Fractional Lindstedt series

The parametric equations of the surfaces on which highly resonant quasi-periodic motions develop (lower-dimensional tori) cannot be analytically continued, in general, in the perturbation parameter, i.e. they are not analytic functions of the perturbation parameter. However rather generally quasi-periodic motions whose frequencies satisfy only one rational relation ("resonances of order 1") admit formal perturbation expansions in terms of a fractional power of the perturbation parameter, depending on the degeneration of the resonance. We find conditions for this to happen, and in such a case we prove that the formal expansion is convergent after suitable resummation.Comment: 40 pages, 6 figure

Twistless KAM tori

A selfcontained proof of the KAM theorem in the Thirring model is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 50 K, Plain Tex, generates one figure named gvnn.p

Spin induced nonlinearities in the electron MHD regime

We consider the influence of the electron spin on the nonlinear propagation of whistler waves. For this purpose a recently developed electron two-fluid model, where the spin up- and down populations are treated as different fluids, is adapted to the electron MHD regime. We then derive a nonlinear Schrodinger equation for whistler waves, and compare the coefficients of nonlinearity with and without spin effects. The relative importance of spin effects depend on the plasma density and temperature as well as the external magnetic field strength and the wave frequency. The significance of our results to various plasmas are discussed.Comment: 5 page

Electrostatic pair creation and recombination in quantum plasmas

The collective production of electron-positron pairs by electrostatic waves in quantum plasmas is investigated. In particular, a semi-classical governing set of equation for a self-consistent treatment of pair creation by the Schwinger mechanism in a quantum plasma is derived.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in JETP Letter

Numerical simulations of the Fourier transformed Vlasov-Maxwell system in higher dimensions --- Theory and applications

We present a review of recent developments of simulations of the Vlasov-Maxwell system of equations using a Fourier transform method in velocity space. In this method, the distribution functions for electrons and ions are Fourier transformed in velocity space, and the resulting set of equations are solved numerically. In the original Vlasov equation, phase mixing may lead to an oscillatory behavior and sharp gradients of the distribution function in velocity space, which is problematic in simulations where it can lead to unphysical electric fields and instabilities and to the recurrence effect where parts of the initial condition recur in the simulation. The particle distribution function is in general smoother in the Fourier transformed velocity space, which is desirable for the numerical approximations. By designing outflow boundary conditions in the Fourier transformed velocity space, the highest oscillating terms are allowed to propagate out through the boundary and are removed from the calculations, thereby strongly reducing the numerical recurrence effect. The outflow boundary conditions in higher dimensions including electromagnetic effects are discussed. The Fourier transform method is also suitable to solve the Fourier transformed Wigner equation, which is the quantum mechanical analogue of the Vlasov equation for classical particles.Comment: 41 pages, 19 figures. To be published in Transport Theory and Statistical Physics. Proceedings of the VLASOVIA 2009 Workshop, CIRM, Luminy, Marseilles, France, 31 August - 4 September 200

Resummation of perturbation series and reducibility for Bryuno skew-product flows

We consider skew-product systems on T^d x SL(2,R) for Bryuno base flows close to constant coefficients, depending on a parameter, in any dimension d, and we prove reducibility for a large measure set of values of the parameter. The proof is based on a resummation procedure of the formal power series for the conjugation, and uses techniques of renormalisation group in quantum field theory.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figure

High-quality ion beams by irradiating a nano-structured target with a petawatt laser pulse

We present a novel laser based ion acceleration scheme, where a petawatt circularly polarized laser pulse is shot on an ultra-thin (nano-scale) double-layer target. Our scheme allows the production of high-quality light ion beams with both energy and angular dispersion controllable by the target properties. We show that extraction of all electrons from the target by radiation pressure can lead to a very effective two step acceleration process for light ions if the target is designed correctly. Relativistic protons should be obtainable with pulse powers of a few petawatt. Careful analytical modeling yields estimates for characteristic beam parameters and requirements on the laser pulse quality, in excellent agreement with one and two-dimensional Particle-in Cell simulations.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted in New. J. Phy

Predicting delay factors when chipping wood at forest roadside landings

Chipping of bulky biomass assortments at roadside landings is a common and costly step in the biomass-to-energy supply chain. This operation normally involves one chipping unit and one or several transport trucks working together for simultaneous chipping and chip transport to a terminal or end user. Reducing the delay factors in these operations is a relevant ambition for lowering supply costs. A method to estimate organizational delay based on: (1) the capacity ratio between the transport and the chipper, (2) the use of buffer storage, and (3) the number of transport units involved is suggested here. Other delays will also be present, and some of these may relate to the working conditions at the landing. A method to set a landing functionality index based on characteristics of the forest landing is also suggested. A total of 14 roadside chipping operations were assessed and the operators were interviewed to address the impact of machinery configuration and landing characteristics on machine utilization. At most sites, the chipper was the more productive part, and the chipper utilization was to a large extent limited by organizational delay. Still the utilization of the transport units varied between 37 and 97%, of which some 36% of the variation was explained by the landing functionality index. Knowledge from the work presented here should be a good starting point for improving biomass supply planning and supply chain configuration.acceptedVersio

New Precision Electroweak Tests in Supergravity Models

We update the analysis of the precision electroweak tests in terms of 4 epsilon parameters, $\epsilon_{1,2,3,b}$, to obtain more accurate experimental values of them by taking into account the new LEP data released at the 28th ICHEP (1996, Poland). We also compute $\epsilon_1$ and $\epsilon_b$ in the context of the no-scale $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity model to obtain the updated constraints by imposing the correlated constraints in terms of the experimental ellipses in the $\epsilon_1-\epsilon_b$ plane and also by imposing the new bound on the lightest chargino mass, $m_{\chi^\pm_1}\gtrsim 79$ $GeV$. Upon imposing these new experimental results, we find that the situations in the no-scale model are much more favorable than those in the standard model, and if $m_t\gtrsim 170$ $GeV$, then the allowed regions at the 95% C.~L. in the no-scale model are $\tan\beta\gtrsim 4$ and $m_{\chi^\pm_1}\lesssim 120 (82)$ $GeV$ for $\mu>0 (\mu<0)$, which are in fact much more stringent than in our previous analysis. Therefore, assuming that $m_t\gtrsim 170$ $GeV$, if the lightest chargino mass bound were to be pushed up only by a few GeV, the sign on the Higgs mixing term $\mu$ in the no-scale model could well be determined from the $\epsilon_1-\epsilon_b$ constraint to be positive at the 95% C.~L. At any rate, better accuracy in the measured $m_t$ from the Tevatron in the near future combined with the LEP data is most likely to provide a decisive test of the no-scale $SU(5)\times U(1)$ supergravity model.Comment: 15 pages, REVTEX, 1 figure (not included but available as a ps file from [email protected]