Analytic expression for Taylor-Couette stability boundary

We analyze the mechanism that determines the boundary of stability in Taylor-Couette flow. By simple physical argument we derive an analytic expression to approximate the stability line for all radius ratios and all speed ratios, for co- and counterrotating cylinders. The expression includes viscosity and so generalizes Rayleigh's criterion. We achieve agreement with linear stability theory and with experiments in the whole parameter space. Explicit formulae are given for limiting cases.Comment: 6 pages (LaTeX with REVTEX) including 4 figures (Postscript) Revised, discussion of two additional references. See also http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~esse

Extended phase diagram of the Lorenz model

The parameter dependence of the various attractive solutions of the three variable nonlinear Lorenz model equations for thermal convection in Rayleigh-B\'enard flow is studied. Its bifurcation structure has commonly been investigated as a function of r, the normalized Rayleigh number, at fixed Prandtl number \sigma. The present work extends the analysis to the entire (r,\sigma) parameter plane. An onion like periodic pattern is found which is due to the alternating stability of symmetric and non-symmetric periodic orbits. This periodic pattern is explained by considering non-trivial limits of large r and \sigma. In addition to the limit which was previously analyzed by Sparrow, we identify two more distinct asymptotic regimes in which either \sigma/r or \sigma^2/r is constant. In both limits the dynamics is approximately described by Airy functions whence the periodicity in parameter space can be calculated analytically. Furthermore, some observations about sequences of bifurcations and coexistence of attractors, periodic as well as chaotic, are reported.Comment: 36 pages, 20 figure

Finite size corrections to scaling in high Reynolds number turbulence

We study analytically and numerically the corrections to scaling in turbulence which arise due to the finite ratio of the outer scale $L$ of turbulence to the viscous scale $\eta$, i.e., they are due to finite size effects as anisotropic forcing or boundary conditions at large scales. We find that the deviations \dzm from the classical Kolmogorov scaling $\zeta_m = m/3$ of the velocity moments \langle |\u(\k)|^m\rangle \propto k^{-\zeta_m} decrease like $\delta\zeta_m (Re) =c_m Re^{-3/10}$. Our numerics employ a reduced wave vector set approximation for which the small scale structures are not fully resolved. Within this approximation we do not find $Re$ independent anomalous scaling within the inertial subrange. If anomalous scaling in the inertial subrange can be verified in the large $Re$ limit, this supports the suggestion that small scale structures should be responsible, originating from viscosity either in the bulk (vortex tubes or sheets) or from the boundary layers (plumes or swirls)

Classification of phase transitions of finite Bose-Einstein condensates in power law traps by Fisher zeros

We present a detailed description of a classification scheme for phase transitions in finite systems based on the distribution of Fisher zeros of the canonical partition function in the complex temperature plane. We apply this scheme to finite Bose-systems in power law traps within a semi-analytic approach with a continuous one-particle density of states $\Omega(E)\sim E^{d-1}$ for different values of $d$ and to a three dimensional harmonically confined ideal Bose-gas with discrete energy levels. Our results indicate that the order of the Bose-Einstein condensation phase transition sensitively depends on the confining potential.Comment: 7 pages, 9 eps-figures, For recent information on physics of small systems see "http://www.smallsystems.de

Yang-Lee zeroes for an urn model for the separation of sand

We apply the Yang-Lee theory of phase transitions to an urn model of separation of sand. The effective partition function of this nonequilibrium system can be expressed as a polynomial of the size-dependent effective fugacity $z$. Numerical calculations show that in the thermodynamic limit, the zeros of the effective partition function are located on the unit circle in the complex $z$-plane. In the complex plane of the actual control parameter certain roots converge to the transition point of the model. Thus the Yang-Lee theory can be applied to a wider class of nonequilibrium systems than those considered previously.Comment: 4 pages, 3 eps figures include

