4,164 research outputs found
Solid flow drives surface nanopatterning by ion-beam irradiation
Ion Beam Sputtering (IBS) is known to produce surface nanopatterns over
macroscopic areas on a wide range of materials. However, in spite of the
technological potential of this route to nanostructuring, the physical process
by which these surfaces self-organize remains poorly under- stood. We have
performed detailed experiments of IBS on Si substrates that validate dynamical
and morphological predictions from a hydrodynamic description of the
phenomenon. Our results elucidate flow of a nanoscopically thin and highly
viscous surface layer, driven by the stress created by the ion-beam, as a
description of the system. This type of slow relaxation is akin to flow of
macroscopic solids like glaciers or lead pipes, that is driven by defect
dynamics.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
Coupling of morphology to surface transport in ion-beam irradiated surfaces. I. Oblique incidence
We propose and study a continuum model for the dynamics of amorphizable
surfaces undergoing ion-beam sputtering (IBS) at intermediate energies and
oblique incidence. After considering the current limitations of more standard
descriptions in which a single evolution equation is posed for the surface
height, we overcome (some of) them by explicitly formulating the dynamics of
the species that transport along the surface, and by coupling it to that of the
surface height proper. In this we follow recent proposals inspired by
``hydrodynamic'' descriptions of pattern formation in aeolian sand dunes and
ion-sputtered systems. From this enlarged model, and by exploiting the
time-scale separation among various dynamical processes in the system, we
derive a single height equation in which coefficients can be related to
experimental parameters. This equation generalizes those obtained by previous
continuum models and is able to account for many experimental features of
pattern formation by IBS at oblique incidence, such as the evolution of the
irradiation-induced amorphous layer, transverse ripple motion with non-uniform
velocity, ripple coarsening, onset of kinetic roughening and other.
Additionally, the dynamics of the full two-field model is compared with that of
the effective interface equation.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures. Movies of figures 6, 7, and 8 available at
http://gisc.uc3m.es/~javier/Movies
The impact of the Kasatochi eruption on the Moon's illumination during the August 2008 lunar eclipse
The Moon's changeable aspect during a lunar eclipse is largely attributable
to variations in the refracted unscattered sunlight absorbed by the terrestrial
atmosphere that occur as the satellite crosses the Earth's shadow. The
contribution to the Moon's aspect from sunlight scattered at the Earth's
terminator is generally deemed minor. However, our analysis of a published
spectrum of the 16 August 2008 lunar eclipse shows that diffuse sunlight is a
major component of the measured spectrum at wavelengths shorter than 600 nm.
The conclusion is supported by two distinct features, namely the spectrum's
tail at short wavelengths and the unequal absorption by an oxygen collisional
complex at two nearby bands. Our findings are consistent with the presence of
the volcanic cloud reported at high northern latitudes following the 7-8 August
2008 eruption in Alaska of the Kasatochi volcano. The cloud both attenuates the
unscattered sunlight and enhances moderately the scattered component, thus
modifying the contrast between the two contributions.Comment: Accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letter
The Simple Non-degenerate Relativistic Gas: Statistical Properties and Brownian Motion
This paper shows a novel calculation of the mean square displacement of a
classical Brownian particle in a relativistic thermal bath. The result is
compared with the expressions obtained by other authors. Also, the
thermodynamic properties of a non-degenerate simple relativistic gas are
reviewed in terms of a treatment performed in velocity space.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Limb imaging of the Venus O2 visible nightglow with the Venus Monitoring Camera
We investigated the Venus O2 visible nightglow with imagery from the Venus
Monitoring Camera on Venus Express. Drawing from data collected between April
2007 and January 2011, we study the global distribution of this emission,
discovered in the late 70s by the Venera 9 and 10 missions. The inferred
limb-viewing intensities are on the order of 150 kiloRayleighs at the lower
latitudes and seem to drop somewhat towards the poles. The emission is
