Numerical simulation of a wave-guide mixing layer on a Cray C-90

The development of a three-dimensional spatially evolving compressible mixing layer is investigated numerically using a parallel implementation of Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) on a Cray C-90. The parallel implementation allowed the flow to be highly resolved while significantly reducing the wall-clock runtime. A sustained computation rate of 5.3 Gigaflops including I/O was obtained for a typical production run on a 16 processor machine. A novel mixing layer configuration is investigated where a pressure mismatch is maintained between the two inlet streams. In addition, the sonic character of the two streams is sufficiently different so that the pressure relief wave is trapped in the high speed stream. The trapped wave forces the mixing layer to form a characteristic cellular pattern. The cellular structure introduces curvature into the mixing layer that excites centrifugal instabilities characterized by large-scale counter-rotating vortical pairs embedded within the mixing layer. These are the dominant feature of the flow. Visualizations of these structures in cross-section show the pumping action which lifts dense fluid up into light gas. This effect has a strong impact on mixing enhancement as monitored by a conserved scalar formulation. Once the large-scale structures axe well established in the flow and undergo intensification from favorable velocity gradients, the time-averaged integrated product shows almost a four-fold increase. A spectral analysis of the flow-field over the cellular structures, as part of a full space-time analysis, shows these structures to be zero-frequency modes that develop from low level essentially broad-banded noise. This characterization of the vortical structures and their appearance is consistent with a recent linear stability analysis, of a mixing layer over a curved wall that predicts the most unstable modes to be zero frequency streamwise vortices

A mechanism for randomness

We investigate explicit functions that can produce truly random numbers. We use the analytical properties of the explicit functions to show that certain class of autonomous dynamical systems can generate random dynamics. This dynamics presents fundamental differences with the known chaotic systems. We present realphysical systems that can produce this kind of random time-series. We report theresults of real experiments with nonlinear circuits containing direct evidence for this new phenomenon. In particular, we show that a Josephson junction coupled to a chaotic circuit can generate unpredictable dynamics. Some applications are discussed.Comment: Accepted in Physics Letters A (2002). 11 figures (.eps

A framework for the local information dynamics of distributed computation in complex systems

The nature of distributed computation has often been described in terms of the component operations of universal computation: information storage, transfer and modification. We review the first complete framework that quantifies each of these individual information dynamics on a local scale within a system, and describes the manner in which they interact to create non-trivial computation where "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts". We describe the application of the framework to cellular automata, a simple yet powerful model of distributed computation. This is an important application, because the framework is the first to provide quantitative evidence for several important conjectures about distributed computation in cellular automata: that blinkers embody information storage, particles are information transfer agents, and particle collisions are information modification events. The framework is also shown to contrast the computations conducted by several well-known cellular automata, highlighting the importance of information coherence in complex computation. The results reviewed here provide important quantitative insights into the fundamental nature of distributed computation and the dynamics of complex systems, as well as impetus for the framework to be applied to the analysis and design of other systems.Comment: 44 pages, 8 figure

The Domain of Population Dynamics and Production Economcis in Fisheries Management Research

With growing conceptual acceptability of fishery management techniques which advocate the reduction in the number of units of effort applied to overexploited and/or overcapitalized fisheries it is increasingly necessary that some readily usable measures be developed whihc may serve all those involved in fishery management and supporting research. Toward this end this paper examines the foundations of measures of fishing effort and fishing power as conceived within the domains of population dynamics and production economics. The degree to whiche ach discipline generates different and mutually exclusive measures is examined, along with an attempt to delineate a separate and distinct role for each discipline within the overall process of generating supporting information needed in all generalized fishery management plan

Numerical simulation of a wave-guide mixing layer on a Cray C-90

The development of a three-dimensional spatially evolving compressible mixing layer is investigated numerically using a parallel implementation of Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) on a Cray C-90. The parallel implementation allowed the flow to be highly resolved while significantly reducing the wall-clock runtime. A sustained computation rate of 5.3 Gigaflops including I/O was obtained for a typical production run on a 16 processor machine. A novel mixing layer configuration is investigated where a pressure mismatch is maintained between the two inlet streams. In addition, the sonic character of the two streams is sufficiently different so that the pressure relief wave is trapped in the high speed stream. The trapped wave forces the mixing layer to form a characteristic cellular pattern. The cellular structure introduces curvature into the mixing layer that excites centrifugal instabilities characterized by large-scale counter-rotating vortical pairs embedded within the mixing layer. These are the dominant feature of the flow. Visualizations of these structures in cross-section show the pumping action which lifts dense fluid up into light gas. This effect has a strong impact on mixing enhancement as monitored by a conserved scalar formulation. Once the large-scale structures axe well established in the flow and undergo intensification from favorable velocity gradients, the time-averaged integrated product shows almost a four-fold increase. A spectral analysis of the flow-field over the cellular structures, as part of a full space-time analysis, shows these structures to be zero-frequency modes that develop from low level essentially broad-banded noise. This characterization of the vortical structures and their appearance is consistent with a recent linear stability analysis, of a mixing layer over a curved wall that predicts the most unstable modes to be zero frequency streamwise vortices

Self-replication, Evolvability and Asynchronicity in Stochastic Worlds

Peer reviewe

Influência da cobertura morta no comportamento dos herbicidas imazaquin e clomazone The influence of straw mulch on the behaviour of the residual herbicides imazaquin and clomazone

Experimentos de campo e bioensaios em casa-de-vegetação foram realizados para se estudar a influência da cobertura morta de trigo (Triticum aestivum L.) no comportamento dos herbicidas imazaquin {ácido 2-[4,5 dihidro-4-metil-4-(1-metiletil)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-ilo]-3-quinolinacarboxílico} e clomazone {2-[(2-clorofenil)metil]-4,4-dimetil-3-isoxazolidinona}, aplicados em pré-emergência na cultura da soja [Glycine max (L.) Merril], no sistema de plantio direto. O clomazone mostrou evidências de ter sido interceptado pela cobertura morta. A presença da cobertura morta não influiu na retenção do imazaquin, sendo este lixiviado da palha para o solo com as chuvas que ocorreram após a aplicação.<br>Field experiments and glass house bioassays were conducted to determine the influence of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) straw mulch on the behaviour of the herbicides imazaquin {2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-ethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid} and clomazone {2-[(2-chlorophenyl)methyl]-4,4-dimethyl-3- isoxazolidinone}, wich had been applied to pre-emergence soybean (Glycine max)in a no-till system. There was evidence that clomazone had been intecepted by the straw whilst imazaquin was leached into the soil by rain