2,309 research outputs found
Characterization of a defective PbWO4 crystal cut along the a-c crystallographic plane: structural assessment and a novel photoelastic stress analysis
Among scintillators, the PWO is one of the most widely used, for instance in
CMS calorimeter at CERN and PANDA project. Crystallographic structure and
chemical composition as well as residual stress condition, are indicators of
homogeneity and good quality of the crystal. In this paper, structural
characterization of a defective PbWO4 (PWO) crystal has been performed by X-ray
Diffraction (XRD), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) and Photoelasticity in
the unusual a-c crystallographic plane. XRD and EDS analysis have been used to
investigate crystallographic orientation and chemical composition, while stress
distribution, which indicates macroscopic inhomogeneities and defects, has been
obtained by photoelastic approaches, in Conoscopic and Sphenoscopic
configuration. Since the sample is cut along the a-c crystallographic plane, a
new method is proposed for the interpretation of the fringe pattern. The
structural analysis has detected odds from the nominal lattice dimension, which
can be attributed to the strong presence of Pb and W. A strong inhomogeneity
over the crystal sample has been revealed by the photoelastic inspection. The
results give reliability to the proposed procedure which is exploitable in
crystals with other structures.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, revised versio
Annual and semiannual variations of vertical total electron content during high solar activity based on GPS observations
Annual, semiannual and seasonal variations of the Vertical Total Electron
Content (VTEC) have been investigated during high solar activity in 2000. In
this work we use Global IGS VTEC maps and Principal Component Analysis to
study spatial and temporal ionospheric variability. The behavior of VTEC
variations at two-hour periods, at noon and at night is analyzed. Particular
characteristics associated with each period and the geomagnetic regions are
highlighted.
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The variations at night are smaller than those obtained at noon. At noon it
is possible to see patterns of the seasonal variation at high latitude, and
patterns of the semiannual anomaly at low latitudes with a slow decrease
towards mid latitudes. At night there is no evidence of seasonal or annual
anomaly for any region, but it was possible to see the semiannual anomaly at
low latitudes with a sudden decrease towards mid latitudes. In general, the
semiannual behavior shows MarchâApril equinox at least 40 % higher than
September one. Similarities and differences are analyzed also with regard to
the same analysis done for a period of low solar activity
Molecular dynamics simulations of reflection and adhesion behavior in Lennard-Jones cluster deposition
We conduct molecular dynamics simulations of the collision of atomic clusters
with a weakly-attractive surface. We focus on an intermediate regime, between
soft-landing and fragmentation, where the cluster undergoes deformation on
impact but remains largely intact, and will either adhere to the surface (and
possibly slide), or be reflected. We find that the outcome of the collision is
determined by the Weber number, We i.e. the ratio of the kinetic energy to the
adhesion energy, with a transition between adhesion and reflection occurring as
We passes through unity. We also identify two distinct collision regimes: in
one regime the collision is largely elastic and deformation of the cluster is
relatively small but in the second regime the deformation is large and the
adhesion energy starts to depend on the kinetic energy. If the transition
between these two regimes occurs at a similar kinetic energy to that of the
transition between reflection and adhesion, then we find that the probability
of adhesion for a cluster can be bimodal. In addition we investigate the
effects of the angle of incidence on adhesion and reflection. Finally we
compare our findings both with recent experimental results and with macroscopic
theories of particle collisions.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
Towards semantic software engineering environments
Software tools processing partially common set of data should share an understanding of what these data mean. Since ontologies have been used to express formally a shared understanding of information, we argue that they are a way towards Semantic SEEs. In this paper we discuss an ontology-based approach to tool integration and present ODE, an ontology-based SEE
Quantum dynamics of a vibrational mode of a membrane within an optical cavity
Optomechanical systems are a promising candidate for the implementation of
quantum interfaces for storing and redistributing quantum information. Here we
focus on the case of a high-finesse optical cavity with a thin vibrating
semitransparent membrane in the middle. We show that robust and stationary
optomechanical entanglement could be achieved in the system, even in the
presence of nonnegligible optical absorption in the membrane. We also present
some preliminary experimental data showing radiation-pressure induced optical
bistability.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. Work presented at the conference QCMC 2010 held
on 19-23 July 2010 at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australi
Quantum dynamics of a high-finesse optical cavity coupled with a thin semi-transparent membrane
We study the quantum dynamics of the cavity optomechanical system formed by a
Fabry-Perot cavity with a thin vibrating membrane at its center. We first
derive the general multimode Hamiltonian describing the radiation pressure
interaction between the cavity modes and the vibrational modes of the membrane.
