17,903 research outputs found
On the Localized superluminal Solutions to the Maxwell Equations
In the first part of this article the various experimental sectors of physics
in which Superluminal motions seem to appear are briefly mentioned, after a
sketchy theoretical introduction. In particular, a panoramic view is presented
of the experiments with evanescent waves (and/or tunneling photons), and with
the "Localized superluminal Solutions" (SLS) to the wave equation, like the
so-called X-shaped waves. In the second part of this paper we present a series
of new SLSs to the Maxwell equations, suitable for arbitrary frequencies and
arbitrary bandwidths: some of them being endowed with finite total energy.
Among the others, we set forth an infinite family of generalizations of the
classic X-shaped wave; and show how to deal with the case of a dispersive
medium. Results of this kind may find application in other fields in which an
essential role is played by a wave-equation (like acoustics, seismology,
geophysics, gravitation, elementary particle physics, etc.). This e-print, in
large part a review, was prepared for the special issue on "Nontraditional
Forms of Light" of the IEEE JSTQE (2003); and a preliminary version of it
appeared as Report NSF-ITP-02-93 (KITP, UCSB; 2002). Further material can be
found in the recent e-prints arXiv:0708.1655v2 [physics.gen-ph] and
arXiv:0708.1209v1 [physics.gen-ph]. The case of the very interesting (and more
orthodox, in a sense) subluminal Localized Waves, solutions to the wave
equations, will be dealt with in a coming paper. [Keywords: Wave equation; Wave
propagation; Localized solutions to Maxwell equations; Superluminal waves;
Bessel beams; Limited-dispersion beams; Electromagnetic wavelets; X-shaped
waves; Finite-energy beams; Optics; Electromagnetism; Microwaves; Special
relativity]Comment: LaTeX paper of 37 pages, with 20 Figures in jpg [to be processed by
PDFlatex
An Intelligent Interactive Knowledge Model for Decision Support in Real Time Traffic Management
This paper proposes the use of advanced knowledge models to support real time decision for management problems as an adequate response to the current needs and technology. The new conditions for human operation created by the telematics technology are discussed and a general architecture using knowledge modelling techniques is proposed. Then, the application of the approach to support real time management of the private traffic in the city of Turin is described
Probing the Circumnuclear Stellar Populations of Starburst Galaxies in the Near-infrared
We employ the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility's near-infrared spectrograph
SpeX at 0.8-2.4m to investigate the spatial distribution of the stellar
populations (SPs) in four well known Starburst galaxies: NGC34, NGC1614,
NGC3310 and NGC7714. We use the STARLIGHT code updated with the synthetic
simple stellar populations models computed by Maraston (2005, M05). Our main
results are that the NIR light in the nuclear surroundings of the galaxies is
dominated by young/intermediate age SPs (yr), summing from
40\% up to 100\% of the light contribution. In the nuclear aperture of
two sources (NGC1614 and NGC3310) we detected a predominant old SP component
(yr), while for NGC34 and NGC7714 the younger component
prevails. Furthermore, we found evidence of a circumnuclear star formation
ring-like structure and a secondary nucleus in NGC1614, in agreement with
previous studies. We also suggest that the merger/interaction experienced by
three of the galaxies studied, NGC1614, NGC3310 and NGC7714 can explain the
lower metallicity values derived for the young SP component of these sources.
In this scenario the fresh unprocessed metal poorer gas from the
destroyed/interacting companion galaxy is driven to the centre of the galaxies
and mixed with the central region gas, before star formation takes place. In
order to deepen our analysis, we performed the same procedure of SP synthesis
using Maraston (2011, M11) EPS models. Our results show that the newer and
higher resolution M11 models tend to enhance the old/intermediate age SP
contribution over the younger ages
Effects of lattice mismatch on interfacial structures of liquid and solidified Al in contact with hetero-phase substrates: MD simulations
Published under licence in IOP Conference Series: Material Science and Engineering by IOP Publishing Ltd. Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.In this study, the effects of the misfit on in-plane structures of liquid Al and interfacial structure of solidified Al in contact with the heterophase substrates have been investigated, using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The MD simulations were conducted for Al/fcc (111) substrates with varied misfits. The order parameter and atomic arrangement indicated that the in-plane ordering of the liquid at the interface decreases significantly with an increase of the misfit, i.e., solid-like for small misfit and liquid-like for large misfit. Further, our MD simulation results revealed that a perfect orientation relationship forms at the interface between the substrate and the solidified Al for a misfit of less than -3% and the boundary is coherent. With an increase in the misfit, Shockley partial and extended dislocations form at the interface, and the boundary becomes a semi-coherent or low-angle twist boundary.EPSR
Rolling-sliding laboratory tests of friction modifiers in dry and wet wheel-rail contacts
Friction management has been carried out extensively in the majority of railway networks in the last few years. A popular practice is the application of friction modifiers to increase the adhesion level in contaminated wheel-rail contacts. Two friction modifiers have particularly been used or tested on several railway networks as adhesion enhancers to facilitate the traction and braking operation under poor adhesion conditions. However, for assessment of the performance the railway operators and infrastructure managers mostly rely on practical observations that do not elucidate completely the effectiveness and side effects of these adhesion enhancers. In this paper, the constituents of the two friction modifiers are identified and the solid components are analyzed. A twin-disk roller rig has been used to study their performance in dry and wet contacts under closely controlled laboratory conditions. The adhesion characteristics of both friction modifiers are examined for different slip ratios. Furthermore, the wheel and rail disks are examined after a series of dry tests to analyze the mass loss, the surface damage, the change in surface hardness and roughness, and the subsurface deformation caused by the friction modifiers compared to dry clean contacts. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Post-growth annealing of GaMnAs under As capping - an alternative way to increase Tc
We demonstrate that in situ post-growth annealing of GaMnAs layers under As
capping is adequate for achieving high Curie temperatures (Tc) in a similar way
as ex situ annealing in air or in N2 atmosphere practiced earlier.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
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