22,217 research outputs found
Plastic Deformation of 2D Crumpled Wires
When a single long piece of elastic wire is injected trough channels into a
confining two-dimensional cavity, a complex structure of hierarchical loops is
formed. In the limit of maximum packing density, these structures are described
by several scaling laws. In this paper it is investigated this packing process
but using plastic wires which give origin to completely irreversible structures
of different morphology. In particular, it is studied experimentally the
plastic deformation from circular to oblate configurations of crumpled wires,
obtained by the application of an axial strain. Among other things, it is shown
that in spite of plasticity, irreversibility, and very large deformations,
scaling is still observed.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure
On the Nonrelativistic Limit of the phi^4 Theory in 2+1 Dimensions
We study the nonrelativistic limit of the quantum theory of a real scalar
field with quartic self-interaction. The two body scattering amplitude is
written in such way as to separate the contributions of high and low energy
intermediary states. From this result and the two loop computation of the self
energy correction, we determine an effective nonrelativistic action.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, revte
Dynamics and control of measles in Portugal: Accessing the impact of anticipating the age for the first dose of MMR from 15 to 12 months of age
The all-time low incidence of measles in Portugal in the recent years, raises questions regarding whether the disease has been eliminated, the role of recent control measures, and the epidemiological consequences of the rise in the proportion of newborns to vaccinated mothers, as opposed to those born to mothers who acquired immunity by natural infection. We estimate the vaccination coverage against measles in Portugal. on a cohort-by-cohort basis, and incorporate this information into an age-structured seasonally-driven mathematical model aimed at reproducing measles dynamics in the past decades. The model reproduces documented trends in disease notifications and the serological profile of the Portuguese population, as estimated by a recent National Serological, Survey. We provide evidence that the effective reproduction number (R-e) of measles has been driven below 1 in Portugal, and that sustained measles elimination is crucially dependent upon the maintenance of a high (>95%) coverage with the MMR I vaccine in the future. If the vaccination coverage decreases to levels around 90% the anticipation of the first dose of the MMR I from 15 to 12 months of age, will. ensure that R-e remains below 1. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All. rights reserve
Structural properties of crumpled cream layers
The cream layer is a complex heterogeneous material of biological origin
which forms spontaneously at the air-milk interface. Here, it is studied the
crumpling of a single cream layer packing under its own weight at room
temperature in three-dimensional space. The structure obtained in these
circumstances has low volume fraction and anomalous fractal dimensions. Direct
means and noninvasive NMR imaging technique are used to investigate the
internal and external structure of these systems.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted in J. Phys. D: Appl. Phy
Theory of magnetic deflagration
Theory of magnetic deflagration (avalanches) in crystals of molecular magnets
has been developed. The phenomenon resembles the burning of a chemical
substance, with the Zeeman energy playing the role of the chemical energy.
Non-destructive reversible character of magnetic deflagration, as well as the
possibility to continuously tune the flammability of the crystal by changing
the magnetic field, makes molecular magnets an attractive toy system for a
detailed study of the burning process. Besides simplicity, new features, as
compared to the chemical burning, include possibility of quantum decay of
metastable spin states and strong temperature dependence of the heat capacity
and thermal conductivity. We obtain analytical and numerical solutions for
criteria of the ignition of magnetic deflagration, and compute the ignition
rate and the speed of the developed deflagration front.Comment: 17 Pages, 17 Figure caption
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