Why Do Granular Materials Stiffen with Shear Rate? : Test of Novel Stress-Based Statistics

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Fluctuations in Shear-Jammed States: A Statistical Ensemble Approach

Granular matter exists out of thermal equilibrium, i.e. it is athermal. While conventional equilibrium statistical mechanics is not useful for characterizing granular materials, the idea of constructing a statistical ensemble analogous to its equilibrium counterpart to describe static granular matter was proposed by Edwards and Oakshott more than two decades ago. Recent years have seen several implementations of this idea. One of these is the stress ensemble, which is based on properties of the force moment tensor, and applies to frictional and frictionless grains. We demonstrate the full utility of this statistical framework in shear jammed (SJ) experimental states [1,2], a special class of granular solids created by pure shear, which is a strictly non-equilbrium protocol for creating solids. We demonstrate that the stress ensemble provides an excellent quantitative description of fluctuations in experimental SJ states. We show that the stress fluctuations are controlled by a single tensorial quantity: the angoricity of the system, which is a direct analog of the thermodynamic temperature. SJ states exhibit significant correlations in local stresses and are thus inherently different from density-driven, isotropically jammed (IJ) states.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Portable Perimetry Using Eye-Tracking on a Tablet Computer—A Feasibility Assessment

Purpose: Visual field (VF) examination by standard automated perimetry (SAP) is an important method of clinical assessment. However, the complexity of the test, and its use of bulky, expensive equipment makes it impractical for case-finding. We propose and evaluate a new approach to paracentral VF assessment that combines an inexpensive eye-tracker with a portable tablet computer (“Eyecatcher”). Methods: Twenty-four eyes from 12 glaucoma patients, and 12 eyes from six age-similar controls were examined. Participants were tested monocularly (once per eye), with both the novel Eyecatcher test and traditional SAP (HFA SITA standard 24-2). For Eyecatcher, the participant's task was to simply to look at a sequence of fixed-luminance dots, presented relative to the current point of fixation. Start and end fixations were used to determine locations where stimuli were seen/unseen, and to build a continuous map of sensitivity loss across a VF of approximately 20°. Results: Eyecatcher was able to clearly separate patients from controls, and the results were consistent with those from traditional SAP. In particular, mean Eyecatcher scores were strongly correlated with mean deviation scores (r2 = 0.64, P < 0.001), and there was good concordance between corresponding VF locations (∼84%). Participants reported that Eyecatcher was more enjoyable, easier to perform, and less tiring than SAP (all P < 0.001). Conclusions: Portable perimetry using an inexpensive eye-tracker and a tablet computer is feasible, although possible means of improvement are suggested. Translational Relevance: Such a test could have significant utility as a case finding device

Shear-induced rigidity of frictional particles: Analysis of emergent order in stress space

Solids are distinguished from fluids by their ability to resist shear. In traditional solids, the resistance to shear is associated with the emergence of broken translational symmetry as exhibited by a non-uniform density pattern, which results from either minimizing the energy cost or maximizing the entropy or both. In this work, we focus on a class of systems, where this paradigm is challenged. We show that shear-driven jamming in dry granular materials is a collective process controlled solely by the constraints of mechanical equilibrium. We argue that these constraints lead to a broken translational symmetry in a dual space that encodes the statistics of contact forces and the topology of the contact network. The shear-jamming transition is marked by the appearance of this broken symmetry. We extend our earlier work, by comparing and contrasting real space measures of rheology with those obtained from the dual space. We investigate the structure and behavior of the dual space as the system evolves through the rigidity transition in two different shear protocols. We analyze the robustness of the shear-jamming scenario with respect to protocol and packing fraction, and demonstrate that it is possible to define a protocol-independent order parameter in this dual space, which signals the onset of rigidity.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figure

Field-Trial of Machine Learning-Assisted Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Networking with SDN

We demonstrated, for the first time, a machine-learning method to assist the coexistence between quantum and classical communication channels. Software-defined networking was used to successfully enable the key generation and transmission over a city and campus network

