1,308 research outputs found
High-performance fiber/epoxy composite pressure vessels
Activities described include: (1) determining the applicability of an ultrahigh-strength graphite fiber to composite pressure vessels; (2) defining the fatigue performance of thin-titanium-lined, high-strength graphite/epoxy pressure vessel; (3) selecting epoxy resin systems suitable for filament winding; (4) studying the fatigue life potential of Kevlar 49/epoxy pressure vessels; and (5) developing polymer liners for composite pressure vessels. Kevlar 49/epoxy and graphite fiber/epoxy pressure vessels, 10.2 cm in diameter, some with aluminum liners and some with alternation layers of rubber and polymer were fabricated. To determine liner performance, vessels were subjected to gas permeation tests, fatigue cycling, and burst tests, measuring composite performance, fatigue life, and leak rates. Both the metal and the rubber/polymer liner performed well. Proportionately larger pressure vessels (20.3 and 38 cm in diameter) were made and subjected to the same tests. In these larger vessels, line leakage problems with both liners developed the causes of the leaks were identified and some solutions to such liner problems are recommended
Effective photon-photon interaction in a two-dimensional "photon fluid"
We formulate an effective theory for the atom-mediated photon-photon
interactions in a two-dimensional ``photon fluid'' confined in a Fabry-Perot
resonator. With the atoms modelled by a collection of anharmonic Lorentz
oscillators, the effective interaction is evaluated to second order in the
coupling constant (the anharmonicity parameter). The interaction has the form
of a renormalized two-dimensional delta-function potential, with the
renormalization scale determined by the physical parameters of the system, such
as density of atoms and the detuning of the photons relative to the resonance
frequency of the atoms. For realistic values of the parameters, the
perturbation series has to be resummed, and the effective interaction becomes
independent of the ``bare'' strength of the anharmonic term. The resulting
expression for the non-linear Kerr susceptibility, is parametrically equal to
the one found earlier for a dilute gas of two-level atoms. Using our result for
the effective interaction parameter, we derive conditions for the formation of
a photon fluid, both for Rydberg atoms in a microwave cavity and for alkali
atoms in an optical cavity.Comment: 25 pages (revtex4), including 2 figure
Relativistic Tunneling Through Two Successive Barriers
We study the relativistic quantum mechanical problem of a Dirac particle
tunneling through two successive electrostatic barriers. Our aim is to study
the emergence of the so-called \emph{Generalized Hartman Effect}, an effect
observed in the context of nonrelativistic tunneling as well as in its
electromagnetic counterparts, and which is often associated with the
possibility of superluminal velocities in the tunneling process. We discuss the
behavior of both the phase (or group) tunneling time and the dwell time, and
show that in the limit of opaque barriers the relativistic theory also allows
the emergence of the Generalized Hartman Effect. We compare our results with
the nonrelativistic ones and discuss their interpretation.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Revised version, with a new appendix added.
Slightly changes in the styles and captions of Figures 1 and 2. To appear in
Physical Review
Operation of the SUPARAMP at 33GHz
A 9mm degenerate parametric amplifier was constructed using a linear, series array of unbiased Josephson junctions as the active, nonlinear element. A balanced diode mixer was used as a synchronous detector, with a single source serving both as the pump and as the mixer local oscillator. A stable, net gain of 15 dB in an instantaneous bandwith (FWHM) of 3.4 GHz was achieved. A system noise temperature of 220 K + or - 5 K (DSB) was measured with a SUPARAMP contribution of only 20 K x or - 10 K. Output saturation was observed and complicates the interpretation of the noise temperature measurements and may render them upper limits. A comparison was made with the results of an earlier 3 cm suparamp. The data is in substantial agreement with theoretical predictions
The Electron Spectral Function in Two-Dimensional Fractionalized Phases
We study the electron spectral function of various zero-temperature
spin-charge separated phases in two dimensions. In these phases, the electron
is not a fundamental excitation of the system, but rather ``decays'' into a
spin-1/2 chargeless fermion (the spinon) and a spinless charge e boson (the
chargon). Using low-energy effective theories for the spinons (d-wave pairing
plus possible N\'{e}el order), and the chargons (condensed or quantum
disordered bosons), we explore three phases of possible relevance to the
cuprate superconductors: 1) AF*, a fractionalized antiferromagnet where the
spinons are paired into a state with long-ranged N\'{e}el order and the
chargons are 1/2-filled and (Mott) insulating, 2) the nodal liquid, a
fractionalized insulator where the spinons are d-wave paired and the chargons
are uncondensed, and 3) the d-wave superconductor, where the chargons are
condensed and the spinons retain a d-wave gap. Working within the gauge
theory of such fractionalized phases, our results should be valid at scales
below the vison gap. However, on a phenomenological level, our results should
apply to any spin-charge separated system where the excitations have these
low-energy effective forms. Comparison with ARPES data in the undoped,
pseudogapped, and superconducting regions is made.Comment: 10 page
Disruptive body patterning of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) requires visual information regarding edges and contrast of objects in natural substrate backgrounds
Author Posting. © Marine Biological Laboratory, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Marine Biological Laboratory for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Biological Bulletin 208 (2005): 7-11.Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis Linnaeus, 1758) on mixed light and dark gravel show disruptive body patterns for camouflage. This response is evoked when the size of the gravel is equivalent to the area of the "White square," a component of its dorsal mantle patterns. However, the features of natural substrates that cuttlefish cue on visually are largely unknown. Therefore, we aimed to identify those visual features of background objects that are required to evoke disruptive coloration. At first, we put young cuttlefish in a circular experimental arena, presented them with natural gravel and photographs of natural gravel, and established that the animals would show a disruptive pattern when presented either with three-dimensional natural gravel or its two-dimensional photographic representation. We then manipulated the digital photographs by applying (i) a low-pass filter to remove the edges of the fragments of gravel, and (ii) a high-pass filter to remove the contrast among them. The body patterns produced by the cuttlefish in response to these altered visual stimuli were then video-recorded and graded. The results show that, to evoke disruptive coloration in cuttlefish, visual information about the edges and contrast of objects within natural substrate backgrounds is required.We are grateful for funding from the Sholley Foundation and Anteon contract #USAF-5408-04-SC-0002
Stable multiple-charged localized optical vortices in cubic-quintic nonlinear media
The stability of two-dimensional bright vortex solitons in a media with
focusing cubic and defocusing quintic nonlinearities is investigated
analytically and numerically. It is proved that above some critical beam powers
not only one- and two-charged but also multiple-charged stable vortex solitons
do exist. A vortex soliton occurs robust with respect to symmetry-breaking
modulational instability in the self-defocusing regime provided that its radial
profile becomes flattened, so that a self-trapped wave beam gets a pronounced
surface. It is demonstrated that the dynamics of a slightly perturbed stable
vortex soliton resembles an oscillation of a liquid stream having a surface
tension. Using the idea of sustaining effective surface tension for spatial
vortex soliton in a media with competing nonlinearities the explanation of a
suppression of the modulational instability is proposed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Journal of Optics A. The proceedings
of the workshop NATO ARW, Kiev 2003 Singular Optics 200
Safety Intelligence and Legal Machine Language: Do We Need the Three Laws of Robotics?
In this chapter we will describe a legal framework for Next Generation Robots (NGRs) that has safety as its central focus. The framework is offered in response to the current lack of clarity regarding robot safety guidelines, despite the development and impending release of tens of thousands of robots into workplaces and homes around the world. We also describ
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