A thermodynamic framework to develop rate-type models for fluids without instantaneous elasticity

In this paper, we apply the thermodynamic framework recently put into place by Rajagopal and co-workers, to develop rate-type models for viscoelastic fluids which do not possess instantaneous elasticity. To illustrate the capabilities of such models we make a specific choice for the specific Helmholtz potential and the rate of dissipation and consider the creep and stress relaxation response associated with the model. Given specific forms for the Helmholtz potential and the rate of dissipation, the rate of dissipation is maximized with the constraint that the difference between the stress power and the rate of change of Helmholtz potential is equal to the rate of dissipation and any other constraint that may be applicable such as incompressibility. We show that the model that is developed exhibits fluid-like characteristics and is incapable of instantaneous elastic response. It also includes Maxwell-like and Kelvin-Voigt-like viscoelastic materials (when certain material moduli take special values).Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure

Development of three dimensional constitutive theories based on lower dimensional experimental data

Most three dimensional constitutive relations that have been developed to describe the behavior of bodies are correlated against one dimensional and two dimensional experiments. What is usually lost sight of is the fact that infinity of such three dimensional models may be able to explain these experiments that are lower dimensional. Recently, the notion of maximization of the rate of entropy production has been used to obtain constitutive relations based on the choice of the stored energy and rate of entropy production, etc. In this paper we show different choices for the manner in which the body stores energy and dissipates energy and satisfies the requirement of maximization of the rate of entropy production that leads to many three dimensional models. All of these models, in one dimension, reduce to the model proposed by Burgers to describe the viscoelastic behavior of bodies.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

The interstellar clouds of Adams and Blaauw revisited: an HI absorption study - I

This investigation is aimed at clarifying the nature of the interstellar gas seen in absorption against bright O and B stars. Towards this end we have obtained for the first time HI absorption spectra towards radio sources very close to the lines of sight towards 25 bright stars previously studied. In this paper we describe the selection criteria, the details regarding our observations, and finally present the absorption spectra. In the accompanying paper we analyse the results and draw conclusions.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, accepted by Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom

Broken-symmetry-adapted Green function theory of condensed matter systems:towards a vector spin-density-functional theory

The group theory framework developed by Fukutome for a systematic analysis of the various broken symmetry types of Hartree-Fock solutions exhibiting spin structures is here extended to the general many body context using spinor-Green function formalism for describing magnetic systems. Consequences of this theory are discussed for examining the magnetism of itinerant electrons in nanometric systems of current interest as well as bulk systems where a vector spin-density form is required, by specializing our work to spin-density-functional formalism. We also formulate the linear response theory for such a system and compare and contrast them with the recent results obtained for localized electron systems. The various phenomenological treatments of itinerant magnetic systems are here unified in this group-theoretical description.Comment: 17 page

Overview of event-by-event analysis of high energy nuclear collisions

The event-by-event analysis of high energy nuclear collisions aims at revealing the richness of the underlying event structures and provide unique measures of dynamical fluctuations associated with QGP phase transition. The major challenge in these studies is to separate the dynamical fluctuations from the many other sources which contribute to the measured values. We present the fluctuations in terms of event multiplicity, mean transverse momentum, elliptic flow, source sizes, particle ratios and net charge distributions. In addition, we discuss the effect of long range correlations, disoriented chiral condensates and presence of jets. A brief review of various probes used for fluctuation studies and available experimental results are presented.Comment: Invited talk at the "XIth International Workshop on Correlation and Fluctuation in Multiparticle Production", Nov 21-24, 2006, Hangzhou, China (19 pages

Aquaculture vis-a-vis agriculture

The effect of aquaculture, especially shrimp farming, on agriculture has caused heated debate among aquaculturists, agriculturists, and non-governmental organizations. As data on the negative impact of shrimp farming on adjacent rice fields are not available, a study was undertaken in rice fields skirting three shrimp farms: a semi-intensive farm; an extensive farm; and a semi-intensive farm with a buffer zone. The buffer zone was found to be helpful in preventing salinization of the adjacent agricultural fields and the Electrical Conductivity (EC) values (less than 1) reported were found to be harmless to the rice crop. Thus, aquaculture and agriculture can coexist in coastal areas if there are buffer zones in between

Bulk viscosity of spin-one color superconducting strange quark matter

The bulk viscosity in spin-one color-superconducting strange quark matter is calculated by taking into account the interplay between the nonleptonic and semi-leptonic week processes. In agreement with previous studies, it is found that the inclusion of the semi-leptonic processes may result in non-negligible corrections to the bulk viscosity in a narrow window of temperatures. The effect is generally more pronounced for pulsars with longer periods. Compared to the normal phase, however, this effect due to the semi-leptonic processes is less pronounced in spin-one color superconductors. Assuming that the critical temperature of the phase transition is much larger than 40 keV, the main effect of spin-one color superconductivity in a wide range of temperatures is an overall increase of the bulk viscosity with respect to the normal phase. The corresponding enhancement factor reaches up to about 9 in the polar and A-phases, about 25 in the planar phase and about 29 in the CSL phase. This factor is determined by the suppression of the nonleptonic rate in color-superconducting matter and, therefore, may be even larger if all quark quasiparticles happen to be gapped.Comment: 10 pages, 4 multi-panel figures, including one new in the final versio

A model for the degradation of polyimides due to oxidation

Polyimides, due to their superior mechanical behavior at high temperatures, are used in a variety of applications that include aerospace, automobile and electronic packaging industries, as matrices for composites, as adhesives etc. In this paper, we extend our previous model in [S. Karra, K. R. Rajagopal, Modeling the non-linear viscoelastic response of high temperature polyimides, Mechanics of Materials, In press, doi:10.1016/j.mechmat.2010.09.006], to include oxidative degradation of these high temperature polyimides. Appropriate forms for the Helmholtz potential and the rate of dissipation are chosen to describe the degradation. The results for a specific boundary value problem, using our model compares well with the experimental creep data for PMR-15 resin that is aged in air.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Mechanics of Time-dependent Material

Joint measurability, steering and entropic uncertainty

The notion of incompatibility of measurements in quantum theory is in stark contrast with the corresponding classical perspective, where all physical observables are jointly measurable. It is of interest to examine if the results of two or more measurements in the quantum scenario can be perceived from a classical point of view or they still exhibit non-classical features. Clearly, commuting observables can be measured jointly using projective measurements and their statistical outcomes can be discerned classically. However, such simple minded association of compatibility of measurements with commutativity turns out to be limited in an extended framework, where the usual notion of sharp projective valued measurements of self adjoint observables gets broadened to include unsharp measurements of generalized observables constituting positive operator valued measures (POVM). There is a surge of research activity recently towards gaining new physical insights on the emergence of classical behavior via joint measurability of unsharp observables. Here, we explore the entropic uncertainty relation for a pair of discrete observables (of Alice's system) when an entangled quantum memory of Bob is restricted to record outcomes of jointly measurable POVMs only. Within the joint measurability regime, the sum of entropies associated with Alice's measurement outcomes - conditioned by the results registered at Bob's end - are constrained to obey an entropic steering inequality. In this case, Bob's non-steerability reflects itself as his inability in predicting the outcomes of Alice's pair of non-commuting observables with better precision, even when they share an entangled state. As a further consequence, the quantum advantage envisaged for the construction of security proofs in key distribution is lost, when Bob's measurements are restricted to the joint measurability regime.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 1 pdf figure, Comments welcom