North Eastern Hill University

About: North Eastern Hill University is a education organization based out in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catalysis. The organization has 2318 authors who have published 4476 publications receiving 48894 citations.

Zero-temperature hysteresis in the random-field Ising model on a Bethe lattice

Abstract: We consider the single-spin-flip dynamics of the random-field Ising model on a Bethe lattice at zero temperature in the presence of a uniform external field. We determine the average magnetization as the external field is varied from to by setting up the self-consistent field equations, which we show are exact in this case. The qualitative behaviour of magnetization as a function of the external field unexpectedly depends on the coordination number z of the Bethe lattice. For z = 3, with a Gaussian distribution of the quenched random fields, we find no jump in magnetization for any non-zero strength of disorder. For , for weak disorder the magnetization shows a jump discontinuity as a function of the external uniform field, which disappears for a larger variance of the quenched field. We determine exactly the critical point separating smooth hysteresis curves from those with a jump. We have checked our results by Monte Carlo simulations of the model on three- and four-coordinated random graphs, which for large system sizes give the same results as on the Bethe lattice, but avoid surface effects altogether.

Phenology of trees in a sub-tropical humid forest in North-Eastern India

Abstract: Phenological observations were made on 122 tree species in a subtropical humid seasonal forest in north-eastern India. The forest had a high proportion of evergreen compared to deciduous species. Leaf-fall of most of the tree species coincided with the dry season. Flushing started towards the end of the dry season for a majority of the tree species, the degree and period of leaflessness varying with the species. Leaf production in the overstorey species extended over a longer period compared to the understorey species. For most of the species, flowering coincided with leaflessness. Proportionately more overstorey species flowered during the dry season and wet season flowering was more characteristic of understorey species. A majority of the species produced fleshy fruits during the wet season. Fruits, produced during the dry season, were mostly dry.

Fungal abundance and diversity in earthworm casts and in uningested soil

Abstract: Earthworm casts and adjacent uningested soil from 30 different locations were compared to determine the abundance and diversity of fungal species. The casts contained larger fungal populations (g-1 dry soil weight) and numbers of fungal species than the soil. Variations in these parameters between casts and soil were statistically significant (P=0.05). Fungal populations and the number of fungal species in casts and soil also varied significantly (P=0.05) between samples from different locations. A total of 27 fungal species were recorded from the casts and soil. Indices of dominance (0.084 casts; 0.14 soil) and general diversity (2.53 casts; 2.02 soil) demonstrated that the casts displayed more diverse fungal flora than the soil. The diversity of fungal species increased in earthworm casts after passing through the earthworm gut.