11,509 research outputs found
A microfluidic device for the study of the orientational dynamics of microrods
We describe a microfluidic device for studying the orientational dynamics of
microrods. The device enables us to experimentally investigate the tumbling of
microrods immersed in the shear flow in a microfluidic channel with a depth of
400 mu and a width of 2.5 mm. The orientational dynamics was recorded using a
20 X microscopic objective and a CCD camera. The microrods were produced by
shearing microdroplets of photocurable epoxy resin. We show different examples
of empirically observed tumbling. On the one hand we find that short stretches
of the experimentally determined time series are well described by fits to
solutions of Jeffery's approximate equation of motion [Jeffery, Proc. R. Soc.
London. 102 (1922), 161-179]. On the other hand we find that the empirically
observed trajectories drift between different solutions of Jeffery's equation.
We discuss possible causes of this orbit drift.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Gravitational-wave astronomy: the high-frequency window
This contribution is divided in two parts. The first part provides a
text-book level introduction to gravitational radiation. The key concepts
required for a discussion of gravitational-wave physics are introduced. In
particular, the quadrupole formula is applied to the anticipated
``bread-and-butter'' source for detectors like LIGO, GEO600, EGO and TAMA300:
inspiralling compact binaries. The second part provides a brief review of high
frequency gravitational waves. In the frequency range above (say) 100Hz,
gravitational collapse, rotational instabilities and oscillations of the
remnant compact objects are potentially important sources of gravitational
waves. Significant and unique information concerning the various stages of
collapse, the evolution of protoneutron stars and the details of the
supranuclear equation of state of such objects can be drawn from careful study
of the gravitational-wave signal. As the amount of exciting physics one may be
able to study via the detections of gravitational waves from these sources is
truly inspiring, there is strong motivation for the development of future
generations of ground based detectors sensitive in the range from hundreds of
Hz to several kHz.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, Lectures presented at the 2nd Aegean Summer
School on the Early Universe, Syros, Greece, September 200
Models for the magnetic ac susceptibility of granular superferromagnetic CoFe/AlO
The magnetization and magnetic ac susceptibility, ,
of superferromagnetic systems are studied by numerical simulations. The
Cole-Cole plot, vs. , is used as a tool for classifying
magnetic systems by their dynamical behavior. The simulations of the
magnetization hysteresis and the ac susceptibility are performed with two
approaches for a driven domain wall in random media. The studies are motivated
by recent experimental results on the interacting nanoparticle system
CoFe/AlO showing superferromagnetic behavior. Its
Cole-Cole plot indicates domain wall motion dynamics similarly to a disordered
ferromagnet, including pinning and sliding motion. With our models we can
successfully reproduce the features found in the experimental Cole-Cole plots.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure
Nonexistence of Generalized Apparent Horizons in Minkowski Space
We establish a Positive Mass Theorem for initial data sets of the Einstein
equations having generalized trapped surface boundary. In particular we answer
a question posed by R. Wald concerning the existence of generalized apparent
horizons in Minkowski space
The Metal-Insulator Transition of NbO2: an Embedded Peierls Instability
Results of first principles augmented spherical wave electronic structure
calculations for niobium dioxide are presented. Both metallic rutile and
insulating low-temperature NbO2, which crystallizes in a distorted rutile
structure, are correctly described within density functional theory and the
local density approximation. Metallic conductivity is carried to equal amounts
by metal t_{2g} orbitals, which fall into the one-dimensional d_parallel band
and the isotropically dispersing e_{g}^{pi} bands. Hybridization of both types
of bands is almost negligible outside narrow rods along the line X--R. In the
low-temperature phase splitting of the d_parallel band due to metal-metal
dimerization as well as upshift of the e_{g}^{pi} bands due to increased p-d
overlap remove the Fermi surface and open an optical band gap of about 0.1 eV.
The metal-insulator transition arises as a Peierls instability of the
d_parallel band in an embedding background of e_{g}^{pi} electrons. This basic
mechanism should also apply to VO2, where, however, electronic correlations are
expected to play a greater role due to stronger localization of the 3d
electrons.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 6 eps figures, additional material avalable at
http://www.physik.uni-augsburg.de/~eyert
Multi Mode Interferometer for Guided Matter Waves
We describe the fundamental features of an interferometer for guided matter
waves based on Y-beam splitters and show that, in a quasi two-dimensional
regime, such a device exhibits high contrast fringes even in a multi mode
regime and fed from a thermal source.Comment: Final version (accepted to PRL
Allochthonous Carbon-a Major Driver of Bacterioplankton Production in the Subarctic Northern Baltic Sea
Heterotrophic bacteria are, in many aquatic systems, reliant on autochthonous organic carbon as their energy source. One exception is low-productive humic lakes, where allochthonous dissolved organic matter (ADOM) is the major driver. We hypothesized that bacterial production (BP) is similarly regulated in subarctic estuaries that receive large amounts of riverine material. BP and potential explanatory factors were measured during May-August 2011 in the subarctic RAyenne Estuary, northern Sweden. The highest BP was observed in spring, concomitant with the spring river-flush and the lowest rates occurred during summer when primary production (PP) peaked. PLS correlations showed that similar to 60 % of the BP variation was explained by different ADOM components, measured as humic substances, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM). On average, BP was threefold higher than PP. The bioavailability of allochthonous dissolved organic carbon (ADOC) exhibited large spatial and temporal variation; however, the average value was low, similar to 2 %. Bioassay analysis showed that BP in the near-shore area was potentially carbon limited early in the season, while BP at seaward stations was more commonly limited by nitrogen-phosphorus. Nevertheless, the bioassay indicated that ADOC could contribute significantly to the in situ BP, similar to 60 %. We conclude that ADOM is a regulator of BP in the studied estuary. Thus, projected climate-induced increases in river discharge suggest that BP will increase in subarctic coastal areas during the coming century.Peer reviewe
Dynamical simulation of spin-glass and chiral-glass orderings in three-dimensional Heisenberg spin glasses
Spin-glass and chiral-glass orderings in three-dimensional Heisenberg spin
glasses are studied with and without randaom magnetic anisotropy by dynamical
Monte Carlo simulations. In isotropic case, clear evidence of a
finite-temperature chiral-glass transition is presented. While the spin
autocorrelation exhibits only an interrupted aging, the chirality
autocorrelation persists to exhibit a pronounced aging effect reminisecnt of
the one observed in the mean-field model. In anisotropic case, asymptotic
mixing of the spin and the chirality is observed in the off-equilibrium
dynamics.Comment: 4 pages including 5 figures, LaTex, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Regularity of the Einstein Equations at Future Null Infinity
When Einstein's equations for an asymptotically flat, vacuum spacetime are
reexpressed in terms of an appropriate conformal metric that is regular at
(future) null infinity, they develop apparently singular terms in the
associated conformal factor and thus appear to be ill-behaved at this
(exterior) boundary. In this article however we show, through an enforcement of
the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints to the needed order in a Taylor
expansion, that these apparently singular terms are not only regular at the
boundary but can in fact be explicitly evaluated there in terms of conformally
regular geometric data. Though we employ a rather rigidly constrained and gauge
fixed formulation of the field equations, we discuss the extent to which we
expect our results to have a more 'universal' significance and, in particular,
to be applicable, after minor modifications, to alternative formulations.Comment: 43 pages, no figures, AMS-TeX. Minor revisions, updated to agree with
published versio
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