Dynamic critical behavior of failure and plastic deformation in the random fiber bundle model

The random fiber bundle (RFB) model, with the strength of the fibers distributed uniformly within a finite interval, is studied under the assumption of global load sharing among all unbroken fibers of the bundle. At any fixed value of the applied stress (load per fiber initially present in the bundle), the fraction of fibers that remain unbroken at successive time steps is shown to follow simple recurrence relations. The model is found to have stable fixed point for applied stress in the range 0 and 1; beyond which total failure of the bundle takes place discontinuously. The dynamic critical behavior near this failure point has been studied for this model analysing the recurrence relations. We also investigated the finite size scaling behavior. At the critical point one finds strict power law decay (with time t) of the fraction of unbroken fibers. The avalanche size distribution for this mean-field dynamics of failure has been studied. The elastic response of the RFB model has also been studied analytically for a specific probability distribution of fiber strengths, where the bundle shows plastic behavior before complete failure, following an initial linear response.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, extensively revised and accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Oldest known pantherine skull and evolution of the tiger

The tiger is one of the most iconic extant animals, and its origin and evolution have been intensely debated. Fossils attributable to extant pantherine species-lineages are less than 2 MYA and the earliest tiger fossils are from the Calabrian, Lower Pleistocene. Molecular studies predict a much younger age for the divergence of modern tiger subspecies at <100 KYA, although their cranial morphology is readily distinguishable, indicating that early Pleistocene tigers would likely have differed markedly anatomically from extant tigers. Such inferences are hampered by the fact that well-known fossil tiger material is middle to late Pleistocene in age. Here we describe a new species of pantherine cat from Longdan, Gansu Province, China, Panthera zdanskyi sp. nov. With an estimated age of 2.55–2.16 MYA it represents the oldest complete skull of a pantherine cat hitherto found. Although smaller, it appears morphologically to be surprisingly similar to modern tigers considering its age. Morphological, morphometric, and cladistic analyses are congruent in confirming its very close affinity to the tiger, and it may be regarded as the most primitive species of the tiger lineage, demonstrating the first unequivocal presence of a modern pantherine species-lineage in the basal stage of the Pleistocene (Gelasian; traditionally considered to be Late Pliocene). This find supports a north-central Chinese origin of the tiger lineage, and demonstrates that various parts of the cranium, mandible, and dentition evolved at different rates. An increase in size and a reduction in the relative size of parts of the dentition appear to have been prominent features of tiger evolution, whereas the distinctive cranial morphology of modern tigers was established very early in their evolutionary history. The evolutionary trend of increasing size in the tiger lineage is likely coupled to the evolution of its primary prey species

Failure Processes in Elastic Fiber Bundles

The fiber bundle model describes a collection of elastic fibers under load. the fibers fail successively and for each failure, the load distribution among the surviving fibers change. Even though very simple, the model captures the essentials of failure processes in a large number of materials and settings. We present here a review of fiber bundle model with different load redistribution mechanism from the point of view of statistics and statistical physics rather than materials science, with a focus on concepts such as criticality, universality and fluctuations. We discuss the fiber bundle model as a tool for understanding phenomena such as creep, and fatigue, how it is used to describe the behavior of fiber reinforced composites as well as modelling e.g. network failure, traffic jams and earthquake dynamics.Comment: This article has been Editorially approved for publication in Reviews of Modern Physic

Liquid-liquid equilibrium for monodisperse spherical particles

A system of identical particles interacting through an isotropic potential that allows for two preferred interparticle distances is numerically studied. When the parameters of the interaction potential are adequately chosen, the system exhibits coexistence between two different liquid phases (in addition to the usual liquid-gas coexistence). It is shown that this coexistence can occur at equilibrium, namely, in the region where the liquid is thermodynamically stable.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Published versio

