758 research outputs found
Studies into the detection of buried objects (particularly optical fibres) in saturated sediment. Part 2: design and commissioning of test tank
This report is the second in a series of five, designed to investigate the detection oftargets buried in saturated sediment, primarily through acoustical or acoustics-relatedmethods. Although steel targets are included for comparison, the major interest is intargets (polyethylene cylinders and optical fibres) which have a poor acousticimpedance mismatch with the host sediment. This particular report details theconstruction of a laboratory-scale test facility. This consisted of three maincomponents. Budget constraints were an over-riding consideration in the design.First, there is the design and production of a tank containing saturated sediment. Itwas the intention that the physical and acoustical properties of the laboratory systemshould be similar to those found in a real seafloor environment. Particularconsideration is given to those features of the test system which might affect theacoustic performance, such as reverberation, the presence of gas bubbles in thesediment, or a suspension of particles above it. Sound speed and attenuation wereidentified as being critical parameters, requiring particular attention. Hence, thesewere investigated separately for each component of the acoustic path.Second, there is the design and production of a transducer system. It was the intentionthat this would be suitable for an investigation into the non-invasive acousticdetection of buried objects. A focused reflector is considered to be the most costeffectiveway of achieving a high acoustic power and narrow beamwidth. Acomparison of different reflector sizes suggested that a larger aperture would result inless spherical aberration, thus producing a more uniform sound field. Diffractioneffects are reduced by specifying a tolerance of much less than an acousticwavelength over the reflector surface. The free-field performance of the transducerswas found to be in agreement with the model prediction. Several parameters havebeen determined in this report that pertain to the acoustical characteristics of the waterand sediment in the laboratory tank in the 10 â 100 kHz frequency range.Third, there is the design and production of an automated control system wasdeveloped to simplify the data acquisition process. This was, primarily, a motordrivenposition control system which allowed the transducers to be accuratelypositioned in the two-dimensional plane above the sediment. Thus, it was possible forthe combined signal generation, data acquisition and position control process to be coordinatedfrom a central computer.This series of reports is written in support of the article âThe detection by sonar ofxdifficult targets (including centimetre-scale plastic objects and optical fibres) buriedin saturated sedimentâ by T G Leighton and R C P Evans, written for a Special Issueof Applied Acoustics which contains articles on the topic of the detection of objectsburied in marine sediment. Further support material can be found athttp://www.isvr.soton.ac.uk/FDAG/uaua/target_in_sand.HTM
Biominerals - source and inspiration for novel advanced materials
Biomineralization seems an odd sort of word. How can you combine biology and minerals? However, a quick look around brings to light many familiar objects that are examples of biominerals. Most dramatic are the coral reefs and sea shells of the marine environment (calcium carbonate) and human bone and teeth (calcium hydroxyapatite) but there are many other examples. In the past 10 years, an increasing number of biominerals has been reported (Table 1). Interest in the biological and chemical processes that lead to biomineralization, howeyer, has only developed rather recently. Early observations were made by paleontologists who were interested in the preservation, through geological time, of the hard parts of organisms such as shells and skeletons but only in 1989 did the field really come of age with the almost simultaneous publication of three monographs covering current knowledge of the biological, biochemical, chemical and taxonomic aspects of biomineralization (Mann et al. 1989; Lowenstam & Weiner 1989; Simkiss & Wilbur 1989)
Deflection of coronal rays by remote CMEs: shock wave or magnetic pressure?
We analyze five events of the interaction of coronal mass ejections (CMEs)
with the remote coronal rays located up to 90^\circ away from the CME as
observed by the SOHO/LASCO C2 coronagraph. Using sequences of SOHO/LASCO C2
images, we estimate the kink propagation in the coronal rays during their
interaction with the corresponding CMEs ranging from 180 to 920 km/s within the
interval of radial distances form 3 R. to 6 R. . We conclude that all studied
events do not correspond to the expected pattern of shock wave propagation in
the corona. Coronal ray deflection can be interpreted as the influence of the
magnetic field of a moving flux rope related to a CME. The motion of a
large-scale flux rope away from the Sun creates changes in the structure of
surrounding field lines, which are similar to the kink propagation along
coronal rays. The retardation of the potential should be taken into account
since the flux rope moves at high speed comparable with the Alfven speed.Comment: Accepted for Publication in Solar Physic
Phase diagrams of classical spin fluids: the influence of an external magnetic field on the liquid-gas transition
The influence of an external magnetic field on the liquid-gas phase
transition in Ising, XY, and Heisenberg spin fluid models is studied using a
modified mean field theory and Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulations. It is
demonstrated that the theory is able to reproduce quantitatively all
characteristic features of the field dependence of the critical temperature
T_c(H) for all the three models. These features include a monotonic decrease of
T_c with rising H in the case of the Ising fluid as well as a more complicated
nonmonotonic behavior for the XY and Heisenberg models. The nonmonotonicity
consists in a decrease of T_c with increasing H at weak external fields, an
increase of T_c with rising H in the strong field regime, and the existence of
a minimum in T_c(H) at intermediate values of H. Analytical expressions for
T_c(H) in the large field limit are presented as well. The magnetic para-ferro
phase transition is also considered in simulations and described within the
mean field theory.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures (to be submitted to Phys. Rev. E
Monte Carlo Exploration of Warped Higgsless Models
We have performed a detailed Monte Carlo exploration of the parameter space
for a warped Higgsless model of electroweak symmetry breaking in 5 dimensions.
