134 research outputs found
Local mechanisms of cohesive soil erosion
The present study provides an experimental contribution to a better understanding of erosion mechanisms, based on a parametric analysis with different model materials. Such model soils allow for a controlled variation of physical properties, as well as the particle size and shape, and even the cohesion and bonding strength which can be quantified by specific mechanical testing devices. In parallel, the soil’s resistance against erosion can also be somehow quantified by means of experimental procedures such as the JET test (Hanson and Cook 2004). The goal of the investigations presented here is to determine the soil’s mechanical properties having a strong impact on the erosion resistance, and thus being required in an efficient erosion model. The useful case where the model material is also transparent enables, with adapted optical equipment, the time-space monitoring of single soil particles during erosion and thus a local analysis of erosion and soil’s detachment. Experimentally, this condition is achieved by using an oil mixture as eroding fluid and a model soil made out of glass beads possibly bonded with a very viscous liquid, all phases having approximately the same refractive index. Coupling then this refractive index matching technique with the planar laser-induced fluorescence, as already used by Philippe & Badiane (2013), makes it possible to observe the mechanisms by which the fluid flow removes single particles from the cohesive material
Constraints on mode couplings and modulation of the CMB with WMAP data
We investigate a possible asymmetry in the statistical properties of the
cosmic microwave background temperature field and to do so we construct an
estimator aiming at detecting a dipolar modulation. Such a modulation is found
to induce correlations between multipoles with . Applying this
estimator, to the V and W bands of the WMAP data, we found a significant
detection in the V band. We argue however that foregrounds and in particular
point sources are the origin of this signal.Comment: 14 pages, 14 figure
Solving the Effective Field Equations for the Newtonian Potential
Loop corrections to the gravitational potential are usually inferred from
scattering amplitudes, which seems quite different from how the linearized
Einstein equations are solved with a static, point mass to give the classical
potential. In this study we show how the Schwinger-Keldysh effective field
equations can be used to compute loop corrections to the potential in a way
which parallels the classical treatment. We derive explicit results for the one
loop correction from the graviton self-energy induced by a massless, minimally
coupled scalar.Comment: 15 pages, uses LaTeX2
Structural and photoelectric properties of tensile strained BiFeO3
An in-depth structural study of a 23-nm-thick BiFeO3 film grown on orthorhombic NdScO3(110)O substrates demonstrates the presence of a mixed phases. Atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy measurements reveal an out-of-plane stripe domain structure typical of rhombohedral BiFeO3 films but with a polarization component along pseudocubic ⟨100⟩PC or canted from the ⟨111⟩PC towards the in-plane direction. Photovoltaic measurements display an anomalous modulation of the open circuit voltage as temperature is decreased that is attributed to a structural change associated with a transition to a single structural phase
Dominance of gauge artifact in the consistency relation for the primordial bispectrum
The conventional cosmological perturbation theory has been performed under
the assumption that we know the whole spatial region of the universe with
infinite volume. This is, however, not the case in the actual observations
because observable portion of the universe is limited. To give a theoretical
prediction to the observable fluctuations, gauge-invariant observables should
be composed of the information in our local observable universe with finite
volume. From this point of view, we reexamine the primordial non-Gaussianity in
single field models, focusing on the bispectrum in the squeezed limit. A
conventional prediction states that the bispectrum in this limit is related to
the power spectrum through the so-called consistency relation. However, it
turns out that, if we adopt a genuine gauge invariant variable which is
naturally composed purely of the information in our local universe, the leading
term for the bispectrum in the squeezed limit predicted by the consistency
relation vanishes.Comment: 12 pages; v2: accepted version in JCA
A Simple Operator Check of the Effective Fermion Mode Function during Inflation
We present a relatively simple operator formalism which reproduces the
leading infrared logarithm of the one loop quantum gravitational correction to
the fermion mode function on a locally de Sitter background. This rule may
serve as the basis for an eventual stochastic formulation of quantum gravity
during inflation. Such a formalism would not only effect a vast simplification
in obtaining the leading powers of at fixed loop orders, it would also
permit us to sum the series of leading logarithms. A potentially important
point is that our rule does not seem to be consistent with any simple infrared
truncation of the fields. Our analysis also highlights the importance of spin
as a gravitational interaction that persists even when kinetic energy has
redshifted to zero.Comment: 39 pages, no figuire.(1) New version has clarified the ultimate
motivation by adding sentences to the abstract and to the penultimate
paragraph of the introduction. (2) By combining a number of references and
equations we have managed to reduce the length by 2 page
High order correlation functions for self interacting scalar field in de Sitter space
We present the expressions of the three- and four-point correlation functions
of a self interacting light scalar field in a de Sitter spacetime at tree order
respectively for a cubic and a quartic potential. Exact expressions are derived
and their limiting behaviour on super-horizon scales are presented. Their
essential features are shown to be similar to those obtained in a classical
approach.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Two Loop Scalar Bilinears for Inflationary SQED
We evaluate the one and two loop contributions to the expectation values of
two coincident and gauge invariant scalar bilinears in the theory of massless,
minimally coupled scalar quantum electrodynamics on a locally de Sitter
background. One of these bilinears is the product of two covariantly
differentiated scalars, the other is the product of two undifferentiated
scalars. The computations are done using dimensional regularization and the
Schwinger-Keldysh formalism. Our results are in perfect agreement with the
stochastic predictions at this order.Comment: 43 pages, LaTeX 2epsilon, 5 figures (using axodraw.sty) Version 2 has
updated references and important corrections to Tables 3-5 and to eqns
(139-141), (145-146), (153-155), (158) and (160
Possible Enhancement of High Frequency Gravitational Waves
We study the tensor perturbations in a class of non-local, purely
gravitational models which naturally end inflation in a distinctive phase of
oscillations with slight and short violations of the weak energy condition. We
find the usual generic form for the tensor power spectrum. The presence of the
oscillatory phase leads to an enhancement of gravitational waves with
frequencies somewhat less than 10^{10} Hz.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, LaTeX.2
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