2,827 research outputs found
Glassy states in a shaken sandbox
Our model of shaken sand, presented in earlier work, has been extended to
include a more realistic `glassy' state, i.e., when the sandbox is shaken at
very low intensities of vibration. We revisit some of our earlier results, and
compare them with our new results on the revised model. Our analysis of the
glassy dynamics in our model shows that a variety of ground states is obtained;
these fall in two categories, which we argue are representative of regular and
irregular packings.Comment: 10 pages. 3 figures. To appear in Proceedings of Research Workshop on
"Challenges in Granular Physics" (ICTP, Trieste, August 7-11, 2001). Special
issue of Advances in Complex System
Surface Properties of Aperiodic Ising Quantum Chains
We consider Ising quantum chains with quenched aperiodic disorder of the
coupling constants given through general substitution rules. The critical
scaling behaviour of several bulk and surface quantities is obtained by exact
real space renormalization.Comment: 4 pages, RevTex, reference update
Competition and cooperation:aspects of dynamics in sandpiles
In this article, we review some of our approaches to granular dynamics, now
well known to consist of both fast and slow relaxational processes. In the
first case, grains typically compete with each other, while in the second, they
cooperate. A typical result of {\it cooperation} is the formation of stable
bridges, signatures of spatiotemporal inhomogeneities; we review their
geometrical characteristics and compare theoretical results with those of
independent simulations. {\it Cooperative} excitations due to local density
fluctuations are also responsible for relaxation at the angle of repose; the
{\it competition} between these fluctuations and external driving forces, can,
on the other hand, result in a (rare) collapse of the sandpile to the
horizontal. Both these features are present in a theory reviewed here. An arena
where the effects of cooperation versus competition are felt most keenly is
granular compaction; we review here a random graph model, where three-spin
interactions are used to model compaction under tapping. The compaction curve
shows distinct regions where 'fast' and 'slow' dynamics apply, separated by
what we have called the {\it single-particle relaxation threshold}. In the
final section of this paper, we explore the effect of shape -- jagged vs.
regular -- on the compaction of packings near their jamming limit. One of our
major results is an entropic landscape that, while microscopically rough,
manifests {\it Edwards' flatness} at a macroscopic level. Another major result
is that of surface intermittency under low-intensity shaking.Comment: 36 pages, 23 figures, minor correction
Normative agent reasoning in dynamic societies
Several innovative software applications such as those
required by ambient intelligence, the semantic grid, e-commerce and e-marketing, can be viewed as open societies
of heterogeneous and self-interested agents in which social order is achieved through norms. For agents to participate
in these kinds of societies, it is enough that they are able to represent and fulfill norms, and to recognise the authority of certain agents. However, to voluntarily be part of a society or to voluntarily leave it, other
characteristics of agents are needed. To find these characteristics we observe that on the one hand, autonomous
agents have their own goals and, sometimes, they act on behalf of others whose goals must be satisfied. On the other, we observe that by being members, agents must comply
with some norms that can be in clear conflict with their goals. Consequently, agents must evaluate the positive
or negative effects of norms on their goals before making a decision concerning their social behaviour. Providing
a model of autonomous agents that undertake this kind of norm reasoning is the aim of this paper
Reddenings of FGK supergiants and classical Cepheids from spectroscopic data
Accurate and homogeneous atmospheric parameters (Teff, log (g), Vt, [Fe/H])
are derived for 74 FGK non-variable supergiants from high-resolution, high
signal-to-noise ratio, echelle spectra. Extremely high precision for the
inferred effective temperatures (10-40 K) is achieved by using the line-depth
ratio method. The new data are combined with atmospheric values for 164
classical Cepheids, observed at 675 different pulsation phases, taken from our
previously published studies. The derived values are correlated with unreddened
B-V colours compiled from the literature for the investigated stars in order to
obtain an empirical relationship of the form: (B-V)o = 57.984 - 10.3587(log
Teff)^2 + 1.67572(log Teff)^3 - 3.356(log (g)) + 0.0321(Vt) + 0.2615[Fe/H] +
0.8833((log (g))(log Teff)). The expression is used to estimate colour excesses
E(B-V) for individual supergiants and classical Cepheids, with a precision of
+-0.05 mag. for supergiants and Cepheids with n=1-2 spectra, reaching +-0.025
mag. for Cepheids with n>2 spectra, matching uncertainties for the most
sophisticated photometric techniques. The reddening scale is also a close match
to the system of space reddenings for Cepheids. The application range is for
spectral types F0--K0 and luminosity classes I and II.Comment: accepted for publication (MNRAS
Statistics of quantum transmission in one dimension with broad disorder
We study the statistics of quantum transmission through a one-dimensional
disordered system modelled by a sequence of independent scattering units. Each
unit is characterized by its length and by its action, which is proportional to
the logarithm of the transmission probability through this unit. Unit actions
and lengths are independent random variables, with a common distribution that
is either narrow or broad. This investigation is motivated by results on
disordered systems with non-stationary random potentials whose fluctuations
grow with distance.
