8,862 research outputs found
Statistical mechanics of damage phenomena
This paper applies the formalism of classical, Gibbs-Boltzmann statistical
mechanics to the phenomenon of non-thermal damage. As an example, a non-thermal
fiber-bundle model with the global uniform (meanfield) load sharing is
considered. Stochastic topological behavior in the system is described in terms
of an effective temperature parameter thermalizing the system. An equation of
state and a topological analog of the energy-balance equation are obtained. The
formalism of the free energy potential is developed, and the nature of the
first order phase transition and spinodal is demonstrated.Comment: Critical point appeared to be a spinodal poin
Observation of long-lived polariton states in semiconductor microcavities across the parametric threshold
The excitation spectrum around the pump-only stationary state of a polariton
optical parametric oscillator (OPO) in semiconductor microcavities is
investigated by time-resolved photoluminescence. The response to a weak pulsed
perturbation in the vicinity of the idler mode is directly related to the
lifetime of the elementary excitations. A dramatic increase of the lifetime is
observed for a pump intensity approaching and exceeding the OPO threshold. The
observations can be explained in terms of a critical slowing down of the
dynamics upon approaching the threshold and the following onset of the soft
Goldstone mode
Evidence for a spatial bias in the perception of sequences of brief tones
Listeners are unable to report the physical order of particular sequences of brief tones. This phenomenon of temporal dislocation depends on tone durations and frequencies. The current study empirically shows that it also depends on the spatial location of the tones. Dichotically testing a three-tone sequence showed that the central tone tends to be reported as the first or the last element when it is perceived as part of a left-to-right motion. Since the central-tone dislocation does not occur for right-to-left sequences of the same tones, this indicates that there is a spatial bias in the perception of sequences. \ua9 2013 Acoustical Society of America
Self-gravitating spheres of anisotropic fluid in geodesic flow
The fluid models mentioned in the title are classified. All characteristics
of the fluid are expressed through a master potential, satisfying an ordinary
second order differential equation. Different constraints are imposed on this
core of relations, finding new solutions and deriving the classical results for
perfect fluids and dust as particular cases. Many uncharged and charged
anisotropic solutions, all conformally flat and some uniform density solutions
are found. A number of solutions with linear equation among the two pressures
are derived, including the case of vanishing tangential pressure.Comment: 21 page
Non-prismatic sub-stiffening for stiffened panel plates — stability behaviour and performance gains
A multi-echelon supply chain model for strategic inventory assessment through the deployment of kanbans
Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-102).As global competition in the manufacturing space grows, so do corporations' needs for sophisticated and optimized management systems to enable continuous flows of information and materials across the many tiers within their supply chains. With the complexities introduced by the variability in the demand for finished goods as well as by the variability in lead-time of transportation, procurement, production and administrative activities, corporations have turned to quantitative modeling of their supply chains to address these issues. Based on the data of a heavy machinery manufacturer headquartered in the US, this research introduces a robust model for the deployment of strategic inventory buffers across a multi-echelon manufacturing system. Specifically, this study establishes a replenishment policy for inventory using a multiple bin, or Kanban, system for each part number in the assembly of products from our sponsors tractor line. We employ a numerical simulation to evaluate and optimize the various inventory deployment scenarios. Utilizing several thousand runs of the simulation, we derive a generalized treatment for each part number based on an econometric function of the parameters associated with lead-time, order frequency, inventory value and order costing. The pilot for the simulation focuses on the parts data for three earthmoving products across eight echelons, but scales to n products across m echelons. Our results show that this approach predicted the optimal quantities of Kanbans for 95% of parts to a level of accuracy +/- 3 bins.by Philip J. Hodge and Joshua D. Lemaitre.M.Eng.in Logistic
Definition of the stimulated emission threshold in high- nanoscale lasers through phase-space reconstruction
Nanoscale lasers sustain few optical modes so that the fraction of
spontaneous emission funnelled into the useful (lasing) mode is high
(of the order of few 10) and the threshold, which traditionally
corresponds to an abrupt kink in the light in- light out curve, becomes
ill-defined. We propose an alternative definition of the threshold, based on
the dynamical response of the laser, which is valid even for lasers.
The laser dynamics is analyzed through a reconstruction of its phase-space
trajectory for pulsed excitation. Crossing the threshold brings about a change
in the shape of the trajectory and in the area contained in it. An unambiguous
definition of the threshold in terms of this change is shown theoretically and
illustrated experimentally in a photonic crystal laser
Sketching sound with voice and gesture
Voice and gestures are natural sketching tools that can be exploited to communicate sonic interactions. In product and interaction design, sounds should be included in the early stages of the design process. Scientists of human motion have shown that auditory stimuli are important in the performance of difficult tasks and can elicit anticipatory postural adjustments in athletes. These findings justify the attention given to sound in interaction design for gaming, especially in action and sports games that afford the development of levels of virtuosity. The sonic manifestations of objects can be designed by acting on their mechanical qualities and by augmenting the objects with synthetic and responsive sound
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