Three-dimensional self-adaptive grid method for complex flows

A self-adaptive grid procedure for efficient computation of three-dimensional complex flow fields is described. The method is based on variational principles to minimize the energy of a spring system analogy which redistributes the grid points. Grid control parameters are determined by specifying maximum and minimum grid spacing. Multidirectional adaptation is achieved by splitting the procedure into a sequence of successive applications of a unidirectional adaptation. One-sided, two-directional constraints for orthogonality and smoothness are used to enhance the efficiency of the method. Feasibility of the scheme is demonstrated by application to a multinozzle, afterbody, plume flow field. Application of the algorithm for initial grid generation is illustrated by constructing a three-dimensional grid about a bump-like geometry

The Place of Risk Management in Financial Institutions

The purpose of this paper is to address two issues. It defines the appropriate role played by institutions in the financial sector and focuses on the role of risk management in firms that use their own balance sheets to provide financial products. A key objective is to explain when risks are better transferred to the purchaser of the assets issued or created by the financial institution and when the risks of these financial products are best absorbed by the firm itself. However, once these risks are absorbed, they must be efficiently managed. So, a second part of the current analysis develops a framework for efficient and effective risk management for those risks which the firm chooses to manage within its balance sheet. The goal of this activity is to achieve the highest value added from the risk management undertaken.

Laser-induced spin protection and switching in a specially designed magnetic dot: A theoretical investigation

Most laser-induced femtosecond magnetism investigations are done in magnetic thin films. Nanostructured magnetic dots, with their reduced dimensionality, present new opportunities for spin manipulation. Here we predict that if a magnetic dot has a dipole-forbidden transition between the lowest occupied molecular orbital (LUMO) and the highest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO), but a dipole-allowed transition between LUMO+1 and HOMO, electromagnetically inducedtransparency can be used to prevent ultrafast laser-induced spin momentum reduction, or spin protection. This is realized through a strong dump pulse to funnel the population into LUMO+1. If the time delay between the pump and dump pulses is longer than 60 fs, a population inversion starts and spin switching is achieved. Thesepredictions are detectable experimentally.Comment: 6 pages, three figur

Neutrino Capture and r-Process Nucleosynthesis

We explore neutrino capture during r-process nucleosynthesis in neutrino-driven ejecta from nascent neutron stars. We focus on the interplay between charged-current weak interactions and element synthesis, and we delineate the important role of equilibrium nuclear dynamics. During the period of coexistence of free nucleons and light and/or heavy nuclei, electron neutrino capture inhibits the r-process. At all stages, capture on free neutrons has a larger impact than capture on nuclei. However, neutrino capture on heavey nuclei by itself, if it is very strong, is also detrimental to the r-process until large nuclear equilibrium clusters break down and the classical neutron-capture phase of the r-process begins. The sensitivity of the r-process to neutrino irradiation means that neutrino-capture effects can strongly constrain the r-process site, neutrino physics, or both. These results apply also to r-process scenarios other than neutrino-heated winds.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, Submitted to Physical Review

Microwave shielding of transparent and conducting single-walled carbon nanotube films

The authors measured the transport properties of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) films in the microwave frequency range from 10 MHz to 30 GHz by using the Corbino reflection technique from temperatures of 20-400 K. Based on the real and imaginary parts of the microwave conductivity, they calculated the shielding effectiveness for various film thicknesses. Shielding effectiveness of 43 dB at 10 MHz and 28 dB at 10 GHz are found for films with 90% optical transmittance, which suggests that SWCNT films are promising as a type of transparent microwave shielding material. By combining their data with those from the literature, the conductivity of SWCNT films was established in a broad frequency range from dc to visible.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

How `hot' are mixed quantum states?

Given a mixed quantum state $\rho$ of a qudit, we consider any observable $M$ as a kind of `thermometer' in the following sense. Given a source which emits pure states with these or those distributions, we select such distributions that the appropriate average value of the observable $M$ is equal to the average Tr$M\rho$ of $M$ in the stare $\rho$. Among those distributions we find the most typical one, namely, having the highest differential entropy. We call this distribution conditional Gibbs ensemble as it turns out to be a Gibbs distribution characterized by a temperature-like parameter $\beta$. The expressions establishing the liaisons between the density operator $\rho$ and its temperature parameter $\beta$ are provided. Within this approach, the uniform mixed state has the highest `temperature', which tends to zero as the state in question approaches to a pure state.Comment: Contribution to Quantum 2006: III workshop ad memoriam of Carlo Novero: Advances in Foundations of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Information with atoms and photons. 2-5 May 2006 - Turin, Ital