638 research outputs found
Electrostrictive counter-force on fluid microdroplet in short laser pulse
When a micrometer-sized fluid droplet is illuminated by a laser pulse, there
is a fundamental distinction between two cases. If the pulse is short in
comparison with the transit time for sound across the droplet, the disruptive
optical Abraham-Minkowski radiation force is countered by electrostriction and
the net stress is compressive. In contrast, if the pulse is long on this scale,
electrostriction is cancelled by elastic pressure and the surviving term of the
electromagnetic force, the Abraham-Minkowski force, is disruptive and deforms
the droplet. Ultrashort laser pulses are routinely used in modern experiments,
and impressive progress has moreover been made on laser manipulation of liquid
surfaces in recent times, making a theory for combining the two pertinent. We
analyze the electrostrictive contribution analytically and numerically for a
spherical droplet.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Optics Letter
Casimir attractive-repulsive transition in MEMS
Unwanted stiction in micro- and nanomechanical (NEMS/MEMS) systems due to
dispersion (van der Waals, or Casimir) forces is a significant hurdle in the
fabrication of systems with moving parts on these length scales. Introducing a
suitably dielectric liquid in the interspace between bodies has previously been
demonstrated to render dispersion forces repulsive, or even to switch sign as a
function of separation. Making use of recently available permittivity data
calculated by us we show that such a remarkable non-monotonic Casimir force,
changing from attractive to repulsive as separation increases, can in fact be
observed in systems where constituent materials are in standard NEMS/MEMS use
requiring no special or exotic materials. No such nonmonotonic behaviour has
been measured to date. We calculate the force between a silica sphere and a
flat surface of either zinc oxide or hafnia, two materials which are among the
most prominent for practical microelectrical and microoptical devices. Our
results explicate the need for highly accurate permittivity functions of the
materials involved for frequencies from optical to far-infrared frequencies. A
careful analysis of the Casimir interaction is presented, and we show how the
change in the sign of the interaction can be understood as a result of multiple
crossings of the dielectric functions of the three media involved in a given
set-up.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure
Exercise training and losartan improve endothelial function in heart failure rats by different mechanisms
Objectives. To investigate the mechanisms of losartan- and exercise training-induced improvements on endothelial dysfunction in heart failure. Design. Sprague-Dawley rats subjected to left coronary artery ligation inducing myocardial infarction and heart failure were randomized to losartan treatment, high-intensity exercise training, or both. Results. Losartan, but not exercise training, reduced the heart failure-associated elevation in left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (26 ± 2 mmHg vs. 19 ± 1 mmHg after losartan). In contrast, both exercise training and losartan improved exercise capacity, by 40% and 20%, respectively; no additional effects were observed when exercise training and losartan were combined. Aortic segments were mounted on a force transducer to determine vasorelaxation. Heart failure impaired endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation, observed as a 1.9-fold reduced response to acetylcholine (EC50). Exercise and losartan improved acetylcholine-mediated vasorelaxation to the same extent, but by different mechanisms. Exercise training upregulated the nitric oxide pathway, whereas losartan upregulated a non-nitric oxide or -prostacyclin pathway; possibly involving the endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing factor. Conclusions. Both losartan and exercise training reversed endothelial dysfunction in heart failure; exercise training via nitric oxide-dependent vasorelaxation, and losartan via an unknown mechanism that may involve endothelium-dependent hyperpolarizing factor. Thus, the combined treatment activated an additional nitric oxide- independent mechanism that contributed to reduce endothelial dysfunction
Temporal Evolution of the Vela Pulsar's Pulse Profile
The mechanisms of emission and changes in rotation frequency ('glitching') of
the Vela pulsar (J0835-4510) are not well understood. Further insight into
these mechanisms can be achieved by long-term studies of integrated pulse
width, timing residuals, and bright pulse rates. We have undertaken an
intensive observing campaign of Vela and collected over 6000 hours of single
pulse data. The data shows that the pulse width changes with time, including
marked jumps in width after micro-glitches (frequency changes). The abundance
of bright pulses also changes after some micro-glitches, but not all. The
secular changes in pulse width have three possible cyclic periods, that match
with X-ray periodicities of a helical jet that are interpreted as free
precession.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journa
Mixing layer between two co-current Taylor-Couette flows
A new mixing layer can be generated if the rotation of either of the two
cylinders in a Taylor--Couette apparatus varies discontinuously along the
symmetry axis. The mixing zone between the two resulting co-current streams
gives rise to radial vorticity in addition to the primary axial vorticity. An
analytic solution for the azimuthal velocity has been derived from which we
show that the width of the mixing zone varies only with radial position.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in European Journal of
Mechanics B/Fluid
Casimir Friction Force and Energy Dissipation for Moving Harmonic Oscillators
