Finding the Important Factors in Large Discrete-Event Simulation: Sequential Bifurcation and its Applications

This contribution discusses experiments with many factors: the case study includes a simulation model with 92 factors.The experiments are guided by sequential bifurcation.This method is most efficient and effective if the true input/output behavior of the simulation model can be approximated through a first-order polynomial possibly augmented with two-factor interactions.The method is explained and illustrated through three related discrete-event simulation models.These models represent three supply chain configurations, studied for an Ericsson factory in Sweden.After simulating 21 scenarios (factor combinations) each replicated five times to account for noise a shortlist with the 11 most important factors is identified for the biggest of the three simulation models.simulation;bifurcation;supply;Sweden

Fast readout of a single Cooper-pair box using its quantum capacitance

We have fabricated a single Cooper-pair box (SCB) together with an on-chip lumped element resonator. By utilizing the quantum capacitance of the SCB, its state can be read out by detecting the phase of a radio-frequency (rf) signal reflected off the resonator. The resonator was optimized for fast readout. By studying quasiparticle tunneling events in the SCB, we have characterized the performance of the readout and found that we can perform a single shot parity measurement in approximately 50 ns. This is an order of magnitude faster than previously reported measurements.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Rubber friction on (apparently) smooth lubricated surfaces

We study rubber sliding friction on hard lubricated surfaces. We show that even if the hard surface appears smooth to the naked eye, it may exhibit short wavelength roughness, which may give the dominant contribution to rubber friction. That is, the observed sliding friction is mainly due to the viscoelastic deformations of the rubber by the substrate surface asperities. The presented results are of great importance for rubber sealing and other rubber applications involving (apparently) smooth surfaces.Comment: 7 pages, 15 figure

On the dependence of the leak-rate of seals on the skewness of the surface height probability distribution

Seals are extremely useful devices to prevent fluid leakage. We present experimental result which show that the leak-rate of seals depend sensitively on the skewness in the height probability distribution. The experimental data are analyzed using the critical-junction theory. We show that using the top-power spectrum result in good agreement between theory and experiment.Comment: 5 pages, 9 figure

Molecular dynamics study of contact mechanics: contact area and interfacial separation from small to full contact

We report a molecular dynamics study of the contact between a rigid solid with a randomly rough surface and an elastic block with a flat surface. We study the contact area and the interfacial separation from small contact (low load) to full contact (high load). For small load the contact area varies linearly with the load and the interfacial separation depends logarithmically on the load. For high load the contact area approaches to the nominal contact area (i.e., complete contact), and the interfacial separation approaches to zero. The present results may be very important for soft solids, e.g., rubber, or for very smooth surfaces, where complete contact can be reached at moderate high loads without plastic deformation of the solids.Comment: 4 pages,5 figure

Warm water deuterium fractionation in IRAS 16293-2422 - The high-resolution ALMA and SMA view

Measuring the water deuterium fractionation in the inner warm regions of low-mass protostars has so far been hampered by poor angular resolution obtainable with single-dish ground- and space-based telescopes. Observations of water isotopologues using (sub)millimeter wavelength interferometers have the potential to shed light on this matter. Observations toward IRAS 16293-2422 of the 5(3,2)-4(4,1) transition of H2-18O at 692.07914 GHz from Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) as well as the 3(1,3)-2(2,0) of H2-18O at 203.40752 GHz and the 3(1,2)-2(2,1) transition of HDO at 225.89672 GHz from the Submillimeter Array (SMA) are presented. The 692 GHz H2-18O line is seen toward both components of the binary protostar. Toward one of the components, "source B", the line is seen in absorption toward the continuum, slightly red-shifted from the systemic velocity, whereas emission is seen off-source at the systemic velocity. Toward the other component, "source A", the two HDO and H2-18O lines are detected as well with the SMA. From the H2-18O transitions the excitation temperature is estimated at 124 +/- 12 K. The calculated HDO/H2O ratio is (9.2 +/- 2.6)*10^(-4) - significantly lower than previous estimates in the warm gas close to the source. It is also lower by a factor of ~5 than the ratio deduced in the outer envelope. Our observations reveal the physical and chemical structure of water vapor close to the protostars on solar-system scales. The red-shifted absorption detected toward source B is indicative of infall. The excitation temperature is consistent with the picture of water ice evaporation close to the protostar. The low HDO/H2O ratio deduced here suggests that the differences between the inner regions of the protostars and the Earth's oceans and comets are smaller than previously thought.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

Contact mechanics with adhesion: Interfacial separation and contact area

We study the adhesive contact between elastic solids with randomly rough, self affine fractal surfaces. We present molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results for the interfacial stress distribution and the wall-wall separation. We compare the MD results for the relative contact area and the average interfacial separation, with the prediction of the contact mechanics theory of Persson. We find good agreement between theory and the simulation results. We apply the theory to the system studied by Benz et al. involving polymer in contact with polymer, but in this case the adhesion gives only a small modification of the interfacial separation as a function of the squeezing pressure.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

The luminosity function of the brightest galaxies in the IRAS survey

Results from a study of the far infrared properties of the brightest galaxies in the IRAS survey are described. There is a correlation between the infrared luminosity and the infrared to optical luminosity ratio and between the infrared luminosity and the far infrared color temperature in these galaxies. The infrared bright galaxies represent a significant component of extragalactic objects in the local universe, being comparable in space density to the Seyferts, optically identified starburst galaxies, and more numerous than quasars at the same bolometric luminosity. The far infrared luminosity in the local universe is approximately 25% of the starlight output in the same volume

Interfacial separation between elastic solids with randomly rough surfaces: comparison of experiment with theory

We study the average separation between an elastic solid and a hard solid with a nominal flat but randomly rough surface, as a function of the squeezing pressure. We present experimental results for a silicon rubber (PDMS) block with a flat surface squeezed against an asphalt road surface. The theory shows that an effective repulse pressure act between the surfaces of the form p proportional to exp(-u/u0), where u is the average separation between the surfaces and u0 a constant of order the root-mean-square roughness, in good agreement with the experimental results.Comment: 6 pages, 10 figure

Global properties of the nearby spiral M101

M101 (NGC 5457) is a classic Sc I spiral galaxy located suffiently nearby, 6.8 Mpc, that its structure can be studied even with the coarse angular resolution of the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS). The global infrared properties of M101 are addressed including the radial dependence of its infrared emission