252 research outputs found
Data analysis study and performance evaluation of the scanning laser Doppler system
A simulation program which provided information on theoretically expected vortex spectra, evaluations of potential algorithms, and expected location accuracies for given scan patterns is presented. Field tests using an aircraft engine flow field and aircraft vortices during flyby tests were compared to the results of the simulation. From these studies, a vortex location algorithm was developed which provided vortex location for one or two vortices as a function of time. Results of this algorithm used on data from flyby tests were used to study vortex transport, to evaluate system performance, and to provide suggestions for real-time vortex location algorithms. The results of real-time analysis were compared to those which were expected based on theoretical considerations
Aviation safety research and transportation/hazard avoidance and elimination
Data collected by the Scanning Laser Doppler Velocimeter System (SLDVS) was analyzed to determine the feasibility of the SLDVS for monitoring aircraft wake vortices in an airport environment. Data were collected on atmospheric vortices and analyzed. Over 1600 landings were monitored at Kennedy International Airport and by the end of the test period 95 percent of the runs with large aircraft were producing usable results in real time. The transport was determined in real time and post analysis using algorithms which performed centroids on the highest amplitude in the thresholded spectrum. Making use of other parameters of the spectrum, vortex flow fields were studied along with the time histories of peak velocities and amplitudes. The post analysis of the data was accomplished with a CDC-6700 computer using several programs developed for LDV data analysis
Influence of supercoiling on the disruption of dsDNA
We propose that supercoiling energizes double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) so as to
facilitate thermal fluctuations to an unzipped state. We support this with a
model of two elastic rods coupled via forces that represent base pair
interactions. Supercoiling is shown to lead to a spatially localized higher
energy state in a small region of dsDNA consisting of a few base pairs. This
causes the distance between specific base pairs to be extended, enhancing the
thermal probability for their disruption. Our theory permits the development of
an analogy between this unzipping transition and a second order phase
transition, for which the possibility of a new set of critical exponents is
identified
Statistical Models on Spherical Geometries
We use a one-dimensional random walk on -dimensional hyper-spheres to
determine the critical behavior of statistical systems in hyper-spherical
geometries. First, we demonstrate the properties of such a walk by studying the
phase diagram of a percolation problem. We find a line of second and first
order phase transitions separated by a tricritical point. Then, we analyze the
adsorption-desorption transition for a polymer growing near the attractive
boundary of a cylindrical cell membrane. We find that the fraction of adsorbed
monomers on the boundary vanishes exponentially when the adsorption energy
decreases towards its critical value.Comment: 8 pages, latex, 2 figures in p
Detection of the tagged or untagged photons in acousto-optic imaging of thick highly scattering media by photorefractive adaptive holography
We propose an original adaptive wavefront holographic setup based on the
photorefractive effect (PR), to make real-time measurements of acousto-optic
signals in thick scattering media, with a high flux collection at high rates
for breast tumor detection. We describe here our present state of art and
understanding on the problem of breast imaging with PR detection of the
acousto-optic signal
Thermodynamic picture of the glassy state
A picture for thermodynamics of the glassy state is introduced. It assumes
that one extra parameter, the effective temperature, is needed to describe the
glassy state. This explains the classical paradoxes concerning the Ehrenfest
relations and the Prigogine-Defay ratio. As a second part, the approach
connects the response of macroscopic observables to a field change with their
temporal fluctuations, and with the fluctuation-dissipation relation, in a
generalized non-equilibrium way.Comment: Proceedings of the Conference "Unifying Concepts in Glass Physics",
ICTP, Trieste, 15 - 18 September 199
Ehrenfest relations at the glass transition: solution to an old paradox
In order to find out whether there exists a thermodynamic description of the
glass phase, the Ehrenfest relations along the glass transition line are
reconsidered. It is explained that the one involving the compressibility is
always satisfied, and that the one involving the specific heat is principally
incorrect.
Thermodynamical relations are presented for non-ergodic systems with a
one-level tree in phase space. They are derived for a spin glass model, checked
for other models, and expected to apply, e.g., to glass forming liquids. The
second Ehrenfest relation gets a contribution from the configurational entropy.Comment: 4 pages revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
The physical determinants of the thickness of lamellar polymer crystals
Based upon kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of crystallization in a simple
polymer model we present a new picture of the mechanism by which the thickness
of lamellar polymer crystals is constrained to a value close to the minimum
thermodynamically stable thickness. This description contrasts with those given
by the two dominant theoretical approaches.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, revte
Non-Markovian Configurational Diffusion and Reaction Coordinates for Protein Folding
The non-Markovian nature of polymer motions is accounted for in folding
kinetics, using frequency-dependent friction. Folding, like many other problems
in the physics of disordered systems, involves barrier crossing on a correlated
energy landscape. A variational transition state theory (VTST) that reduces to
the usual Bryngelson-Wolynes Kramers approach when the non-Markovian aspects
are neglected is used to obtain the rate, without making any assumptions
regarding the size of the barrier, or the memory time of the friction. The
transformation to collective variables dependent on the dynamics of the system
allows the theory to address the controversial issue of what are ``good''
reaction coordinates for folding.Comment: 9 pages RevTeX, 3 eps-figures included, submitted to PR
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