999 research outputs found
Introduction to Q-tensor theory
This paper aims to provide an introduction to a basic form of the -tensor approach to modelling liquid crystals, which has seen increased
interest in recent years. The increase in interest in this type of modelling
approach has been driven by investigations into the fundamental nature of
defects and new applications of liquid crystals such as bistable displays and
colloidal systems for which a description of defects and disorder is essential.
The work in this paper is not new research, rather it is an introductory guide
for anyone wishing to model a system using such a theory. A more complete
mathematical description of this theory, including a description of flow
effects, can be found in numerous sources but the books by Virga and Sonnet and
Virga are recommended. More information can be obtained from the plethora of
papers using such approaches, although a general introduction for the novice is
lacking. The first few sections of this paper will detail the development of
the -tensor approach for nematic liquid crystalline systems and
construct the free energy and governing equations for the mesoscopic dependent
variables. A number of device surface treatments are considered and theoretical
boundary conditions are specified for each instance. Finally, an example of a
real device is demonstrated
ALMA CO J=6-5 observations of IRAS16293-2422: Shocks and entrainment
Observations of higher-excited transitions of abundant molecules such as CO
are important for determining where energy in the form of shocks is fed back
into the parental envelope of forming stars. The nearby prototypical and
protobinary low-mass hot core, IRAS16293-2422 (I16293) is ideal for such a
study. The source was targeted with ALMA for science verification purposes in
band 9, which includes CO J=6-5 (E_up/k_B ~ 116 K), at an unprecedented spatial
resolution (~0.2", 25 AU). I16293 itself is composed of two sources, A and B,
with a projected distance of 5". CO J=6-5 emission is detected throughout the
region, particularly in small, arcsecond-sized hotspots, where the outflow
interacts with the envelope. The observations only recover a fraction of the
emission in the line wings when compared to data from single-dish telescopes,
with a higher fraction of emission recovered at higher velocities. The very
high angular resolution of these new data reveal that a bow shock from source A
coincides, in the plane of the sky, with the position of source B. Source B, on
the other hand, does not show current outflow activity. In this region, outflow
entrainment takes place over large spatial scales, >~ 100 AU, and in small
discrete knots. This unique dataset shows that the combination of a
high-temperature tracer (e.g., CO J=6-5) and very high angular resolution
observations is crucial for interpreting the structure of the warm inner
environment of low-mass protostars.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letter
Higher Education Fine Art in the UK and Spain since 1992: a study in perceptions of change by staff in two universities
This article explores the perceptions of a small sample of academic staff from a university in Spain and another in the United Kingdom towards changes in fine art higher education (HE) in both countries over the last 25 years. The authors sought to understand if, and how, the changing HE context had influenced the provision of fine art in each university, and considered it useful to address whether there was any comparability across the two institutions in terms of the responses to the broad changes in resourcing and quality assurance. They used a series of semi-structured interviews with eight respondents, four in each country, aimed at eliciting staff views. These perceptions were considered alongside available data on student numbers, enrolments, graduation and gender, in order to explore the reactions of teaching staff to shifts in context over the period. The study concludes that the stance of criticality adopted by many fine art academics, who value their academic freedom and autonomy and prioritize the practice of their discipline, is being challenged by many of the recent changes in HE. As a result, staff who are being asked to undertake a wider range of activities are having to adapt their view of the nature of fine art HE
Interferometric method for determining the sum of the flexoelectric coefficients (e1+e3) in an ionic nematic material
