Critical Temperature of Ferromagnetic Transition in Three-Dimensional Double-Exchange Models

Ferromagnetic transition in three-dimensional double-exchange models is studied by the Monte Carlo method. Critical temperature $T_{\rm c}$ is precisely determined by finite-size scaling analysis. Strong spin fluctuations in this itinerant system significantly reduce $T_{\rm c}$ from mean-field estimates. By choosing appropriate parameters, obtained values of $T_{\rm c}$ quantitatively agree with experiments for the ferromagnetic metal regime of (La,Sr)MnO$_{3}$, which is a typical perovskite manganite showing colossal magnetoresistance. This indicates that the double-exchange mechanism alone is sufficient to explain $T_{\rm c}$ in this material. Critical exponents are also discussed.Comment: 4 pages including 1 table and 4 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Exact mean first-passage time on the T-graph

We consider a simple random walk on the T-fractal and we calculate the exact mean time $\tau^g$ to first reach the central node $i_0$. The mean is performed over the set of possible walks from a given origin and over the set of starting points uniformly distributed throughout the sites of the graph, except $i_0$. By means of analytic techniques based on decimation procedures, we find the explicit expression for $\tau^g$ as a function of the generation $g$ and of the volume $V$ of the underlying fractal. Our results agree with the asymptotic ones already known for diffusion on the T-fractal and, more generally, they are consistent with the standard laws describing diffusion on low-dimensional structures.Comment: 6 page

Prevalence and Incidence of Black Band Disease of Scleractinian Corals in the Kepulauan Seribu Region of Indonesia

Black band disease (BBD) is the oldest recognised disease associated with scleractinian corals. However, despite this, few BBD surveys have been conducted in the Indonesian archipelago, one of the world’s hot spots for coral diversity. In this study, we show that BBD was recorded in the reefs of Kepulauan Seribu, Indonesia, at the time of surveying. The disease was found to mainly infect corals of the genus Montipora. In some instances, upwards of 177 colonies (31.64%) were found to be infected at specific sites. Prevalence of the disease ranged from 0.31% to 31.64% of Montipora sp. colonies throughout the archipelago. Although BBD was found at all sites, lower frequencies were associated with sites closest to the mainland (17.99 km), as well as those that were furthest away (63.65 km). Despite there being no linear relationship between distance from major population centers and BBD incidence, high incidences of this disease were associated with sites characterized by higher levels of light intensity. Furthermore, surveys revealed that outbreaks peaked during the transitional period between the dry and rainy seasons. Therefore, we suggest that future surveys for disease prevalence in this region of Indonesia should focus on these transitory periods

Universal role of correlation entropy in critical phenomena

In statistical physics, if we successively divide an equilibrium system into two parts, we will face a situation that, within a certain length $\xi$, the physics of a subsystem is no longer the same as the original system. Then the extensive properties of the thermal entropy $S($AB$)= S($A$)+S($B$)$ is violated. This observation motivates us to introduce the concept of correlation entropy between two points, as measured by mutual information in the information theory, to study the critical phenomena. A rigorous relation is established to display some drastic features of the non-vanishing correlation entropy of the subsystem formed by any two distant particles with long-range correlation. This relation actually indicates the universal role of the correlation entropy in understanding critical phenomena. We also verify these analytical studies in terms of two well-studied models for both the thermal and quantum phase transitions: two-dimensional Ising model and one-dimensional transverse field Ising model. Therefore, the correlation entropy provides us with a new physical intuition in critical phenomena from the point of view of the information theory.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

An Optimal Deterministic Algorithm for Geodesic Farthest-Point Voronoi Diagrams in Simple Polygons

Given a set S of m point sites in a simple polygon P of n vertices, we consider the problem of computing the geodesic farthest-point Voronoi diagram for S in P. It is known that the problem has an Ω(n + m log m) time lower bound. Previously, a randomized algorithm was proposed [Barba, SoCG 2019] that can solve the problem in O(n + m log m) expected time. The previous best deterministic algorithms solve the problem in O(n log log n + m log m) time [Oh, Barba, and Ahn, SoCG 2016] or in O(n + m log m + m log2 n) time [Oh and Ahn, SoCG 2017]. In this paper, we present a deterministic algorithm of O(n + m log m) time, which is optimal. This answers an open question posed by Mitchell in the Handbook of Computational Geometry two decades ago