Large electroweak penguin contribution in B -> K pi and pi pi decay modes

We discuss about a possibility of large electroweak penguin contribution in B -> K pi and pi pi from recent experimental data. The experimental data may be suggesting that there are some discrepancies between the data and theoretical estimation in the branching ratios of them. In B -> K pi decays, to explain it, a large electroweak penguin contribution and large strong phase differences seem to be needed. The contributions should appear also in B -> pi pi. We show, as an example, a solution to solve the discrepancies in both B -> K pi and B -> pi pi. However the magnitude of the parameters and the strong phase estimated from experimental data are quite large compared with the theoretical estimations. It may be suggesting some new physics effects are including in these processes. We will have to discuss about the dependence of the new physics. To explain both modes at once, we may need large electroweak penguin contribution with new weak phases and some SU(3) breaking effects by new physics in both QCD and electroweak penguin type processes.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figure

Prandtl-Blasius temperature and velocity boundary layer profiles in turbulent Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection

The shape of velocity and temperature profiles near the horizontal conducting plates in turbulent Rayleigh-B\'{e}nard convection are studied numerically and experimentally over the Rayleigh number range $10^8\lesssim Ra\lesssim3\times10^{11}$ and the Prandtl number range $0.7\lesssim Pr\lesssim5.4$. The results show that both the temperature and velocity profiles well agree with the classical Prandtl-Blasius laminar boundary-layer profiles, if they are re-sampled in the respective dynamical reference frames that fluctuate with the instantaneous thermal and velocity boundary-layer thicknesses.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Fractal dimension crossovers in turbulent passive scalar signals

The fractal dimension $\delta_g^{(1)}$ of turbulent passive scalar signals is calculated from the fluid dynamical equation. $\delta_g^{(1)}$ depends on the scale. For small Prandtl (or Schmidt) number $Pr<10^{-2}$ one gets two ranges, $\delta_g^{(1)}=1$ for small scale r and $\delta_g^{(1)}$=5/3 for large r, both as expected. But for large $Pr> 1$ one gets a third, intermediate range in which the signal is extremely wrinkled and has $\delta_g^{(1)}=2$. In that range the passive scalar structure function $D_\theta(r)$ has a plateau. We calculate the $Pr$-dependence of the crossovers. Comparison with a numerical reduced wave vector set calculation gives good agreement with our predictions.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex, 3 figures (postscript file on request

Bioinformatics

Motivation: Current methods that annotate conserved transcription factor binding sites in an alignment of two regulatory regions perform the alignment and annotation step separately and combine the results in the end. If the site descriptions are weak or the sequence similarity is low, the local gap structure of the alignment poses a problem in detecting the conserved sites. It is therefore desirable to have an approach that is able to simultaneously consider the alignment as well as possibly matching site locations. Results: With SimAnn we have developed a tool that serves exactly this purpose. By combining the annotation step and the alignment of the two sequences into one algorithm, it detects conserved sites more clearly. It has the additional advantage that all parameters are calculated based on statistical considerations. This allows for its successful application with any binding site model of interest. We present the algorithm and the approach for parameter selection and compare its performance with that of other, non-simultaneous methods on both simulated and real data. Availability: A command-line based C++ implementation of SimAnn is available from the authors upon request. In addition, we provide Perl scripts for calculating the input parameters based on statistical considerations

Semi-autonomous Intersection Collision Avoidance through Job-shop Scheduling

In this paper, we design a supervisor to prevent vehicle collisions at intersections. An intersection is modeled as an area containing multiple conflict points where vehicle paths cross in the future. At every time step, the supervisor determines whether there will be more than one vehicle in the vicinity of a conflict point at the same time. If there is, then an impending collision is detected, and the supervisor overrides the drivers to avoid collision. A major challenge in the design of a supervisor as opposed to an autonomous vehicle controller is to verify whether future collisions will occur based on the current drivers choices. This verification problem is particularly hard due to the large number of vehicles often involved in intersection collision, to the multitude of conflict points, and to the vehicles dynamics. In order to solve the verification problem, we translate the problem to a job-shop scheduling problem that yields equivalent answers. The job-shop scheduling problem can, in turn, be transformed into a mixed-integer linear program when the vehicle dynamics are first-order dynamics, and can thus be solved by using a commercial solver.Comment: Submitted to Hybrid Systems: Computation and Control (HSCC) 201