Critical exponents for the long-range Ising chain using a transfer matrix approach

The critical behavior of the Ising chain with long-range ferromagnetic interactions decaying with distance $r^\alpha$, $1<\alpha<2$, is investigated using a numerically efficient transfer matrix (TM) method. Finite size approximations to the infinite chain are considered, in which both the number of spins and the number of interaction constants can be independently increased. Systems with interactions between spins up to 18 sites apart and up to 2500 spins in the chain are considered. We obtain data for the critical exponents $\nu$ associated with the correlation length based on the Finite Range Scaling (FRS) hypothesis. FRS expressions require the evaluation of derivatives of the thermodynamical properties, which are obtained with the help of analytical recurrence expressions obtained within the TM framework. The Van den Broeck extrapolation procedure is applied in order to estimate the convergence of the exponents. The TM procedure reduces the dimension of the matrices and circumvents several numerical matrix operations.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, Conference NEXT Sigma Ph

Heat conduction in the hollow sphere with a power-law variation of the external heat transfer coefficient

The conduction phenomenon in an insulated sphere is re-worked through a dimensionless approach, where the heat transfer coefficient dependence on the external radius and on the surface temperature, as in the case of forced and free convection, is taken into account. Assuming a power law variation of the convection coefficient [1, 2], and using the results of Sparrow [3], equations and graphs for the most important dimensionless parameters are presented. The developed equations show, for example, that as the insulation thickness increases the heat transfer rate tends to a positive value, independent of the considered case: constant convection coefficient, forced or free convection.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V3J-42MP1M2-3/1/6228c6d77bbaac53e7833e6cd67d8ef

Heat conduction in the hollow sphere with a power-law variation of the external heat transfer coefficient

The conduction phenomenon in an insulated sphere is re-worked through a dimensionless approach, where the heat transfer coefficient dependence on the external radius and on the surface temperature, as in the case of forced and free convection, is taken into account. Assuming a power law variation of the convection coefficient [1, 2], and using the results of Sparrow [3], equations and graphs for the most important dimensionless parameters are presented. The developed equations show, for example, that as the insulation thickness increases the heat transfer rate tends to a positive value, independent of the considered case: constant convection coefficient, forced or free convection.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V3J-42MP1M2-3/1/6228c6d77bbaac53e7833e6cd67d8ef

On the effect of the wall slip boundary conditon

This work describes the implementation and assessment of the wall slip boundary condition in a 3D numerical modelling code, based on the finite volume method, that is being developed by the research team. Several phenomenological models relating the velocity and the shear stress at the wall were implemented. The capabilities of the new numerical code are illustrated with three case studies where the wall slip boundary conditions play an important role, namely the flow in a smooth contraction, the stick-slip phenomenon an the flow in a profile extrusion die. The results obtained are qualitatively in accordance with the theoretical expectations and evidence the importance of wall slip

Purely elastic flow instabilities in microscale cross-slot devices

We present an experimental investigation of viscoelastic fluid flow in a cross-slot microgeometry under low Reynolds number flow conditions. By using several viscoelastic fluids, we investigate the effects of the microchannel bounding walls and of the polymer solution concentration on the flow patterns. We demonstrate that for concentrated polymer solutions, the flow undergoes a bifurcation above a critical Weissenberg number (Wi) in which the flow becomes asymmetric but remains steady. The appearance of this elastic instability depends on the channel aspect ratio, defined as the ratio between the depth and the width of the channels. At high aspect ratios, when bounding wall effects are reduced, two types of elastic instabilities were observed, one in which the flow becomes asymmetric and steady, followed by a second instability at higher Wi, in which the flow becomes time-dependent. When the aspect ratio decreases, the bounding walls have a stabilizing effect preventing the occurrence of the steady asymmetric flow and postponing the transition to unsteady flow to higher Wi. For less concentrated solutions, the first elastic instability to steady asymmetric flow is absent and only the time-dependent flow instability is observed

Universal Critical Behavior of Aperiodic Ferromagnetic Models

We investigate the effects of geometric fluctuations, associated with aperiodic exchange interactions, on the critical behavior of $q$-state ferromagnetic Potts models on generalized diamond hierarchical lattices. For layered exchange interactions according to some two-letter substitutional sequences, and irrelevant geometric fluctuations, the exact recursion relations in parameter space display a non-trivial diagonal fixed point that governs the universal critical behavior. For relevant fluctuations, this fixed point becomes fully unstable, and we show the apperance of a two-cycle which is associated with a novel critical behavior. We use scaling arguments to calculate the critical exponent $\alpha$ of the specific heat, which turns out to be different from the value for the uniform case. We check the scaling predictions by a direct numerical analysis of the singularity of the thermodynamic free-energy. The agreement between scaling and direct calculations is excellent for stronger singularities (large values of $q$). The critical exponents do not depend on the strengths of the exchange interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure (included), RevTeX, submitted to Phys. Rev. E as a Rapid Communicatio

Chiropractic Manipulation: Reasons for Concern?

Chiropractic's popularity is rising among the general population. Moreover, few studies have been conducted to properly evaluate its safety. We report three cases of serious neurological adverse events in patients treated with chiropractic manipulation. The first case is a 41 years old woman who developed a vertebro-basilar stroke 48 h after cervical manipulation. The second case represents a 68 years old woman who presented a neuropraxic injury of both radial nerves after three sessions of spinal manipulation. The last case is a 34 years old man who developed a cervical epidural haematoma after a chiropractic treatment for neck pain. In all three cases there were criteria to consider a causality relation between the neurological adverse events and the chiropractic manipulation. The described serious adverse events promptly recommend the implementation of a risk alert system

Preliminary Analysis of Slope Instability Processes Triggered in the Guilherme Creek Watershed (Nordeste Municipality, S. Miguel Island, Azores)

The Nordeste Volcanic Complex is located in the NE sector of S. Miguel Island (Azores) and it is composed of geological formations with about 4 million years old, extremely weathered. This fact, allied to the steep slopes on the area, promotes the occurrence of slope instability phenomena. In particular, the Guilherme Creek watershed has a high recurrence of this type of geological hazard, mainly triggered by precipitation, which promotes a high density of landslides in the area. Considering as main objective the landslide susceptibility analysis in the Guilherme Creek watershed, using statistical/probabilistic methods, it is ongoing an inventory process of these phenomena in a GIS, based on the aerial photography interpretation and fieldwork. Currently, the inventory is concluded based on aerial photography from 1982 and orthorectified aerial photography from 1995 to 2005. In order to validate and update the landslide inventory produced in the office, fieldwork has been carried out using, besides more traditional techniques, a drone (DJI Phatom 4 PRO). This tool has allowed studying steep slopes, which would otherwise be impossible to access in an area with a high forest density and very steep slopes. Until now, 517 landslides have been identified in the study area, mainly belonging to slides and falls typologies.GeoBioTe

Abrupt transitions from reinfections in social contagions

The study of social contagion processes is of utmost importance for understanding the emergence of collective social states. Here we introduce reinfections in the Susceptible-Infected-Recovered (SIR) model so to incorporate the possibility that an individual that ceases its activity (recovered) can resume it due to secondary infections from its active (infected) peers. We show that, when primary infection is less frequent than secondary ones, a typical situation in many social contagion processes, the epidemic transition turns from smooth to abrupt. As a consequence, macroscopic collective states can be triggered from the inactive (healthy) regime by a small increment of the primary contagion rate