11,048 research outputs found
Fluid Models for Kinetic Effects on Coherent Nonlinear Alfven Waves. II. Numerical Solutions
The influence of various kinetic effects (e.g. Landau damping, diffusive and
collisional dissipation, and finite Larmor radius terms) on the nonlinear
evolution of finite amplitude Alfvenic wave trains in a finite-beta environment
is systematically investigated using a novel, kinetic nonlinear Schrodinger
(KNLS) equation. The dynamics of Alfven waves is sensitive to the sense of
polarization as well as the angle of propagation with respect to the ambient
magnetic field. Numerical solution for the case with Landau damping reveals the
formation of dissipative structures, which are quasi-stationary, S-polarized
directional (and rotational) discontinuities which self-organize from parallel
propagating, linearly polarized waves. Parallel propagating circularly
polarized packets evolve to a few circularly polarized Alfven harmonics on
large scales. Stationary arc-polarized rotational discontinuities form from
obliquely propagating waves. Collisional dissipation, even if weak, introduces
enhanced wave damping when beta is very close to unity. Cyclotron motion
effects on resonant particle interactions introduce cyclotron resonance into
the nonlinear Alfven wave dynamics.Comment: 38 pages (including 23 figures and 1 table
Quantitative characterization of the x-ray imaging capability of rotating modulation collimators with laser light
We developed a method for making quantitative characterizations of bi-grid rotating modulation collimators (RMC ’s) that are used in a Fourier transform x-ray imager. With appropriate choices of the collimator spacings, this technique can be implemented with a beam-expanded He -Ne laser to simulate the plane wave produced by a point source at infinity even though the RMC ’s are diffraction limited at the He -Ne wavelength of 632.8 nm. The expanded beam passes through the grid pairs at a small angle with respect to their axis of rotation, and the modulated transmission through the grids as the RMC ’s rotate is detected with a photomultiplier tube. In addition to providing a quantitative characterization of the RMC ’s, the method also produces a measured point response function and provides an end-to-end check of the imaging system. We applied our method to the RMC ’s on the high-energy imaging device (HEIDI) balloon payload in its preflight configuration. We computed the harmonic ratios of the modulation time profile from the laser measurements and compared them with theoretical calculations, including the diffraction effects on irregular grids. Our results indicate the 25-in. (64-cm) x-ray imaging optics on HEIDI are capable of achieving images near the theoretical limit and are not seriously compromised by imperfections in the grids
Experimental study of the turbulent boundary layer in acceleration-skewed oscillatory flow
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
A Search for Kinematic Evidence of Radial Gas Flows in Spiral Galaxies
CO and HI velocity fields of seven nearby spiral galaxies, derived from
radio-interferometric observations, are decomposed into Fourier components
whose radial variation is used to search for evidence of radial gas flows.
Additional information provided by optical or near-infrared isophotes is also
considered, including the relationship between the morphological and kinematic
position angles. To assist in interpreting the data, we present detailed
modeling that demonstrates the effects of bar streaming, inflow, and a warp on
the observed Fourier components. We find in all of the galaxies evidence for
either elliptical streaming or a warped disk over some range in radius, with
deviations from pure circular rotation at the level of ~20-60 km/s. Evidence
for kinematic warps is observed in several cases well inside R_{25}. No
unambiguous evidence for radial inflows is seen in any of the seven galaxies,
and we are able to place an upper limit of ~5-10 km/s (3-5% of the circular
speed) on the magnitude of any radial inflow in the inner regions of NGC 4414,
5033 and 5055. We conclude that the inherent non-axisymmetry of spiral galaxies
is the greatest limitation to the direct detection of radial inflows.Comment: 22 emulateapj pages with bitmapped colour figures, to appear in ApJ
(April 2004). For full resolution figures go to
http://www.atnf.csiro.au/people/twong/preprints
Spectral analysis for nonstationary audio
A new approach for the analysis of nonstationary signals is proposed, with a
focus on audio applications. Following earlier contributions, nonstationarity
is modeled via stationarity-breaking operators acting on Gaussian stationary
random signals. The focus is on time warping and amplitude modulation, and an
approximate maximum-likelihood approach based on suitable approximations in the
wavelet transform domain is developed. This paper provides theoretical analysis
of the approximations, and introduces JEFAS, a corresponding estimation
algorithm. The latter is tested and validated on synthetic as well as real
audio signal.Comment: IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech and Language Processing,
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, In pres
Inductive measurements of third-harmonic voltage and critical current density in bulk superconductors
We propose an inductive method to measure critical current density in
bulk superconductors. In this method, an ac magnetic field is generated by a
drive current flowing in a small coil mounted just above the flat surface
of superconductors, and the third-harmonic voltage induced in the coil is
detected. We present theoretical calculation based on the critical state model
for the ac response of bulk superconductors, and we show that the
third-harmonic voltage detected in the inductive measurements is expressed as
, where is the frequency of the drive
current, and is a factor determined by the configuration of the coil. We
measured the - curves of a melt-textured
bulk sample, and evaluated the by using the theoretical results.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Appl. Phys. Let
Ultrasound-induced acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in three dimensions
We derive analytical expressions for the three-dimensional (3D)
acoustophoretic motion of spherical microparticles in rectangular
microchannels. The motion is generated by the acoustic radiation force and the
acoustic streaming-induced drag force. In contrast to the classical theory of
Rayleigh streaming in shallow, infinite, parallel-plate channels, our theory
does include the effect of the microchannel side walls. The resulting
predictions agree well with numerics and experimental measurements of the
acoustophoretic motion of polystyrene spheres with nominal diameters of 0.537
um and 5.33 um. The 3D particle motion was recorded using astigmatism particle
tracking velocimetry under controlled thermal and acoustic conditions in a
long, straight, rectangular microchannel actuated in one of its transverse
standing ultrasound-wave resonance modes with one or two half-wavelengths. The
acoustic energy density is calibrated in situ based on measurements of the
radiation dominated motion of large 5-um-diam particles, allowing for
quantitative comparison between theoretical predictions and measurements of the
streaming induced motion of small 0.5-um-diam particles.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Revtex 4.
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