Noise-Activated Escape from a Sloshing Potential Well

We treat the noise-activated escape from a one-dimensional potential well of an overdamped particle, to which a periodic force of fixed frequency is applied. We determine the boundary layer behavior, and the physically relevant length scales, near the oscillating well top. We show how stochastic behavior near the well top generalizes the behavior first determined by Kramers, in the case without forcing. Both the case when the forcing dies away in the weak noise limit, and the case when it does not, are examined. We also discuss the relevance of various scaling regimes to recent optical trap experiments.Comment: 9 pages, no figures, REVTeX, expanded versio

Anisotropy of nickel-base superalloy single crystals

The influence of orientation on the tensile and stress rupture behavior of 52 Mar-M247 single crystals was studied. Tensile tests were performed at temperatures between 23 and 1093 C; stress rupture behavior was examined between 760 and 1038 C. The mechanical behavior of the single crystals was rationalized on the basis of the Schmid factor contours for the operative slip systems and the lattice rotations which the crystals underwent during deformation. The tensile properties correlated well with the appropriate Schmid factor contours. The stress rupture lives at lower testing temperatures were greatly influenced by the lattice rotations required to produce cross slip. A unified analysis was attained for the stress rupture life data generated for the Mar-M247 single crystals at 760 and 774 C under a stress of 724 MPa and the data reported for Mar-M200 single crystals tested at 760 C under a stress of 689 MPa. Based on this analysis, the stereographic triangle was divided into several regions which were rank ordered according to stress rupture life for this temperature regime

Microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk yttria-partially-stabilized zirconia

A commercially available bulk 4.5 mole percent yttria-(Y2O3) partially stabilized zirconia (PSZ) was studied by light microscopy, X-ray analysis, microhardness measurement, and fracture toughness testing. The growth of the precipitates and the phase transformations were studied as a function of aging in air at 1500 C. Aging curves were constructed for both the as received and the solution annealed and quenched materials; the curves showed hardness peaks at 1397 and 1517 Kg/sq mm respectively. The rectangular plate shaped tetragonal precipitates were found to have a 110 habit plane. A total of twelve different types of tetragonal precipitates were found. Grinding of the Y2O3 PSZ into powder did not cause a significant amount of metastable tetragonal precipitates to transform into the monoclinc phase, thus indicating that transformation toughening is not a significant mechanism for the material

Noisy Classical Field Theories with Two Coupled Fields: Dependence of Escape Rates on Relative Field Stiffnesses

Exit times for stochastic Ginzburg-Landau classical field theories with two or more coupled classical fields depend on the interval length on which the fields are defined, the potential in which the fields deterministically evolve, and the relative stiffness of the fields themselves. The latter is of particular importance in that physical applications will generally require different relative stiffnesses, but the effect of varying field stiffnesses has not heretofore been studied. In this paper, we explore the complete phase diagram of escape times as they depend on the various problem parameters. In addition to finding a transition in escape rates as the relative stiffness varies, we also observe a critical slowing down of the string method algorithm as criticality is approached.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure

The Effect of Focusing and Caustics on Exit Phenomena in Systems Lacking Detailed Balance

We study the trajectories followed by a particle subjected to weak noise when escaping from the domain of attraction of a stable fixed point. If detailed balance is absent, a _focus_ may occur along the most probable exit path, leading to a breakdown of symmetry (if present). The exit trajectory bifurcates, and the exit location distribution may become `skewed' (non-Gaussian). The weak-noise asymptotics of the mean escape time are strongly affected. Our methods extend to the study of skewed exit location distributions in stochastic models without symmetry.Comment: REVTEX macros (latest version). Two accompanying PS figures, one of which is large (over 600K unpacked

Phase behavior of the Confined Lebwohl-Lasher Model

The phase behavior of confined nematogens is studied using the Lebwohl-Lasher model. For three dimensional systems the model is known to exhibit a discontinuous nematic-isotropic phase transition, whereas the corresponding two dimensional systems apparently show a continuous Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless like transition. In this paper we study the phase transitions of the Lebwohl-Lasher model when confined between planar slits of different widths in order to establish the behavior of intermediate situations between the pure planar model and the three-dimensional system, and compare with previous estimates for the critical thickness, i.e. the slit width at which the transition switches from continuous to discontinuous.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review

Field enhancement in subnanometer metallic gaps

Motivated by recent experiments [Ward et al., Nature Nanotech. 5, 732 (2010)], we present here a theoretical analysis of the optical response of sharp gold electrodes separated by a subnanometer gap. In particular, we have used classical finite difference time domain simulations to investigate the electric field distribution in these nanojunctions upon illumination. Our results show a strong confinement of the field within the gap region, resulting in a large enhancement compared to the incident field. Enhancement factors exceeding 1000 are found for interelectrode distances on the order of a few angstroms, which are fully compatible with the experimental findings. Such huge enhancements originate from the coupling of the incident light to the evanescent field of hybrid plasmons involving charge density oscillations in both electrodes.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Experimental Test of Momentum Cooling Model Predictions at COSY and Conclusions for WASA and HESR

The High-Energy Storage Ring (HESR) of the future International Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) at GSI in Darmstadt is planned as an anti-proton cooler ring in the momentum range from 1.5 to 15 GeV/c. An important and challenging feature of the new facility is the combination of highly dense phase space cooled beams with internal targets. A detailed numerical and analytical approach to the Fokker-Planck equation for longitudinal filter cooling including the beam - target interaction has been carried out to demonstrate the stochastic cooling capability. To gain confidence in the model predictions a series of experimental stochastic cooling studies with the internal target ANKE at COSY have been carried out. A remarkable agreement between model and experiment was achieved. On this basis longitudinal stochastic cooling simulations were performed to predict the possibilities and limits of cooling when the newly installed WASA Pellet-target is operated.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, Talk given at Symposium on Meson Physics at COSY-11 and WASA-at-COSY, Cracow, Poland, 17-22 Jun 200

High performance microprocessor system for eddy current defectoscope measurement signal processing

This article shows principles of development of the eddy current defectoscope data acquisition system. It describes goals of development of this system and main requirements for its characteristics. Also on basis of these requirements possible implementation of the device was suggested