153 research outputs found
Jupiter's Obliquity and a Long-lived Circumplanetary Disk
It has been claimed (Canup and Ward 2002; Ward 2003) that a long-lived
massive (compared to the mass of the Galilean satellites) circumplanetary gas
disk is inconsistent with Jupiter's low obliquity. Such a constraint could be
downplayed on the basis that it deals with a single observation. Here we argue
that this argument is flawed because it assumes a solar system much like that
of the present day with the one exception of a circumjovian disk which is then
allowed to dissipate on a long timescale (10^6-10^7 yrs). Given that the
sequence of events in solar-system history that fit known constraints is
non-unique, we choose for the sake of clarity of exposition the orbital
architecture framework of Tsiganis et al. (2005), in which Jupiter and Saturn
were once in closer, less inclined orbits than they are at present, and show
that Jupiter's low obliquity is consistent with the SEMM (solids-enhanced
minimum mass) satellite formation model of Mosqueira and Estrada (2003a,b).Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure. Submitted note to Icaru
Magnetization vector in the reversible region of a highly anisotropic cuprate superconductor: anisotropy factor and the role of 2D vortex fluctuations
By using a high quality Tl2Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 (Tl-2223) single crystal as an
example, the magnetization vector was probed in the reversible region of highly
anisotropic cuprate superconductors. For that, we have measured its components
along and transverse to the applied magnetic field for different crystal
orientations. The analysis shows that the angular dependence of the
perpendicular component of the magnetization vector follows the one predicted
by a London-like approach which includes a contribution associated with the
thermal fluctuations of the 2D vortex positions. For the Tl-2223 crystal
studied here, a lower bound for the anisotropy factor was estimated to be about
190.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
On the dilemma between percolation processes and fluctuating pairs as the origin of the enhanced conductivity above the superconducting transition in cuprates
The confrontation between percolation processes and superconducting
fluctuations to account for the observed enhanced in-plane electrical
conductivity above but near in cuprates is revisited. The cuprates
studied here, LaSrCuO,
BiSrCaCuO, and TlBaCaCuO, have
a different number of superconducting CuO layers per unit-cell length and
different Josephson coupling between them, and are optimally-doped to minimize
-inhomogeneities. The excellent chemical and structural quality of these
samples also contribute to minimize the effect of extrinsic
-inhomogeneities, a crucial aspect when analyzing the possible presence of
intrinsic percolative processes. Our analyses also cover the so-called high
reduced-temperature region, up to the resistivity rounding onset
. By using the simplest form of the effective-medium
theory, we show that possible emergent percolation processes alone cannot
account for the measured enhanced conductivity. In contrast, these measurements
can be quantitatively explained using the Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau (GGL)
approach for the effect of superconducting fluctuations in layered
superconductors, extended to by including a total energy
cutoff, which takes into account the limits imposed by the Heisenberg
uncertainty principle to the shrinkage of the superconducting wavefunction. Our
analysis confirms the adequacy of this cutoff, and that the effective
periodicity length is controlled by the relative Josephson coupling between
superconducting layers. These conclusions are reinforced by analyzing one of
the recent works that allegedly discards the superconducting fluctuations
scenario while supporting a percolative scenario for the enhanced conductivity
above in cuprates.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Comment on "High Field Studies of Superconducting Fluctuations in High-Tc Cuprates. Evidence for a Small Gap distinct from the Large Pseudogap"
By using high magnetic field data to estimate the background conductivity,
Rullier-Albenque and coworkers have recently published [Phys.Rev.B 84, 014522
(2011)] experimental evidence that the in-plane paraconductivity in cuprates is
almost independent of doping. In this Comment we also show that, in contrast
with their claims, these useful data may be explained at a quantitative level
in terms of the Gaussian-Ginzburg-Landau approach for layered superconductors,
extended by Carballeira and coworkers to high reduced-temperatures by
introducing a total-energy cutoff [Phys.Rev.B 63, 144515 (2001)]. When
combined, these two conclusions further suggest that the paraconductivity in
cuprates is conventional, i.e., associated with fluctuating superconducting
pairs above the mean-field critical temperature.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur
An efficient MP algorithm for structural shape optimization problems
6th International Conference on Computer Aided Optimun Design of Structures, 2001, Bologna[Abstract] Integral methods -such as the Finite Element Method (FEM) and the Boundary Element Method (BEM)- are frequently used in structural optimization problems to solve systems of partial differential equations. Therefore, one must take into account the large computational requirements of these sophisticated techniques at the time of choosing a suitable Mathematical Programming (MP) algorithm for this kind of problems. Among the currently avaliable MP algorithms, Sequential Linear Programming (SLP) seems to be one of the most adequate to structural optimization. Basically, SLP consist in constructing succesive linear approximations to the original non linear optimization problem within each step. However, the application of SLP may involve important malfunctions. Thus, the solution to the approximated linear problems can fail to exist, or may lead to the highly unfeasible point of the original non linear problem; also, large oscillations often occurs near the optimum, precluding the algorithm to converge.
In this paper, we present an improved SLP algorithm with line-search, specially designed for structural optimization problems. In each iteration, an approximated linear problem with aditional side constraints is solved by Linear Programming. The solution to the linear problem defines a search direction. Then, the objetive function and the non linear constraints are quadratically approximated in the search direction, and a line-search in perfomed. The algorithm includes strategies to avoid stalling in the boundary of the feasible region, and to obtain alternate search directions in the case of incompatible linearized constraints. Techniques developed by the authors for efficient high-order shape sensitivity analysis are referenced.Ministerio de EconomĂa y Competitividad; TIC-98-0290Xunta de Galicia; PGIDT99MAR1180
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