesting traits can help to develop new resilient varieties. Finally, when the traits correlate with yield, they can be used as markers for an early screening method for identifying promising accessions at an early stage
Direct Diode Lasers for Industrial Laser Cutting: A Performance Comparison with Conventional Fiber and CO2 Technologies
AbstractThe direct use of diode lasers for cutting sheet metal has high potential to decrease operational costs, but, currently, implementation in industrial environments is constrained by beam quality. In this paper the performance of a novel direct diode laser (DDL) with increased beam quality is documented for both fusion and flame cutting and compared to conventional CO2 and fiber laser sources. Experimental tests were carried out for steel and aluminium based on a Design of Experiments approach. Furthermore, an analytical model, focusing on the absorption of lasers in metals, is described here, which predicts and clarifies performance variation. Although the observed laser beam quality is still lower than the other studied technologies, industrially relevant cutting speeds, with acceptable surface quality, are achievable with DDL, as validated by our result
Ultraviolet properties of maximal supergravity
We argue that recent results in string perturbation theory indicate that the four-graviton amplitude of four-dimensional
N
=
8
supergravity might be ultraviolet finite up to eight loops. We similarly argue that the
h
-loop
M
-graviton amplitude might be finite for
h
<
7
+
M
/
2
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Automorphic properties of low energy string amplitudes in various dimensions
This paper explores the moduli-dependent coefficients of higher derivative
interactions that appear in the low-energy expansion of the four-graviton
amplitude of maximally supersymmetric string theory compactified on a d-torus.
These automorphic functions are determined for terms up to order D^6R^4 and
various values of d by imposing a variety of consistency conditions. They
satisfy Laplace eigenvalue equations with or without source terms, whose
solutions are given in terms of Eisenstein series, or more general automorphic
functions, for certain parabolic subgroups of the relevant U-duality groups.
The ultraviolet divergences of the corresponding supergravity field theory
limits are encoded in various logarithms, although the string theory
expressions are finite. This analysis includes intriguing representations of
SL(d) and SO(d,d) Eisenstein series in terms of toroidally compactified one and
two-loop string and supergravity amplitudes.Comment: 80 pages. 1 figure. v2:Typos corrected, footnotes amended and small
clarifications. v3: minor corrections. Version to appear in Phys Rev
Biodiversity of Antarctic nematodes: the ‘NEMASLAN’ project
Recent biodiversity research reveals that more than 50% of the free-living marine nematode species found in before unexplored environments, such as Antarctica, are new to science. Too few taxonomists remain to describe them all. Additionally, there are problems with the quality control of the identification of nematode samples since fewer labs possess all the literature (and manpower) required to verify the morphological characteristics of the animals.NEMASLAN, software for a tree-based classification system (Access) is a methodological approach for improving identification, classification and description of specimens in difficult taxonomic groups such as free-living marine nematodes. It seeks to serve as an easy research tool for central management of information of the taxon of the nematodes, and this for people with little training in database technologies.The program consists of four main modules: (see demonstration)1. Module for data- entering: provides possibilities to enter geographic, morphological, ecological, and literature data on species in a record database. An additional connection between these database records and the actual digital sources (e.g. scanned literature from original descriptions and good recent publications) enlarges the scientific value of the system.Personal metadatasets can be created, for example for the use of drawings and/or pictures of undescribed species or not yet published taxonomic papers. 2. Module for document consultation: data sources (PDF documents of original descriptions, text documents, photographs,…) and their references can be consulted. 3. Module for Quick Search: Morphological data from the species identification (e.g. shape and/or position of amphid, cuticle, buccal cavity, tail, oesophagus, caudal glands and spinneret; feeding type; numerical fields of de Man ratios, length, setae, nerve ring, excretory porus, spicule, gubernaculum, male supplements) and other information such as type of biotope and water depth distribution can be consulted; datasheets can be generated.4. Search Module: The output and search within the database can be user configured (i.e. questions like ‘give me all the nematode species so far described from the coastal sites with a spicule longer than 30µm and cuticular punctuations’ get an answer from this database). SQL (Structured Query Language) is the formal language used to query databases. An in-depth knowledge of the fairly complex SQL language is not required.The Windows application functions for multi-users in a local network environment (LAN). The program is distributed free of charge through a website (at present http://allserv.rug.ac.be/~tdeprez: later on through a more specified Antarctic database website) at which demonstration datasets are distributed.NEMASLAN was applied to Antarctic nematodes. The resulting ‘Biodiversity of Antarctic Nematodes’ CD-ROM version includes an archive of all numerical and nominal information for each species ever described in the Southern Ocean. About 350 species have thus been digitized. There is an urgent need to develop appropriate information tools on Antarctic marine biodiversity for scientific, environmental management and conservation purposes. Therefore, the collaboration of three laboratory pioneers in Antarctic biodiversity databases (e.g. Antarctic nematodes, amphipods and echinids, see other presentations) will seek for further developments such as the construction of a common portal, common mapping applications, or links to pertinent information sources of Antarctic benthic biodiversity. The resulting ‘biodiversity information system’ will be made available to the scientific community. This will be done within the framework of the OSTC project on Antarctica - BIANZO (BIodiversity of three representative groups of the ANtarctic ZOobenthos). It will contribute to the DIVERSITAS, SA 2000, CoML-OBIS and GBIF initiatives
Experimental and modeling study of the autoignition of 1-hexene/iso-octane mixtures at low temperatures
Autoignition delay times have been measured in a rapid compression machine at
Lille at temperatures after compression from 630 to 840 K, pressures from 8 to
14 bar, \Phi = 1 and for a iso octane/1 hexene mixture containing 82%
iso-octane and 18% 1 hexene. Results have shown that this mixture is strongly
more reactive than pure iso-octane, but less reactive than pure 1 hexene. It
exhibits a classical low temperature behaviour, with the appearance of cool
flame and a negative temperature coefficient region. The composition of the
reactive mixture obtained after the cool flame has also been determined. A
detailed kinetic model has been obtained by using the system EXGAS, developed
in Nancy for the automatic generation of kinetic mechanisms, and an acceptable
agreement with the experimental results has been obtained both for autoignition
delay times and for the distribution of products. A flow rate analysis reveals
that the crossed reactions between species coming from both reactants (like
H-abstractions or combinations) are negligible in the main flow consumption of
the studied hydrocarbons. The ways of formation of the main primary products
observed and the most sensitive rate constants have been identified
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