In the statistical ensemble at fixed total sample length four phases can be
distinguished, according to the values of the indices characterizing the
distribution of the unit actions and lengths. The sample action, which is
proportional to the logarithm of the conductance across the sample, is found to
obey a fluctuating scaling law, and therefore to be non-self-averaging, in
three of the four phases. According to the values of the two above mentioned
indices, the sample action may typically grow less rapidly than linearly with
the sample length (underlocalization), more rapidly than linearly
(superlocalization), or linearly but with non-trivial sample-to-sample
fluctuations (fluctuating localization).Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl
Structure of the stationary state of the asymmetric target process
We introduce a novel migration process, the target process. This process is
dual to the zero-range process (ZRP) in the sense that, while for the ZRP the
rate of transfer of a particle only depends on the occupation of the departure
site, it only depends on the occupation of the arrival site for the target
process. More precisely, duality associates to a given ZRP a unique target
process, and vice-versa. If the dynamics is symmetric, i.e., in the absence of
a bias, both processes have the same stationary-state product measure. In this
work we focus our interest on the situation where the latter measure exhibits a
continuous condensation transition at some finite critical density ,
irrespective of the dimensionality. The novelty comes from the case of
asymmetric dynamics, where the target process has a nontrivial fluctuating
stationary state, whose characteristics depend on the dimensionality. In one
dimension, the system remains homogeneous at any finite density. An alternating
scenario however prevails in the high-density regime: typical configurations
consist of long alternating sequences of highly occupied and less occupied
sites. The local density of the latter is equal to and their
occupation distribution is critical. In dimension two and above, the asymmetric
target process exhibits a phase transition at a threshold density much
larger than . The system is homogeneous at any density below ,
whereas for higher densities it exhibits an extended condensate elongated along
the direction of the mean current, on top of a critical background with density
.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figure
Caractérisation des sous-produits d'oxydation des boues en conditions sous-critiques et supercritiques
L'élimination de la matière organique et la réduction de volume des boues peuvent être obtenues par incinération, par oxydation sous pression en milieu humide ("wet air oxidation") ou par combustion en eau supercritique ("supercritical water oxidation"). Une étude en autoclave agité a permis de comparer sur une même boue d'épuration les performances des deux techniques d'oxydation voie humide et d'oxydation supercritique, en mettant l'accent sur les sous-produits résiduels en phase liquide et la composition de la phase gaz. Les résultats obtenus montrent que l'élimination de la DCO dépend fortement de la température: l'abattement de la DCO passe de 70 % à 235 °C à 94 % à 430 °C. L'azote organique de la boue est transformé en NH4+ mais seule une élimination limitée de l'azote totale est obtenue à 430 °C. Les sous-produits résiduels dans la phase liquide sont constitués en majorité d'acides gras, d'aldéhydes et de cétones, l'acide acétique étant prédominant. Hormis le CO2, les sous-produits gazeux majeurs formés par des réactions complexes comme la pyrolyse, le réformage et la méthanation sont CO, H2 et CH4. Dans les conditions supercritiques, tous les sous-produits gazeux sont fortement oxydés. L'augmentation de la température de traitement permet d'obtenir un résidu solide de plus en plus inerte, les cendres obtenues en conditions supercritiques contenant moins de 1 % de matière organique. Les performances des deux procédés étudiés laissent envisager leur développement à moyen terme comme voies alternatives d'élimination des boues.ContextAs the number of wastewater treatment plants increases, and the efficiency of treatment improves, the problem of how to dispose of the ever increasing amounts of generated sludge has intensified. For the beginning of the next century 1 million tons of sludge will be produced annually in France; disposal in landfills will be impossible and agricultural use could be limited by tight quality standards. Therefore, the development of effective and acceptable sludge processes is urgently needed.Destruction of organic matter in sludge and large reductions in sludge volume are achieved