17,616 research outputs found
Natural frequency of beams with embedded piezoelectric sensors and actuators
A mathematical model is developed to study the natural frequency of beams with embedded piezoelectric sensors and actuators. The piezoelectric sensors/actuators in a non-piezoelectric matrix (host beam) are analyzed as two inhomogeneity problems by using Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method. The natural frequency of the beam is determined from the variational principle in Rayleigh quotient form, which is expressed as functions of the elastic strain energy and dielectric energy of the piezoelectric sensors/actuators. The Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and Rayleigh-Ritz approximation technique are used in the present analysis. Parametric studies show that the size, volume fraction and location of the piezoelectric inclusions significantly influence the natural frequency of the beam
Two populations of progenitors for type Ia SNe?
We use recent observations of type Ia Supernova (SN Ia) rates to derive, on
robust empirical grounds, the distribution of the delay time (DTD) between the
formation of the progenitor star and its explosion as a SN. Our analysis finds:
i) delay times as long as 3-4 Gyr, derived from observations of SNe Ia at high
redshift, cannot reproduce the dependence of the SN Ia rate on the colors and
on the radio-luminosity of the parent galaxies, as observed in the local
Universe; ii) the comparison between observed SN rates and a grid of
theoretical "single-population" DTDs shows that only a few of them are possibly
consistent with observations. The most successful models are all predicting a
peak of SN explosions soon after star formation and an extended tail in the
DTD, and can reproduce the data but only at a modest statistical confidence
level; iii) present data are best matched by a bimodal DTD, in which about 50%
of type Ia SNe (dubbed "prompt" SN Ia) explode soon after their stellar birth,
in a time of the order of 10^8 years, while the remaining 50% ("tardy" SN Ia)
have a much wider distribution, well described by an exponential function with
a decay time of about 3 Gyr. This fact, coupled with the well established
bimodal distribution of the decay rate, suggests the existence of two classes
of progenitors. We discuss the cosmological implications of this result and
make simple predictions. [Abridged]Comment: 11 pages, MNRAS, in press, modified after referee's comment
On the Evolution of the Cosmic Supernova Rates
Ongoing searches for supernovae (SNe) at cosmological distances have recently
started to provide a link between SN Ia statistics and galaxy evolution. We use
recent estimates of the global history of star formation to compute the
theoretical Type Ia and Type II SN rates as a function of cosmic time from the
present epoch to high redshifts. We show that accurate measurements of the
frequency of SN events in the range 0<z<1 will be valuable probes of the nature
of Type Ia progenitors and the evolution of the stellar birthrate in the
universe. The Next Generation Space Telescope should detect of order 20 Type II
SNe per 4'x 4' field per year in the interval 1<z<4.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 3 figures, to be published in the MNRA
Palladium-catalyzed reactions
Palladium is probably the most versatile and exploited transition metal in catalysis due to its capability to promote a myriad of organic transformations both at laboratory and industrial scales (alkylation, arylation, cyclization, hydrogenation, oxidation, isomerization, cross-coupling, cascade, radical reactions, etc [...
Model-independent constraints on contact interactions from LEP2 data analysis
We derive model-independent constraints on four-fermion contact
interaction-type dynamics from the published preliminary LEP2 experimental data
on e^+e^- annihilation into \mu^+\mu^- and \tau^+\tau^- pairs, measured at
different energies between 130 and 207 GeV. The basic observables are chosen to
be the total cross section and the forward-backward asymmetry, and the analysis
realistically takes into account data uncertainties and correlations among
measurements at the various energies. The combination of data from different
energy points plays an important role in the determination of regions allowed
for the contact interaction coupling constants. In contrast to the more common
one-parameter analyses, we only obtain constraints on pairs of parameters
rather than limits on individual ones.Comment: 13 pages, LaTeX, including figures. v2: Included discussion of tau
data, version to appear in EPJ
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