Viscosity and tribology of copper oxide nanofluids

Nanofluids, a term proposed by Choi in 1995 [1], are composites consisting of solid nanoparticles with sizes varying generally from 1 to 100 nm dispersed in a liquid. Numerous nanoparticles used as oil additives have been investigated in recent years [2-7]. Results show that they deposit on the rubbing surface and improve the tribological properties of the base oil, displaying good friction and wear reduction characteristics even at concentrations below 2%wt. Although the viscosity of the nanofluids is a property of crucial importance for film forming, and hence friction and wear reduction, which are characteristic of lubricants, only Hwang et al. [8] have studied thermal characteristics, kinematic viscosity and tribological properties of nanofluids simultaneously. In this paper, we present measurements of dynamic viscosity of nanofluids formed by copper oxide nanoparticles dispersed in a polyalphaolefin, for temperatures and concentrations varying from 20 to 60ºC and 0.5 to 2% wt., respectively. Dependence of the nanofluid viscosity to the solid fraction and temperature was compared with existing models and its influence on lubrication was also analysed

Length-weight relationships of coral reef fishes from the Alacran Reef, Yucatan, Mexico

Length-weight relationships were computed for 42 species of coral reef fishes from 14 families from the Alacran Reef (Yucatan, Mexico). A total of 1 892 individuals was used for this purpose. The fish species were caught by different fishing techniques such as fishhooks, harpoons, gill and trawl nets. The sampling period was from March 1998 to January 2000

Geometric Integration of Hamiltonian Systems Perturbed by Rayleigh Damping

Explicit and semi-explicit geometric integration schemes for dissipative perturbations of Hamiltonian systems are analyzed. The dissipation is characterized by a small parameter $\epsilon$, and the schemes under study preserve the symplectic structure in the case $\epsilon=0$. In the case $0<\epsilon\ll 1$ the energy dissipation rate is shown to be asymptotically correct by backward error analysis. Theoretical results on monotone decrease of the modified Hamiltonian function for small enough step sizes are given. Further, an analysis proving near conservation of relative equilibria for small enough step sizes is conducted. Numerical examples, verifying the analyses, are given for a planar pendulum and an elastic 3--D pendulum. The results are superior in comparison with a conventional explicit Runge-Kutta method of the same order

Fermi Liquid Properties of a Two Dimensional Electron System With the Fermi Level Near a van Hove Singularity

We use a diagrammatic approach to study low energy physics of a two dimensional electron system where the Fermi level is near van-Hove singularies in the energy spectrum. We find that in most regions of the $\epsilon_F-T$ phase diagram the system behaves as a normal Fermi liquid rather than a marginal Fermi liquid. Particularly, the imaginary part of the self energy is much smaller than the excitation energy, which implies well defined quasiparticle excitations, and single particle properties are only weakly affected by the presence of the van-Hove singularities. The relevance to high temperature superconductivity is also discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 4 postscript figure

RVB Contribution to Superconductivity in MgB2MgB_2

We view $MgB_2$ as electronically equivalent to (non-staggered) graphite ($B^-$ layer) that has undergone a zero gap semiconductor to a superconductor phase transition by a large c-axis (chemical) pressure due to $Mg^{++}$ layers. Further, like the \ppi bonded planar organic molecules, graphite is an old resonating valence bond (RVB) system. The RVB's are the `preexisting cooper pairs' in the `parental' zero gap semiconducting $B^-$ (graphite) sheets that manifests themselves as a superconducting ground state of the transformed metal. Some consequences are pointed out.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure, RevTex. Based on a talk given at the Institute Seminar Week, IMSc, Madras (12-16, Feb. 2001

Validity of the Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics of the Universe Bounded by the Event Horizon in Holographic Dark Energy Model

In this letter, we investigate the validity of the generalized second law of thermodynamics of the universe bounded by the event horizon in the holographic dark energy model. The universe is chosen to be homogeneous and isotropic and the validity of the first law has been assumed here. The matter in the universe is taken in the form of non-interacting two fluid system- one component is the holographic dark energy model and the other component is in the form of dust.Comment: 8 page

Neutrino hierarchy from CP-blind observables with high density magnetized detectors

High density magnetized detectors are well suited to exploit the outstanding purity and intensities of novel neutrino sources like Neutrino Factories and Beta Beams. They can also provide independent measurements of leptonic mixing parameters through the observation of atmospheric muon-neutrinos. In this paper, we discuss the combination of these observables from a multi-kton iron detector and a high energy Beta Beam; in particular, we demonstrate that even with moderate detector granularities the neutrino mass hierarchy can be determined for $\theta_{13}$ values greater than 4$^\circ$.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. Added a new section discussing systematic errors (sec 5.2); sec.5.1 and 4 have been extended. Version to appear in EPJ

Olive phenology as a sensitive indicator of future climatic warming in the Mediterranean

Experimental and modelling work suggests a strong dependence of olive flowering date on spring temperatures. Since airborne pollen concentrations reflect the flowering phenology of olive populations within a radius of 50 km, they may be a sensitive regional indicator of climatic warming. We assessed this potential sensitivity with phenology models fitted to flowering dates inferred from maximum airborne pollen data. Of four models tested, a thermal time model gave the best fit for Montpellier, France, and was the most effective at the regional scale, providing reasonable predictions for 10 sites in the western Mediterranean. This model was forced with replicated future temperature simulations for the western Mediterranean from a coupled ocean-atmosphere general circulation model (GCM). The GCM temperatures rose by 4·5 °C between 1990 and 2099 with a 1% per year increase in greenhouse gases, and modelled flowering date advanced at a rate of 6·2 d per °C. The results indicated that this long-term regional trend in phenology might be statistically significant as early as 2030, but with marked spatial variation in magnitude, with the calculated flowering date between the 1990s and 2030s advancing by 3–23 d. Future monitoring of airborne olive pollen may therefore provide an early biological indicator of climatic warming in the Mediterranean

Spontaneous CP Violating Phase as the Phase in PMNS Matrix

We study the possibility of identifying the CP violating phases in the PMNS mixing matrix in the lepton sector and also that in the CKM mixing matrix in the quark sector with the phase responsible for the spontaneous CP violation in the Higgs potential, and some implications. Since the phase in the CKM mixing matrix is determined by experimental data, the phase in the lepton sector is therefore also fixed. The mass matrix for neutrinos is constrained leading to constraints on the Jarlskog CP violating parameter $J$, and the effective mass $$ for neutrinoless double beta decay. The Yukawa couplings are also constrained. Different ways of identifying the phases have different predictions for $\mu \to e e\bar e$ and $\tau \to l_1 l_2 \bar l_3$. Future experimental data can be used to distinguish different models.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure