186 research outputs found
Morphology of rain water channelization in systematically varied model sandy soils
We visualize the formation of fingered flow in dry model sandy soils under
different raining conditions using a quasi-2d experimental set-up, and
systematically determine the impact of soil grain diameter and surface wetting
property on water channelization phenomenon. The model sandy soils we use are
random closely-packed glass beads with varied diameters and surface treatments.
For hydrophilic sandy soils, our experiments show that rain water infiltrates
into a shallow top layer of soil and creates a horizontal water wetting front
that grows downward homogeneously until instabilities occur to form fingered
flows. For hydrophobic sandy soils, in contrast, we observe that rain water
ponds on the top of soil surface until the hydraulic pressure is strong enough
to overcome the capillary repellency of soil and create narrow water channels
that penetrate the soil packing. Varying the raindrop impinging speed has
little influence on water channel formation. However, varying the rain rate
causes significant changes in water infiltration depth, water channel width,
and water channel separation. At a fixed raining condition, we combine the
effects of grain diameter and surface hydrophobicity into a single parameter
and determine its influence on water infiltration depth, water channel width,
and water channel separation. We also demonstrate the efficiency of several
soil water improvement methods that relate to rain water channelization
phenomenon, including pre-wetting sandy soils at different level before
rainfall, modifying soil surface flatness, and applying superabsorbent hydrogel
particles as soil modifiers
Phase diagram of the three-dimensional NJL model
With the exception of confinement the three-dimensional Nambu-Jona-Lasinio
(NJL_3) model incorporates many of the essential properties of QCD. We discuss
the critical properties of the model at nonzero temperature T and/or nonzero
chemical potential . We show that the universality class of the thermal
transition is that of the d=2 classical spin model with the same symmetry. We
provide evidence for the existence of a tricritical point in the
(,temperature) plane. We also discuss numerical results by Hands et al.
which showed that the system is critical for and the diquark
condensate is zero.Comment: 3 pages, To appear in the proceedings of Conference on Quarks and
Nuclear Physics (QNP 2002), Julich, Germany, 9-14 Jun 200
Which medical technology and/or local treatment is most conducive, as of 2012, to pressure sore debridement ? Developing French guidelines for clinical practice
AbstractIntroductionImplementation of a curative strategy at the debridement stage associates systemic therapy with local therapy.ObjectivesTo determine which medical devices and technology other than support surfaces and what kinds of drugs to use in order to cleanse a pressure ulcer in 2012.MethodA systematic review of the literature querying the databases PASCAL Biomed, Cochrane Library and PubMed from 2000 to 2010 along with a compendium of prevailing professional practices.ResultsPressure sore debridement is based on local care and on the use of alginates, hydrogels and hydrocolloids.DiscussionThe analyzed articles do not take into account any specific stage of pressure ulcer debridement. Data that might favor some kinds of dressings show a low level of evidence. Were it possible to decide on the dressing to be used for a given indication, professionals would be better able to orient and narrow down their choices.ConclusionUse of alginates and hydrogels in pressure ulcer debridement is of real interest. According to expert opinion, other dressings (irrigo-absorbents, for instance) seem promising, but have yet to receive adequate scientific validation
Quark description of nuclear matter
We discuss the role of an adjoint chiral condensate for color superconducting
quark matter. Its presence leads to color-flavor locking in two-flavor quark
matter. Color is broken completely as well as chiral symmetry in the two-flavor
theory with coexisting adjoint quark-antiquark and antitriplet quark-quark
condensates. The qualitative properties of this phase match the properties of
ordinary nuclear matter without strange baryons. This complements earlier
proposals by Schafer and Wilczek for a quark description of hadronic phases. We
show for a class of models with effective four-fermion interactions that
adjoint chiral and diquark condensates do not compete, in the sense that
simultaneous condensation occurs for sufficiently strong interactions in the
adjoint chiral channel.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figure
Assimilation of ground and satellite magnetic measurements: inference of core surface magnetic and velocity field changes
Photon Emission from Dense Quark Matter
Thermal emission rates and mean free paths of photons in a color-flavor
locked (CFL) phase of quark matter at high densities and moderate temperatures
are evaluated. Our calculations are based on a low-energy effective theory for
CFL matter describing Goldstone boson excitations and their electromagnetic as
well as strong interactions. In-medium coupling strengths of vector mesons are
found to be smaller than in vacuum. As a consequence of in-medium modified pion
dispersion relations, novel processes such as pi+ pi- -> gamma and gamma -> pi+
pi- become possible. The total photon emissivity is found to be very large,
exceeding contributions from thermal e+ e- annihilation above temperatures of
about 5 MeV. At the same time, the corresponding mean free paths become very
small. Our results imply that the photon flux from the surface of a
(hypothetical) CFL star in its early hot stages saturates the black-body limit.
Estimates for the early thermal evolution of the star are also presented.Comment: 20 pages latex, 5 figures; v2: Figs.1 + 2 corrected, references
added, minor revisions in text, conclusions unchanged, to appear in Nucl.
Phys.
Illuminating interfaces between phases of a U(1) x U(1) gauge theory
We study reflection and transmission of light at the interface between
different phases of a U(1) x U(1) gauge theory. On each side of the interface,
one can choose a basis so that one generator is free (allowing propagation of
light), and the orthogonal one may be free, Higgsed, or confined. However, the
basis on one side will in general be rotated relative to the basis on the other
by some angle alpha. We calculate reflection and transmission coefficients for
both polarizations of light and all 8 types of boundary, for arbitrary alpha.
We find that an observer measuring the behavior of light beams at the boundary
would be able to distinguish 4 different types of boundary, and we show how the
remaining ambiguity arises from the principle of complementarity
(indistinguishability of confined and Higgs phases) which leaves observables
invariant under a global electric/magnetic duality transformation. We also
explain the seemingly paradoxical behavior of Higgs/Higgs and confined/confined
boundaries, and clarify some previous arguments that confinement must involve
magnetic monopole condensation.Comment: RevTeX, 12 page
Illuminating Dense Quark Matter
We imagine shining light on a lump of cold dense quark matter, in the CFL
phase and therefore a transparent insulator. We calculate the angles of
reflection and refraction, and the intensity of the reflected and refracted
light. Although the only potentially observable context for this phenomenon
(reflection of light from and refraction of light through an illuminated quark
star) is unlikely to be realized, our calculation casts new light on the old
idea that confinement makes the QCD vacuum behave as if filled with a
condensate of color-magnetic monopoles.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
- …