CFD Analysis of Helicopter Wakes in Ground Effect

The paper presents CFD results for the wake of a helicopter flying a low altitude at different advance ratios. The wakes are assessed in terms of topology and velocity magnitudes. The structure of the wake near ground changes rapidly with the advance ratio and its decay appears to be faster than what is suggested by theoretical analyses. The results show clear the potential of modern CFD for use in helicopter safety and highlights the need for detailed surveys of helicopter wakes using full-scale physical experiments

Experimental Investigation of Helicopter Noise While Approaching an Elevated Helipad

The present paper describes a test campaign performed to investigate the noise footprint emitted by a helicopter in an idealised urban context, reproducing the approach to an elevated helipad. The test campaign was performed in Politecnico di Milano’s anechoic chamber and was finalised to investigate the effects produced only by helicopter noise. The set up consisted of a two-blade main rotor helicopter model and an aluminium rectangular prism model reproducing the landing building. Ground observer perceptions were recorded by means of a surface microphone and a realistic landing trajectory was approximated as a succession of fixed point measurements. Collected data were analysed through acoustic spectra and sound maps. Spectra were used to comprehend physical phenomena, such as reflection, diffraction and shielding, and to analyse the different contributions of helicopter noise. A sound map analysis enabled us to obtain a global perspective of the involved phenomena and to understand th extent to which people close to a building are stressed by a helicopter approaching an elevated urban helipad. Moreover, the experimental database, obtained over a free geometry, can be considered a useful tool for the validation of aeroacoustic solvers with different levels of fidelity

Accurate Prediction of Hall Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials through Gauge-Covariant Quadrupolar Contributions

Despite considerable efforts, accurate computations of electron-phonon and carrier transport properties of low-dimensional materials from first principles have remained elusive. By building on recent advances in the description of long-range electrostatics, we develop a general approach to the calculation of electron-phonon couplings in two-dimensional materials. We show that the nonanalytic behavior of the electron-phonon matrix elements depends on the Wannier gauge, but that a missing Berry connection restores invariance to quadrupolar order. We showcase these contributions in a MoS2 monolayer, calculating intrinsic drift and Hall mobilities with precise Wannier interpolations. We also find that the contributions of dynamical quadrupoles to the scattering potential are essential, and that their neglect leads to errors of 23% and 76% in the room-temperature electron and hole Hall mobilities, respectively

Shear and Breathing Modes of Layered Materials.

Layered materials (LMs), such as graphite, hexagonal boron nitride, and transition-metal dichalcogenides, are at the center of an ever-increasing research effort, due to their scientific and technological relevance. Raman and infrared spectroscopies are accurate, non-destructive approaches to determine a wide range of properties, including the number of layers, N, and the strength of the interlayer interactions. We present a general approach to predict the complete spectroscopic fan diagrams, i.e., the relations between frequencies and N for the optically active shear and layer-breathing modes of any multilayer comprising N ≥ 2 identical layers. In order to achieve this, we combine a description of the normal modes in terms of a one-dimensional mechanical model, with symmetry arguments that describe the evolution of the point group as a function of N. Group theory is then used to identify which modes are Raman- and/or infrared-active, and to provide diagrams of the optically active modes for any stack composed of identical layers. We implement the method and algorithms in an open-source tool to assist researchers in the prediction and interpretation of such diagrams. Our work will underpin future efforts on Raman and infrared characterization of known, and yet not investigated, LMs

Influence of magnetism on vertical hopping transport in CrSBr

We investigate the c-direction conduction in CrSBr in the linear regime, which is not accessible in other van der Waals (vdW) magnetic semiconductors, because of the unmeasurably low current. The resistivity, which is 108-1011 times larger than in the a and b directions, exhibits magnetic state dependent thermally activated and variable range hopping transport. In the spin-flip phase at 2 T, the activation energy is 20 meV lower than in the antiferromagnetic state due to a downshift of the conduction band edge, in agreement with ab initio calculations. In the variable range hopping regime, the average hopping length decreases from twice the interlayer distance to the interlayer distance at 2 T because in the antiferromagnetic state the large exchange energy impedes electrons hopping between adjacent layers. Our work demonstrates that the linear transport regime provides new information about electronic processes in vdW magnetic semiconductors and shows how magnetism influences these processes both in real and reciprocal space

CFD Analysis of Helicopter Wakes in Ground Effect

The paper presents CFD results for the wake of a helicopter flying a low altitude at different advance ratios. The wakes are assessed in terms of topology and velocity magnitudes. The structure of the wake near ground changes rapidly with the advance ratio and its decay appears to be faster than what is suggested by theoretical analyses. The results show clear the potential of modern CFD for use in helicopter safety and highlights the need for detailed surveys of helicopter wakes using full-scale physical experiments