This model is based on the gauge group
in an AdS bulk with arbitrary gauge kinetic terms on both the Planck and
TeV branes. Constraints arising from precision electroweak measurements and
collider data are found to be relatively easy to satisfy. We show, however,
that the additional requirement of perturbative unitarity up to the cut-off,
TeV, in elastic scattering in the absence of dangerous
tachyons eliminates all models. If successful models of this class exist, they
must be highly fine-tuned.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures; new fig and additional text adde
Transformation elastodynamics and active exterior acoustic cloaking
This chapter consists of three parts. In the first part we recall the
elastodynamic equations under coordinate transformations. The idea is to use
coordinate transformations to manipulate waves propagating in an elastic
material. Then we study the effect of transformations on a mass-spring network
model. The transformed networks can be realized with "torque springs", which
are introduced here and are springs with a force proportional to the
displacement in a direction other than the direction of the spring terminals.
Possible homogenizations of the transformed networks are presented, with
potential applications to cloaking. In the second and third parts we present
cloaking methods that are based on cancelling an incident field using active
devices which are exterior to the cloaked region and that do not generate
significant fields far away from the devices. In the second part, the exterior
cloaking problem for the Laplace equation is reformulated as the problem of
polynomial approximation of analytic functions. An explicit solution is given
that allows to cloak larger objects at a fixed distance from the cloaking
device, compared to previous explicit solutions. In the third part we consider
the active exterior cloaking problem for the Helmholtz equation in 3D. Our
method uses the Green's formula and an addition theorem for spherical outgoing
waves to design devices that mimic the effect of the single and double layer
potentials in Green's formula.Comment: Submitted as a chapter for the volume "Acoustic metamaterials:
Negative refraction, imaging, lensing and cloaking", Craster and Guenneau
ed., Springe
The Effective Use of Precision Electroweak Measurements
Several reasonably model-independent formulations of the implications of new
physics for precision electroweak measurements have been developed over the
past years, most notably by Peskin and Takeuchi, and by Altarelli \etal. These
formulations work by identifying a small, but useful, set of parameters through
which new physics often enters into well-measured physical observables. For the
theories to which such an analysis applies, this approach greatly streamlines
the confrontation with the data. Since the experimentally-allowed range for
these parameters has been determined from global fits to the data, theorists
need only compute their predictions for these parameters to constrain their
models. These methods are summarized here, together with several recent
generalizations which permit applications to wider classes of new physics, and
which include the original approaches as special cases.Comment: 29 pages, latex, 3 figures available on reques
Jamming at Zero Temperature and Zero Applied Stress: the Epitome of Disorder
We have studied how 2- and 3- dimensional systems made up of particles
interacting with finite range, repulsive potentials jam (i.e., develop a yield
stress in a disordered state) at zero temperature and applied stress. For each
configuration, there is a unique jamming threshold, , at which
particles can no longer avoid each other and the bulk and shear moduli
simultaneously become non-zero. The distribution of values becomes
narrower as the system size increases, so that essentially all configurations
jam at the same in the thermodynamic limit. This packing fraction
corresponds to the previously measured value for random close-packing. In fact,
our results provide a well-defined meaning for "random close-packing" in terms
of the fraction of all phase space with inherent structures that jam. The
jamming threshold, Point J, occurring at zero temperature and applied stress
and at the random close-packing density, has properties reminiscent of an
ordinary critical point. As Point J is approached from higher packing
fractions, power-law scaling is found for many quantities. Moreover, near Point
J, certain quantities no longer self-average, suggesting the existence of a
length scale that diverges at J. However, Point J also differs from an ordinary
critical point: the scaling exponents do not depend on dimension but do depend
on the interparticle potential. Finally, as Point J is approached from high
packing fractions, the density of vibrational states develops a large excess of
low-frequency modes. All of these results suggest that Point J may control
behavior in its vicinity-perhaps even at the glass transition.Comment: 21 pages, 20 figure
Young and Intermediate-age Distance Indicators
Distance measurements beyond geometrical and semi-geometrical methods, rely
mainly on standard candles. As the name suggests, these objects have known
luminosities by virtue of their intrinsic proprieties and play a major role in
our understanding of modern cosmology. The main caveats associated with
standard candles are their absolute calibration, contamination of the sample
from other sources and systematic uncertainties. The absolute calibration
mainly depends on their chemical composition and age. To understand the impact
of these effects on the distance scale, it is essential to develop methods
based on different sample of standard candles. Here we review the fundamental
properties of young and intermediate-age distance indicators such as Cepheids,
Mira variables and Red Clump stars and the recent developments in their
application as distance indicators.Comment: Review article, 63 pages (28 figures), Accepted for publication in
Space Science Reviews (Chapter 3 of a special collection resulting from the
May 2016 ISSI-BJ workshop on Astronomical Distance Determination in the Space
Age
First Measurement of Z/gamma* Production in Compton Scattering of Quasi-real Photons
We report the first observation of Z/gamma* production in Compton scattering
of quasi-real photons. This is a subprocess of the reaction e+e- to
e+e-Z/gamma*, where one of the final state electrons is undetected.
Approximately 55 pb-1 of data collected in the year 1997 at an e+e-
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV with the OPAL detector at LEP have been
analysed. The Z/gamma* from Compton scattering has been detected in the
hadronic decay channel. Within well defined kinematic bounds, we measure the
product of cross-section and Z/gamma* branching ratio to hadrons to be
(0.9+-0.3+-0.1) pb for events with a hadronic mass larger than 60 GeV,
dominated by (e)eZ production. In the hadronic mass region between 5 GeV and 60
GeV, dominated by (e)egamma* production, this product is found to be
(4.1+-1.6+-0.6) pb. Our results agree with the predictions of two Monte Carlo
event generators, grc4f and PYTHIA.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps figures included, submitted to Physics Letters
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