Search

One of the strategies in the effort to directly detect dark matter particles is to measure the phonon and charge signals produced in an incidental collision of a weakly interacting massive particle with a nucleon in a crystalline detector. Proper calibration of the detected phonon energy relies on detailed models of phonon propagation through the crystal to the instrumented surface. Previous Detector Monte Carlo incorporate probabalistic anharmonic decay and mass defect scattering but neglect the mode dependent scattering at crystal boundaries. We calculate mode specific reflection and transmission at detector interfaces with a simple acoustic mismatch model. We find that mode preserving transmission is the most probable outcome at germanium-aluminum detector interfaces, but the probability of reflection is not negligible. The average phonon reflection probability at near normal angles of incidence at a Ge/Al interface is near 20 %, but grows dramatically for oblique incidence. We develop a code using Geant4, which should allow modeling extensions to all phonon mediated dark matter detection schemes. Our models are adaptable to other crystal materials and are generally useful in any phonon interface problem.

A multidisciplinary study was undertaken on the bionomics of the African armyworm in eastern Africa as a basis for the development of control strategies for this important pest of cereal crops and pastures. Relevant findings from studies on seasonal distribution, migration, field infestations and population cycles are reviewed in relation to understanding the causes for the onset and spread of armyworm outbreaks. It is concluded that the onset of the first outbreaks of an armyworm epidemic is caused by oviposition at high density by moths concentrated by wind convergence at storm outflows. The sources of these moths seem to be low-density populations which survive from one season to the next at sites receiving unseasonable rainfall. Some areas in Tanzania and Kenya are particularly prone to early outbreaks which are potentially critical for the initiation of a subsequent spread of outbreaks downwind throughout eastern Africa. These areas have low and erratic rainfall, and are near the first rising land inland from the coast. Below average rainfall prior to the development of outbreaks increases the probability of their occurrence. Their subsequent spread is enhanced by storms downwind which concentrate moths in flight and by sunshine during caterpillar development. Persistent wet weather reduces the spread of outbreaks. This study demonstrates the importance and value of developing and implementing a long-term monitoring system over a large region, in this case in Africa, not only for the generation of data used by the forecasters for the prediction and location of possible outbreaks, but also for obtaining a clearer understanding of the epidemiology of a highly mobile pest.

The African armyworm is a migrant moth which, in its larval form, can cause severe plagues which destroy cereal crops, sugarcane and pastures in many parts of Africa. This paper reviews the relevant aspects of a multidisciplinary study into the dispersal behaviour and re-concentration of moths, migratory flight, source areas, population upsurges and the seasonal movement of moths. It introduces the new concepts of primary and critical outbreaks.