5,315 research outputs found
Velocity Fluctuations in Electrostatically Driven Granular Media
We study experimentally the particle velocity fluctuations in an
electrostatically driven dilute granular gas. The experimentally obtained
velocity distribution functions have strong deviations from Maxwellian form in
a wide range of parameters. We have found that the tails of the distribution
functions are consistent with a stretched exponential law with typical
exponents of the order 3/2. Molecular dynamic simulations shows qualitative
agreement with experimental data. Our results suggest that this non-Gaussian
behavior is typical for most inelastic gases with both short and long range
interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
VAChT knock-down mice show normal prepulse inhibition but disrupted long-term habituation
The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) plays a crucial role in both the central and peripheral nervous system. Central cholinergic transmission is important for cognitive functions and cholinergic disruptions have been associated with different neural disorders. We here tested the role of cholinergic transmission in basic cognitive functions, i.e. in prepulse inhibition (PPI) and short-term habituation (STH) as well as long-term habituation (LTH) of startle using mice with a 65% knockdown (KD) of the vesicular ACh transporter (VAChT). These mice are slow in refilling cholinergic synaptic transmitter vesicles, leading to a reduced cholinergic tone. Prepulse inhibition has been assumed to be mediated by cholinergic projections from the midbrain to the reticular formation. Surprisingly, PPI and STH were normal in these mice, whereas LTH was disrupted. This disruption could be rescued by pre-testing injections of the ACh esterase inhibitor galantamine, but not by post-testing injections. The lack of a PPI deficit might be because of the fact that VAChT KD mice show disruptions mainly in prolonged cholinergic activity, therefore the transient activation by prepulse processing might not be sufficient to deplete synaptic vesicles. The disruption of LTH indicates that the latter depends on a tonic cholinergic inhibition. Future experiments will address which cholinergic cell group is responsible for this effect
On the complexity of some birational transformations
Using three different approaches, we analyze the complexity of various
birational maps constructed from simple operations (inversions) on square
matrices of arbitrary size. The first approach consists in the study of the
images of lines, and relies mainly on univariate polynomial algebra, the second
approach is a singularity analysis, and the third method is more numerical,
using integer arithmetics. Each method has its own domain of application, but
they give corroborating results, and lead us to a conjecture on the complexity
of a class of maps constructed from matrix inversions
Force distribution in a scalar model for non-cohesive granular material
We study a scalar lattice model for inter-grain forces in static,
non-cohesive, granular materials, obtaining two primary results. (i) The
applied stress as a function of overall strain shows a power law dependence
with a nontrivial exponent, which moreover varies with system geometry. (ii)
Probability distributions for forces on individual grains appear Gaussian at
all stages of compression, showing no evidence of exponential tails. With
regard to both results, we identify correlations responsible for deviations
from previously suggested theories.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, Submitted to PR
Smoothing of sandpile surfaces after intermittent and continuous avalanches: three models in search of an experiment
We present and analyse in this paper three models of coupled continuum
equations all united by a common theme: the intuitive notion that sandpile
surfaces are left smoother by the propagation of avalanches across them. Two of
these concern smoothing at the `bare' interface, appropriate to intermittent
avalanche flow, while one of them models smoothing at the effective surface
defined by a cloud of flowing grains across the `bare' interface, which is
appropriate to the regime where avalanches flow continuously across the
sandpile.Comment: 17 pages and 26 figures. Submitted to Physical Review
Anomalous Transport in Conical Granular Piles
Experiments on 2+1-dimensional piles of elongated particles are performed.
Comparison with previous experiments in 1+1 dimensions shows that the addition
of one extra dimension to the dynamics changes completely the avalanche
properties, appearing a characteristic avalanche size. Nevertheless, the time
single grains need to cross the whole pile varies smoothly between several
orders of magnitude, from a few seconds to more than 100 hours. This behavior
is described by a power-law distribution, signaling the existence of scale
invariance in the transport process.Comment: Accepted in PR
Dynamics of electrostatically-driven granular media. Effects of Humidity
We performed experimental studies of the effect of humidity on the dynamics
of electrostatically-driven granular materials. Both conducting and dielectric
particles undergo a phase transition from an immobile state (granular solid) to
a fluidized state (granular gas) with increasing applied field. Spontaneous
precipitation of solid clusters from the gas phase occurs as the external
driving is decreased. The clustering dynamics in conducting particles is
primarily controlled by screening of the electric field but is aided by
cohesion due to humidity. It is shown that humidity effects dominate the
clustering process with dielectric particles.Comment: 4 pages, 4 fig
Nearest pattern interaction and global pattern formation
We studied the effect of nearest pattern interaction on a globally pattern
formation in a 2-dimensional space, where patterns are to grow initially from a
noise in the presence of periodic supply of energy. Although our approach is
general, we found that this study is relevant in particular to the pattern
formation on a periodically vibrated granular layer, as it gives a unified
perspective of the experimentally observed pattern dynamics such as oscillon
and stripe formations, skew-varicose and crossroll instabilities, and also a
kink formation and decoration
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