645 research outputs found
Characterization of hyporheic exchange drivers and patterns within a low-gradient, first-order, river confluence during low and high flow
Confluences are nodes in riverine networks characterized by complex three-dimensional changes in flow hydrodynamics and riverbed morphology, and are valued for important ecological functions. This physical complexity is often investigated within the water column or riverbed, while few studies have focused on hyporheic fluxes, which is the mixing of surface water and groundwater across the riverbed. This study aims to understand how hyporheic flux across the riverbed is organized by confluence physical drivers. Field investigations were carried out at a low gradient, headwater confluence between Baltimore Brook and Cold Brook in Marcellus, New York, USA. The study measured channel bathymetry, hydraulic permeability, and vertical temperature profiles, as indicators of the hyporheic exchange due to temperature gradients. Confluence geometry, hydrodynamics, and morphodynamics were found to significantly affect hyporheic exchange rate and patterns. Local scale bed morphology, such as the confluence scour hole and minor topographic irregularities, influenced the distribution of bed pressure head and the related patterns of downwelling/upwelling. Furthermore, classical back-to-back bend planform and the related secondary circulation probably affected hyporheic exchange patterns around the confluence shear layer. Finally, even variations in the hydrological conditions played a role on hyporheic fluxes modifying confluence planform, and, in turn, flow circulation patterns
Contact Tank Design Impact on Process Performance
In this study three-dimensional numerical models were refined to predict reactive processes in disinfection contact tanks (CTs). The methodology departs from the traditional performance assessment of contact tanks via hydraulic efficiency indicators, as it simulates directly transport and decay of the disinfectant, inactivation of pathogens and accumulation of by-products. The method is applied to study the effects of inlet and compartment design on contact tank performance, with special emphasis on turbulent mixing and minimisation of internal recirculation and short-circuiting. In contrast to the conventional approach of maximising the length-to-width ratio, the proposed design changes are aimed at addressing and mitigating adverse hydrodynamic structures, which have historically led to poor hydraulic efficiency in many existing contact tanks. The results suggest that water treatment facilities can benefit from in-depth analyses of the flow and kinetic processes through computational fluid dynamics, resulting in up to 38 % more efficient pathogen inactivation and 14 % less disinfection by-product formation
Gravitational signals emitted by a point mass orbiting a neutron star: effects of stellar structure
The effects that the structure of a neutron star would have on the
gravitational emission of a binary system are studied in a perturbative regime,
and in the frequency domain. Assuming that a neutron star is perturbed by a
point mass moving on a close, circular orbit, we solve the equations of stellar
perturbations in general relativity to evaluate the energy lost by the system
in gravitational waves. We compare the energy output obtained for different
stellar models with that found by assuming that the perturbed object is a black
hole with the same mass, and we discuss the role played by the excitation of
the stellar modes. Ouresults indicate that the stellar structure begins to
affect the emitted power when the orbital velocity is v >0.2c (about 185 Hz for
a binary system composed of two canonical neutron stars). We show that the
differences between different stellar models and a black hole are due mainly to
the excitation of the quasinormal modes of the star. Finally, we discuss to
what extent and up to which distance the perturbative approach can be used to
describe the interaction of a star and a pointlike massive body.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. D. Revised version,
added one table and extended discussio
Modeling the iron oxides and oxyhydroxides for the prediction of environmentally sensitive phase transformations
Iron oxides and oxyhydroxides are challenging to model computationally as
competing phases may differ in formation energies by only several kJ/mol, they
undergo magnetization transitions with temperature, their structures may
contain partially occupied sites or long-range ordering of vacancies, and some
loose structures require proper description of weak interactions such as
hydrogen bonding and dispersive forces. If structures and transformations are
to be reliably predicted under different chemical conditions, each of these
challenges must be overcome simultaneously, while preserving a high level of
numerical accuracy and physical sophistication. Here we present comparative
studies of structure, magnetization, and elasticity properties of iron oxides
and oxyhydroxides using density functional theory calculations with plane-wave
and locally-confined-atomic-orbital basis sets, which are implemented in VASP
and SIESTA packages, respectively. We have selected hematite, maghemite,
goethite, lepidocrocite, and magnetite as model systems from a total of 13
known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides; and use same convergence criteria and
almost equivalent settings in order to make consistent comparisons. Our results
show both basis sets can reproduce the energetic stability and magnetic
ordering, and are in agreement with experimental observations. There are
advantages to choosing one basis set over the other, depending on the intended
focus. In our case, we find the method using PW basis set most appropriate, and
combine our results to construct the first phase diagram of iron oxides and
oxyhydroxides in the space of competing chemical potentials, generated entirely
from first principlesComment: 46 pages - Accepted for publication in PRB (19 journal pages),
January 201
Are Post-Newtonian templates faithful and effectual in detecting gravitational signals from neutron star binaries?
