1,088 research outputs found
Liquid-liquid interfacial tension of electrolyte solutions
It is theoretically shown that the excess liquid-liquid interfacial tension
between two electrolyte solutions as a function of the ionic strength I behaves
asymptotically as O(- I^0.5) for small I and as O(+- I) for large I. The former
regime is dominated by the electrostatic potential due to an unequal
partitioning of ions between the two liquids whereas the latter regime is
related to a finite interfacial thickness. The crossover between the two
asymptotic regimes depends sensitively on material parameters suggesting that,
depending on the actual system under investigation, the experimentally
accessible range of ionic strengths can correspond to either the small or the
large ionic strength regime. In the limiting case of a liquid-gas surface where
ion partitioning is absent, the image chage interaction can dominate the
surface tension for small ionic strength I such that an Onsager-Samaras
limiting law O(- I ln(I)) is expected. The proposed picture is consistent with
more elaborate models and published measurements.Comment: Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter
Stability of additive-free water-in-oil emulsions
We calculate ion distributions near a planar oil-water interface within
non-linear Poisson-Boltzmann theory, taking into account the Born self-energy
of the ions in the two media. For unequal self-energies of cations and anions,
a spontaneous charge separation is found such that the water and oil phase
become oppositely charged, in slabs with a typical thickness of the Debye
screening length in the two media. From the analytical solutions, the
corresponding interfacial charge density and the contribution to the
interfacial tension is derived, together with an estimate for the
Yukawa-potential between two spherical water droplets in oil. The parameter
regime is explored where the plasma coupling parameter exceeds the
crystallization threshold, i.e. where the droplets are expected to form
crystalline structures due to a strong Yukawa repulsion, as recently observed
experimentally. Extensions of the theory that we discuss briefly include
numerical calculations on spherical water droplets in oil, and analytical
calculations of the linear PB-equation for a finite oil-water interfacial
width.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted by JPCM for proceedings of LMC
Feasiblity study for a 34 GHz (Ka band) gyroamplifier
The feasibility of using a gyroklystron power tube as the final amplifier in a 400 kW CW 34 GHz transmitter on the Goldstone Antenna is investigated. A conceptual design of the gyroklystron and the transmission line connecting it with the antenna feed horn is presented. The performance characteristics of the tube and transmission line are compared to the transmitter requirements for a deep space radar system. Areas of technical risk for a follow-on hardware development program for the gyroklystron amplifier and overmoded transmission line components are discussed
Spontaneous Charging and Crystallization of Water Droplets in Oil
We study the spontaneous charging and the crystallization of spherical
micron-sized water-droplets dispersed in oil by numerically solving, within a
Poisson-Boltzmann theory in the geometry of a spherical cell, for the density
profiles of the cations and anions in the system. We take into account
screening, ionic Born self-energy differences between oil and water, and
partitioning of ions over the two media. We find that the surface charge
density of the droplet as induced by the ion partitioning is significantly
affected by the droplet curvature and by the finite density of the droplets. We
also find that the salt concentration and the dielectric constant regime in
which crystallization of the water droplets is predicted is enhanced
substantially compared to results based on the planar oil-water interface,
thereby improving quantitative agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted for publicatio
Shear Viscosity of Clay-like Colloids in Computer Simulations and Experiments
Dense suspensions of small strongly interacting particles are complex
systems, which are rarely understood on the microscopic level. We investigate
properties of dense suspensions and sediments of small spherical Al_2O_3
particles in a shear cell by means of a combined Molecular Dynamics (MD) and
Stochastic Rotation Dynamics (SRD) simulation. We study structuring effects and
the dependence of the suspension's viscosity on the shear rate and shear
thinning for systems of varying salt concentration and pH value. To show the
agreement of our results to experimental data, the relation between bulk pH
value and surface charge of spherical colloidal particles is modeled by
Debye-Hueckel theory in conjunction with a 2pK charge regulation model.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Auxotrophic interactions: A stabilizing attribute of aquatic microbial communities?
© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Johnson, W. M., Alexander, H., Bier, R. L., Miller, D. R., Muscarella, M. E., Pitz, K. J., & Smith, H. Auxotrophic interactions: A stabilizing attribute of aquatic microbial communities? FEMS Microbiology Ecology, (2020): fiaa115, doi: 10.1093/femsec/fiaa115.Auxotrophy, or an organism's requirement for an exogenous source of an organic molecule, is widespread throughout species and ecosystems. Auxotrophy can result in obligate interactions between organisms, influencing ecosystem structure and community composition. We explore how auxotrophy-induced interactions between aquatic microorganisms affect microbial community structure and stability. While some studies have documented auxotrophy in aquatic microorganisms, these studies are not widespread, and we therefore do not know the full extent of auxotrophic interactions in aquatic environments. Current theoretical and experimental work suggests that auxotrophy links microbial community members through a complex web of metabolic dependencies. We discuss the proposed ways in which auxotrophy may enhance or undermine the stability of aquatic microbial communities, highlighting areas where our limited understanding of these interactions prevents us from being able to predict the ecological implications of auxotrophy. Finally, we examine an example of auxotrophy in harmful algal blooms to place this often theoretical discussion in a field context where auxotrophy may have implications for the development and robustness of algal bloom communities. We seek to draw attention to the relationship between auxotrophy and community stability in an effort to encourage further field and theoretical work that explores the underlying principles of microbial interactions.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [OCE-1356192]
Multiple current reversals in forced inhomogeneous ratchets
Transport properties of overdamped Brownian paricles in a rocked thermal
ratchet with space dependent friction coefficient is studied. By tuning the
parameters, the direction of current exhibit multiple reversals, both as a
function of the thermal noise strength as well as the amplitude of rocking
force. Current reversals also occur under deterministic conditions and exhibits
intriguing structure. All these features arise due to mutual interplay between
potential asymmetry,noise, driving frequency and inhomogeneous friction.Comment: 6 figure
Transition from Secondary school CLIL to EMI at University: Initial evidence from research in Italy
Through vocabulary tests, interviews with students and recordings of classes/lectures, we measured students' English vocabulary knowledge against the vocabulary in the teachers' talk, the nature of classroom interaction in the two settings and the students' approaches to their learning in general and their in-class listening strategies in particular. In this way we aimed to identify the challenges students faced in English-medium education in the secondary and tertiary educational phases
Irreversible and reversible modes of operation of deterministic ratchets
We discuss a problem of optimization of the energetic efficiency of a simple
rocked ratchet. We concentrate on a low-temperature case in which the
particle's motion in a ratchet potential is deterministic. We show that the
energetic efficiency of a ratchet working adiabatically is bounded from above
by a value depending on the form of ratchet potential. The ratchets with
strongly asymmetric potentials can achieve ideal efficiency of unity without
approaching reversibility. On the other hand we show that for any form of the
ratchet potential a set of time-protocols of the outer force exist under which
the operation is reversible and the ideal value of efficiency is also achieved.
The mode of operation of the ratchet is still quasistatic but not adiabatic.
The high values of efficiency can be preserved even under elevated
temperatures
Mirror symmetry breaking through an internal degree of freedom leading to directional motion
We analyze here the minimal conditions for directional motion (net flow in
phase space) of a molecular motor placed on a mirror-symmetric environment and
driven by a center-symmetric and time-periodic force field. The complete
characterization of the deterministic limit of the dissipative dynamics of
several realizations of this minimal model, reveals a complex structure in the
phase diagram in parameter space, with intertwined regions of pinning (closed
orbits) and directional motion. This demonstrates that the mirror-symmetry
breaking which is needed for directional motion to occur, can operate through
an internal degree of freedom coupled to the translational one.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
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