Exact on-event expressions for discrete potential systems

The properties of systems composed of atoms interacting though discrete potentials are dictated by a series of events which occur between pairs of atoms. There are only four basic event types for pairwise discrete potentials and the square-well/shoulder systems studied here exhibit them all. Closed analytical expressions are derived for the on-event kinetic energy distribution functions for an atom, which are distinct from the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution function. Exact expressions are derived that directly relate the pressure and temperature of equilibrium discrete potential systems to the rates of each type of event. The pressure can be determined from knowledge of only the rate of core and bounce events. The temperature is given by the ratio of the number of bounce events to the number of disassociation/association events. All these expressions are validated with event-driven molecular dynamics simulations and agree with the data within the statistical precision of the simulations

Ending Neglect of older people in the response to Humanitarian Emergencies

Older people make up a significant and growing number of those affected by humanitarian crises, yet they are often not sought out or prioritised within the humanitarian response. Humanitarian agencies, donors, and international bodies neglect older people's health and nutrition. The gaps in knowledge and research about the needs of older people in emergencies are considerable. Older people are not monitored in emergencies and they are not prioritised despite evidence of disproportionate mortality and morbidity in this group. We call for policy changes by humanitarian agencies and donors to ensure that the needs of this vulnerable group are met

Destabilizing Taylor-Couette flow with suction

We consider the effect of radial fluid injection and suction on Taylor-Couette flow. Injection at the outer cylinder and suction at the inner cylinder generally results in a linearly unstable steady spiralling flow, even for cylindrical shears that are linearly stable in the absence of a radial flux. We study nonlinear aspects of the unstable motions with the energy stability method. Our results, though specialized, may have implications for drag reduction by suction, accretion in astrophysical disks, and perhaps even in the flow in the earth's polar vortex.Comment: 34 pages, 9 figure

Effect of Rossby and Alfv\'{e}n waves on the dynamics of the tachocline

To understand magnetic diffusion, momentum transport, and mixing in the interior of the sun, we consider an idealized model of the tachocline, namely magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) turbulence on a $\beta$ plane subject to a large scale shear (provided by the latitudinal differential rotation). This model enables us to self-consistently derive the influence of shear, Rossby and Alfv\'{e}n waves on the transport properties of turbulence. In the strong magnetic field regime, we find that the turbulent viscosity and diffusivity are reduced by magnetic fields only, similarly to the two-dimensional MHD case (without Rossby waves). In the weak magnetic field regime, we find a crossover scale ($L\_R$) from a Alfv\'{e}n dominated regime (on small scales) to a Rossby dominated regime (on large scales). For parameter values typical of the tachocline, $L\_R$ is larger that the solar radius so that Rossby waves are unlikely to play an important role in the transport of magnetic field and angular momentum. This is mainly due to the enhancement of magnetic back-reaction by shearing which efficiently generates small scales, thus strong currents

Characteristic value determination from small samples

The paper deals with the characteristic value determination from relatively small samples. When the distribution and its parameters of a random variable are known, the characteristic value is deterministic quantity. However, in practical problems the parameters of distribution are unknown and can only be estimated from random samples. Therefore the characteristic value is by itself a random variable. The estimates of characteristic values are strongly dependant on the distribution of random variable. In the paper we show the analytical solution for characteristic value determination from random samples of normal and lognormal random variables. The confirmation of analytical results is accomplished by the use of computer simulations. For Gumbel, and Weibull distribution the characteristic value estimates are obtained numerically by combination of simulations and bisection method. In the paper the numerical results are presented for 5% characteristic values with 75% confidence interval, which is in accord with the majority of European building standards. The proposed approach is demonstrated on the data of experimentally obtained bending strengths of finger jointed wooden beams. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Three-dimensional stability of the solar tachocline