Large-Scale Structure Shocks at Low and High Redshifts

Cosmological simulations show that, at the present time, a substantial fraction of the gas in the intergalactic medium (IGM) has been shock-heated to T>10^5 K. Here we develop an analytic model to describe the fraction of shocked, moderately overdense gas in the IGM. The model is an extension of the Press & Schechter (1974) description for the mass function of halos: we assume that large-scale structure shocks occur at a fixed overdensity during nonlinear collapse. This in turn allows us to compute the fraction of gas at a given redshift that has been shock-heated to a specified temperature. We show that, if strong shocks occur at turnaround, our model provides a reasonable description of the temperature distribution seen in cosmological simulations at z~0, although it does overestimate the importance of weak shocks. We then apply our model to shocks at high redshifts. We show that, before reionization, the thermal energy of the IGM is dominated by large-scale structure shocks (rather than virialized objects). These shocks can have a variety of effects, including stripping ~10% of the gas from dark matter minihalos, accelerating cosmic rays, and creating a diffuse radiation background from inverse Compton and cooling radiation. This radiation background develops before the first stars form and could have measurable effects on molecular hydrogen formation and the spin temperature of the 21 cm transition of neutral hydrogen. Finally, we show that shock-heating will also be directly detectable by redshifted 21 cm measurements of the neutral IGM in the young universe.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Ap

Asteroseismic analysis of solar-mass subgiants KIC 6442183 and KIC 11137075 observed by Kepler

Asteroseismology provides a powerful way to constrain stellar parameters. Solar-like oscillations have been observed on subgiant stars with the \emph{Kepler\/} mission. The continuous and high-precision time series enables us to carry out a detailed asteroseismic study for these stars. We carry out data processing of two subgiants of spectral type G: KIC 6442183 and KIC 11137075 observed with the \emph{Kepler} mission, and perform seismic analysis for the two evolved stars. We estimate the values of global asteroseismic parameters: $\Delta\nu=64.9\pm 0.2$ $\mu$Hz and $\nu_{\rm max}=1225 \pm 17$ $\mu$Hz for KIC 6442183, $\Delta\nu=65.5\pm 0.2$ $\mu$Hz and $\nu_{\rm max}=1171 \pm 8$ $\mu$Hz for KIC 11137075, respectively. In addition, we extract the individual mode frequencies of the two stars. We compare stellar models and observations, including mode frequencies and mode inertias. The mode inertias of mixed modes, which are sensitive to the stellar interior, are used to constrain stellar models. We define a quantity $d\nu_{\rm m-p}$ that measures the difference between the mixed modes and the expected pure pressure modes, which is related to the inertia ratio of mixed modes to radial modes. Asteroseismic together with spectroscopic constraints provide the estimations of the stellar parameters: $M = 1.04_{-0.04}^{+0.01} M_{\odot}$, $R = 1.66_{-0.02}^{+0.01} R_{\odot}$ and $t=8.65_{-0.06}^{+1.12}$ Gyr for KIC 6442183, and $M = 1.00_{-0.01}^{+0.01} M_{\odot}$, $R = 1.63_{-0.01}^{+0.01} R_{\odot}$ and $t=10.36_{-0.20}^{+0.01}$ Gyr for KIC 11137075. Either mode inertias or $d\nu_{\rm m-p}$ could be used to constrain stellar models.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables A&A accepte

Refinement and preliminary evaluation of two tablet-based tests of real-world visual function

PURPOSE: To describe, refine, evaluate, and provide normative control data for two freely available tablet-based tests of real-world visual function, using a cohort of young, normally-sighted adults. METHODS: Fifty young (18-40 years), normally-sighted adults completed tablet-based assessments of (1) face discrimination and (2) visual search. Each test was performed twice, to assess test-retest repeatability. Post-hoc analyses were performed to determine the number of trials required to obtain stable estimates of performance. Distributions were fitted to the normative data to determine the 99% population-boundary for normally sighted observers. Participants were also asked to rate their comprehension of each test. RESULTS: Both tests provided stable estimates in around 20 trials (~1-4 min), with only a further reduction of 14%-17% in the 95% Coefficient of Repeatability (CoR95 ) when an additional 40 trials were included. When using only ~20 trials: median durations for the first run of each test were 191 s (Faces) and 51 s (Search); test-retest CoR95 were 0.27 d (Faces) and 0.84 s (Search); and normative 99% population-limits were 3.50 d (Faces) and 3.1 s (Search). No participants exhibited any difficulties completing either test (100% completion rate), and ratings of task-understanding were high (Faces: 9.6 out of 10; Search: 9.7 out of 10). CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary assessment indicated that both tablet-based tests are able to provide simple, quick, and easy-to-administer measures of real-world visual function in normally-sighted young adults. Further work is required to assess their accuracy and utility in older people and individuals with visual impairment. Potential applications are discussed, including their use in clinic waiting rooms, and as an objective complement to Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)