Giga-Hertz quantized charge pumping in bottom gate defined InAs nanowire quantum dots

Semiconducting nanowires (NWs) are a versatile, highly tunable material platform at the heart of many new developments in nanoscale and quantum physics. Here, we demonstrate charge pumping, i.e., the controlled transport of individual electrons through an InAs NW quantum dot (QD) device at frequencies up to $1.3\,$GHz. The QD is induced electrostatically in the NW by a series of local bottom gates in a state of the art device geometry. A periodic modulation of a single gate is enough to obtain a dc current proportional to the frequency of the modulation. The dc bias, the modulation amplitude and the gate voltages on the local gates can be used to control the number of charges conveyed per cycle. Charge pumping in InAs NWs is relevant not only in metrology as a current standard, but also opens up the opportunity to investigate a variety of exotic states of matter, e.g. Majorana modes, by single electron spectroscopy and correlation experiments.Comment: 21 page

Gain-of-Function STIM1 L96V Mutation Causes Myogenesis Alteration in Muscle Cells From a Patient Affected by Tubular Aggregate Myopathy

Tubular Aggregate Myopathy (TAM) is a hereditary ultra-rare muscle disorder characterized by muscle weakness and cramps or myasthenic features. Biopsies from TAM patients show the presence of tubular aggregates originated from sarcoplasmic reticulum due to altered Ca2+ homeostasis. TAM is caused by gain-of-function mutations in STIM1 or ORAI1, proteins responsible for Store-Operated-Calcium-Entry (SOCE), a pivotal mechanism in Ca2+ signaling. So far there is no cure for TAM and the mechanisms through which STIM1 or ORAI1 gene mutation lead to muscle dysfunction remain to be clarified. It has been established that post-natal myogenesis critically relies on Ca2+ influx through SOCE. To explore how Ca2+ homeostasis dysregulation associated with TAM impacts on muscle differentiation cascade, we here performed a functional characterization of myoblasts and myotubes deriving from patients carrying STIM1 L96V mutation by using fura-2 cytofluorimetry, high content imaging and real-time PCR. We demonstrated a higher resting Ca2+ concentration and an increased SOCE in STIM1 mutant compared with control, together with a compensatory down-regulation of genes involved in Ca2+ handling (RyR1, Atp2a1, Trpc1). Differentiating STIM1 L96V myoblasts persisted in a mononuclear state and the fewer multinucleated myotubes had distinct morphology and geometry of mitochondrial network compared to controls, indicating a defect in the late differentiation phase. The alteration in myogenic pathway was confirmed by gene expression analysis regarding early (Myf5, Mef2D) and late (DMD, Tnnt3) differentiation markers together with mitochondrial markers (IDH3A, OGDH). We provided evidences of mechanisms responsible for a defective myogenesis associated to TAM mutant and validated a reliable cellular model usefull for TAM preclinical studies

The Physics of Kondo Impurities in Graphene

This article summarizes our understanding of the Kondo effect in graphene, primarily from a theoretical perspective. We shall describe different ways to create magnetic moments in graphene, either by adatom deposition or via defects. For dilute moments, the theoretical description is in terms of effective Anderson or Kondo impurity models coupled to graphene's Dirac electrons. We shall discuss in detail the physics of these models, including their quantum phase transitions and the effect of carrier doping, and confront this with existing experimental data. Finally, we point out connections to other quantum impurity problems, e.g., in unconventional superconductors, topological insulators, and quantum spin liquids.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figs. Review article prepared for Rep. Prog. Phys. ("key issues" section). (v2) Final version as publishe

How close can one approach the Dirac point in graphene experimentally?

The above question is frequently asked by theorists who are interested in graphene as a model system, especially in context of relativistic quantum physics. We offer an experimental answer by describing electron transport in suspended devices with carrier mobilities of several 10^6 cm^2V^-1s^-1 and with the onset of Landau quantization occurring in fields below 5 mT. The observed charge inhomogeneity is as low as \approx10^8 cm^-2, allowing a neutral state with a few charge carriers per entire micron-scale device. Above liquid helium temperatures, the electronic properties of such devices are intrinsic, being governed by thermal excitations only. This yields that the Dirac point can be approached within 1 meV, a limit currently set by the remaining charge inhomogeneity. No sign of an insulating state is observed down to 1 K, which establishes the upper limit on a possible bandgap