The Casimir friction problem for a pair of dielectric particles in relative
motion is analyzed, utilizing a microscopic model in which we start from
statistical mechanics for harmonically oscillating particles at finite
temperature moving nonrelativistically with constant velocity. The use of
statistical mechanics in this context has in our opinion some definite
advantages, in comparison with the more conventional quantum electrodynamic
description of media that involves the use of a refractive index. The
statistical-mechanical description is physical and direct, and the oscillator
model, in spite of its simplicity, is nevertheless able to elucidate the
essentials of the Casimir friction. As is known, there are diverging opinions
about this kind of friction in the literature. Our treatment elaborates upon,
and extends, an earlier theory presented by us back in 1992. There we found a
finite friction force at any finite temperature, whereas at zero temperature
the model led to a zero force. As an additional development in the present
paper we evaluate the energy dissipation making use of an exponential cutoff
truncating the relative motion of the oscillators. For the dissipation we also
establish a general expression that is not limited to the simple oscillator
model.Comment: 12 pages, no figures. Discussion extended, references added. To
appear in Europhysics Letter
Casimir attraction in multilayered plane parallel magnetodielectric systems
A powerful procedure is presented for calculating the Casimir attraction
between plane parallel multilayers made up of homogeneous regions with
arbitrary magnetic and dielectric properties by use of the Minkowski
energy-momentum tensor. The theory is applied to numerous geometries and shown
to reproduce a number of results obtained by other authors. Although the
various pieces of theory drawn upon are well known, the relative ease with
which the Casimir force density in even complex planar structures may be
calculated, appears not to be widely appreciated, and no single paper to the
author's knowledge renders explicitly the procedure demonstrated herein.
Results may be seen as an important building block in the settling of issues of
fundamental interest, such as the long-standing dispute over the thermal
behaviour of the Casimir force or the question of what is the correct stress
tensor to apply, a discussion re-quickened by the newly suggested alternative
theory due to Raabe and Welsch.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures. Version 2: Updated contact details. Minor
changes and correction
A bilateral shear layer between two parallel Couette flows
We consider a shear layer of a kind not previously studied to our knowledge.
Contrary to the classical free shear layer, the width of the shear zone does
not vary in the streamwise direction but rather exhibits a lateral variation.
Based on some simplifying assumptions, an analytic solution has been derived
for the new shear layer. These assumptions have been justified by a comparison
with numerical solutions of the full Navier-Stokes equations, which accord with
the analytical solution to better than 1% in the entire domain. An explicit
formula is found for the width of the shear zone as a function of wall-normal
coordinate. This width is independent of wall velocities in the laminar regime.
Preliminary results for a co-current laminar-turbulent shear layer in the same
geometry are also presented. Shear-layer instabilities were then developed and
resulted in an unsteady mixing zone at the interface between the two co-current
streams.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
On the Possibility of Measuring the Abraham Force using Whispering Gallery Modes
Critical experimental tests of the time-dependent Abraham force in
phenomenological electrodynamics are scarce. In this paper we analyze the
possibility of making use of intensity-modulated whispering gallery modes in a
microresonator for this purpose. Systems of this kind appear attractive, as the
strong concentration of electromagnetic fields near the rim of the resonator
serves to enhance the Abraham torque exerted by the field. We analyze mainly
spherical resonators, although as an introductory step we consider also the
cylinder geometry. The order of magnitude of the Abraham torques are estimated
by inserting reasonable values for the various input parameters. As expected,
the predicted torques turn out to be very small, although probably not beyond
any reach experimentally. Our main idea is essentially a generalization of the
method used by G. B. Walker et al. [Can. J. Phys. 53, 2577] for low-frequency
fields, to the optical case.Comment: 6 pages, no figures. Minor typos corrected, acknowledgment added. To
appear in Phys. Rev.
Casimir Force on Real Materials - the Slab and Cavity Geometry
We analyse the potential of the geometry of a slab in a planar cavity for the
purpose of Casimir force experiments. The force and its dependence on
temperature, material properties and finite slab thickness are investigated
both analytically and numerically for slab and walls made of aluminium and
teflon FEP respectively. We conclude that such a setup is ideal for
measurements of the temperature dependence of the Casimir force. By numerical
calculation it is shown that temperature effects are dramatically larger for
dielectrics, suggesting that a dielectric such as teflon FEP whose properties
vary little within a moderate temperature range, should be considered for
experimental purposes. We finally discuss the subtle but fundamental matter of
the various Green's two-point function approaches present in the literature and
show how they are different formulations describing the same phenomenon.Comment: 24 pages, 11 figures; expanded discussion, one appendix added, 1 new
figure and 10 new references. To appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo
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