6,846 research outputs found
Numerical Analysis of the Energy Improvement of Plastering Mortars with Phase Change Materials
Building components with incorporated phase change materials (PCMs) meant to increase heat storage capacity and enable stabilization of interior buildings surface temperatures, whereby influencing the thermal comfort sensation and the stabilization of the interior ambient temperatures. The potential of advanced simulation tools to evaluate and optimize the usage of PCM in the control of indoor temperature, allowing for an improvement in the comfort conditions and/or in the cooling energy demand, was explored. This paper presents a numerical and sensitivity analysis of the enthalpy and melting temperature effect on the inside building comfort sensation potential of the plastering PCM
Quantum dynamics of a model for two Josephson-coupled Bose--Einstein condensates
In this work we investigate the quantum dynamics of a model for two
single-mode Bose--Einstein condensates which are coupled via Josephson
tunneling. Using direct numerical diagonalisation of the Hamiltonian, we
compute the time evolution of the expectation value for the relative particle
number across a wide range of couplings. Our analysis shows that the system
exhibits rich and complex behaviours varying between harmonic and non-harmonic
oscillations, particularly around the threshold coupling between the
delocalised and self-trapping phases. We show that these behaviours are
dependent on both the initial state of the system as well as regime of the
coupling. In addition, a study of the dynamics for the variance of the relative
particle number expectation and the entanglement for different initial states
is presented in detail.Comment: 15 pages, 8 eps figures, accepted in J. Phys.
Does ohmic heating influence the flow field in thin-layer electrodeposition?
In thin-layer electrodeposition the dissipated electrical energy leads to a
substantial heating of the ion solution. We measured the resulting temperature
field by means of an infrared camera. The properties of the temperature field
correspond closely with the development of the concentration field. In
particular we find, that the thermal gradients at the electrodes act like a
weak additional driving force to the convection rolls driven by concentration
gradients.Comment: minor changes: correct estimation of concentration at the anode,
added Journal-re
Structural characterization of InAlAsSb/InGaAs/InP heterostructures for solar cells
In this work, we have characterized by transmission electron microscopy techniques the structural properties of InAlAsSb/InGaAs/InP heterostructures, with target applications in high efficiency solar cells. Previous photoluminescence (PL)1 analysis suggested the existence of compositional fluctuations in the active layer of these heterostructures. 220 bright field (BF)2 diffraction contrast micrographs have revealed strong strain contrast in the InGaAs buffer layer, related to the existence of these compositional fluctuations. The effect of a decomposed buffer on the growth of the InAlAsSb layer has been analyzed through the simulation of the strain fields in the heterostructure using the finite elements method (FEM).3 These simulations have shown that the strain in the buffer layer due to the compositional fluctuations only affects the first few nm of the InAlAsSb layer. The analysis by aberration corrected high angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM)4and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS)5of the composition of the InAlAsSb layer reveals that any compositional fluctuation is only observed as an average effect, rather than in the form of clustering or atomically sharp transitions. The limitations of these techniques for the detection of small 3D compositional fluctuations are discussed
The Close Environment of Seyfert Galaxies and Its Implication for Unification Models
This paper presents a statistical analysis of the circumgalactic environment
of nearby Seyfert galaxies based on a computer-aided search of companion
galaxies on the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS). An intrinsic difference between the
environment of Seyfert 1 and Seyfert 2 galaxies, suggested by previous work, is
confirmed as statistically significant. For Seyfert 2 galaxies we find a
significant excess of large companions (diameter of companion >= 10 Kpc) within
a search radius <= 100 Kpc of projected linear distance, as well as within a
search radius equal to three times the diameter \ds of each Seyfert galaxy. For
Seyfert 1 galaxies there is no clear evidence of any excess of companion
galaxies neither within 100 Kpc, nor within 3\ds. For all samples the number of
companions suggests a markedly non-Poissonian distribution for galaxies on
scales <= 100 Kpc. This difference in environment is not compatible with the