The three-dimensional, hydrodynamic stability of the solar tachocline is investigated based on a rotation profile as a function of both latitude and radius. By varying the amplitude of the latitudinal differential rotation, we find linear stability limits at various Reynolds numbers by numerical computations. We repeated the computations with different latitudinal and radial dependences of the angular velocity. The stability limits are all higher than those previously found from two-dimensional approximations and higher than the shear expected in the Sun. It is concluded that any part of the tachocline which is radiative is hydrodynamically stable against small perturbations.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures, accepted by Astron. & Astrophy

Self-Similar Blowup Solutions to the 2-Component Camassa-Holm Equations

In this article, we study the self-similar solutions of the 2-component Camassa-Holm equations% \begin{equation} \left\{ \begin{array} [c]{c}% \rho_{t}+u\rho_{x}+\rho u_{x}=0 m_{t}+2u_{x}m+um_{x}+\sigma\rho\rho_{x}=0 \end{array} \right. \end{equation} with \begin{equation} m=u-\alpha^{2}u_{xx}. \end{equation} By the separation method, we can obtain a class of blowup or global solutions for $\sigma=1$ or $-1$. In particular, for the integrable system with $\sigma=1$, we have the global solutions:% \begin{equation} \left\{ \begin{array} [c]{c}% \rho(t,x)=\left\{ \begin{array} [c]{c}% \frac{f\left( \eta\right) }{a(3t)^{1/3}},\text{ for }\eta^{2}<\frac {\alpha^{2}}{\xi} 0,\text{ for }\eta^{2}\geq\frac{\alpha^{2}}{\xi}% \end{array} \right. ,u(t,x)=\frac{\overset{\cdot}{a}(3t)}{a(3t)}x \overset{\cdot\cdot}{a}(s)-\frac{\xi}{3a(s)^{1/3}}=0,\text{ }a(0)=a_{0}% >0,\text{ }\overset{\cdot}{a}(0)=a_{1} f(\eta)=\xi\sqrt{-\frac{1}{\xi}\eta^{2}+\left( \frac{\alpha}{\xi}\right) ^{2}}% \end{array} \right. \end{equation} where $\eta=\frac{x}{a(s)^{1/3}}$ with $s=3t;$ $\xi>0$ and $\alpha\geq0$ are arbitrary constants.\newline Our analytical solutions could provide concrete examples for testing the validation and stabilities of numerical methods for the systems.Comment: 5 more figures can be found in the corresponding journal paper (J. Math. Phys. 51, 093524 (2010) ). Key Words: 2-Component Camassa-Holm Equations, Shallow Water System, Analytical Solutions, Blowup, Global, Self-Similar, Separation Method, Construction of Solutions, Moving Boundar

Bound States of the Klein-Gordon Equation for Woods-Saxon Potential With Position Dependent Mass

The effective mass Klein-Gordon equation in one dimension for the Woods-Saxon potential is solved by using the Nikiforov-Uvarov method. Energy eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenfunctions are computed. Results are also given for the constant mass case.Comment: 13 page

The formation of high-field magnetic white dwarfs from common envelopes

The origin of highly-magnetized white dwarfs has remained a mystery since their initial discovery. Recent observations indicate that the formation of high-field magnetic white dwarfs is intimately related to strong binary interactions during post-main-sequence phases of stellar evolution. If a low-mass companion, such as a planet, brown dwarf, or low-mass star is engulfed by a post-main-sequence giant, the hydrodynamic drag in the envelope of the giant leads to a reduction of the companion's orbit. Sufficiently low-mass companions in-spiral until they are shredded by the strong gravitational tides near the white dwarf core. Subsequent formation of a super-Eddington accretion disk from the disrupted companion inside a common envelope can dramatically amplify magnetic fields via a dynamo. Here, we show that these disk-generated fields are sufficiently strong to explain the observed range of magnetic field strengths for isolated, high-field magnetic white dwarfs. A higher-mass binary analogue may also contribute to the origin of magnetar fields.Comment: Accepted to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Under PNAS embargo until time of publicatio