The directional contact distance of two ellipsoids: Coarse-grained potentials for anisotropic interactions

Copyright @ 2005 American Institute of Physics.We obtain the distance of closest approach of the surfaces of two arbitrary ellipsoids valid at any orientation and separation measured along their intercenter vector. This directional distance is derived from the elliptic contact function. The geometric meaning behind this approach is clarified. An elliptic pair potential for modeling arbitrary mixtures of elliptic particles, whether hard or soft, is proposed based on this distance. Comparisons with Gay-Berne potentials are discussed. Analytic expressions for the forces and torques acting on the elliptic particles are given.This research has been supported by GlaxoSmith-Klin

Cold magnetized quark matter phase diagram within a generalized SU(2) NJL model

We study the effect of intense magnetic fields on the phase diagram of cold, strongly interacting matter within an extended version of the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model that includes flavor mixing effects and vector interactions. Different values of the relevant model parameters in acceptable ranges are considered. Charge neutrality and beta equilibrium effects, which are specially relevant to the study of compact stars, are also taken into account. In this case the behavior of leptons is discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figure

Gas ingestion and sealing capacity of helical groove fluid film seal /viscoseal/ using sodium and water as sealed fluids

Helical groove viscosity seal using sodium and water as sealed fluid

Spiral-grooved shaft seals substantially reduce leakage and wear

Rotating shaft seals used in space power systems have spiral grooves in one or both of the opposing seal faces. These grooves induce a pumping action which displaces the intervening fluid radially inward toward the shaft and counters the centrifugal forces which tend to displace the fluid outward

A Dynamical Self-Consistent Finite Temperature Kinetic Theory: The ZNG Scheme

We review a self-consistent scheme for modelling trapped weakly-interacting quantum gases at temperatures where the condensate coexists with a significant thermal cloud. This method has been applied to atomic gases by Zaremba, Nikuni, and Griffin, and is often referred to as ZNG. It describes both mean-field-dominated and hydrodynamic regimes, except at very low temperatures or in the regime of large fluctuations. Condensate dynamics are described by a dissipative Gross-Pitaevskii equation (or the corresponding quantum hydrodynamic equation with a source term), while the non-condensate evolution is represented by a quantum Boltzmann equation, which additionally includes collisional processes which transfer atoms between these two subsystems. In the mean-field-dominated regime collisions are treated perturbatively and the full distribution function is needed to describe the thermal cloud, while in the hydrodynamic regime the system is parametrised in terms of a set of local variables. Applications to finite temperature induced damping of collective modes and vortices in the mean-field-dominated regime are presented.Comment: Unedited version of chapter to appear in Quantum Gases: Finite Temperature and Non-Equilibrium Dynamics (Vol. 1 Cold Atoms Series). N.P. Proukakis, S.A. Gardiner, M.J. Davis and M.H. Szymanska, eds. Imperial College Press, London (in press). See http://www.icpress.co.uk/physics/p817.htm