200 research outputs found
Low-energy three-body charge transfer reactions with Coulomb interaction in the final state
Three-body charge transfer reactions with Coulomb interaction in the final
state are considered in the framework of coordinate-space integro-differential
Faddeev-Hahn-type equations within two- and six-state close coupling
approximations. The method is employed to study direct muon transfer in
low-energy collisions of the muonic hydrogen H by helium (He) and
lithium (Li) nuclei. The experimentally observed isotopic dependence is
reproduced.Comment: 14 pages REVTeX, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics
The song of the dunes as a self-synchronized instrument
Since Marco Polo (1) it has been known that some sand dunes have the peculiar
ability of emitting a loud sound with a well defined frequency, sometimes for
several minutes. The origin of this sustained sound has remained mysterious,
partly because of its rarity in nature (2). It has been recognized that the
sound is not due to the air flow around the dunes but to the motion of an
avalanche (3), and not to an acoustic excitation of the grains but to their
relative motion (4-7). By comparing several singing dunes and two controlled
experiments, one in the laboratory and one in the field, we here demonstrate
that the frequency of the sound is the frequency of the relative motion of the
sand grains. The sound is produced because some moving grains synchronize their
motions. The existence of a velocity threshold in both experiments further
shows that this synchronization comes from an acoustic resonance within the
flowing layer: if the layer is large enough it creates a resonance cavity in
which grains self-synchronize.Comment: minor changes, essentially more references
On the velocity distributions of the one-dimensional inelastic gas
We consider the single-particle velocity distribution of a one-dimensional
fluid of inelastic particles. Both the freely evolving (cooling) system and the
non-equilibrium stationary state obtained in the presence of random forcing are
investigated, and special emphasis is paid to the small inelasticity limit. The
results are obtained from analytical arguments applied to the Boltzmann
equation along with three complementary numerical techniques (Molecular
Dynamics, Direct Monte Carlo Simulation Methods and iterative solutions of
integro-differential kinetic equations). For the freely cooling fluid, we
investigate in detail the scaling properties of the bimodal velocity
distribution emerging close to elasticity and calculate the scaling function
associated with the distribution function. In the heated steady state, we find
that, depending on the inelasticity, the distribution function may display two
different stretched exponential tails at large velocities. The inelasticity
dependence of the crossover velocity is determined and it is found that the
extremely high velocity tail may not be observable at ``experimentally
relevant'' inelasticities.Comment: Latex, 14 pages, 12 eps figure
Coulomb Explosion and Thermal Spikes
A fast ion penetrating a solid creates a track of excitations. This can
produce displacements seen as an etched track, a process initially used to
detect energetic particles but now used to alter materials. From the seminal
papers by Fleischer et al. [Phys. Rev. 156, 353 (1967)] to the present [C.
Trautmann, S. Klaumunzer and H. Trinkaus, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 3648 (2000)],
`Coulomb explosion' and thermal spike models are treated as conflicting models
for describing ion track effects. Here molecular dynamics simulations of
electronic-sputtering, a surface manifestation of ion track formation, show
that `Coulomb explosion' produces a `heat' spike so that these are early and
late aspects of the same process. Therefore, differences in scaling are due to
the use of incomplete spike models.Comment: Submitted to PRL. 4 pages, 3 figures. For related movies see:
http://dirac.ms.virginia.edu/~emb3t/coulomb/coulomb.html PACS added in new
versio
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Statistical sampling plan for the TRU waste assay facility
Due to limited space, there is a need to dispose appropriately of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory transuranic waste which is presently stored below ground in 55-gal (208-l) drums within weather-resistant structures. Waste containing less than 100 nCi/g transuranics can be removed from the present storage and be buried, while waste containing greater than 100 nCi/g transuranics must continue to be retrievably stored. To make the necessary measurements needed to determine the drums that can be buried, a transuranic Neutron Interrogation Assay System (NIAS) has been developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory and can make the needed measurements much faster than previous techniques which involved ..gamma..-ray spectroscopy. The previous techniques are reliable but time consuming. Therefore, a validation study has been planned to determine the ability of the NIAS to make adequate measurements. The validation of the NIAS will be based on a paired comparison of a sample of measurements made by the previous techniques and the NIAS. The purpose of this report is to describe the proposed sampling plan and the statistical analyses needed to validate the NIAS. 5 references, 4 figures, 5 tables
A Continuum Description of Vibrated Sand
The motion of a thin layer of granular material on a plate undergoing
sinusoidal vibrations is considered. We develop equations of motion for the
local thickness and the horizontal velocity of the layer. The driving comes
from the violent impact of the grains on the plate. A linear stability theory
reveals that the waves are excited non-resonantly, in contrast to the usual
Faraday waves in liquids. Together with the experimentally observed continuum
scaling, the model suggests a close connection between the neutral curve and
the dispersion relation of the waves, which agrees quite well with experiments.
For strong hysteresis we find localized oscillon solutions.Comment: paper has been considerably extended (11 instead of 6 pages; 6
instead of 4 figures) much better agreement with experiment. obtain now
oscillons in 1 dimensio
Shock-Like Dynamics of Inelastic Gases
We provide a simple physical picture which suggests that the asymptotic
dynamics of inelastic gases in one dimension is independent of the degree of
inelasticity. Statistical characteristics, including velocity fluctuations and
the velocity distribution are identical to those of a perfectly inelastic
sticky gas, which in turn is described by the inviscid Burgers equation.
Asymptotic predictions of this continuum theory, including the t^{-2/3}
temperature decay and the development of discontinuities in the velocity
profile, are verified numerically for inelastic gases.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revte
NMR Experiments on a Three-Dimensional Vibrofluidized Granular Medium
A three-dimensional granular system fluidized by vertical container
vibrations was studied using pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR coupled with
one-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The system consisted of
mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 50 Hz, and the number of layers N_ell <= 4
was sufficiently low to achieve a nearly time-independent granular fluid. Using
NMR, the vertical profiles of density and granular temperature were directly
measured, along with the distributions of vertical and horizontal grain
velocities. The velocity distributions showed modest deviations from
Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, except for the vertical velocity distribution
near the sample bottom which was highly skewed and non-Gaussian. Data taken for
three values of N_ell and two dimensionless accelerations Gamma=15,18 were fit
to a hydrodynamic theory, which successfully models the density and temperature
profiles including a temperature inversion near the free upper surface.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure
A model for collisions in granular gases
We propose a model for collisions between particles of a granular material
and calculate the restitution coefficients for the normal and tangential motion
as functions of the impact velocity from considerations of dissipative
viscoelastic collisions. Existing models of impact with dissipation as well as
the classical Hertz impact theory are included in the present model as special
cases. We find that the type of collision (smooth, reflecting or sticky) is
determined by the impact velocity and by the surface properties of the
colliding grains. We observe a rather nontrivial dependence of the tangential
restitution coefficient on the impact velocity.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
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