The time-dependent periodic distortion profile in a nematic liquid crystal phase grating has been measured from the displacement of tilt fringes in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. A 0.2 Hz squarewave voltage was applied to alternate stripe electrodes in an interdigitated electrode geometry. The time-dependent distortion profile is asymmetric with respect to the polarity of the applied voltage and decays with time during each half period due to ionic shielding. This asymmetry in the response allows the determination of the sum of the flexoelectric coefficients (e1+e3) using nematic continuum theory since the device geometry does not possess inherent asymmetry
Characterizing precursors to stellar clusters with Herschel
Context. Despite their profound effect on the universe, the formation of massive stars and stellar clusters remains elusive. Recent advances in observing facilities and computing power have brought us closer to understanding this formation process. In the past decade, compelling evidence has emerged that suggests infrared dark clouds (IRDCs) may be precursors to stellar clusters. However, the usual method for identifying IRDCs is biased by the requirement that they are seen in absorption against background mid-IR emission, whereas dust continuum observations allow cold, dense pre-stellar-clusters to be identified anywhere. Aims: We aim to understand what dust temperatures and column densities characterize and distinguish IRDCs, to explore the population of dust continuum sources that are not IRDCs, and to roughly characterize the level of star formation activity in these dust continuum sources. Methods: We use Hi-GAL 70 to 500 m bright sources at the warmest. Finally, we identify five candidate IRDC-like sources on the far-side of the Galaxy. These are cold (20 K), high column density (N(H) gt 10 cm) clouds identified with Hi-GAL which, despite bright surrounding mid-IR emission, show little to no absorption at 8 $m. These are the first inner Galaxy far-side candidate IRDCs of which the authors are aware. Herschel in an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-led Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation by NASA.The FITS files discussed in the paper would be released publicly WITH the Hi-GAL data (on the Hi-GAL website) when the Hi-GAL data is released publicly.Peer reviewe
The RMS Survey: The Bolometric Fluxes and Luminosity Distributions of Young Massive Stars
Context: The Red MSX Source (RMS) survey is returning a large sample of
massive young stellar objects (MYSOs) and ultra-compact (UC) \HII{} regions
using follow-up observations of colour-selected candidates from the MSX point
source catalogue. Aims: To obtain the bolometric fluxes and, using kinematic
distance information, the luminosities for young RMS sources with far-infrared
fluxes. Methods: We use a model spectral energy distribution (SED) fitter to
obtain the bolometric flux for our sources, given flux data from our work and
the literature. The inputs to the model fitter were optimised by a series of
investigations designed to reveal the effect varying these inputs had on the
resulting bolometric flux. Kinematic distances derived from molecular line
observations were then used to calculate the luminosity of each source.
Results: Bolometric fluxes are obtained for 1173 young RMS sources, of which
1069 have uniquely constrained kinematic distances and good SED fits. A
comparison of the bolometric fluxes obtained using SED fitting with trapezium
rule integration and two component greybody fits was also undertaken, and
showed that both produce considerable scatter compared to the method used here.
Conclusions: The bolometric flux results allowed us to obtain the luminosity
distributions of YSOs and UC\HII{} regions in the RMS sample, which we find to
be different. We also find that there are few MYSOs with L
10\lsol{}, despite finding many MYSOs with 10\lsol{} L
10\lsol{}.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables, accepted to A&A. The full versions of
tables 1 and 2 will be available via the CDS upon publicatio
Solubility, speciation and local environment of chlorine in zirconolite glass–ceramics for the immobilisation of plutonium residues
