Dimensionless cosmology

Although it is well known that any consideration of the variations of fundamental constants should be restricted to their dimensionless combinations, the literature on variations of the gravitational constant G is entirely dimensionfull. To illustrate applications of this to cosmology, we explicitly give a dimensionless version of the parameters of the standard cosmological model, and describe the physics of both Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and recombination in a dimensionless manner. Rigorously determining how to talk about the model in a way which avoids physical dimensions is a requirement for proceeding with a calculation to constrain time-varying fundamental constants. The issue that appears to have been missed in many studies is that in cosmology the strength of gravity is bound up in the cosmological equations, and the epoch at which we live is a crucial part of the model. We argue that it is useful to consider the hypothetical situation of communicating with another civilization (with entirely different units), comparing only dimensionless constants, in order to decide if we live in a Universe governed by precisely the same physical laws. In this thought experiment, we would also have to compare epochs, which can be defined by giving the value of any one of the evolving cosmological parameters. By setting things up carefully in this way one can avoid inconsistent results when considering variable constants, caused by effectively fixing more than one parameter today. We show examples of this effect by considering microwave background anisotropies, being careful to maintain dimensionlessness throughout. We present Fisher matrix calculations to estimate how well the fine structure constants for electromagnetism and gravity can be determined with future microwave background experiments. We highlight how one can be misled by simply adding G to the usual cosmological parameter set.     

Aerogel tracks made by impacts of glycine: Implications for formation of bulbous tracks in aerogel and the Stardust mission

Abstract– Impacts of small particles of soda‐lime glass and glycine onto low density aerogel are reported. The aerogel had a quality similar to the flight aerogels carried by the NASA Stardust mission that collected cometary dust during a flyby of comet 81P/Wild 2 in 2004. The types of track formed in the aerogel by the impacts of the soda‐lime glass and glycine are shown to be different, both qualitatively and quantitatively. For example, the soda‐lime glass tracks have a carrot‐like appearance and are relatively long and slender (width to length ratio <0.11), whereas the glycine tracks consist of bulbous cavities (width to length ratio >0.26). In consequence, the glycine particles would be underestimated in diameter by a factor of 1.7–3.2, if the glycine tracks were analyzed using the soda‐lime glass calibration and density. This implies that a single calibration for impacting particle size based on track properties, as previously used by Stardust to obtain cometary dust particle size, is inappropriate.     

GIMA ground penetrating radar system for monitoring concrete bridge decks

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) has been investigated as a non-destructive method for evaluating damage in concrete structures. However, the commercially available techniques are limited to detection of gross quantities of deterioration, due to the limited resolution of the system. The objective of this research is to evaluate a ground penetrating radar system with a novel Good Impedance Match Antenna (GIMA) for concrete structural assessment. This system has the capacity to detect concrete cracks as small as 1 mm thick, while being able to reflect from and detect features at depths of up to 360 mm. Laboratory results of testing of the GIMA antenna by using a step-frequency and a high-frequency impulse system are presented. The experimental results reveal that the GIMA antenna is capable for use in frequency ranges, at least as broad as 500 Mhz to 6 GHz for the step-frequency and 1 to 16 GHz for the high-frequency impulse system.     

College students’ consumption, contribution, and risk awareness related to online mapping services and social media outlets: does geography and GIS knowledge matter?

Location-enabled online tools and/or services (i.e. Google Earth/Maps, Flickr, Facebook check-ins, etc.) have been widely used for distributing and processing geospatial-related data. They attract diverse users to consume and contribute geographic information (GI) in many different forms. This study examines college students’ consumption and contribution of GI through these tools and/or services as well as their perception of risk and privacy. It evaluates the impact of Geographic information systems (GIS) and geography knowledge on the related behavior and perception. Through conducting a survey, it was found that college students’ consumption frequency of GI through the investigated tools and services is positively related to their knowledge in GIS and geography, but their GI contribution is not related. GIS knowledge was found to help raise students’ awareness level of risk. However, this relationship does not translate into students’ concern about potential privacy disclosure or their willingness to share personal location information through using location-enabled online tools and/or services. Discussions on the gap between students’ consumption and contribution of GI through the tools and/or services are shared in the paper as well as possible explanations on the disconnection between their risk awareness, privacy concern, and willingness to share personal information. Future research directions are discussed.     

Did fires drive Holocene carbon sequestration in boreal ombrotrophic peatlands of eastern Canada?