Kwantitatieve Informatie Veehouderij 2002 - 2003

KWIN-Veehouderij is een jaarlijkse uitgave van het Praktijkonderzoek Veehouderij (PV). De KWIN bevat statistische prijsinformatie over onderdelen van veehouderijbedrijven en normen voor het maken van berekeningen, bedrijfsevaluaties en begrotingen. KWIN-Veehouderij heeft betrekking op de sectoren melkvee, vleesvee, geiten, schapen, paarden, varkens, pluimvee, nertsen, konijnen en palingen. : :Bij de normen staat een toelichting over de inhoud, de wijze van berekening en de bron van de gegevens. Generaliseren is bij het opstellen van normen onvermijdelijk. De normen moet u dan ook zien als een richtlijn, die echter wel een breed draagvlak hebben omdat ze met afgevaardigden uit de sectoren zijn afgesproken. Afhankelijk van de ideeën van de ondernemer en het bedrijf waarvoor u begroot, kunt u de gegeven normen aanpassen. : :Saldoberekeningen : :Voor alle sectoren is er een saldoberekening. Voor het maken van een saldoberekening voor de melkveehouderij is bij het PV het computerprogramma BBPR beschikbaar. Deze berekent, afhankelijk van de specifieke bedrijfssituatie, saldo- of netto-bedrijfsresultaten. BBPR werkt met de normen uit KWIN-Veehouderij. Alle in KWIN-Veehouderij gegeven saldoberekeningen zijn voorbeeldberekeningen. Voor specifieke bedrijfsbegrotingen moet u ze aanpassen aan de bedrijfssituatie. : :Wat kunt u ermee? : :KWIN-Veehouderij leent zich voor verschillende doeleinden. De normen geven inzicht in de hoogte van de prijzen op middellange termijn. Hierdoor zijn ze geschikt als basis voor planning- en evaluatiesystemen. Het voordeel van KWIN-Veehouderij is dat u alle informatie van de betreffende diersoorten bij elkaar hebt

Self-consistent equation for an interacting Bose gas

We consider interacting Bose gas in thermal equilibrium assuming a positive and bounded pair potential $V(r)$ such that 0<\int d\br V(r) = a<\infty. Expressing the partition function by the Feynman-Kac functional integral yields a classical-like polymer representation of the quantum gas. With Mayer graph summation techniques, we demonstrate the existence of a self-consistent relation $\rho (\mu)=F(\mu-a\rho(\mu))$ between the density $\rho$ and the chemical potential $\mu$, valid in the range of convergence of Mayer series. The function $F$ is equal to the sum of all rooted multiply connected graphs. Using Kac's scaling V_{\gamma}(\br)=\gamma^{3}V(\gamma r) we prove that in the mean-field limit $\gamma\to 0$ only tree diagrams contribute and function $F$ reduces to the free gas density. We also investigate how to extend the validity of the self-consistent relation beyond the convergence radius of Mayer series (vicinity of Bose-Einstein condensation) and study dominant corrections to mean field. At lowest order, the form of function $F$ is shown to depend on single polymer partition function for which we derive lower and upper bounds and on the resummation of ring diagrams which can be analytically performed.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys.Rev.

Rigorous Proof of a Liquid-Vapor Phase Transition in a Continuum Particle System

We consider particles in ${\Bbb R}^d, d \geq 2$, interacting via attractive pair and repulsive four-body potentials of the Kac type. Perturbing about mean field theory, valid when the interaction range becomes infinite, we prove rigorously the existence of a liquid-gas phase transition when the interaction range is finite but long compared to the interparticle spacing.Comment: 11 pages, in ReVTeX, e-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Which mechanism underlies the water-like anomalies in core-softened potentials?

Using molecular dynamics simulations we investigate the thermodynamic of particles interacting with a continuous and a discrete versions of a core-softened (CS) intermolecular potential composed by a repulsive shoulder. Dynamic and structural properties are also analyzed by the simulations. We show that in the continuous version of the CS potential the density at constant pressure has a maximum for a certain temperature. Similarly the diffusion constant, $D$, at a constant temperature has a maximum at a density $\rho_{\mathrm{max}}$ and a minimum at a density $\rho_{\mathrm{min}}<\rho_{\mathrm{max}}$, and structural properties are also anomalous. For the discrete CS potential none of these anomalies are observed. The absence of anomalies in the discrete case and its presence in the continuous CS potential are discussed in the framework of the excess entropy.Comment: 8 page

Monte Carlo study of the magnetic critical properties of the two-dimensional Ising fluid

A two-dimensional fluid of hard spheres each having a spin $\pm 1$ and interacting via short-range Ising-like interaction is studied near the second order phase transition from the paramagnetic gas to the ferromagnetic gas phase. Monte Carlo simulation technique and the multiple histogram data analysis were used. By measuring the finite-size behaviour of several different thermodynamic quantities,we were able to locate the transition and estimate values of various static critical exponents. The values of exponents $\beta/\nu$ and $\gamma/\nu$ are close to the ones for the two-dimensional lattice Ising model. However, our result for the exponent $\nu =1.35$ is very different from the one for the Ising universality class.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.