302 research outputs found
Measuring multipole moments of Weyl metrics by means of gyroscopes
Using the technique of Rindler and Perlick we calculate the total precession
per revolution of a gyroscope circumventing the source of Weyl metrics. We
establish thereby a link between the multipole moments of the source and an
``observable'' quantity. Special attention deserves the case of the
gamma-metric. As an extension of this result we also present the corresponding
expressions for some stationary space-times.Comment: 18 pages Latex, To appear in J.Math.Phy
Modeling Operator Behavior in the Safety Analysis of Collaborative Robotic Applications
Human-Robot Collaboration is increasingly prominent in peo-
ple's lives and in the industrial domain, for example in manufacturing
applications. The close proximity and frequent physical contacts between
humans and robots in such applications make guaranteeing suitable levels
of safety for human operators of the utmost importance. Formal veri-
cation techniques can help in this regard through the exhaustive explo-
ration of system models, which can identify unwanted situations early in
the development process. This work extends our SAFER-HRC method-
ology with a rich non-deterministic formal model of operator behaviors,
which captures the hazardous situations resulting from human errors.
The model allows safety engineers to rene their designs until all plausi-
ble erroneous behaviors are considered and mitigated
Exact relativistic models of thin disks around static black holes in a magnetic field
The exact superposition of a central static black hole with surrounding thin
disk in presence of a magnetic field is investigated. We consider two models of
disk, one of infinite extension based on a Kuzmin-Chazy-Curzon metric and other
finite based on the first Morgan-Morgan disk. We also analyze a simple model of
active galactic nuclei consisting of black hole, a Kuzmin-Chazy-Curzon disk and
two rods representing jets, in presence of magnetic field. To explain the
stability of the disks we consider the matter of the disk made of two
pressureless streams of counterrotating charged particles (counterrotating
model) moving along electrogeodesic. Using the Rayleigh criterion we derivate
for circular orbits the stability conditions of the particles of the streams.
The influence of the magnetic field on the matter properties of the disk and on
its stability are also analyzed.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with
arXiv:gr-qc/0409109 by other author
Performance of discrete heat engines and heat pumps in finite time
The performance in finite time of a discrete heat engine with internal
friction is analyzed. The working fluid of the engine is composed of an
ensemble of noninteracting two level systems. External work is applied by
changing the external field and thus the internal energy levels. The friction
induces a minimal cycle time. The power output of the engine is optimized with
respect to time allocation between the contact time with the hot and cold baths
as well as the adiabats. The engine's performance is also optimized with
respect to the external fields. By reversing the cycle of operation a heat pump
is constructed. The performance of the engine as a heat pump is also optimized.
By varying the time allocation between the adiabats and the contact time with
the reservoir a universal behavior can be identified. The optimal performance
of the engine when the cold bath is approaching absolute zero is studied. It is
found that the optimal cooling rate converges linearly to zero when the
temperature approaches absolute zero.Comment: 45 pages LaTeX, 25 eps figure
Onsager coefficients of a Brownian Carnot cycle
We study a Brownian Carnot cycle introduced by T. Schmiedl and U. Seifert
[Europhys. Lett. \textbf{81}, 20003 (2008)] from a viewpoint of the linear
irreversible thermodynamics. By considering the entropy production rate of this
cycle, we can determine thermodynamic forces and fluxes of the cycle and
calculate the Onsager coefficients for general protocols, that is, arbitrary
schedules to change the potential confining the Brownian particle. We show that
these Onsager coefficients contain the information of the protocol shape and
they satisfy the tight-coupling condition irrespective of whatever protocol
shape we choose. These properties may give an explanation why the
Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency often appears in the finite-time heat engines
A linear nonequilibrium thermodynamics approach to optimization of thermoelectric devices
Improvement of thermoelectric systems in terms of performance and range of
applications relies on progress in materials science and optimization of device
operation. In this chapter, we focuse on optimization by taking into account
the interaction of the system with its environment. For this purpose, we
consider the illustrative case of a thermoelectric generator coupled to two
temperature baths via heat exchangers characterized by a thermal resistance,
and we analyze its working conditions. Our main message is that both electrical
and thermal impedance matching conditions must be met for optimal device
performance. Our analysis is fundamentally based on linear nonequilibrium
thermodynamics using the force-flux formalism. An outlook on mesoscopic systems
is also given.Comment: Chapter 14 in "Thermoelectric Nanomaterials", Editors Kunihito
Koumoto and Takao Mori, Springer Series in Materials Science Volume 182
(2013
Brownian Carnot engine
The Carnot cycle imposes a fundamental upper limit to the efficiency of a
macroscopic motor operating between two thermal baths. However, this bound
needs to be reinterpreted at microscopic scales, where molecular bio-motors and
some artificial micro-engines operate. As described by stochastic
thermodynamics, energy transfers in microscopic systems are random and thermal
fluctuations induce transient decreases of entropy, allowing for possible
violations of the Carnot limit. Despite its potential relevance for the
development of a thermodynamics of small systems, an experimental study of
microscopic Carnot engines is still lacking. Here we report on an experimental
realization of a Carnot engine with a single optically trapped Brownian
particle as working substance. We present an exhaustive study of the energetics
of the engine and analyze the fluctuations of the finite-time efficiency,
showing that the Carnot bound can be surpassed for a small number of
non-equilibrium cycles. As its macroscopic counterpart, the energetics of our
Carnot device exhibits basic properties that one would expect to observe in any
microscopic energy transducer operating with baths at different temperatures.
Our results characterize the sources of irreversibility in the engine and the
statistical properties of the efficiency -an insight that could inspire novel
strategies in the design of efficient nano-motors.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure
From thermal rectifiers to thermoelectric devices
We discuss thermal rectification and thermoelectric energy conversion from
the perspective of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics and dynamical systems
theory. After preliminary considerations on the dynamical foundations of the
phenomenological Fourier law in classical and quantum mechanics, we illustrate
ways to control the phononic heat flow and design thermal diodes. Finally, we
consider the coupled transport of heat and charge and discuss several general
mechanisms for optimizing the figure of merit of thermoelectric efficiency.Comment: 42 pages, 22 figures, review paper, to appear in the Springer Lecture
Notes in Physics volume "Thermal transport in low dimensions: from
statistical physics to nanoscale heat transfer" (S. Lepri ed.
Second law, entropy production, and reversibility in thermodynamics of information
We present a pedagogical review of the fundamental concepts in thermodynamics
of information, by focusing on the second law of thermodynamics and the entropy
production. Especially, we discuss the relationship among thermodynamic
reversibility, logical reversibility, and heat emission in the context of the
Landauer principle and clarify that these three concepts are fundamentally
distinct to each other. We also discuss thermodynamics of measurement and
feedback control by Maxwell's demon. We clarify that the demon and the second
law are indeed consistent in the measurement and the feedback processes
individually, by including the mutual information to the entropy production.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures. As a chapter of: G. Snider et al. (eds.),
"Energy Limits in Computation: A Review of Landauer's Principle, Theory and
Experiments
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