Asymptotic solvers for ordinary differential equations with multiple frequencies

We construct asymptotic expansions for ordinary differential equations with highly oscillatory forcing terms, focusing on the case of multiple, non-commensurate frequencies. We derive an asymptotic expansion in inverse powers of the oscillatory parameter and use its truncation as an exceedingly effective means to discretize the differential equation in question. Numerical examples illustrate the effectiveness of the method

A micropillar for cavity optomechanics

We present a new micromechanical resonator designed for cavity optomechanics. We have used a micropillar geometry to obtain a high-frequency mechanical resonance with a low effective mass and a very high quality factor. We have coated a 60-$\mu$m diameter low-loss dielectric mirror on top of the pillar and are planning to use this micromirror as part of a high-finesse Fabry-Perot cavity, to laser cool the resonator down to its quantum ground state and to monitor its quantum position fluctuations by quantum-limited optical interferometry

Preparation of Ni–YSZ thin and thick films on metallic interconnects as cell supports. Applications as anode for SOFC

In this work, we propose the preparation of a duplex anodic layer composed of both a thin (100 nm) and a thick film (10 lm) with Ni–YSZ material. The support of this anode is a metallic substrate, which is the interconnect of the SOFC unit cell. The metallic support limits the temperature of thermal treatment at 800 C to keep a good interconnect mechanical behaviour and to reduce corrosion. We have chosen to elaborate anodic coatings by sol–gel route coupled with dip-coating process, which are low cost techniques and allow working with moderate temperatures. Thin films are obtained by dipping interconnect substrate into a sol, and thick films into an optimized slurry. After thermal treatment at only 800 C, anodic coatings are adherent and homogeneous. Thin films have compact microstructures that confer ceramic protective barrier on metal surface. Further coatings of 10 lm thick are porous and constitute the active anodic material

Abstract robust coarse spaces for systems of PDEs via generalized eigenproblems in the overlaps

Coarse spaces are instrumental in obtaining scalability for domain decomposition methods for partial differential equations (PDEs). However, it is known that most popular choices of coarse spaces perform rather weakly in the presence of heterogeneities in the PDE coefficients, especially for systems of PDEs. Here, we introduce in a variational setting a new coarse space that is robust even when there are such heterogeneities. We achieve this by solving local generalized eigenvalue problems in the overlaps of subdomains that isolate the terms responsible for slow convergence. We prove a general theoretical result that rigorously establishes the robustness of the new coarse space and give some numerical examples on two and three dimensional heterogeneous PDEs and systems of PDEs that confirm this property

RECENT ACTIVITIES OF THE NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP TO THWART ILLICIT TRAFFICKING

The Nuclear Smuggling International Technical Working Group (ITWG) is an informal association of nuclear forensic practitioners working in partnership with law enforcement, first responder, and nuclear regulatory professionals that cooperate to deter the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. The objective of the ITWG is to advance the science of nuclear forensics and to provide a common approach and effective technical solutions to governments who request assistance. the ITWG was chartered in 1996 and since that time 30 nations and organizations have participated in 12 annual meetings and two analytical round-robin trials involving plutonium and highly enriched uranium. A third analytical round-robin as well as several table-top exercises are planned for later in 2007-2008. International interest in the ITWG has grown in over the past five years measured by the number of participants at its annual meetings. This growth has spawned the ITWG Nuclear Forensics Laboratories as a companion technical affiliate focusing exclusively on the scientific aspects of nuclear forensics and nuclear smuggling incident response

Effective numerical simulation of the Klein–Gordon–Zakharov system in the Zakharov limit

Solving the Klein-Gordon-Zakharov (KGZ) system in the high-plasma frequency regime $c\gg1$ is numerically severely challenging due to the highly oscillatory nature or the problem. To allow reliable approximations classical numerical schemes require severe step size restrictions depending on the small parameter $c^{−2}$ . This leads to large errors and huge computational costs. In the singular limit $c\to\infty$ the Zakharov system appears as the regular limit system for the KGZ system. It is the purpose of this paper to use this approximation in the construction of an effective numerical scheme for the KGZ system posed on the torus in the highly oscillatory regime $c\gg1$. The idea is to filter out the highly oscillatory phases explicitly in the solution. This allows us to play back the numerical task to solving the non-oscillatory Zakharov limit system. The latter can be solved very efficiently without any step size restrictions. The numerical approximation error is then estimated by showing that solutions of the KGZ system in this singular limit can be approximated via the solutions of the Zakharov system and by proving error estimates for the numerical approximation of the Zakharov system. We close the paper with numerical experiments which show that this method is more effective than other methods in the high-plasma frequency regime $c\gg1$

Coulomb excitation of exotic nuclei at the R3B-LAND setup

Exotic Ni isotopes have been measured at the R3B-LAND setup at GSI in Darmstadt, using Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics at beam energies around 500 MeV/u. As the experimental setup allows kinematically complete measurements, the excitation energy was reconstructed using the invariant mass method. The GDR and additional low-lying strength have been observed in 68Ni, the latter exhausting 4.1(1.9)% of the E1 energy-weighted sum rule. Also, the branching ratio for the non-statistical decay of the excited 68Ni nuclei was measured and amounts to 24(4)%.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. Invited Talk given at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

The ASY-EOS experiment at GSI: investigating the symmetry energy at supra-saturation densities

The elliptic-flow ratio of neutrons with respect to protons in reactions of neutron rich heavy-ions systems at intermediate energies has been proposed as an observable sensitive to the strength of the symmetry term in the nuclear Equation Of State (EOS) at supra-saturation densities. The recent results obtained from the existing FOPI/LAND data for $^{197}$Au+$^{197}$Au collisions at 400 MeV/nucleon in comparison with the UrQMD model allowed a first estimate of the symmetry term of the EOS but suffer from a considerable statistical uncertainty. In order to obtain an improved data set for Au+Au collisions and to extend the study to other systems, a new experiment was carried out at the GSI laboratory by the ASY-EOS collaboration in May 2011.Comment: Talk given by P. Russotto at the 11th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (NN2012), San Antonio, Texas, USA, May 27-June 1, 2012. To appear in the NN2012 Proceedings in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS