Lateral conduction effects on heat-transfer data obtained with the phase-change paint technique

A computerized tool, CAPE, (Conduction Analysis Program using Eigenvalues) has been developed to account for lateral heat conduction in wind tunnel models in the data reduction of the phase-change paint technique. The tool also accounts for the effects of finite thickness (thin wings) and surface curvature. A special reduction procedure using just one time of melt is also possible on leading edges. A novel iterative numerical scheme was used, with discretized spatial coordinates but analytic integration in time, to solve the inverse conduction problem involved in the data reduction. A yes-no chart is provided which tells the test engineer when various corrections are large enough so that CAPE should be used. The accuracy of the phase-change paint technique in the presence of finite thickness and lateral conduction is also investigated

Afterglow lightcurves, viewing angle and the jet structure of gamma-ray bursts

Gamma ray bursts are often modelled as jet-like outflows directed towards the observer; the cone angle of the jet is then commonly inferred from the time at which there is a steepening in the power-law decay of the afterglow. We consider an alternative model in which the jet has a beam pattern where the luminosity per unit solid angle (and perhaps also the initial Lorentz factor) decreases smoothly away from the axis, rather than having a well-defined cone angle within which the flow is uniform. We show that the break in the afterglow light curve then occurs at a time that depends on the viewing angle. Instead of implying a range of intrinsically different jets - some very narrow, and others with similar power spread over a wider cone - the data on afterglow breaks could be consistent with a standardized jet, viewed from different angles. We discuss the implication of this model for the luminosity function.Comment: Corrected typo in Eq. 1

4He adsorbed inside (10,10) single walled carbon nanotubes

Diffusion Monte Carlo calculations on the adsorption of $^4$He in open-ended single walled (10,10) nanotubes are presented. We have found a first order phase transition separating a low density liquid phase in which all $^4$He atoms are adsorbed close to the tube wall and a high density arrangement characterized by two helium concentric layers. The energy correction due to the presence of neighboring tubes in a bundle has also been calculated, finding it negligible in the density range considered.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Innovation, generative relationships and scaffolding structures: implications of a complexity perspective to innovation for public and private interventions

The linear model of innovation has been superseded by a variety of theoretical models that view the innovation process as systemic, complex, multi-level, multi-temporal, involving a plurality of heterogeneous economic agents. Accordingly, the emphasis of the policy discourse has changed over time. The focus has shifted from the direct public funding of basic research as an engine of innovation, to the creation of markets for knowledge goods, to, eventually, the acknowledgement that knowledge transfer very often requires direct interactions among innovating actors. In most cases, policy interventions attempt to facilitate the match between “demand” and “supply” of the knowledge needed to innovate. A complexity perspective calls for a different framing, one focused on the fostering of processes characterized by multiple agency levels, multiple temporal scales, ontological uncertainty and emergent outcomes. This contribution explores what it means to design interventions in support of innovation processes inspired by a complex systems perspective. It does so by analyzing two examples of coordinated interventions: a public policy funding innovating networks (with SMEs, research centers and university), and a private initiative, promoted by a network of medium-sized mechanical engineering firms, that supports innovation by means of technology brokerage. Relying on two unique datasets recording the interactions of the organizations involved in these interventions, social network analysis and qualitative research are combined in order to investigate network dynamics and the roles of specific actors in fostering innovation processes. Then, some general implications for the design of coordinated interventions supporting innovation in a complexity perspective are drawn

Deformed W_N algebras from elliptic sl(N) algebras

We extend to the sl(N) case the results that we previously obtained on the construction of W_{q,p} algebras from the elliptic algebra A_{q,p}(\hat{sl}(2)_c). The elliptic algebra A_{q,p}(\hat{sl}(N)_c) at the critical level c=-N has an extended center containing trace-like operators t(z). Families of Poisson structures indexed by N(N-1)/2 integers, defining q-deformations of the W_N algebra, are constructed. The operators t(z) also close an exchange algebra when (-p^1/2)^{NM} = q^{-c-N} for M in Z. It becomes Abelian when in addition p=q^{Nh} where h is a non-zero integer. The Poisson structures obtained in these classical limits contain different q-deformed W_N algebras depending on the parity of h, characterizing the exchange structures at p \ne q^{Nh} as new W_{q,p}(sl(N)) algebras.Comment: LaTeX2e Document - packages subeqn,amsfonts,amssymb - 30 page

Central extensions of classical and quantum q-Viraroso algebras

We investigate the central extensions of the q-deformed (classical and quantum) Virasoro algebras constructed from the elliptic quantum algebra A_{q,p}[sl(N)_c]. After establishing the expressions of the cocycle conditions, we solve them, both in the classical and in the quantum case (for sl(2)). We find that the consistent central extensions are much more general that those found previously in the literature.Comment: Latex2e, needs amsfonts and amssymb package

From quantum to elliptic algebras

It is shown that the elliptic algebra ${\cal A}_{q,p}(\hat{sl}(2)_c)$ at the critical level c=-2 has a multidimensional center containing some trace-like operators t(z). A family of Poisson structures indexed by a non-negative integer and containing the q-deformed Virasoro algebra is constructed on this center. We show also that t(z) close an exchange algebra when p^m=q^{c+2} for m integer, they commute when in addition p=q^{2k} for k integer non-zero, and they belong to the center of ${\cal A}_{q,p}(\hat{sl}(2)_c)$ when k is odd. The Poisson structures obtained for t(z) in these classical limits contain the q-deformed Virasoro algebra, characterizing the structures at generic values of p, q and m as new ${\cal W}_{q,p}(sl(2))$ algebras.Comment: LaTeX2e Document - packages subeqn,amsfont