A Generalization of Chetaev's Principle for a Class of Higher Order Non-holonomic Constraints

The constraint distribution in non-holonomic mechanics has a double role. On one hand, it is a kinematic constraint, that is, it is a restriction on the motion itself. On the other hand, it is also a restriction on the allowed variations when using D'Alembert's Principle to derive the equations of motion. We will show that many systems of physical interest where D'Alembert's Principle does not apply can be conveniently modeled within the general idea of the Principle of Virtual Work by the introduction of both kinematic constraints and variational constraints as being independent entities. This includes, for example, elastic rolling bodies and pneumatic tires. Also, D'Alembert's Principle and Chetaev's Principle fall into this scheme. We emphasize the geometric point of view, avoiding the use of local coordinates, which is the appropriate setting for dealing with questions of global nature, like reduction.Comment: 27 pages. Journal of Mathematical Physics (to zappear

A transient network of telechelic polymers and microspheres : structure and rheology

We study the structure and dynamics of a transient network composed of droplets of microemulsion connected by telechelic polymers. The polymer induces a bridging attraction between droplets without changing their shape. A viscoelastic behaviour is induced in the initially liquid solution, characterised in the linear regime by a stretched exponential stress relaxation. We analyse this relaxation in the light of classical theories of transient networks. The role of the elastic reorganisations in the deformed network is emphasized. In the non linear regime, a fast relaxation dynamics is followed by a second one having the same rate as in the linear regime. This behaviour, under step strain experiments, should induce a non monotonic behaviour in the elastic component of the stress under constant shear rate. However, we obtain in this case a singularity in the flow curve very different from the one observed in other systems, that we interpret in terms of fracture behaviour.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Projective dynamics and classical gravitation

Given a real vector space V of finite dimension, together with a particular homogeneous field of bivectors that we call a "field of projective forces", we define a law of dynamics such that the position of the particle is a "ray" i.e. a half-line drawn from the origin of V. The impulsion is a bivector whose support is a 2-plane containing the ray. Throwing the particle with a given initial impulsion defines a projective trajectory. It is a curve in the space of rays S(V), together with an impulsion attached to each ray. In the simplest example where the force is identically zero, the curve is a straight line and the impulsion a constant bivector. A striking feature of projective dynamics appears: the trajectories are not parameterized. Among the projective force fields corresponding to a central force, the one defining the Kepler problem is simpler than those corresponding to other homogeneities. Here the thrown ray describes a quadratic cone whose section by a hyperplane corresponds to a Keplerian conic. An original point of view on the hidden symmetries of the Kepler problem emerges, and clarifies some remarks due to Halphen and Appell. We also get the unexpected conclusion that there exists a notion of divergence-free field of projective forces if and only if dim V=4. No metric is involved in the axioms of projective dynamics.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figure

On two-dimensional Bessel functions

The general properties of two-dimensional generalized Bessel functions are discussed. Various asymptotic approximations are derived and applied to analyze the basic structure of the two-dimensional Bessel functions as well as their nodal lines.Comment: 25 pages, 17 figure

Structure factor of polymers interacting via a short range repulsive potential: application to hairy wormlike micelles

We use the Random Phase Approximation (RPA) to compute the structure factor, S(q), of a solution of chains interacting through a soft and short range repulsive potential V. Above a threshold polymer concentration, whose magnitude is essentially controlled by the range of the potential, S(q) exhibits a peak whose position depends on the concentration. We take advantage of the close analogy between polymers and wormlike micelles and apply our model, using a Gaussian function for V, to quantitatively analyze experimental small angle neutron scattering profiles of semi-dilute solutions of hairy wormlike micelles. These samples, which consist in surfactant self-assembled flexible cylinders decorated by amphiphilic copolymer, provide indeed an appropriate experimental model system to study the structure of sterically interacting polymer solutions

One pendulum to run them all

The analytical solution for the three-dimensional linear pendulum in a rotating frame of reference is obtained, including Coriolis and centrifugal accelerations, and expressed in terms of initial conditions. This result offers the possibility of treating Foucault and Bravais pendula as trajectories of the same system of equations, each of them with particular initial conditions. We compare them with the common two-dimensional approximations in textbooks. A previously unnoticed pattern in the three-dimensional Foucault pendulum attractor is presented

