Scattering of Elastic Waves in a Quasi-one-dimensional Cavity: Theory and Experiment

We study the scattering of torsional waves through a quasi-one-dimensional cavity both, from the experimental and theoretical points of view. The experiment consists of an elastic rod with square cross section. In order to form a cavity, a notch at a certain distance of one end of the rod was grooved. To absorb the waves, at the other side of the rod, a wedge, covered by an absorbing foam, was machined. In the theoretical description, the scattering matrix S of the torsional waves was obtained. The distribution of S is given by Poisson's kernel. The theoretical predictions show an excellent agreement with the experimental results. This experiment corresponds, in quantum mechanics, to the scattering by a delta potential, in one dimension, located at a certain distance from an impenetrable wall

Cellular automaton supercolliders

Gliders in one-dimensional cellular automata are compact groups of non-quiescent and non-ether patterns (ether represents a periodic background) translating along automaton lattice. They are cellular-automaton analogous of localizations or quasi-local collective excitations travelling in a spatially extended non-linear medium. They can be considered as binary strings or symbols travelling along a one-dimensional ring, interacting with each other and changing their states, or symbolic values, as a result of interactions. We analyse what types of interaction occur between gliders travelling on a cellular automaton `cyclotron' and build a catalog of the most common reactions. We demonstrate that collisions between gliders emulate the basic types of interaction that occur between localizations in non-linear media: fusion, elastic collision, and soliton-like collision. Computational outcomes of a swarm of gliders circling on a one-dimensional torus are analysed via implementation of cyclic tag systems

Inferring broken detailed balance in the absence of observable currents

Identifying dissipation is essential for understanding the physical mechanisms underlying nonequilibrium processes. {In living systems, for example, the dissipation is directly related to the hydrolysis of fuel molecules such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP)}. Nevertheless, detecting broken time-reversal symmetry, which is the hallmark of dissipative processes, remains a challenge in the absence of observable directed motion, flows, or fluxes. Furthermore, quantifying the entropy production in a complex system requires detailed information about its dynamics and internal degrees of freedom. Here we introduce a novel approach to detect time irreversibility and estimate the entropy production from time-series measurements, even in the absence of observable currents. We apply our technique to two different physical systems, namely, a partially hidden network and a molecular motor. Our method does not require complete information about the system dynamics and thus provides a new tool for studying nonequilibrium phenomena.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figure

Soy protein enzymatic hydrolysis and polysaccharides interactions: differential performance on kinetic adsorption at air-water interface

The objective of the work was to study the impact of soy protein hydrolysis on kinetic adsorption to the air-water interface and the effect of polysaccharides addition. Was used soy protein (SP) and theirs hydrolysates of 2% (H1) and 5.4% (H2) degree of hydrolysis. The polysaccharides (PS) used were a surface active one called E4M and a non-surface active one, lamda carrageenan (C). The dynamic surface pressure of interfacial films was evaluated with a drop tensiometer. In this contribution, we have determined the kinetic parameters of adsorption to the air-water interface which determined the penetration (Kp) and rearrangement (Kr) rates of SP, H1, H2 and PS, as well as their mixed systems. It was observed an increase of Kp and Kr when the protein were hydrolyzed (from SP to H1), however, when degree of hydrolysis progresses to H2 the parameters decreased again. In other hand, considerable differences were not found between these two PS studied concerning the Kp to air-water interface at these conditions. In spite of the different surface active nature of the PS, the proteins seem to control the behavior of the protein-PS interactions. However, when Kr of mixed systems was analyzed, the degree of hydrolysis and PS nature started to have a huge importance. Hence, it could be observed synergic or antagonic effects on Kr of biopolymers at liquid interface depending to the degree of hydrolysis of protein analyzed and the type of PS selected.CYTED through project 105PI0274CYCYT through grant AGL2007-60045Junta de Andalucía through grant PO6-AGR-01535Universidad de Buenos Aires, Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica (PICT 2008-1901) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de la República Argentin

Mass-radius relation for magnetized strange quark stars

We review the stability of magnetized strange quark matter (MSQM) within the phenomenological MIT bag model, taking into account the variation of the relevant input parameters, namely, the strange quark mass, baryon density, magnetic field and bag parameter. A comparison with magnetized asymmetric quark matter in $\beta$-equilibrium as well as with strange quark matter (SQM) is presented. We obtain that the energy per baryon for MSQM decreases as the magnetic field increases, and its minimum value at vanishing pressure is lower than the value found for SQM, which implies that MSQM is more stable than non-magnetized SQM. The mass-radius relation for magnetized strange quark stars is also obtained in this framework.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures. To be published in the Proceedings of 4th International Workshop on Relativistic Astrophysical and Astronomy IWARA0

A search for magnetic fields on central stars in planetary nebulae

One of the possible mechanisms responsible for the panoply of shapes in planetary nebulae is the presence of magnetic fields that drive the ejection of ionized material during the proto-planetary nebula phase. Therefore, detecting magnetic fields in such objects is of key importance for understanding their dynamics. Still, magnetic fields have not been detected using polarimetry in the central stars of planetary nebulae. Circularly polarized light spectra have been obtained with the Focal Reducer and Low Dispersion Spectrograph at the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory and the Intermediate dispersion Spectrograph and Imaging System at the William Herschel Telescope. Nineteen planetary nebulae spanning very different morphology and evolutionary stages have been selected. Most of central stars have been observed at different rotation phases to point out evidence of magnetic variability. In this paper, we present the result of two observational campaigns aimed to detect and measure the magnetic field in the central stars of planetary nebulae on the basis of low resolution spectropolarimetry. In the limit of the adopted method, we can state that large scale fields of kG order are not hosted on the central star of planetary nebulae.Comment: Paper accepted to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysics on 20/01/201