9,379 research outputs found
A study of some methods of concentrating uranium and radium in carnotite ore
Carnotite ore is a source of radium and it is the recovery of this element which is chiefly sought in its treatment. The radium results from the radioactive disintegration of uranium which is one of the constituents of the yellow mineral carnotite. The ores are largely low grade. Higher grade pockets occur scattered in the deposits and because of their irregular occurrence are not easily located. The larger low grade deposits which are more easily accessible contain considerable quantities of calcium carbonate and oxide minerals. These cause a high consumption of the acid used in the chemical treatment of the ore. The complexity of the treatment, the high acid loss, the small quantity of uranium and vanadium, and the extremely minute quantity of radium are factors which militate against a cheap and successful extraction. With these factors in mind the general characteristics of the ore were studied --Introduction, page 1
A study of liquid propellant autoignition
Data and theory pertinent to the autoignition of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants were reviewed. Physical models of the processes supporting or contributing to autoignition were developed. Emphasis was placed on the description of the physical environment and its relationship to the autoignition phenomenon
Information-theoretic determination of ponderomotive forces
From the equilibrium condition applied to an isolated
thermodynamic system of electrically charged particles and the fundamental
equation of thermodynamics () subject
to a new procedure, it is obtained the Lorentz's force together with
non-inertial terms of mechanical nature. Other well known ponderomotive forces,
like the Stern-Gerlach's force and a force term related to the Einstein-de
Haas's effect are also obtained. In addition, a new force term appears,
possibly related to a change in weight when a system of charged particles is
accelerated.Comment: 10 page
Generalized Phase Rules
For a multi-component system, general formulas are derived for the dimension
of a coexisting region in the phase diagram in various state spaces.Comment: In the revised manuscript, physical meanings of D's are explained by
adding three figures. 10 pages, 3 figure
Derivation of Boltzmann Principle
We present a derivation of Boltzmann principle
based on classical mechanical models of thermodynamics. The argument is based
on the heat theorem and can be traced back to the second half of the nineteenth
century with the works of Helmholtz and Boltzmann. Despite its simplicity, this
argument has remained almost unknown. We present it in a modern, self-contained
and accessible form. The approach constitutes an important link between
classical mechanics and statistical mechanics
Matrix bandwidth and profile reduction
This program, REDUCE, reduces the bandwidth and profile of sparse symmetric matrices, using row and corresponding column permutations. It is a realization of the algorithm described by the authors elsewhere. It was extensively tested and compared with several other programs and was found to be considerably faster than the others, superior for bandwidth reduction and as satisfactory as any other for profile reduction
Optical bistability involving planar metamaterial with broken structural symmetry
We report on a bistable light transmission through a planar metamaterial
composed of a metal pattern of weakly asymmetric elements placed on a nonlinear
substrate. Such structure bears the Fano-like sharp resonance response of a
trapped-mode excitation. The feedback required for bistability is provided by
the coupling between the strong antiphased trapped-mode-resonance currents
excited on the metal elements and the intensity of inner field in the nonlinear
substrate.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Two hard spheres in a pore: Exact Statistical Mechanics for different shaped cavities
The Partition function of two Hard Spheres in a Hard Wall Pore is studied
appealing to a graph representation. The exact evaluation of the canonical
partition function, and the one-body distribution function, in three different
shaped pores are achieved. The analyzed simple geometries are the cuboidal,
cylindrical and ellipsoidal cavities. Results have been compared with two
previously studied geometries, the spherical pore and the spherical pore with a
hard core. The search of common features in the analytic structure of the
partition functions in terms of their length parameters and their volumes,
surface area, edges length and curvatures is addressed too. A general framework
for the exact thermodynamic analysis of systems with few and many particles in
terms of a set of thermodynamic measures is discussed. We found that an exact
thermodynamic description is feasible based in the adoption of an adequate set
of measures and the search of the free energy dependence on the adopted measure
set. A relation similar to the Laplace equation for the fluid-vapor interface
is obtained which express the equilibrium between magnitudes that in extended
systems are intensive variables. This exact description is applied to study the
thermodynamic behavior of the two Hard Spheres in a Hard Wall Pore for the
analyzed different geometries. We obtain analytically the external work, the
pressure on the wall, the pressure in the homogeneous zone, the wall-fluid
surface tension, the line tension and other similar properties
Existence of a critical point in the phase diagram of the ideal relativistic neutral Bose gas
We explore the phase transitions of the ideal relativistic neutral Bose gas
confined in a cubic box, without assuming the thermodynamic limit nor
continuous approximation. While the corresponding non-relativistic canonical
partition function is essentially a one-variable function depending on a
particular combination of temperature and volume, the relativistic canonical
partition function is genuinely a two-variable function of them. Based on an
exact expression of the canonical partition function, we performed numerical
computations for up to hundred thousand particles. We report that if the number
of particles is equal to or greater than a critical value, which amounts to
7616, the ideal relativistic neutral Bose gas features a spinodal curve with a
critical point. This enables us to depict the phase diagram of the ideal Bose
gas. The consequent phase transition is first-order below the critical pressure
or second-order at the critical pressure. The exponents corresponding to the
singularities are 1/2 and 2/3 respectively. We also verify the recently
observed `Widom line' in the supercritical region.Comment: 1+25 pages, 6 B/W figures: Comment on the Widom line added. Minor
improvement. Version to appear in `New Journal of Physics
Struggling and juggling: a comparison of assessment loads in research and teaching-intensive universities
In spite of the rising tide of metrics in UK higher education, there has been scant attention paid to assessment loads, when evidence demonstrates that heavy demands lead to surface learning. Our study seeks to redress the situation by defining assessment loads and comparing them across research-and teaching intensive universities. We clarify the concept of ‘assessment load’ in response to findings about high volumes of summative assessment on modular degrees. We define assessment load across whole undergraduate degrees, according to four measures: the volume of summative assessment; volume of formative assessment; proportion of examinations to coursework; number of different varieties of assessment. All four factors contribute to the weight of an assessment load, and influence students’ approaches to learning. Our research compares programme assessment data from 73 programmes in 14 UK universities, across two institutional categories. Research-intensives have higher summative assessment loads and a greater proportion of examinations; teaching-intensives have higher varieties of assessment. Formative assessment does not differ significantly across both university groups. These findings pose particular challenges for students in different parts of the sector. Our study questions the wisdom that ‘more’ is always better, proposing that lighter assessment loads may make room for ‘slow’ and deep learning
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