The helium atom in a strong magnetic field

We investigate the electronic structure of the helium atom in a magnetic field b etween B=0 and B=100a.u. The atom is treated as a nonrelativistic system with two interactin g electrons and a fixed nucleus. Scaling laws are provided connecting the fixed-nucleus Hamiltonia n to the one for the case of finite nuclear mass. Respecting the symmetries of the electronic Ham iltonian in the presence of a magnetic field, we represent this Hamiltonian as a matrix with res pect to a two-particle basis composed of one-particle states of a Gaussian basis set. The corresponding generalized eigenvalue problem is solved numerically, providing in the present paper results for vanish ing magnetic quantum number M=0 and even or odd z-parity, each for both singlet and triplet spin symmetry. Total electronic energies of the ground state and the first few excitations in each su bspace as well as their one-electron ionization energies are presented as a function of the magnetic fie ld, and their behaviour is discussed. Energy values for electromagnetic transitions within the M=0 sub space are shown, and a complete table of wavelengths at all the detected stationary points with respect to their field dependence is given, thereby providing a basis for a comparison with observed ab sorption spectra of magnetic white dwarfs.Comment: 21 pages, 4 Figures, acc.f.publ.in J.Phys.

Nonparametric Information Geometry

The differential-geometric structure of the set of positive densities on a given measure space has raised the interest of many mathematicians after the discovery by C.R. Rao of the geometric meaning of the Fisher information. Most of the research is focused on parametric statistical models. In series of papers by author and coworkers a particular version of the nonparametric case has been discussed. It consists of a minimalistic structure modeled according the theory of exponential families: given a reference density other densities are represented by the centered log likelihood which is an element of an Orlicz space. This mappings give a system of charts of a Banach manifold. It has been observed that, while the construction is natural, the practical applicability is limited by the technical difficulty to deal with such a class of Banach spaces. It has been suggested recently to replace the exponential function with other functions with similar behavior but polynomial growth at infinity in order to obtain more tractable Banach spaces, e.g. Hilbert spaces. We give first a review of our theory with special emphasis on the specific issues of the infinite dimensional setting. In a second part we discuss two specific topics, differential equations and the metric connection. The position of this line of research with respect to other approaches is briefly discussed.Comment: Submitted for publication in the Proceedings od GSI2013 Aug 28-30 2013 Pari

Unification, KK-thresholds and the top Yukawa coupling in F-theory GUTs

In a class of F-theory SU(5) GUTs the low energy chiral mass spectrum is obtained from rank one fermion mass textures with a hierarchical structure organised by U(1) symmetries embedded in the exceptional E_8 group. In these theories chiral fields reside on matter `curves' and the tree level masses are computed from integrals of overlapping wavefuctions of the particles at the triple intersection points. This calculation requires knowledge of the exact form of the wavefuctions. In this work we propose a way to obtain a reliable estimate of the various quantities which determine the strength of the Yukawa couplings. We use previous analysis of KK threshold effects to determine the (ratios of) heavy mass scales of the theory which are involved in the normalization of the wave functions. We consider similar effects from the chiral spectrum of these models and discuss possible constraints on the emerging matter content. In this approach, we find that the Yukawa couplings can be determined solely from the U(1) charges of the states in the `intersection' and the torsion which is a topological invariant quantity. We apply the results to a viable SU(5) model with minimal spectrum which satisfies all the constraints imposed by our analysis. We use renormalization group analysis to estimate the top and bottom masses and find that they are in agreement with the experimental values.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figure

Soft and virtual corrections to pp -> H + X at NNLO

The contributions of virtual corrections and soft gluon emission to the inclusive Higgs production cross section pp -> H + X are computed at next-to-next-to-leading order in the heavy top quark limit. We show that this part of the total cross section is well behaved in the sense of perturbative convergence, with the NNLO corrections amounting to an enhancement of the NLO cross section by \sim 5% for LHC and 10-20% for the Tevatron. We compare our results with an existing estimate of the full NNLO effects and argue that an analytic evaluation of the hard scattering contributions is needed.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures, 16 ps files embedded with epsf. Minor modifications: references and note added, results unchange