1,242 research outputs found
Free-Boundary Dynamics in Elasto-plastic Amorphous Solids: The Circular Hole Problem
We develop an athermal shear-transformation-zone (STZ) theory of plastic
deformation in spatially inhomogeneous, amorphous solids. Our ultimate goal is
to describe the dynamics of the boundaries of voids or cracks in such systems
when they are subjected to remote, time-dependent tractions. The theory is
illustrated here for the case of a circular hole in an infinite two-dimensional
plate, a highly symmetric situation that allows us to solve much of the problem
analytically. In spite of its special symmetry, this example contains many
general features of systems in which stress is concentrated near free
boundaries and deforms them irreversibly. We depart from conventional
treatments of such problems in two ways. First, the STZ analysis allows us to
keep track of spatially heterogeneous, internal state variables such as the
effective disorder temperature, which determines plastic response to subsequent
loading. Second, we subject the system to stress pulses of finite duration, and
therefore are able to observe elasto-plastic response during both loading and
unloading. We compute the final deformations and residual stresses produced by
these stress pulses. Looking toward more general applications of these results,
we examine the possibility of constructing a boundary-layer theory that might
be useful in less symmetric situations.Comment: 30 pages (preprint format), 9 figure
A Climatology of Northwest Missouri Snowfall Events: Long Term Trends and Interannual Variability.
The goal of this study was to develop a 50-year statistical climatology of snowfall
occurrences using data from a dense network of cooperative station observations covering
northwest and central Missouri, and these records were provided by the Missouri Climate Center. This included a study of the long term trends and interannual variability in snowfall occurrence as related to sea surface temperature variations in the Pacific Ocean basin associated with the El
Nino and Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and the North Pacific Oscillation (NPO). These trends and variations were then related to four synoptic-scale flow regimes that produce these snowfalls in the Midwest. The results demonstrate that during the snowfall season (Oct - April) the northwest Missouri region can expect about eight snowfall events which produce three or more inches of accumulation. While no significant long-term trend in overall snowfall occurrence was
found, a decrease in the number of extreme events (10 or more inches) was noted. Also, fewer snowfall events were found during El Nino years, while more heavy snowfall events occurred during "neutral" years, and these results could be related to synoptic- scale variability. A closer examination of the results demonstrated that El Nino/La Nina related variability in snowfall
occurrence was superimposed on longer-term NPO-related variability.This research was supported by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) Cooperative program for Operational Meteorological Education and Training (COMET) Outreach Programunder award # 98115921
Formation of the internal structure of solids under severe action
On the example of a particular problem, the theory of vacancies, a new form
of kinetic equations symmetrically incorporation the internal and free energies
has been derived. The dynamical nature of irreversible phenomena at formation
and motion of defects (dislocations) has been analyzed by a computer
experiment. The obtained particular results are extended into a thermodynamic
identity involving the law of conservation of energy at interaction with an
environment (the 1st law of thermodynamics) and the law of energy
transformation into internal degree of freedom (relaxation). The identity is
compared with the analogous Jarzynski identity. The approach is illustrated by
simulation of processes during severe plastic deformation, the Rybin kinetic
equation for this case has been derived.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure
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Treatment of anisotropic damage development within a scalar damage formulation
This paper is concerned with describing a damage mechanics formulation which provides for non-isotropic effects using a scalar damage variable. An investigation has been in progress for establishing the constitutive behavior of rock salt at long times and low to moderate confining pressures in relation to the possible use of excavated rooms in rock salt formations as repositories for nuclear waste. An important consideration is the effect of damage manifested principally by the formation of shear induced wing cracks which have a stress dependent orientation. The analytical formulation utilizes a scalar damage parameter, but is capable of indicating the non- isotropic dependence of inelastic straining on the stress state and the confining pressure. Also, the equations indicate the possibility of volumetric expansions leading to the onset of tertiary creep and eventually rupture if the damage variable reaches a critical value
String loop corrections to the universal hypermultiplet
We study loop corrections to the universal dilaton supermultiplet for type
IIA strings compactified on Calabi-Yau threefolds. We show that the
corresponding quaternionic kinetic terms receive non-trivial one-loop
contributions proportional to the Euler number of the Calabi-Yau manifold,
while the higher-loop corrections can be absorbed by field redefinitions. The
corrected metric is no longer Kahler. Our analysis implies in particular that
the Calabi-Yau volume is renormalized by loop effects which are present even in
higher orders, while there are also one-loop corrections to the Bianchi
identities for the NS and RR field strengths.Comment: 30 pages, harvmac, 1 figure. v2: minor typos corrected. Version to
appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Heterotic-type IIA duality with fluxes
In this paper we study a possible non-perturbative dual of the heterotic
string compactified on K3 x T^2 in the presence of background fluxes. We show
that type IIA string theory compactified on manifolds with SU(3) structure can
account for a subset of the possible heterotic fluxes. This extends our
previous analysis to a case of a non-perturbative duality with fluxes.Comment: 26 pages, minor corrections; version to appear in JHE
A forward genetic screen identifies host factors that influence the lysis-lysogeny decision in phage lambda
The lysisâlysogeny decision made by bacteriophage lambda is one of the classic problems of molecular biology. Shortly after infecting a cell, the virus can either go down the lytic pathway and make more viruses, or go down the lysogenic pathway and integrate itself into the host genome. While much is known about how this decision takes place, the extent to which host physiology influences this decision and the mechanisms by which this influence takes place has remained mysterious. To answer this question, we performed a forward genetic screen to systematically identify all of the genes in E. coli that influence the lysisâlysogeny decision. Our results demonstrate previously unknown links between host physiology and viral decision making and shed new light on this classic system
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