3,773 research outputs found
Scaling of the turbulence transition threshold in a pipe
We report the results of an experimental investigation of the transition to
turbulence in a pipe over approximately an order of magnitude range in . A
novel scaling law is uncovered using a systematic experimental procedure which
permits contact to be made with modern theoretical thinking. The principal
result we uncover is a scaling law which indicates that the amplitude of
perturbation required to cause transition scales as .Comment: 4 pages, RevTex (submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.
Characterization of the spore surface and exosporium proteins of Clostridium sporogenes; implications for Clostridium botulinum group I strains.
Clostridium sporogenes is a non-pathogenic close relative and surrogate for Group I (proteolytic) neurotoxin-producing Clostridium botulinum strains. The exosporium, the sac-like outermost layer of spores of these species, is likely to contribute to adhesion, dissemination, and virulence. A paracrystalline array, hairy nap, and several appendages were detected in the exosporium of C. sporogenes strain NCIMB 701792 by EM and AFM. The protein composition of purified exosporium was explored by LC-MS/MS of tryptic peptides from major individual SDS-PAGE-separated protein bands, and from bulk exosporium. Two high molecular weight protein bands both contained the same protein with a collagen-like repeat domain, the probable constituent of the hairy nap, as well as cysteine-rich proteins CsxA and CsxB. A third cysteine-rich protein (CsxC) was also identified. These three proteins are also encoded in C. botulinum Prevot 594, and homologues (75-100% amino acid identity) are encoded in many other Group I strains. This work provides the first insight into the likely composition and organization of the exosporium of Group I C. botulinum spores
How does flow in a pipe become turbulent?
The transition to turbulence in pipe flow does not follow the scenario
familiar from Rayleigh-Benard or Taylor-Couette flow since the laminar profile
is stable against infinitesimal perturbations for all Reynolds numbers.
Moreover, even when the flow speed is high enough and the perturbation
sufficiently strong such that turbulent flow is established, it can return to
the laminar state without any indication of the imminent decay. In this
parameter range, the lifetimes of perturbations show a sensitive dependence on
initial conditions and an exponential distribution. The turbulence seems to be
supported by three-dimensional travelling waves which appear transiently in the
flow field. The boundary between laminar and turbulent dynamics is formed by
the stable manifold of an invariant chaotic state. We will also discuss the
relation between observations in short, periodically continued domains, and the
dynamics in fully extended puffs.Comment: for the proceedings of statphys 2
The Canonical Perfect Bose Gas in Casimir Boxes
We study the problem of Bose-Einstein condensation in the perfect Bose gas in
the canonical ensemble, in anisotropically dilated rectangular parallelpipeds
(Casimir boxes). We prove that in the canonical ensemble for these anisotropic
boxes there is the same type of generalized Bose-Einstein condensation as in
the grand-canonical ensemble for the equivalent geometry. However the amount of
condensate in the individual states is different in some cases and so are the
fluctuations.Comment: 23 page
On the decay of turbulence in plane Couette flow
The decay of turbulent and laminar oblique bands in the lower transitional
range of plane Couette flow is studied by means of direct numerical simulations
of the Navier--Stokes equations. We consider systems that are extended enough
for several bands to exist, thanks to mild wall-normal under-resolution
considered as a consistent and well-validated modelling strategy. We point out
a two-stage process involving the rupture of a band followed by a slow
regression of the fragments left. Previous approaches to turbulence decay in
wall-bounded flows making use of the chaotic transient paradigm are
reinterpreted within a spatiotemporal perspective in terms of large deviations
of an underlying stochastic process.Comment: ETC13 Conference Proceedings, 6 pages, 5 figure
Imperfect Homoclinic Bifurcations
Experimental observations of an almost symmetric electronic circuit show
complicated sequences of bifurcations. These results are discussed in the light
of a theory of imperfect global bifurcations. It is shown that much of the
dynamics observed in the circuit can be understood by reference to imperfect
homoclinic bifurcations without constructing an explicit mathematical model of
the system.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, submitted to PR
Reduction and Emergence in Bose-Einstein Condensates
A closer look at some proposed Gedanken-experiments on BECs promises to shed
light on several aspects of reduction and emergence in physics. These include
the relations between classical descriptions and different quantum treatments
of macroscopic systems, and the emergence of new properties and even new
objects as a result of spontaneous symmetry breaking
Exclusion Statistics in a trapped two-dimensional Bose gas
We study the statistical mechanics of a two-dimensional gas with a repulsive
delta function interaction, using a mean field approximation. By a direct
counting of states we establish that this model obeys exclusion statistics and
is equivalent to an ideal exclusion statistics gas.Comment: 3 pages; minor changes in notation; typos correcte
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