357 research outputs found
Thermodynamics of nano-cluster phases: a unifying theory
We propose a unifying, analytical theory accounting for the self-organization
of colloidal systems in nano- or micro-cluster phases. We predict the
distribution of cluter sizes with respect to interaction parameters and colloid
concentration. In particular, we anticipate a proportionality regime where the
mean cluster size grows proportionally to the concentration, as observed in
several experiments. We emphasize the interest of a predictive theory in soft
matter, nano-technologies and biophysics.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figur
Charged inclusion in nematic liquid crystals
We present a general theory of liquid crystals under inhomogeneous electric
field in a Ginzburg-Landau scheme. The molecular orientation can be deformed by
electric field when the dielectric tensor is orientation-dependent. We then
investigate the influence of a charged particle on the orientation order in a
nematic state. The director is aligned either along or perpendicular to the
local electric field around the charge, depending on the sign of the dielectric
anisotropy. The deformation becomes stronger with increasing the ratio ,
where is the charge and is the radius of the particle. Numerical
analysis shows the presence of defects around the particle for large .
They are nanometer-scale defects for microscopic ions. If the dielectric
anisotropy is positive, a Saturn ring defect appears. If it is negative, a pair
of point defects appear apart from the particle surface, each being connected
to the surface by a disclination line segment.Comment: 12 figure
Temperature and precipitation effects on agrarian economy in late imperial China
published_or_final_versio
Observation of the onset of strong scattering on high frequency acoustic phonons in densified silica glass
The linewidth of longitudinal acoustic waves in densified silica glass is
obtained by inelastic x-ray scattering. It increases with a high power alpha of
the frequency up to a crossover where the waves experience strong scattering.
We find that \alpha is at least 4, and probably larger. Resonance and
hybridization of acoustic waves with the boson-peak modes seems to be a more
likely explanation for these findings than Rayleigh scattering from disorder.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter
The nature of the short wavelength excitations in vitreous silica: X-Rays Brillouin scattering study
The dynamical structure factor (S(Q,E)) of vitreous silica has been measured
by Inelastic X-ray Scattering varying the exchanged wavevector (Q) at fixed
exchanged energy (E) - an experimental procedure that, contrary to the usual
one at constant Q, provides spectra with much better identified inelastic
features. This allows the first direct evidence of Brillouin peaks in the
S(Q,E) of SiO_2 at energies above the Boson Peak (BP) energy, a finding that
excludes the possibility that the BP marks the transition from propagating to
localised dynamics in glasses.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figures. To appear in Physical Review Letter
Acoustic damping in LiO-2BO glass observed by inelastic x-ray and optical Brillouin scattering
The dynamic structure factor of lithium-diborate glass has been measured at
several values of the momentum transfer using high resolution inelastic
x-ray scattering. Much attention has been devoted to the low -range, below
the observed Ioffe-Regel crossover \qco{} 2.1 nm. We find that
below \qco{}, the linewidth of longitudinal acoustic waves increases with a
high power of either , or of the frequency , up to the crossover
frequency \OMco{} 9 meV that nearly coincides with the center of the
boson peak. This new finding strongly supports the view that resonance and
hybridization of acoustic waves with a distribution of rather local low
frequency modes forming the boson peak is responsible for the end of acoustic
branches in strong glasses. Further, we present high resolution Brillouin
light-scattering data obtained at much lower frequencies on the same sample.
These clearly rule out a simple -dependence of the acoustic damping
over the entire frequency range.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to the proceedings of IDMRCS 2005,
Lille, Franc
Assimilation of IASI partial tropospheric columns with an Ensemble Kalman Filter over Europe
Partial lower tropospheric ozone columns provided by the IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) instrument have been assimilated into a chemistry-transport model at continental scale (CHIMERE) using an Ensemble Square Root Kalman Filter (EnSRF). Analyses are made for the month of July 2007 over the European domain. Launched in 2006, aboard the MetOp-A satellite, IASI shows high sensitivity for ozone in the free troposphere and low sensitivity at the ground; therefore it is important to evaluate if assimilation of these observations can improve free tropospheric ozone, and possibly surface ozone. The analyses are validated against independent ozone observations from sondes, MOZAIC<sup>1</sup> aircraft and ground based stations (AIRBASE – the European Air quality dataBase) and compared with respect to the free run of CHIMERE. These comparisons show a decrease in error of 6 parts-per-billion (ppb) in the free troposphere over the Frankfurt area, and also a reduction of the root mean square error (respectively bias) at the surface of 19% (33%) for more than 90% of existing ground stations. This provides evidence of the potential of data assimilation of tropospheric IASI columns to better describe the tropospheric ozone distribution, including surface ozone, despite the lower sensitivity. <br><br> The changes in concentration resulting from the observational constraints were quantified and several geophysical explanations for the findings of this study were drawn. The corrections were most pronounced over Italy and the Mediterranean region, we noted an average reduction of 8–9 ppb in the free troposphere with respect to the free run, and still a reduction of 5.5 ppb at ground, likely due to a longer residence time of air masses in this part associated to the general circulation pattern (i.e. dominant western circulation) and to persistent anticyclonic conditions over the Mediterranean basin. This is an important geophysical result, since the ozone burden is large over this area, with impact on the radiative balance and air quality. <br><br><br> <sup>1</sup> Measurements of OZone, water vapour, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides by in-service AIrbus airCraft (<a href="http://mozaic.aero.obs-mip.fr/web/"target="_blank">http://mozaic.aero.obs-mip.fr/web/</a>)
Video object tracking by label propagation and backward projection
This paper presents an approach dedicated to the tracking of one or several semantic objects in a video shot.
A state of the art on spatio-temporal segmentation techniques allows us to introduce our own approach. It combines
three different steps: label prediction based on partition projection, local segmentation associated with a label
propagation, and classification by backward projection.
Experimental results highlight the visual quality obtained with this method. Different kinds of objects can be accurately
tracked in different kinds of video sequences.Cet article présente nos travaux sur le suivi d'objets dans un plan séquence.
Un état de l'art sur les techniques de segmentation spatio-temporelle nous permet d'introduire notre propre
méthode de suivi temporel d'objets. Elle est constituée de trois phases distinctes : une prédiction d'étiquettes
par projection de partition, une segmentation locale associée à une propagation d'étiquettes, et une
classification par rétro-projection. L'association de ces trois étapes cumule les avantages de chaque approche
pour un suivi rigoureux d'objets et réduit le temps de traitement de chaque image.
La qualité visuelle des résultats obtenus par cette méthode est illustrée en fin d'article. Pour cela nous avons
considéré le suivi d'objets ayant des caractéristiques différentes au niveau de leur composition et de leur
déplacement
High frequency sound waves in vitreous silica
We report a molecular dynamics simulation study of the sound waves in
vitreous silica in the mesoscopic exchanged momentum range. The calculated
dynamical structure factors are in quantitative agreement with recent
experimental inelastic neutron and x-ray scattering data. The analysis of the
longitudinal and transverse current spectra allows to discriminate between
opposite interpretations of the existing experimental data in favour of the
propagating nature of the high frequency sound waves.Comment: 4 pages, Revtex, 4 ps figures; to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett.,
February 198
- …