The immobilisation and disposal of fissile materials from civil and defence nuclear programmes requires compatible, passively safe and proliferation resistant wasteforms. In this study, we demonstrate the application of an albite glass–zirconolite ceramic material for immobilisation of chloride contaminated plutonium oxide residues in the United Kingdom. The chlorine solubility limit in the albite glass phase was determined to be 1.0 ± 0.1 wt%, above the maximum envisaged chorine inventory of 0.5 wt%, attainable at a 20 wt% PuO2 incorporation rate within the ceramic. Cl K-edge of X-ray Absorption Near Edge Spectroscopy (XANES) was exploited to confirm partitioning of Cl to the glass phase, speciated as the chloride anion, with exsolution of crystalline NaCl above the chlorine solubility limit. Combinatorial fitting of Cl XANES data, utilising a library of chemically plausible reference spectra, demonstrated the association of Cl with Na and Ca modifier cations, with environments characteristic of the aluminosilicate chloride minerals eudialyte, sodalite, chlorellestadite and afghanite. Adventitious incorporation of Ca, Zr and Ti within the albite glass phase apparently assists chlorine solubility, by templating a local chemical environment characteristic of the mineral reference compounds. The partitioning of Ce, as a Pu analogue, within the glass–ceramic was not adversely impacted by incorporation of Cl. The significance of this research is in demonstrating the compatibility of the glass–ceramic wasteform toward Cl solubility at the expected incorporation rate, below the determined solubility limit. Thus, an upstream heat treatment facility to remove chloride contamination, as specified in the current conceptual flowsheet, would not be required from the perspective of wasteform compatibility, thus providing scope to de-risk the technology roadmap and reduce the projected capital and operational plant costs
Argon behaviour in an inverted Barrovian sequence, Sikkim Himalaya: the consequences of temperature and timescale on <sup>40</sup>Ar/<sup>39</sup>Ar mica geochronology
40Ar/39Ar dating of metamorphic rocks sometimes yields complicated datasets which are difficult to interpret in terms of timescales of the metamorphic cycle. Single-grain fusion and step-heating data were obtained for rocks sampled through a major thrust-sense shear zone (the Main Central Thrust) and the associated inverted metamorphic zone in the Sikkim region of the eastern Himalaya. This transect provides a natural laboratory to explore factors influencing apparent 40Ar/39Ar ages in similar lithologies at a variety of metamorphic pressure and temperature (P–T) conditions.
The 40Ar/39Ar dataset records progressively younger apparent age populations and a decrease in within-sample dispersion with increasing temperature through the sequence. The white mica populations span ~ 2–9 Ma within each sample in the structurally lower levels (garnet grade) but only ~ 0–3 Ma at structurally higher levels (kyanite-sillimanite grade). Mean white mica single-grain fusion population ages vary from 16.2 ± 3.9 Ma (2σ) to 13.2 ± 1.3 Ma (2σ) from lowest to highest levels. White mica step-heating data from the same samples yields plateau ages from 14.27 ± 0.13 Ma to 12.96 ± 0.05 Ma. Biotite yield older apparent age populations with mean single-grain fusion dates varying from 74.7 ± 11.8 Ma (2σ) at the lowest structural levels to 18.6 ± 4.7 Ma (2σ) at the highest structural levels; the step-heating plateaux are commonly disturbed.
Temperatures > 600 °C at pressures of 0.4–0.8 GPa sustained over > 5 Ma, appear to be required for white mica and biotite ages to be consistent with diffusive, open-system cooling. At lower temperatures, and/or over shorter metamorphic timescales, more 40Ar is retained than results from simple diffusion models suggest. Diffusion modelling of Ar in white mica from the highest structural levels suggests that the high-temperature rocks cooled at a rate of ~ 50–80 °C Ma− 1, consistent with rapid thrusting, extrusion and exhumation along the Main Central Thrust during the mid-Miocene
Uniqueness in the Freedericksz transition with weak anchoring
In this paper we consider a boundary value problem for a quasilinear pendulum equation with nonlinear boundary conditions that arises in a classical liquid crystals setup, the Freedericksz transition, which is the simplest opto-electronic switch, the result of competition between reorienting effects of an applied electric field and the anchoring to the bounding surfaces. A change of variables transforms the problem into the equation x = −f(x) for ∈ (−T, T), with boundary conditions x = ± T f(x) at = ∓T, for a convex nonlinearity f. By analyzing an associated inviscid Burgers' equation, we prove uniqueness of monotone solutions in the original nonlinear boundary value problem. This result has been for many years conjectured in the liquid crystals literature, e. g. in E. G. Virga, Variational Theories for Liquid Crystals,Chapman and Hall, London, 1994 and in I. W. Stewart, The Static and Dynamic Continuum Theory of Liquid Crystals: A Mathematical Introduction, Taylor and Francis, London, 2003
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