18,292 research outputs found
Applications of FEM and BEM in two-dimensional fracture mechanics problems
A comparison of the finite element method (FEM) and boundary element method (BEM) for the solution of two-dimensional plane strain problems in fracture mechanics is presented in this paper. Stress intensity factors (SIF's) were calculated using both methods for elastic plates with either a single-edge crack or an inclined-edge crack. In particular, two currently available programs, ANSYS for finite element analysis and BEASY for boundary element analysis, were used
Feedback local optimality principle applied to rocket vertical landing VTVL
Vertical landing is becoming popular in the last fifteen years, a technology known under the acronym VTVL, Vertical Takeoff and Vertical Landing [1,2]. The interest in such landing technology is dictated by possible cost reductions [3,4], that impose spaceship’s recycling. The rockets are not generally de- signed to perform landing operations, rather their design is aimed at takeoff operations, guaranteeing a very high forward acceleration to gain the velocity needed to escape the gravitational force. In this paper a new control method based on Feedback Local Optimality Principle, named FLOP is applied to the rocket landing problem. The FLOP belongs to a special class of optimal controllers, developed by the mechatronic and vehicle dynamics lab of Sapienza, named Variational Feedback Controllers - VFC, that are part of an ongoing research and are recently applied in different field: nonlinear system [5], marine and terrestrial autonomous vehicles [6,7,8], multi agents interactions and vibration control [9, 10]. The paper is devoted to show the robustness of the nonlinear controlled system, comparing the performances with the LQR, one of the most acknowledged methods in optimal control
Effects of Line-tying on Resistive Tearing Instability in Slab Geometry
The effects of line-tying on resistive tearing instability in slab geometry
is studied within the framework of reduced magnetohydrodynamics
(RMHD).\citep{KadomtsevP1974,Strauss1976} It is found that line-tying has a
stabilizing effect. The tearing mode is stabilized when the system length
is shorter than a critical length , which is independent of the
resistivity . When is not too much longer than , the
growthrate is proportional to . When is sufficiently long,
the tearing mode scaling is recovered. The transition
from to occurs at a transition length
.Comment: Correct a typ
Effects of Line-tying on Magnetohydrodynamic Instabilities and Current Sheet Formation
An overview of some recent progress on magnetohydrodynamic stability and
current sheet formation in a line-tied system is given. Key results on the
linear stability of the ideal internal kink mode and resistive tearing mode are
summarized. For nonlinear problems, a counterexample to the recent
demonstration of current sheet formation by Low \emph{et al}. [B. C. Low and
\AA. M. Janse, Astrophys. J. \textbf{696}, 821 (2009)] is presented, and the
governing equations for quasi-static evolution of a boundary driven, line-tied
magnetic field are derived. Some open questions and possible strategies to
resolve them are discussed.Comment: To appear in Phys. Plasma
Quantum bound states for a derivative nonlinear Schrodinger model and number theory
A derivative nonlinear Schrodinger model is shown to support localized N-body
bound states for several ranges (called bands) of the coupling constant eta.
The ranges of eta within each band can be completely determined using number
theoretic concepts such as Farey sequences and continued fractions. For N > 2,
the N-body bound states can have both positive and negative momentum. For eta >
0, bound states with positive momentum have positive binding energy, while
states with negative momentum have negative binding energy.Comment: Revtex, 7 pages including 2 figures, to appear in Mod. Phys. Lett.
