453 research outputs found
Dispersion of imbibition fronts
We have studied the dispersive behaviour of imbibition fronts in a porous
medium by X-ray tomography. Injection velocities were varied and the porous
medium was initially prewetted or not. At low velocity in the prewetted medium,
the imbibition profiles are found to be distinctly hyperdispersive. The
profiles are anomalously extended when compared to tracer fronts exhibiting
conventional (Gaussian) dispersion. We observe a strong velocity dependence of
the exponent characterizing the divergence of the dispersion coefficient for
low wetting-fluid saturation. Hyperdispersion is absent at high imbibition
velocities or when the medium is not prewetted.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; submitted to Europhysics Letter
Fine structure of the 0.7 MeV resonance in the 230Th neutron--induced cross section
The fine structure of the 0.7 MeV resonance in the 230Th neutron-induced
cross section is investigated within the hybrid model. A very good agreement
with experimental data is obtained. It is suggested that fine structure of the
cross section quantify the changes of the intrinsic states of the nucleus
during the disintegration process.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure
Threshold Resonant Structure of the 232Th Neutron-Induced Fission Cross Section
The structures observed in the sub-threshold neutron-induced fission of
^{232}Th were investigated employing a recent developed model. Theoretical
single-particle excitations of a phenomenological two-humped barrier are
determined by solving a system of coupled differential equations for the motion
along the optimal fission path. A rather good agreement with experimental data
was obtained using a small number of independent parameters. It is predicted
that the structure at 1.4 and 1.6 MeV is mainly dominated by spin 3/2 partial
cross-section with small admixture of spin 1/2, while the structure at 1.7 MeV
is given by a large partial cross section of spin 5/2.Comment: 17 pages 11 figure
Capillary-gravity waves: The effect of viscosity on the wave resistance
The effect of viscosity on the wave resistance experienced by a 2d
perturbation moving at uniform velocity over the free surface of a fluid is
investigated. The analysis is based on Rayleigh's linearized theory of
capillary-gravity waves. It is shown in particular that the wave resistance
remains bounded as the velocity of the perturbation approches the minimun phase
speed, unlike what is predicted by the inviscid theory.Comment: Europhysics Letters, in pres
Double Rosensweig instability in a ferrofluid sandwich structure
We consider a horizontal ferrofluid layer sandwiched between two layers of
immiscible non-magnetic fluids. In a sufficiently strong vertical magnetic
field the flat interfaces between magnetic and non-magnetic fluids become
unstable to the formation of peaks. We theoretically investigate the interplay
between these two instabilities for different combinations of the parameters of
the fluids and analyze the evolving interfacial patterns. We also estimate the
critical magnetic field strength at which thin layers disintegrate into an
ordered array of individual drops
Controlling anomalous stresses in soft field-responsive systems
We report a new phenomenon occurring in field-responsive suspensions:
shear-induced anomalous stresses. Competition between a rotating field and a
shear flow originates a multiplicity of anomalous stress behaviors in
suspensions of bounded dimers constituted by induced dipoles. The great variety
of stress regimes includes non-monotonous behaviors, multi-resonances, negative
viscosity effect and blockades. The reversibility of the transitions between
the different regimes and the self-similarity of the stresses make this
phenomenon controllable and therefore applicable to modify macroscopic
properties of soft condensed matter phasesComment: 5 pages, 6 figures, submitted to PR
Dissipation in ferrofluids: Mesoscopic versus hydrodynamic theory
Part of the field dependent dissipation in ferrofluids occurs due to the
rotational motion of the ferromagnetic grains relative to the viscous flow of
the carrier fluid. The classical theoretical description due to Shliomis uses a
mesoscopic treatment of the particle motion to derive a relaxation equation for
the non-equilibrium part of the magnetization. Complementary, the hydrodynamic
approach of Liu involves only macroscopic quantities and results in dissipative
Maxwell equations for the magnetic fields in the ferrofluid. Different stress
tensors and constitutive equations lead to deviating theoretical predictions in
those situations, where the magnetic relaxation processes cannot be considered
instantaneous on the hydrodynamic time scale. We quantify these differences for
two situations of experimental relevance namely a resting fluid in an
oscillating oblique field and the damping of parametrically excited surface
waves. The possibilities of an experimental differentiation between the two
theoretical approaches is discussed.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures, to appear in PR
Stretching and squeezing of sessile dielectric drops by the optical radiation pressure
We study numerically the deformation of sessile dielectric drops immersed in
a second fluid when submitted to the optical radiation pressure of a continuous
Gaussian laser wave. Both drop stretching and drop squeezing are investigated
at steady state where capillary effects balance the optical radiation pressure.
A boundary integral method is implemented to solve the axisymmetric Stokes flow
in the two fluids. In the stretching case, we find that the drop shape goes
from prolate to near-conical for increasing optical radiation pressure whatever
the drop to beam radius ratio and the refractive index contrast between the two
fluids. The semi-angle of the cone at equilibrium decreases with the drop to
beam radius ratio and is weakly influenced by the index contrast. Above a
threshold value of the radiation pressure, these "optical cones" become
unstable and a disruption is observed. Conversely, when optically squeezed, the
drop shifts from an oblate to a concave shape leading to the formation of a
stable "optical torus". These findings extend the electrohydrodynamics approach
of drop deformation to the much less investigated "optical domain" and reveal
the openings offered by laser waves to actively manipulate droplets at the
micrometer scale
Spallation Residues in the Reaction 56Fe + p at 0.3, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0 and 1.5 A GeV
The spallation residues produced in the bombardment of 56}Fe at 1.5, 1.0,
0.75, 0.5 and 0.3 A GeV on a liquid-hydrogen target have been measured using
the reverse kinematics technique and the Fragment Separator at GSI (Darmstadt).
This technique has permitted the full identification in charge and mass of all
isotopes produced with cross-sections larger than 10^{-2} mb down to Z=8. Their
individual production cross-sections and recoil velocities at the five energies
are presented. Production cross-sections are compared to previously existing
data and to empirical parametric formulas, often used in cosmic-ray
astrophysics. The experimental data are also extensively compared to different
combinations of intra-nuclear cascade and de-excitation models. It is shown
that the yields of the lightest isotopes cannot be accounted for by standard
evaporation models. The GEMINI model, which includes an asymmetric fission
decay mode, gives an overall good agreement with the data. These experimental
data can be directly used for the estimation of composition modifications and
damages in materials containing iron in spallation sources. They are also
useful for improving high precision cosmic-ray measurements.Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev. C (10/2006
Coincidence measurement of residues and light particles in the reaction 56Fe+p at 1 GeV per nucleon with SPALADIN
The spallation of Fe in collisions with hydrogen at 1 A GeV has been
studied in inverse kinematics with the large-aperture setup SPALADIN at GSI.
Coincidences of residues with low-center-of-mass kinetic energy light particles
and fragments have been measured allowing the decomposition of the total
reaction cross-section into the different possible de-excitation channels.
Detailed information on the evolution of these de-excitation channels with
excitation energy has also been obtained. The comparison of the data with
predictions of several de-excitation models coupled to the INCL4 intra-nuclear
cascade model shows that only GEMINI can reasonably account for the bulk of
collected results, indicating that in a light system with no compression and
little angular momentum, multifragmentation might not be necessary to explain
the data.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revised version accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
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