38,615 research outputs found
Optimum design of structures subject to general periodic loads
A simplified version of Icerman's problem regarding the design of structures subject to a single harmonic load is discussed. The nature of the restrictive conditions that must be placed on the design space in order to ensure an analytic optimum are discussed in detail. Icerman's problem is then extended to include multiple forcing functions with different driving frequencies. And the conditions that now must be placed upon the design space to ensure an analytic optimum are again discussed. An important finding is that all solutions to the optimality condition (analytic stationary design) are local optima, but the global optimum may well be non-analytic. The more general problem of distributing the fixed mass of a linear elastic structure subject to general periodic loads in order to minimize some measure of the steady state deflection is also considered. This response is explicitly expressed in terms of Green's functional and the abstract operators defining the structure. The optimality criterion is derived by differentiating the response with respect to the design parameters. The theory is applicable to finite element as well as distributed parameter models
A Circumbinary Planet in Orbit Around the Short-Period White-Dwarf Eclipsing Binary RR Cae
By using six new determined mid-eclipse times together with those collected
from the literature, we found that the Observed-Calculated (O-C) curve of RR
Cae shows a cyclic change with a period of 11.9 years and an amplitude of
14.3s, while it undergoes an upward parabolic variation (revealing a long-term
period increase at a rate of dP/dt =+4.18(+-0.20)x10^(-12). The cyclic change
was analyzed for the light-travel time effect that arises from the
gravitational influence of a third companion. The mass of the third body was
determined to be M_3*sin i' = 4.2(+-0.4) M_{Jup} suggesting that it is a
circumbinary giant planet when its orbital inclination is larger than 17.6
degree. The orbital separation of the circumbinary planet from the central
eclipsing binary is about 5.3(+-0.6)AU. The period increase is opposite to the
changes caused by angular momentum loss via magnetic braking or/and
gravitational radiation, nor can it be explained by the mass transfer between
both components because of its detached configuration. These indicate that the
observed upward parabolic change is only a part of a long-period (longer than
26.3 years) cyclic variation, which may reveal the presence of another giant
circumbinary planet in a wide orbit.Comment: It will be published in the MNRA
Summer snow extent heralding of the winter North Atlantic Oscillation
[1] Winter climate over the North Atlantic and European sector is modulated by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We find that the summer extent of snow cover over northern North America and northern Eurasia is linked significantly (p < 0.01) to the upcoming winter NAO state. Summers with high/low snow extent precede winters of low/high NAO index phase. We suggest the linkage arises from the summer snow-associated formation of anomalous longitudinal differences in surface air temperature with the subpolar North Atlantic. Our findings indicate the seasonal predictability of North Atlantic winter climate may be higher and extend to longer leads than thought previously
Minimal field requirement in precessional magnetization switching
We investigate the minimal field strength in precessional magnetization
switching using the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation in under-critically damped
systems. It is shown that precessional switching occurs when localized
trajectories in phase space become unlocalized upon application of field
pulses. By studying the evolution of the phase space, we obtain the analytical
expression of the critical switching field in the limit of small damping for a
magnetic object with biaxial anisotropy. We also calculate the switching times
for the zero damping situation. We show that applying field along the medium
axis is good for both small field and fast switching times.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure
Subelliptic Li-Yau estimates on three dimensional model spaces
We describe three elementary models in three dimensional subelliptic geometry
which correspond to the three models of the Riemannian geometry (spheres,
Euclidean spaces and Hyperbolic spaces) which are respectively the SU(2),
Heisenberg and SL(2) groups. On those models, we prove parabolic Li-Yau
inequalities on positive solutions of the heat equation. We use for that the
techniques that we adapt to those elementary model spaces. The
important feature developed here is that although the usual notion of Ricci
curvature is meaningless (or more precisely leads to bounds of the form
for the Ricci curvature), we describe a parameter which plays
the same role as the lower bound on the Ricci curvature, and from which one
deduces the same kind of results as one does in Riemannian geometry, like heat
kernel upper bounds, Sobolev inequalities and diameter estimates
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