Dust composition and mass-loss return from the luminous blue variable R71 in the LMC
We present an analysis of mid-and far-infrared (IR) spectrum and spectral
energy distribution (SED) of the LBV R71 in the LMC.This work aims to
understand the overall contribution of high-mass LBVs to the total dust-mass
budget of the interstellar medium (ISM) of the LMC and compare this with the
contribution from low-mass asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars. As a case
study, we analyze the SED of R71. We compiled all the available photometric and
spectroscopic observational fluxes from various telescopes for a wide
wavelength range (0.36 -- 250\,m). We determined the dust composition from
the spectroscopic data, and derived the ejected dust mass, dust mass-loss rate,
and other dust shell properties by modeling the SED of R71. We noted nine
spectral features in the dust shell of R71 by analyzing Spitzer spectroscopic
data. Among these, we identified three new crystalline silicate features. We
computed our model spectrum by using 3D radiative transfer code MCMax. Our
model calculation shows that dust is dominated by amorphous silicates, with
some crystalline silicates, metallic iron, and a very tiny amount of polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecules. The presence of both silicates and PAHs
indicates that the dust has a mixed chemistry. We derived a dust mass of 0.01
M, from which we arrive at a total ejected mass of 5
M. This implies a time-averaged dust mass-loss rate of
2.510 M\,yr with an explosion about 4000 years
ago. We assume that the other five confirmed dusty LBVs in the LMC loose mass
at a similar rate, and estimate the total contribution to the mass budget of
the LMC to be 10 M\,yr, which is comparable to
the contribution by all the AGB stars in the LMC. Based on our analysis on R71,
we speculate that LBVs as a class may be an important dust source in the ISM of
the LMC.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Location and sizes of forsterite grains in protoplanetary disks: interpretation from the Herschel DIGIT programme
The spectra of protoplanetary disks contain mid- and far- infrared emission
features produced by forsterite dust grains. The spectral features contain
information about the forsterite temperature, chemical composition and grain
size. We aim to characterize how the 23 and 69 micron features can be used to
constrain the physical locations of forsterite in disks. We check for
consistency between two independent forsterite temperature measurements: the
23/69 feature strength ratio and the shape of the 69 micron band. We performed
radiative transfer modeling to study the effect of disk properties to the
forsterite spectral features. Temperature-dependent forsterite opacities were
considered in self-consistent models to compute forsterite emission from
protoplanetary disks. Modelling grids are presented to study the effects of
grain size, disk gaps, radial mixing and optical depth to the forsterite
features. Independent temperature estimates derived from the 23/69 feature
strength ratio and the 69 micron band shape are most inconsistent for HD141569
and Oph IRS 48. A case study of the disk of HD141569 shows two solutions to fit
the forsterite spectrum. A model with T ~ 40 K, iron-rich (~0-1 % Fe) and 1
micron forsterite grains, and a model with warmer (T ~ 100 K), iron-free, and
larger (10 micron) grains. We find that for disks with low upper limits of the
69 micron feature (most notably in flat, self-shadowed disks), the forsterite
must be hot, and thus close to the star. We find no correlation between disk
gaps and the presence or absence of forsterite features. We argue that the 69
micron feature of the evolved transitional disks HD141569 and Oph IRS 48 is
most likely a tracer of larger (i.e. ~10 micron) forsterite grains.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A. 14 pages, 9 figure
Temperature-dependent Fermi surface evolution in heavy fermion CeIrIn5
In Cerium-based heavy electron materials, the 4f electron's magnetic moments
bind to the itinerant quasiparticles to form composite heavy quasiparticles at
low temperature. The volume of the Fermi surfacein the Brillouin zone
incorporates the moments to produce a "large FS" due to the Luttinger theorem.
When the 4f electrons are localized free moments, a "small FS" is induced since
it contains only broad bands of conduction spd electrons. We have addressed
theoretically the evolution of the heavy fermion FS as a function of
temperature, using a first principles dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT)
approach combined with density functional theory (DFT+DMFT). We focus on the
archetypical heavy electrons in CeIrIn5, which is believed to be near a quantum
critical point. Upon cooling, both the quantum oscillation frequencies and
cyclotron masses show logarithmic scaling behavior (~ ln(T_0/T)) with different
characteristic temperatures T_0 = 130 and 50 K, respectively. The resistivity
coherence peak observed at T ~ 50 K is the result of the competition between
the binding of incoherent 4f electrons to the spd conduction electrons at Fermi
level and the formation of coherent 4f electrons.Comment: 5 pages main article,3 figures for the main article, 2 page
Supplementary information, 2 figures for the Supplementary information.
Supplementary movie 1 and 2 are provided on the
webpage(http://www-ph.postech.ac.kr/~win/supple.html
Genome-wide landscape of alternative splicing events in brachypodium distachyon
Recently, Brachypodium distachyon has emerged as a model plant for studying monocot grasses and cereal crops. Using assembled expressed transcript sequences and subsequent mapping to the corresponding genome, we identified 1219 alternative splicing (AS) events spanning across 2021 putatively assembled transcripts generated from 941 genes. Approximately, 6.3% of expressed genes are alternatively spliced in B. distachyon. We observed that a majority of the identified AS events were related to retained introns (55.5%), followed by alternative acceptor sites (16.7%).We also observed a low percentage of exon skipping (5.0%) and alternative donor site events (8.8%). The 'complex event' that consists of a combination of two or more basic splicing events accounted for ~14.0%. Comparative AS transcript analysis revealed 163 and 39 homologous pairs between B. distachyon and Oryza sativa and between B. distachyon and Arabidopsis thaliana, respectively. In all, we found 16 AS transcripts to be conserved in all 3 species. AS events and related putative assembled transcripts annotation can be systematically browsed at Plant Alternative Splicing Database (http://proteomics.ysu.edu/altsplice/plant/). © The Author 2012
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