The impact of volcanic emissions on Etna’s snow cover

Volcanoes are one of the major natural sources of several trace elements to the atmosphere: They contribute to atmospheric pollution by increasing the amount of reactive and greenhouse gases and aerosols. In particular, Mt. Etna is considered to be, on long-term average, the major global atmospheric point source of many environmental harmful compounds. Their emission occurs either through continuous passive degassing from open-conduit activity or through sporadic paroxysmal eruptive activity, in the form of gases, aerosols or particulate. For several months during the year (generally December-May), the summit of Mt. Etna is under a thick blanket of snow. This huge reservoir of frozen water, interacting with the volcanic plume, accumulates a great quantity of volcanogenic elements during the winter. Samples of snow were collected at different distances from summit craters along an 8 km radial transects, in the 2006 and 2007 winters. Each snow sample was analyzed for 37 elements in the laboratory using IC, ICP-OES and ICP-MS techniques. The impact of volcanic emissions is clearly detectable considering the opposite trends of pH and TDS (total dissolved solid) measured in snow samples with increasing distance from their “source”. The pH values range from 1.7 on the rim of the summit craters up to 7.6 at a distance of about 8 km, and TDS ranges from diluted samples (few mg/l) at distal sites, up to extremely concentrated samples (500 - 3500 mg/l) close to the emission vents. The acidity in precipitation around the volcano depends mainly on the concentrations of volcanogenic acid forming ions (SO2, HCl and HF), as well as on concentrations of mainly geogenic alkaline species, which may eventually neutralize the acidity. Regarding metals concentrations, there are orders of magnitude of difference between the different sites with decreasing values from the crater’s rim up to the farthest sites (5-8 km from craters). In particular three groups of elements were extremely enriched (many orders of magnitude higher) at the summit craters with respect to the distal samples: Halogens (Br, Cl, F, I) and S ascribable to volcanic gas contribution; Al, Fe and Ti deriving from magmatic silicate particulate; and elements such as Se, Cu, As, Bi, Cd, Tl, Pb and Hg which are highly mobile in the high temperature volcanic environment

The influence of glacial melt and retreat on the nutritional condition of the bivalve Nuculana inaequisculpta (Protobranchia: Nuculanidae) in the West Antarctic Peninsula

Due to climate change, numerous ice bodies have been lost in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). As a consequence, deglaciation is expected to impact the marine environment and its biota at physiological and ecosystem levels. Nuculana inaequisculpta is a marine bivalve widely distributed around Antarctica that plays an important role for ecosystem functioning. Considering that N. inaequisculpta inhabits coastal areas under effect of glacial melt and retreat, impacts on its nutritional condition are expected due to alterations on its physiology and food availability. To test this hypothesis, biochemical composition (lipids, proteins, and fatty acids) and energy content were measured in individuals of N. inaequisculpta collected in a fjord at different distances to the retreating glacier in the WAP. Oceanographic parameters of the top and bottom-water layers (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a) were measured to investigate how the environment changes along the fjord. Results showed that surface oceanographic parameters displayed a lower temperature and dissolved oxygen, but a higher salinity and chlorophyll-a content at nearest compared to farthest sites to the glacier. In contrast, a lower temperature and chlorophyll-a, and a higher salinity and dissolved oxygen was measured in the bottom-water layer toward the glacier. N. inaequisculpta had a higher amount of lipids (17.42 ± 3.24 vs. 12.16 ± 3.46%), protein (24.34 ± 6.12 vs. 21.05 ± 2.46%) and energy content (50.57 ± 6.97 J vs. 39.14 ± 5.80 J) in the farthest compared to the nearest site to the glacier. No differences were found in total fatty acids among all sites. It seems likely that lower individual fitness related to proximity to the glacier would not be related to nutritional quality of sediment food, but rather to food quantity