simplest formulation of the Unification Model for Seyferts: both types 1 and 2
should be intrinsicaly alike, the only difference being due to orientation of
an obscuring torus. We propose an alternative formulation.Comment: 1 figure, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter
The Unified Model & Evolution of Active Galaxies: Implications from a Spectropolarimetric Study
We extend the analysis presented in Tran (2001) of a spectropolarimetric
survey of the CfA and 12micron samples of Seyfert 2 galaxies (S2s). We confirm
that S2s with hidden broad line regions (HBLRs) tend to have hotter
circumnuclear dust temperatures, show mid-IR spectra more characteristic of S1
galaxies, and are intrinsically more luminous than non-HBLR S2s. The level of
obscuration and circumnuclear star formation, however, appear to be similar
between HBLR and non-HBLR S2 galaxies, based on an examination of various
observational indicators. HBLR S2s, on average, share many similar large-scale,
presumably isotropic, characteristics with Seyfert 1 galaxies (S1s), as would
be expected if the unified model is correct, while non-HBLR S2s generally do
not. The active nuclear engines of non-HBLR S2s then, appear to be truly weaker
than HBLR S2s, which in turn, are fully consistent with being S1s viewed from
another direction. There is also evidence that the fraction of detected HBLR
increases with radio power of the AGN. Thus, not all Seyfert 2 galaxies may be
intrinsically similar in nature, and we speculate that evolutionary processes
may be at work.Comment: 15 pages with embedded figs, ApJ in press, vol. 583, 2003 Feb. 1. v2:
minor corrections to text, some typos removed; updated reference list: some
added, some remove
Salt Damage and Rising Damp Treatment in Building Structures
Salt damage can affect the service life of numerous building structures, both historical and contemporary, in a significant way. In this review, various damage mechanisms to porous building materials induced by salt action are analyzed. The importance of pretreatment investigations is discussed as well; in combination with the knowledge of salt and moisture transport mechanisms they can give useful indications regarding treatment options. The methods of salt damage treatment are assessed then, including both passive techniques based on environmental control, reduction of water transport, or conversion to less soluble salts and active procedures resulting in the removal of salts from deterioration zones. It is concluded that cellulose can still be considered as the favorite material presently used in desalination poultices but hydrophilic mineral wool can serve as its prospective alternative in future applications. Another important cause of building pathologies is the rising damp and, in this phenomenon, it is particularly severe considering the presence of salts in water. The treatment of rising damp in historic building walls is a very complex procedure and at Laboratory of Building Physics (LFC-FEUP) a wall base hygroregulated ventilation system was developed and patented
The Impact of Kaluza-Klein Excited W Boson on the Single Top at LHC and Comparison with other Models
We study the s-channel single top quark production at the LHC in the context
of extra dimension theories, including the Kaluza-Klein (KK) decomposition. It
is shown that the presence of the first KK excitation of gauge boson can
reduce the total cross section of s-channel single top production considerably
if () for () in
proton-proton collisions. Then the results will be compared with the impacts of
other beyond Standard Model (SM) theories on the cross section of single top
s-channel. The possibility of distinguishing different models via their effects
on the production cross section of the s-channel is discussed.Comment: 23 pages,6 figure
Generalized Toric Codes Coupled to Thermal Baths
We have studied the dynamics of a generalized toric code based on qudits at
finite temperature by finding the master equation coupling the code's degrees
of freedom to a thermal bath. As a consequence, we find that for qutrits new
types of anyons and thermal processes appear that are forbidden for qubits.
These include creation, annihilation and diffusion throughout the system code.
It is possible to solve the master equation in a short-time regime and find
expressions for the decay rates as a function of the dimension of the
qudits. Although we provide an explicit proof that the system relax to the
Gibbs state for arbitrary qudits, we also prove that above a certain crossing
temperature, qutrits initial decay rate is smaller than the original case for
qubits. Surprisingly this behavior only happens with qutrits and not with other
qudits with .Comment: Revtex4 file, color figures. New Journal of Physics' versio
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