Dynamics of grain ejection by sphere impact on a granular bed

The dynamics of grain ejection consecutive to a sphere impacting a granular material is investigated experimentally and the variations of the characteristics of grain ejection with the control parameters are quantitatively studied. The time evolution of the corona formed by the ejected grains is reported, mainly in terms of its diameter and height, and favourably compared with a simple ballistic model. A key characteristic of the granular corona is that the angle formed by its edge with the horizontal granular surface remains constant during the ejection process, which again can be reproduced by the ballistic model. The number and the kinetic energy of the ejected grains is evaluated and allows for the calculation of an effective restitution coefficient characterizing the complex collision process between the impacting sphere and the fine granular target. The effective restitution coefficient is found to be constant when varying the control parameters.Comment: 9 page

Granular Avalanches in Fluids

Three regimes of granular avalanches in fluids are put in light depending on the Stokes number St which prescribes the relative importance of grain inertia and fluid viscous effects, and on the grain/fluid density ratio r. In gas (r >> 1 and St > 1, e.g., the dry case), the amplitude and time duration of avalanches do not depend on any fluid effect. In liquids (r ~ 1), for decreasing St, the amplitude decreases and the time duration increases, exploring an inertial regime and a viscous regime. These regimes are described by the analysis of the elementary motion of one grain

Sources and sinks separating domains of left- and right-traveling waves: Experiment versus amplitude equations

In many pattern forming systems that exhibit traveling waves, sources and sinks occur which separate patches of oppositely traveling waves. We show that simple qualitative features of their dynamics can be compared to predictions from coupled amplitude equations. In heated wire convection experiments, we find a discrepancy between the observed multiplicity of sources and theoretical predictions. The expression for the observed motion of sinks is incompatible with any amplitude equation description.Comment: 4 pages, RevTeX, 3 figur

Persistent currents in mesoscopic rings: A numerical and renormalization group study

The persistent current in a lattice model of a one-dimensional interacting electron system is systematically studied using a complex version of the density matrix renormalization group algorithm and the functional renormalization group method. We mainly focus on the situation where a single impurity is included in the ring penetrated by a magnetic flux. Due to the interplay of the electron-electron interaction and the impurity the persistent current in a system of N lattice sites vanishes faster then 1/N. Only for very large systems and large impurities our results are consistent with the bosonization prediction obtained for an effective field theory. The results from the density matrix renormalization group and the functional renormalization group agree well for interactions as large as the band width, even though as an approximation in the latter method the flow of the two-particle vertex is neglected. This confirms that the functional renormalization group method is a very powerful tool to investigate correlated electron systems. The method will become very useful for the theoretical description of the electronic properties of small conducting ring molecules.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures include

Magneto-transport in periodic and quasiperiodic arrays of mesoscopic rings

We study theoretically the transmission properties of serially connected mesoscopic rings threaded by a magnetic flux. Within a tight-binding formalism we derive exact analytical results for the transmission through periodic and quasiperiodic Fibonacci arrays of rings of two different sizes. The role played by the number of scatterers in each arm of the ring is analyzed in some detail. The behavior of the transmission coefficient at a particular value of the energy of the incident electron is studied as a function of the magnetic flux (and vice versa) for both the periodic and quasiperiodic arrays of rings having different number of atoms in the arms. We find interesting resonance properties at specific values of the flux, as well as a power-law decay in the transmission coefficient as the number of rings increases, when the magnetic field is switched off. For the quasiperiodic Fibonacci sequence we discuss various features of the transmission characteristics as functions of energy and flux, including one special case where, at a special value of the energy and in the absence of any magnetic field, the transmittivity changes periodically as a function of the system size.Comment: 9 pages with 7 .eps figures included, submitted to PR

Spin Fluctuation Induced Dephasing in a Mesoscopic Ring

We investigate the persistent current in a hybrid Aharonov-Bohm ring - quantum dot system coupled to a reservoir which provides spin fluctuations. It is shown that the spin exchange interaction between the quantum dot and the reservoir induces dephasing in the absence of direct charge transfer. We demonstrate an anomalous nature of this spin-fluctuation induced dephasing which tends to enhance the persistent current. We explain our result in terms of the separation of the spin from the charge degree of freedom. The nature of the spin fluctuation induced dephasing is analyzed in detail.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Regular dendritic patterns induced by non-local time-periodic forcing

The dynamic response of dendritic solidification to spatially homogeneous time-periodic forcing has been studied. Phase-field calculations performed in two dimensions (2D) and experiments on thin (quasi 2D) liquid crystal layers show that the frequency of dendritic side-branching can be tuned by oscillatory pressure or heating. The sensitivity of this phenomenon to the relevant parameters, the frequency and amplitude of the modulation, the initial undercooling and the anisotropies of the interfacial free energy and molecule attachment kinetics, has been explored. It has been demonstrated that besides the side-branching mode synchronous with external forcing as emerging from the linear Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin analysis, modes that oscillate with higher harmonic frequencies are also present with perceptible amplitudes.Comment: 15 pages, 23 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Wave patterns generated by an axisymmetric obstacle in a two-layer flow

Gravity waves generated by a moving obstacle in a two-layer stratified fluid are investigated. The experimental configuration is three-dimensional with an axisymmetric obstacle which is towed in one of the two layers. The experimental method used in the present study is based on a stereoscopic technique allowing the 3D reconstruction of the interface between the two layers. Investigation into the wave pattern as a function of the Froude number, Fr, based on the relative density of the fluid layers and the velocity of the towed obstacle is presented. Specific attention is paid to the transcritical regime for which Fr is close to one. Potential energy trapped in the wave field patterns is also extracted from the experimental results and is analyzed as a function of both the Froude number, Fr, and the transcritical similarity parameter Γ. In particular, a remarkable increase in the potential energy around Fr = 1 is observed and a scaling allowing to assemble data resulting from different experimental parameters is proposed

Topological and geometrical disorder correlate robustly in two-dimensional foams

A 2D foam can be characterised by its distribution of bubble areas, and of number of sides. Both distributions have an average and a width (standard deviation). There are therefore at least two very different ways to characterise the disorder. The former is a geometrical measurement, while the latter is purely topological. We discuss the common points and differences between both quantities. We measure them in a foam which is sheared, so that bubbles move past each other and the foam is "shuffled" (a notion we discuss). Both quantities are strongly correlated; in this case (only) it thus becomes sufficient to use either one or the other to characterize the foam disorder. We suggest applications to the analysis of other systems, including biological tissues