generally stable, although there are episodes when the intensities rise up to
500 kR. We compare a set of Venus Monitoring Camera observations with
coincident measurements of the O2 nightglow at 1.27 {\mu}m made with the
Visible and Infrared Thermal Imaging Spectrometer, also on Venus Express. From
the evidence gathered in this and past works, we suggest a direct correlation
between the instantaneous emissions from the two O2 nightglow systems. Possible
implications regarding the uncertain origin of the atomic oxygen green line at
557.7 nm are noted.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Aggregation of chemotactic organisms in a differential flow
We study the effect of advection on the aggregation and pattern formation in
chemotactic systems described by Keller-Segel type models. The evolution of
small perturbations is studied analytically in the linear regime complemented
by numerical simulations. We show that a uniform differential flow can
significantly alter the spatial structure and dynamics of the chemotactic
system. The flow leads to the formation of anisotropic aggregates that move
following the direction of the flow, even when the chemotactic organisms are
not directly advected by the flow. Sufficiently strong advection can stop the
aggregation and coarsening process that is then restricted to the direction
perpendicular to the flow
An optimization approach coupling pre-processing with model regression for enhanced chemometrics
Chemometric methods are broadly used in the chemical and biochemical sectors. Typically, derivation of a regression model follows data preprocessing in a sequential manner. Yet, preprocessing can significantly influence the regression model and eventually its predictive ability. In this work, we investigate the coupling of preprocessing and model parameter estimation by incorporating them simultaneously in an optimization step. Common model selection techniques rely almost exclusively on the performance of some accuracy metric, yet having a quantitative metric for model robustness can prolong model up-time. Our approach is applied to optimize for model accuracy and robustness. This requires the introduction of a novel mathematical definition for robustness. We test our method in a simulated set up and with industrial case studies from multivariate calibration. The results highlight the importance of both accuracy and robustness properties and illustrate the potential of the proposed optimization approach toward automating the generation of efficient chemometric models
Biogas bioconversion into poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) by a mixed microbial culture in a novel Taylor flow bioreactor
ProducciĂłn CientĂficaBiogas-based biopolymer production represents an alternative biogas valorization route with potential to cut down plastic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. This study investigated for the first time the continuous bioconversion of methane, contained in biogas, into poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) by a mixed methanotrophic culture using an innovative high mass-transfer Taylor flow bioreactor. Following a hydrodynamic flow regime mapping, the influence of the gas residence time and the internal gas recirculation on CH4 abatement was assessed under non nutrient limiting conditions. Under optimal operational conditions (gas residence time of 60 min and internal gas recycling ratio of 17), the bioreactor was able to support a CH4 removal efficiency of 63.3%, a robust CH4 elimination capacity (17.2 g-CH4 m-3h-1) and a stable biomass concentration (1.0 g L-1). The simultaneous CH4 abatement and PHB synthesis was investigated under 24-h:24-h nitrogen feast/famine continuous operation. The cyclic nitrogen starvation and the Taylor flow imposed in the bioreactor resulted in a relatively constant biomass concentration of 0.6 g L-1 with PHB contents ranging from 11 to 32% w w-1 (on a dry weight basis), entailing an average PHB productivity of 5.9 g-PHB m-3 d-1 with an associated PHB yield of 19.8 mg-PHB g-CH4-1. Finally, the molecular analysis of the microbial population structure indicated that type II methanotrophs outcompeted non-PHB accumulating type I methanotrophs, with a heterotrophic-methanotrophic consortium enriched in Methylocystis, Hyphomicrobium, Rubinisphaeraceae SH PL14 and Pseudonocardia.Ministerio de Ciencia, InnovaciĂłn y Universidades (project RTI2018-0-096441-B-I00)Erasmus+ International Master of Science in Environmental Technology and Engineering (project 2017-1957/001-001-EMJMD)Junta de Castilla y Leon - Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (grants CLU 2017-09 and UIC 315
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