184,220 research outputs found
A Chemical turnstile
A chemical turnstile is a device for transporting small, well-characterised
doses of atoms from one location to another. A working turnstile has yet to be
built, despite the numerous technological applications available for such a
device. The key difficulty in manufacturing a chemical turnstile is finding a
medium which will trap and transport atoms. Here we propose that ferroelastic
twin walls are suitable for this role. Previous work shows that twin walls can
act as two-dimensional trapping planes within which atomic transport is fast.
We report simulations showing that a stress-induced reorientation of a twin
wall can occur. This behaviour is ideal for chemical turnstile applications.Comment: 2 pages, 3 figure
Experimental and analytical investigation of axisymmetric supersonic cruise nozzle geometry at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.30
Quantitative pressure and force data for five axisymmetric boattail nozzle configurations were examined. These configurations simulate the variable-geometry feature of a single nozzle design operating over a range of engine operating conditions. Five nozzles were tested in the Langley 16-Foot Transonic Tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.30. The experimental data were also compared with theoretical predictions
Langley Atmospheric Information Retrieval System (LAIRS): System description and user's guide
This document presents the user's guide, system description, and mathematical specifications for the Langley Atmospheric Information Retrieval System (LAIRS). It also includes a description of an optimal procedure for operational use of LAIRS. The primary objective of the LAIRS Program is to make it possible to obtain accurate estimates of atmospheric pressure, density, temperature, and winds along Shuttle reentry trajectories for use in postflight data reduction
R-Modes on Rapidly Rotating, Relativistic Stars: I. Do Type-I Bursts Excite Modes in the Neutron-Star Ocean?
During a Type-I burst, the turbulent deflagation front may excite waves in
the neutron star ocean and upper atmosphere with frequencies,
Hz. These waves may be observed as highly coherent flux oscillations during the
burst. The frequencies of these waves changes as the upper layers of the
neutron star cool which accounts for the small variation in the observed QPO
frequencies. In principle several modes could be excited but the fundamental
buoyant mode exhibits significantly larger variability for a given
excitation than all of the other modes. An analysis of modes in the burning
layers themselves and the underlying ocean shows that it is unlikely these
modes can account for the observed burst oscillations. On the other hand,
photospheric modes which reside in a cooler portion of the neutron star
atmosphere may provide an excellent explanation for the observed oscillations.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figure, substantial changes and additions to reflect
version to appear in Ap
Microcanonical Origin of the Maximum Entropy Principle for Open Systems
The canonical ensemble describes an open system in equilibrium with a heat
bath of fixed temperature. The probability distribution of such a system, the
Boltzmann distribution, is derived from the uniform probability distribution of
the closed universe consisting of the open system and the heat bath, by taking
the limit where the heat bath is much larger than the system of interest.
Alternatively, the Boltzmann distribution can be derived from the Maximum
Entropy Principle, where the Gibbs-Shannon entropy is maximized under the
constraint that the mean energy of the open system is fixed. To make the
connection between these two apparently distinct methods for deriving the
Boltzmann distribution, it is first shown that the uniform distribution for a
microcanonical distribution is obtained from the Maximum Entropy Principle
applied to a closed system. Then I show that the target function in the Maximum
Entropy Principle for the open system, is obtained by partial maximization of
Gibbs-Shannon entropy of the closed universe over the microstate probability
distributions of the heat bath. Thus, microcanonical origin of the Entropy
Maximization procedure for an open system, is established in a rigorous manner,
showing the equivalence between apparently two distinct approaches for deriving
the Boltzmann distribution. By extending the mathematical formalism to
dynamical paths, the result may also provide an alternative justification for
the principle of path entropy maximization as well.Comment: 12 pages, no figur
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