Linear Solar Models: a simple tool to investigate the properties of solar interior

We describe a simple method to study the dependence of the solar properties on a generic (small) modification the physical inputs adopted in standard solar models calculations.Comment: 3 pages, proceeding of the TAUP09 Worksho

Dynamics of particle-particle collisions in a viscous liquid

When two solid spheres collide in a liquid, the dynamic collision process is slowed by viscous dissipation and the increased pressure in the interparticle gap as compared with dry collisions. This paper investigates liquid-immersed head-on and oblique collisions, which complements previously investigated particle-on-wall immersed collisions. By defining the normal from the line of centers at contact, the experimental findings support the decomposition of an oblique collision into its normal and tangential components of motion. The normal relative particle motion is characterized by an effective coefficient of restitution and a binary Stokes number with a correlation that follows the particle-wall results. The tangential motion is described by a collision model using a normal coefficient of restitution and a friction coefficient that are modified for the liquid effects

Vortex states in nanoscale superconducting squares: the influence of quantum confinement

Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory is used to investigate the effect of the size of a superconducting square on the vortex states in the quantum confinement regime. When the superconducting coherence length is comparable to the Fermi wavelength, the shape resonances of the superconducting order parameter have strong influence on the vortex configuration. Several unconventional vortex states, including asymmetric ones, giant multi-vortex combinations, and states comprising giant antivortex, were found as ground states and their stability was found to be very sensitive on the value of $k_F\xi_0$, the size of the sample $W$, and the magnetic flux $\Phi$. By increasing the temperature and/or enlarging the size of the sample, quantum confinement is suppressed and the conventional mesoscopic vortex states as predicted by the Ginzburg-Laudau (GL) theory are recovered. However, contrary to the GL results we found that the states containing symmetry-induced vortex-antivortex pairs are stable over the whole temperature range. It turns out that the inhomogeneous order parameter induced by quantum confinement favors vortex-antivortex molecules, as well as giant vortices with a rich structure in the vortex core - unattainable in the GL domain

Solving the electrical control of magnetic coercive field paradox

The ability to tune magnetic properties of solids via electric voltages instead of external magnetic fields is a physics curiosity of great scientific and technological importance. Today, there is strong published experimental evidence of electrical control of magnetic coercive fields in composite multiferroic solids. Unfortunately, the literature indicates highly contradictory results. In some studies, an applied voltage increases the magnetic coercive field and in other studies the applied voltage decreases the coercive field of composite multiferroics. Here, we provide an elegant explanation to this paradox and we demonstrate why all reported results are in fact correct. It is shown that for a given polarity of the applied voltage, the magnetic coercive field depends on the sign of two tensor components of the multiferroic solid: magnetostrictive and piezoelectric coefficient. For a negative applied voltage, the magnetic coercive field decreases when the two material parameters have the same sign and increases when they have opposite signs, respectively. The effect of the material parameters is reversed when the same multiferroic solid is subjected to a positive applied voltage