Wildfire is an important factor on carbon sequestration in the North American boreal biomes. Being globally important stocks of organic carbon, peatlands may be less sensitive to burning in comparison with upland forests, especially wet unforested ombrotrophic ecosystems as found in northeastern Canada. We aimed to determine if peatland fires have driven carbon accumulation patterns during the Holocene. To cover spatial variability, six cores from three peatlands in the Eastmain region of Quebec were analyzed for stratigraphic charcoal accumulation. Results show that regional Holocene peatland fire frequency was ~ 2.4 fires 1000 yr^? 1, showing a gradually declining trend since 4000 cal yr BP, although inter- and intra-peatland variability was very high. Charcoal peak magnitudes, however, were significantly higher between 1400 and 400 cal yr BP, possibly reflecting higher charcoal production driven by differential climatic forcing aspects. Carbon accumulation rates generally declined towards the late-Holocene with minimum values of ~ 10 g m^? 2 yr^? 1 around 1500 cal yr BP. The absence of a clear correlation between peatland fire regimes and carbon accumulation indicates that fire regimes have not been a driving factor on carbon sequestration at the millennial time scale.     

Measuring Artificial Recharge with Fiber Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing

Heat was used as a tracer to measure infiltration rates from a recharge basin. The propagation of diurnal oscillation of surface water temperature into the basin bed was monitored along a transect using Fiber Optic Distributed Temperature Sensing (FODTS). The propagation rate was related to downward specific discharge using standard theory of heat advection and dispersion in saturated porous media. An estimate of the temporal variation of heat propagation was achieved using a wavelet transform to find the phase lag between the surface temperature diurnal oscillation and the correlated oscillation at 0.33 and 0.98 m below the bed surface. The wavelet results compared well to a constant velocity model of thermal advection and dispersion during periods of relatively constant discharge rates. The apparent dispersion of heat was found to be due primarily to hydrodynamic mechanisms rather than thermal diffusion. Specific discharge estimates using the FODTS technique also compared well to water balance estimates over a four month period, although there were occasional deviations that have yet to be adequately explained. The FODTS technique is superior to water balance in that it produces estimates of infiltration rate every meter along the cable transect, every half hour. These high resolution measurements highlighted areas of low infiltration and demonstrated the degradation of basin efficiency due to source waters of high suspended solids. FODTS monitoring promises to be a useful tool for diagnosing basin performance in an era of increasing groundwater demand.     

A Review of “Agrarian Angst and Rural Resistance in Contemporary Southeast Asia”

This article addresses the issue of linking temporal and spatial information into a GIS database structure to investigate the land-use changes in a rural-urban region over a thirty-five-year period. More specifically, it describes the application of a programming package developed to build temporal topology in an historical land-use GIS database to efficiently perform spatiotemporal queries. The program was created within the MapInfo environment using MapBasic language. Different types of information, such as the rate of change, the relationship between the change of land use and zoning regulations, and land-use succession were extracted from the database. A user-friendly interface was also developed to easily address spatiotemporal queries to the database. This approach represents a flexible and performing tool for scientists and planners who need to efficiently capture essential spatiotemporal information required for geographical inquiry and decision-making.     

Determining the susceptibility of Eucalyptus nitens forests to Coryphodema tristis (cossid moth) occurrence in Mpumalanga,South Africa

The cossid moth, Coryphodema tristis was first noted on Eucalyptus nitens trees in Mpumalanga province, South Africa during July 2004. Currently, the moth poses a major threat to commercial forestry in the country. In this study, selected climatic and topographical variables were used to model the susceptibility of E. nitens forests to cossid moth occurrence, thereby providing insight into the variables that may influence the occurrence and spread of the moth. A zigzag sampling technique was used to survey 5316 ha of E. nitens forests for the presence or absence of the moth. The random forest classification algorithm was then used to model the relationship between the climatic and topographical variables and the occurrence of the cossid moth. Results indicate that four variables that included elevation, maximum temperature for September, maximum temperature for April and the median rainfall for April best explained the presence or absence of C. tristis with an overall accuracy of 82% and a kappa value of 0.63. Partial dependence plots indicated that the areas that have a maximum temperature greater than 23°C in September and 22°C in April are likely to be infested by the cossid moth. The results from this study provide a robust and accurate spatial framework to assist forest managers in focussing their existing monitoring and control efforts to specific E. nitens forested areas that are highly susceptible to C. tristis infestations.     

Decoherence time scales for “meteoroid streams”

Abstract— We explore the orbital dynamics of Earth‐crossing objects with the intent to understand the time scales under which an “orbital stream” of material could produce time‐correlated meteorite falls. These “meteoroid streams” have been suggested to be associated with three well‐known meteorite‐dropping fireballs (Innisfree, Peekskill, and P?íbram). We have performed two different analyses of the statistical significance of the “orbital similarity,” in particular calculating how often orbits of the same level of similarity would come from a random sample. Secondly, we have performed extremely detailed numerical integrations related to these three cases, and we find that if they were streams of objects in similar orbits, then they would become “decoherent” (in the sense that the day‐of‐fall of meteorites of these streams become almost random) on time scales of 10⁴–10⁵ yr. Thus, an extremely recent breakup would be required, much more recent that the cosmic ray exposure ages of the recovered falls in each case. We conclude that orbital destruction is too efficient to allow the existence of long‐lived meteoroid streams and that the statistical evidence for such streams is insufficient; random fall patterns show comparable levels of clustering.