4,512 research outputs found
Dynamics of sliding drops on superhydrophobic surfaces
We use a free energy lattice Boltzmann approach to investigate numerically
the dynamics of drops moving across superhydrophobic surfaces. The surfaces
comprise a regular array of posts small compared to the drop size. For drops
suspended on the posts the velocity increases as the number of posts decreases.
We show that this is because the velocity is primarily determined by the
contact angle which, in turn, depends on the area covered by posts. Collapsed
drops, which fill the interstices between the posts, behave in a very different
way. The posts now impede the drop behaviour and the velocity falls as their
density increases.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Europhys. Let
Aging, rejuvenation and memory effects in re-entrant ferromagnets
We have studied the slow dynamics of the ferromagnetic phases of the
re-entrant CdCr_{2x}In_{2-2x}S_4 system for 0.85<x<=1 by means of low frequency
ac susceptibility and magnetization measurements. Experimental procedures
widely used in the investigation of the out-of-equilibrium dynamics of spin
glasses (such as the x=0.85 compound) have been applied to search for aging,
rejuvenation and memory effects, and to test their dependence on the disorder
introduced by dilution of the magnetic ions. Whereas the rejuvenation effect is
found in all studied samples, the memory effect is clearly enhanced for
increasing dilutions. The results support a description of aging in both
ferromagnetic and re-entrant spin-glass phases in terms of hierarchical
reconformations of domain walls pinned by the disorder.Comment: Service de Physique de l'Etat Condense, DRECAM, DSM, CEA Saclay,91191
Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France, 9 pages, including 7 figures, To appear in Eur.
Phys. J. B (2002
EUNIS E-Learning Snapshots 2008
The paper presents an analysis of the information obtained through the third EUNIS E-Learning Snapshots scheme. Around 50 member universities of EUNIS have contributed information on the way e-learning is organised and deployed at their universities along with their views on e-learning. The results of this survey present a picture of the deployment of e-learning in the universities represented in our sample. The Snapshots scheme is one of the activities of the EUNIS E-Learning Task Force, which met in Malta in February 2008
Superconductivity of Quasi-One-Dimensional Electrons in Strong Magnetic Field
The superconductivity of quasi-one-dimensional electrons in the magnetic
field is studied. The system is described as the one-dimensional electrons with
no frustration due to the magnetic field. The interaction is assumed to be
attractive between electrons in the nearest chains, which corresponds to the
lines of nodes of the energy gap in the absence of the magnetic field. The
effective interaction depends on the magnetic field and the transverse
momentum. As the magnetic field becomes strong, the transition temperature of
the spin-triplet superconductivity oscillates, while that of the spin-singlet
increases monotonically.Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX, 3 PostScript figures in uuencoded compressed tar
file are appende
Jetting Micron-Scale Droplets onto Chemically Heterogeneous Surfaces
We report experiments investigating the behaviour of micron-scale fluid
droplets jetted onto surfaces patterned with lyophobic and lyophilic stripes.
The final droplet shape depends on the droplet size relative to that of the
stripes. In particular when the droplet radius is of the same order as the
stripe width, the final shape is determined by the dynamic evolution of the
drop and shows a sensitive dependence on the initial droplet position and
velocity. Numerical solutions of the dynamical equations of motion of the drop
provide a close quantitative match to the experimental results. This proves
helpful in interpreting the data and allows for accurate prediction of fluid
droplet behaviour for a wide range of surfaces.Comment: 14 pages, accepted for publication in Langmui
Rheology of cholesteric blue phases
Blue phases of cholesteric liquid crystals offer a spectacular example of
naturally occurring disclination line networks. Here we numerically solve the
hydrodynamic equations of motion to investigate the response of three types of
blue phases to an imposed Poiseuille flow. We show that shear forces bend and
twist and can unzip the disclination lines. Under gentle forcing the network
opposes the flow and the apparent viscosity is significantly higher than that
of an isotropic liquid. With increased forcing we find strong shear thinning
corresponding to the disruption of the defect network. As the viscosity starts
to drop, the imposed flow sets the network into motion. Disclinations break-up
and re-form with their neighbours in the flow direction. This gives rise to
oscillations in the time-dependent measurement of the average stress.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Ultra-dense magnetoresistive mass memory
This report details the progress and accomplishments of Nonvolatile Electronics (NVE), Inc., on the design of the wafer scale MRAM mass memory system during the fifth quarter of the project. NVE has made significant progress this quarter on the one megabit design in several different areas. A test chip, which will verify a working GMR bit with the dimensions required by the 1 Meg chip, has been designed, laid out, and is currently being processed in the NVE labs. This test chip will allow electrical specifications, tolerances, and processing issues to be finalized before construction of the actual chip, thus providing a greater assurance of success of the final 1 Meg design. A model has been developed to accurately simulate the parasitic effects of unselected sense lines. This model gives NVE the ability to perform accurate simulations of the array electronic and test different design concepts. Much of the circuit design for the 1 Meg chip has been completed and simulated and these designs are included. Progress has been made in the wafer scale design area to verify the reliable operation of the 16 K macrocell. This is currently being accomplished with the design and construction of two stand alone test systems which will perform life tests and gather data on reliabiliy and wearout mechanisms for analysis
Aging phenomena in spin glass and ferromagnetic phases: domain growth and wall dynamics
We compare aging in a disordered ferromagnet and in a spin glass, by studying
the different phases of a reentrant system. We have measured the relaxation of
the low-frequency ac susceptibility, in both the ferromagnetic and spin-glass
phases of a CdCr_{1.9}In_{0.1}S_4 sample. A restart of aging processes when the
temperature is lowered (`chaos-like' effect) is observed in both phases. The
memory of previous aging at a higher temperature can be retrieved upon
re-heating, but in the ferromagnetic phase it can rapidly be erased by the
growth of ferromagnetic domains. We interpret the behaviour observed in the
ferromagnetic phase in terms of a combination of domain growth and pinned wall
reconformations, and suggest that aging in spin glasses is dominated by such
wall reconformation processes.Comment: SPEC, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France, to appear in
Europhys. Lett. (2000
Generalized Entropies
We study an entropy measure for quantum systems that generalizes the von
Neumann entropy as well as its classical counterpart, the Gibbs or Shannon
entropy. The entropy measure is based on hypothesis testing and has an elegant
formulation as a semidefinite program, a type of convex optimization. After
establishing a few basic properties, we prove upper and lower bounds in terms
of the smooth entropies, a family of entropy measures that is used to
characterize a wide range of operational quantities. From the formulation as a
semidefinite program, we also prove a result on decomposition of hypothesis
tests, which leads to a chain rule for the entropy.Comment: 21 page
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