We then restrict the analysis to the standard case of a single cavity mode
interacting with a single mechanical resonator and we determine to what extent
optical absorption by the membrane hinder reaching a quantum regime for the
cavity-membrane system. We show that membrane absorption does not pose serious
limitations and that one can simultaneously achieve ground state cooling of a
vibrational mode of the membrane and stationary optomechanical entanglement
with state-of-the-art apparatuses.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
The inelastic Takahashi hard-rod gas
We study a one-dimensional fluid of hard-rods interacting each other via
binary inelastic collisions and a short ranged square-well potential. Upon
tuning the depth and the sign of the well, we investigate the interplay between
dissipation and cohesive or repulsive forces. Molecular dynamics simulations of
the cooling regime indicate that the presence of this simple interparticle
interaction is sufficient to significantly modify the energy dissipation rates
expected by the Haff's law for the free cooling. The simplicity of the model
makes it amenable to an analytical approach based on the Boltzmann-Enskog
transport equation which allows deriving the behaviour of the granular
temperature. Furthermore, in the elastic limit, the model can be solved exactly
to provide a full thermodynamic description. A meaningful theoretical
approximation explaining the properties of the inelastic system in interaction
with a thermal bath can be directly extrapolated from the properties of the
corresponding elastic system, upon a proper re-definition of the relevant
observables. Simulation results both in the cooling and driven regime can be
fairly interpreted according to our theoretical approach and compare rather
well to our predictions.Comment: 14 pages RevTex, 9 eps figure
Optomechanical sideband cooling of a thin membrane within a cavity
We present an experimental study of dynamical back-action cooling of the
fundamental vibrational mode of a thin semitransparent membrane placed within a
high-finesse optical cavity. We study how the radiation pressure interaction
modifies the mechanical response of the vibrational mode, and the experimental
results are in agreement with a Langevin equation description of the coupled
dynamics. The experiments are carried out in the resolved sideband regime, and
we have observed cooling by a factor 350 We have also observed the mechanical
frequency shift associated with the quadratic term in the expansion of the
cavity mode frequency versus the effective membrane position, which is
typically negligible in other cavity optomechanical devices.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Jacobian-Based Iterative Method for Magnetic Localization in Robotic Capsule Endoscopy
The purpose of this study is to validate a Jacobian-based iterative method for real-time localization of magnetically controlled endoscopic capsules. The proposed approach applies finite-element solutions to the magnetic field problem and least-squares interpolations to obtain closed-form and fast estimates of the magnetic field. By defining a closed-form expression for the Jacobian of the magnetic field relative to changes in the capsule pose, we are able to obtain an iterative localization at a faster computational time when compared with prior works, without suffering from the inaccuracies stemming from dipole assumptions. This new algorithm can be used in conjunction with an absolute localization technique that provides initialization values at a slower refresh rate. The proposed approach was assessed via simulation and experimental trials, adopting a wireless capsule equipped with a permanent magnet, six magnetic field sensors, and an inertial measurement unit. The overall refresh rate, including sensor data acquisition and wireless communication was 7 ms, thus enabling closed-loop control strategies for magnetic manipulation running faster than 100 Hz. The average localization error, expressed in cylindrical coordinates was below 7 mm in both the radial and axial components and 5° in the azimuthal component. The average error for the capsule orientation angles, obtained by fusing gyroscope and inclinometer measurements, was below 5°
SMAC â A Modular Open Source Architecture for Medical Capsule Robots
The field of Medical Capsule Robots (MCRs) is gaining momentum in the robotics community, with applications spanning from abdominal surgery to gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy. MCRs are miniature multifunctional devices usually constrained in both size and on-board power supply. The design process for MCRs is time consuming and resource intensive, as it involves the development of custom hardware and software components. In this work, we present the STORM Lab Modular Architecture for Capsules (SMAC), a modular open source architecture for MCRs aiming to provide the MCRs research community with a tool for shortening the design and development time for capsule robots. The SMAC platform consists of both hardware modules and firmware libraries that can be used for developing MCRs. In particular, the SMAC modules are miniature boards of uniform diameter (i.e., 9.8 mm) that are able to fulfill five different functions: signal coordination combined with wireless data transmission, sensing, actuation, powering and vision/illumination. They are small in size, low power, and have reconfigurable software libraries for the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), which has been proven to work reliably for different types of MCRs. A design template for a generic SMAC application implementing a robust communication protocol is presented in this work, together with its finite state machine abstraction, capturing all the architectural components involved. The reliability of the wireless link is assessed for different levels of data transmission power and separation distances. The current consumption for each SMAC module is quantified and the timing of a SMAC radio message transmission is characterized. Finally, the applicability of SMAC in the field of MCRs is discussed by analysing examples from the literature
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