We compute the overlap function between Post-Newtonian (PN) templates and
gravitational signals emitted by binary systems composed of one neutron star
and one point mass, obtained by a perturbative approach. The calculations are
performed for different stellar models and for different detectors, to estimate
how effectual and faithful the PN templates are, and to establish whether
effects related to the internal structure of neutron stars may possibly be
extracted by the matched filtering technique.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Influence of Hydrodynamic Regimes on Mixing of Waters of Confluent Rivers
At present, a significant weakening of the intensity of transverse mixing at the confluence of large rivers, which is observed in a number of cases, is widely discussed. Since the observed features of the confluence of large watercourses are not only of research interest but also of significant economic importance associated with the characteristics of water management at these water bodies, a large number of works are devoted to their study. Water resources management requires measures for the organization of water use which can be rational only under the understanding of processes occurring in water basins. To explain the phenomenon of suppression of the transverse mixing, which is interesting and important from the point of view of ecology, a wide range of hypotheses is proposed, up to the negation of turbulence in rivers. One of the possible mechanisms for explaining the suppression of transversal mixing can be the presence of transverse circulation manifesting itself as Prandtl’s secondary flows of the second kind. The characteristic velocity of these circulation flows is very small and difficult to measure directly by instruments; however, in our opinion, they can significantly complicate the transverse mixing at the confluence. The proposed hypothesis is tested in computational experiments in the framework of the three-dimensional formulation for dimensions of a real water object at the mouth of the Vishera River where it meets the Kama. Calculations demonstrate that, at sufficiently large flow rates, the two waters practically do not mix in the horizontal direction throughout the depth over long distances from the confluence. It has been found that a two-vortex flow is formed downstream the confluence, which just attenuates the mixing; the fluid motion in the vortices is such that, near the free surface, the fluid moves from the banks to the middle of the riverbed
Geodetic precession and strong gravitational lensing in the dynamical Chern-Simons modified gravity
We have investigated the geodetic precession and the strong gravitational
lensing in the slowly-rotating black hole in the dynamical Chern-Simons
modified gravity theory. We present the formulas of the orbital period and
the geodetic precession angle for the timelike particles in the
circular orbits around the black hole, which shows that the change of the
geodetic precession angle with the Chern-Simons coupling parameter is
converse to the change of the orbital period with for fixed . We also
discuss the effects of the Chern-Simons coupling parameter on the strong
gravitational lensing when the light rays pass close to the black hole and
obtain that for the stronger Chern-Simons coupling the prograde photons may be
captured more easily, and conversely, the retrograde photons is harder to be
captured in the slowly-rotating black hole in the dynamical Chern-Simons
modified gravity. Supposing that the gravitational field of the supermassive
central object of the Galaxy can be described by this metric, we estimated the
numerical values of the main observables for gravitational lensing in the
strong field limit.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, more clarifications and references added,
accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
New supersymmetric AdS4 type II vacua
Building on our recent results on dynamic SU(3)xSU(3) structures we present a
set of sufficient conditions for supersymmetric AdS4xM6 backgrounds of type
IIA/IIB supergravity. These conditions ensure that the background solves,
besides the supersymmetry equations, all the equations of motion of type II
supergravity. The conditions state that the internal manifold is locally a
codimension-one foliation such that the five dimensional leaves admit a
Sasaki-Einstein structure. In type IIA the supersymmetry is N=2, and the total
six-dimensional internal space is locally an S^2 bundle over a four-dimensional
Kaehler-Einstein base; in IIB the internal space is the direct product of a
circle and a five-dimensional squashed Sasaki-Einstein manifold. Given any
five-dimensional Sasaki-Einstein manifold we construct the corresponding
families of type IIA/IIB vacua. The precise profiles of all the fields are
determined at the solution and depend on whether one is in IIA or in IIB. In
particular the background does not contain any sources, all fluxes (including
the Romans mass in IIA) are generally non-zero, and the dilaton and warp factor
are non-constant.Comment: 19 pages; clarifications added, version to appear in JHE
A sigma model field theoretic realization of Hitchin's generalized complex geometry
We present a sigma model field theoretic realization of Hitchin's generalized
complex geometry, which recently has been shown to be relevant in
compactifications of superstring theory with fluxes. Hitchin sigma model is
closely related to the well known Poisson sigma model, of which it has the same
field content. The construction shows a remarkable correspondence between the
(twisted) integrability conditions of generalized almost complex structures and
the restrictions on target space geometry implied by the Batalin--Vilkovisky
classical master equation. Further, the (twisted) classical Batalin--Vilkovisky
cohomology is related non trivially to a generalized Dolbeault cohomology.Comment: 28 pages, Plain TeX, no figures, requires AMS font files AMSSYM.DEF
and amssym.tex. Typos in eq. 6.19 and some spelling correcte
A numerical study of the influence of channel-scale secondary circulation on mixing processes downstream of river junctions
A rapid downstream weakening of the processes that drive the intensity of transverse mixing at the confluence of large rivers has been identified in the literature and attributed to the progressive reduction in channel scale secondary circulation and shear-driven mixing with distance downstream from the junction. These processes are investigated in this paper using a three-dimensional computation of the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes equations combined with a Reynolds stress turbulence model for the confluence of the Kama and Vishera rivers in the Russian Urals. Simulations were carried out for three different configurations: an idealized planform with a rectangular cross-section (R), the natural planform with a rectangular cross-section (P), and the natural planform with the measured bathymetry (N), each one for three different discharge ratios. Results show that in the idealized configuration (R), the initial vortices that form due to channel-scale pressure gradients decline rapidly with distance downstream. Mixing is slow and incomplete at more than 10 multiples of channel width downstream from the junction corner. However, when the natural planform and bathymetry are introduced (N), rates of mixing increase dramatically at the junction corner and are maintained with distance downstream. Comparison with the P case suggests that it is the bathymetry that drives the most rapid mixing and notably when the discharge ratio is such that a single channel-scale vortex develops aided by curvature in the post junction channel. This effect is strongest when the discharge of the tributary that has the same direction of curvature as the post junction channel is greatest. A comprehensive set of field data are required to test this conclusion. If it holds, theoretical models of mixing processes in rivers will need to take into account the effects of bathymetry upon the interaction between river discharge ratio, secondary circulation development, and mixing rates
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