either by incineration or by wet air oxidation (WAO), which needs no fuel and generates no smoke, fly ash or emissions of NOx and SO2. Supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) offers an attractive alternative. Water, above its vapor-liquid critical point of 374°C and 221 bar, is an excellent solvent for organic compounds and becomes completely miscible with oxygen. Reported results of sewage sludge SCWO demonstrate rapid and effective treatment. The objective of this study was to compare sub- and supercritical water oxidation of sludge in terms of organic matter destruction and formation of by-products in both gas and liquid phases. MethodologyOxidation of sludge was studied in a 0.5 L batch reactor rated for 450°C-300 bar. The raw material was a biological sludge containing 4% solids with a chemical oxygen demand (COD) value of 52 g/L. In the standard experimental procedure, 100 mL sludge were heated up to reaction temperature and oxygen was then introduced in 50% excess with respect to COD. Heating was maintained during 1 hour before slow cooling to room temperature. The overall organic destruction was quantified in terms of total organic carbon (TOC) and COD. Gas and liquid phases sampled at room temperature after reaction were analyzed by gas chromatography (GC). Sulfur and nitrogen species were also analyzed.ResultsWhen the temperature increased from 210 to 383°C, COD destruction increased significantly (Table 1). At 383°C, a COD destruction efficiency of 94.3% was obtained. However, at 430°C, organic matter oxidation was only marginally improved. In WAO tests, considerable acetic acid was produced and remained in the substrate. The produced acetic acid was oxidized rapidly under SCWO conditions. Surprisingly, the concentrations of the other volatile fatty acids (VFA) remained approximately constant between 310 and 430°C (Table 2). In addition to VFA, which represent ca. 50% of the residual COD, oxygenated organic compounds such as aldehydes, ketones and alcohols were produced (Table 3). The data in Table 4 show that decomposition of organic nitrogen compounds into ammonia was completed at 383°C, while nitrates were reduced to N2 by reaction with organic matter and ammonia. NOx were not detected in the gas phase. The low reactivity of ammonia in supercritical water had been previously demonstrated. At 430°C, ammonia removal from sludge was limited to 15%. On the other hand, even in WAO conditions all sulfur species were totally converted to sulfate. Under subcritical conditions, the gas phase contained significant concentrations of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in addition to water, residual oxygen and carbon dioxide. Traces of methane and C2-C3 hydrocarbons were also detected (Figs. 1 and 2). These gases result from a complex chemistry including pyrolysis, steam reforming and water-gas shift. Under supercritical conditions, all these compounds were extensively eliminated by oxidation. Under supercritical conditions the residual solids contained less than 1% organic matter. By X-ray diffraction hydroxyapatite, quartz and kaliophilite were identified in the residual solids.These results confirm that supercritical water oxidation is a new sludge treatment concept of great interest. The degree of conversion of organic carbon is high, while liquid and especially gaseous by- products are produced in minor amounts compared to subcritical conditions. Temperatures higher than 430°C would be needed for substantial nitrogen removal
Dynamics at the angle of repose: jamming, bistability, and collapse
When a sandpile relaxes under vibration, it is known that its measured angle
of repose is bistable in a range of values bounded by a material-dependent
maximal angle of stability; thus, at the same angle of repose, a sandpile can
be stationary or avalanching, depending on its history. In the nearly jammed
slow dynamical regime, sandpile collapse to a zero angle of repose can also
occur, as a rare event. We claim here that fluctuations of {\it dilatancy} (or
local density) are the key ingredient that can explain such varied phenomena.
In this work, we model the dynamics of the angle of repose and of the density
fluctuations, in the presence of external noise, by means of coupled stochastic
equations. Among other things, we are able to describe sandpile collapse in
terms of an activated process, where an effective temperature (related to the
density as well as to the external vibration intensity) competes against the
configurational barriers created by the density fluctuations.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure. Minor changes and update
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