Effects of Defects on Friction for a Xe Film Sliding on Ag(111)

The effects of a step defect and a random array of point defects (such as vacancies or substitutional impurities) on the force of friction acting on a xenon monolayer film as it slides on a silver (111) substrate are studied by molecular dynamic simulations and compared with the results of lowest order perturbation theory in the substrate corrugation potential. For the case of a step, the magnitude and velocity dependence of the friction force are strongly dependent on the direction of sliding respect to the step and the corrugation strength. When the applied force F is perpendicular to the step, the film is pinned forF less than a critical force Fc. Motion of the film along the step, however, is not pinned. Fluctuations in the sliding velocity in time provide evidence of both stick-slip motion and thermally activated creep. Simulations done with a substrate containing a 5 percent concentration of random point defects for various directions of the applied force show that the film is pinned for the force below a critical value. The critical force, however, is still much lower than the effective inertial force exerted on the film by the oscillations of the substrate in experiments done with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Lowest order perturbation theory in the substrate potential is shown to give results consistent with the simulations, and it is used to give a physical picture of what could be expected for real surfaces which contain many defects.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, latex plus postscript files for figure

Relativistic Positioning Systems: The Emission Coordinates

This paper introduces some general properties of the gravitational metric and the natural basis of vectors and covectors in 4-dimensional emission coordinates. Emission coordinates are a class of space-time coordinates defined and generated by 4 emitters (satellites) broadcasting their proper time by means of electromagnetic signals. They are a constitutive ingredient of the simplest conceivable relativistic positioning systems. Their study is aimed to develop a theory of these positioning systems, based on the framework and concepts of general relativity, as opposed to introducing `relativistic effects' in a classical framework. In particular, we characterize the causal character of the coordinate vectors, covectors and 2-planes, which are of an unusual type. We obtain the inequality conditions for the contravariant metric to be Lorentzian, and the non-trivial and unexpected identities satisfied by the angles formed by each pair of natural vectors. We also prove that the metric can be naturally split in such a way that there appear 2 parameters (scalar functions) dependent exclusively on the trajectory of the emitters, hence independent of the time broadcast, and 4 parameters, one for each emitter, scaling linearly with the time broadcast by the corresponding satellite, hence independent of the others.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures. Only format changed for a new submission. Submitted to Class. Quantum Gra

On the dependence of the leak-rate of seals on the skewness of the surface height probability distribution

Seals are extremely useful devices to prevent fluid leakage. We present experimental result which show that the leak-rate of seals depend sensitively on the skewness in the height probability distribution. The experimental data are analyzed using the critical-junction theory. We show that using the top-power spectrum result in good agreement between theory and experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figure

On acoustic propagation in three-dimensional rectangular ducts with flexible walls and porous linings

This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the links below - Copyright @ 2012 Acoustical Society of AmericaThe focus of this article is toward the development of hybrid analytic-numerical mode-matching methods for model problems involving three-dimensional ducts of rectangular cross-section and with flexible walls. Such methods require first closed form analytic expressions for the natural fluid-structure coupled waveforms that propagate in each duct section and second the corresponding orthogonality relations. It is demonstrated how recent theory [Lawrie, Proc. R. Soc. London, Ser. A 465, 2347–2367 (2009)] may be extended to a wide class of three-dimensional ducts, for example, those with a flexible wall and a porous lining (modeled as an equivalent fluid) or those with a flexible internal structure, such as a membrane (the “drum-like” silencer). Two equivalent expressions for the eigenmodes of a given duct can be formulated. For the ducts considered herein, the first ansatz is dependent on the eigenvalues/eigenfunctions appropriate for wave propagation in the corresponding two-dimensional flexible-walled duct, whereas the second takes the form of a Fourier series. The latter offers two advantages: no “root-finding” is involved and the method is appropriate for ducts in which the flexible wall is orthotropic. The first ansatz, however, provides important information about the orthogonality properties of the three-dimensional eigenmodes

A Gauge-fixed Hamiltonian for Lattice QCD

We study the gauge fixing of lattice QCD in 2+1 dimensions, in the Hamiltonian formulation. The technique easily generalizes to other theories and dimensions. The Hamiltonian is rewritten in terms of variables which are gauge invariant except under a single global transformation. This paper extends previous work, involving only pure gauge theories, to include matter fields.Comment: 7 pages of LaTeX, RU-92-45 and BUHEP-92-3

Optical non-reciprocity in magnetic structures related to high-Tc superconductors

Recent neutron scattering [1,2], and optical measurements [3,4] have detected evidence in underdoped cuprate superconductors for a phase transition near the pseudogap onset temperature T* to a time reversal-breaking state. The neutron scattering indicates antiferromagnetic ordering, while it is often assumed that optical polarization rotation requires at least a weak ferromagnetic component. In this note we identify several antiferromagnetic structures, compatible with neutron scattering data, that allow intrinsic polarization rotation through the magnetoelectic effect

Generalizing Quantum Mechanics for Quantum Gravity

`How do our ideas about quantum mechanics affect our understanding of spacetime?' This familiar question leads to quantum gravity. The complementary question is also important: `How do our ideas about spacetime affect our understanding of quantum mechanics?' This short abstract of a talk given at the Gafka2004 conference contains a very brief summary of some of the author's papers on generalizations of quantum mechanics needed for quantum gravity. The need for generalization is motivated. The generalized quantum theory framework for such generalizations is described and illustrated for usual quantum mechanics and a number of examples to which it does not apply. These include spacetime alternatives extended over time, time-neutral quantum theory, quantum field theory in fixed background spacetime not foliable by spacelike surfaces, and systems with histories that move both forward and backward in time. A fully four-dimensional, sum-over-histories generalized quantum theory of cosmological geometries is briefly described. The usual formulation of quantum theory in terms of states evolving unitarily through spacelike surfaces is an approximation to this more general framework that is appropriate in the late universe for coarse-grained descriptions of geometry in which spacetime behaves classically. This abstract is unlikely to be clear on its own, but references are provided to the author's works where the ideas can be followed up.Comment: 8 pages, LATEX, a very brief abstract of much wor

Underlying symmetries of realistic interactions and the nuclear many-body problem

The present study brings forward important information, within the framework of spectral distribution theory, about the types of forces that dominate three realistic interactions, CD-Bonn, CDBonn+ 3terms and GXPF1, in nuclei and their ability to account for many-particle effects such as the formation of correlated nucleon pairs and enhanced quadrupole collective modes. Like-particle and proton-neutron isovector pairing correlations are described microscopically by a model interaction with Sp(4) dynamical symmetry, which is extended to include an additional quadrupole-quadrupole interaction. The analysis of the results for the 1f7/2 level shows that both CD-Bonn+3terms and GXPF1 exhibit a well-developed pairing character compared to CD-Bonn, while the latter appears to build up more (less) rotational isovector T = 1 (isoscalar T = 0) collective features. Furthermore, the three realistic interactions are in general found to correlate strongly with the pairing+quadrupole model interaction, especially for the highest possible isospin group of states where the model interaction can be used to provide a reasonable description of the corresponding energy spectra.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure