776 research outputs found
Variational methods for finding periodic orbits in the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations
Unstable periodic orbits are believed to underpin the dynamics of turbulence, but by their nature are hard to find computationally. We present a family of methods to converge such unstable periodic orbits for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, based on variations of an integral objective functional, and using traditional gradient-based optimisation strategies. Different approaches for handling the incompressibility condition are considered. The variational methods are applied to the specific case of periodic, two-dimensional Kolmogorov flow and compared against existing Newton iteration-based shooting methods. While computationally slow, our methods converge from very inaccurate initial guesses.<br/
Variational methods for finding periodic orbits in the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations
Unstable periodic orbits are believed to underpin the dynamics of turbulence, but by their nature are hard to find computationally. We present a family of methods to converge such unstable periodic orbits for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, based on variations of an integral objective functional, and using traditional gradient-based optimisation strategies. Different approaches for handling the incompressibility condition are considered. The variational methods are applied to the specific case of periodic, two-dimensional Kolmogorov flow and compared against existing Newton iteration-based shooting methods. While computationally slow, our methods converge from very inaccurate initial guesses.<br/
How does flow in a pipe become turbulent?
The transition to turbulence in pipe flow does not follow the scenario
familiar from Rayleigh-Benard or Taylor-Couette flow since the laminar profile
is stable against infinitesimal perturbations for all Reynolds numbers.
Moreover, even when the flow speed is high enough and the perturbation
sufficiently strong such that turbulent flow is established, it can return to
the laminar state without any indication of the imminent decay. In this
parameter range, the lifetimes of perturbations show a sensitive dependence on
initial conditions and an exponential distribution. The turbulence seems to be
supported by three-dimensional travelling waves which appear transiently in the
flow field. The boundary between laminar and turbulent dynamics is formed by
the stable manifold of an invariant chaotic state. We will also discuss the
relation between observations in short, periodically continued domains, and the
dynamics in fully extended puffs.Comment: for the proceedings of statphys 2
Hosts of Type II Quasars: an HST Study
Type II quasars are luminous Active Galactic Nuclei whose centers are
obscured by large amounts of gas and dust. In this contribution we present
3-band HST images of nine type II quasars with redshifts 0.25<z<0.4 selected
from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey based on their emission line properties. The
intrinsic luminosities of these quasars are thought to be in the range
-24>M_B>-26, but optical obscuration implies that host galaxies can be studied
unencumbered by bright nuclei. Each object has been imaged in three filters
(`red', `green' and `blue') placed between the strong emission lines. The
spectacular, high quality images reveal a wealth of details about the structure
of the host galaxies and their environments. Most galaxies in the sample are
ellipticals, but strong deviations from de Vaucouleurs profiles are found,
especially in the blue band. We argue that most of these deviations are due to
the light from the nucleus scattered off interstellar material in the host
galaxy. This scattered component can make a significant contribution to the
broad-band flux and complicates the analysis of the colors of the stellar
populations in the host galaxy. This extended component can be difficult to
notice in unobscured luminous quasars and may bias the results of host galaxy
studies.Comment: 6 pages including 2 color figures; proceedings of the 'QSO host
galaxies: evolution and environment' conference, Leiden, August 200
Time-Varying Dark Energy Constraints From the Latest SN Ia, BAO and SGL
Based on the latest SNe Ia data provided by Hicken et al. (2009) with using
MLCS17 light curve fitter, together with the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation(BAO)
and strong gravitational lenses(SGL), we investigate the constraints on the
dark energy equation-of-state parameter in the flat universe, especially
for the time-varying case . The constraints from SNe data
alone are found to be: (a) as the best-fit
results; (b) for
the two parameters in the time-varying case after marginalizing the parameter
; (c) the likelihood of parameter has a high non-Gaussian
distribution; (d) an extra restriction on is necessary to improve
the constraint of the SNe Ia data on the parameters (, ). A joint
analysis of SNe Ia data and BAO is made to break the degeneracy between and
, and leads to the interesting maximum likelihoods and
. When marginalizing the parameter , the fitting results are
found to be . After
adding the splitting angle statistic of SGL data, a consistent constraint is
obtained and the constraints on time-varying
dark energy are further improved to be , which indicates that the phantom type models are
disfavored.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, to be published in JCA
A U-HPLC-ESI-MS/MS-based stable isotope dilution method for the detection and quantitation of methotrexate in plasma
INTRODUCTION: High-dose methotrexate (MTX) is used in the treatment of proliferative diseases such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Therapeutic drug monitoring of plasma MTX is important to monitor efficacy and adverse events. The authors aimed to develop a liquid chromatography, electrospray ionization, tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS)-based method to determine MTX in plasma for therapeutic drug monitoring and pharmacokinetic studies. METHODS: Samples were analyzed using a Waters Acquity UPLC and Quattro Premier XE. A Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column (2.1 mm x 100 mm, 1.7 μm) was used running an isocratic mobile phase of 21% methanol and 10 mM ammonium bicarbonate. The electrospray was operated in the positive ionization mode monitoring the following mass transitions: m/z 455.2 > 308.2 for MTX and m/z 458.2 > 311.2 for MTXd3. The analysis combined straightforward sample preparation, consisting of dilution and protein precipitation, with a 3-minute run time. RESULTS: The method was linear up to 50 μM (r > 0.99), and the coefficient of variation was 1:10, was 5 nM. Method comparison with the Abbott TDx fluorescent polarization immunoassay (FPIA) showed excellent agreement, and a small but significant negative constant bias was detected (LC-MS/MS = 0.98 x FPIA - 7.3). CONLUSIONS: The authors developed a specific and sensitive stable isotope dilution LC-ESI-MS/MS method to monitor MTX concentrations in plasma within the clinically relevant range. The method can be easily applied in clinical laboratories because it combines straightforward sample pretreatment with LC-MS/MS. Copyrigh
Melting and Dimensionality of the Vortex Lattice in Underdoped YBa2Cu3O6.60
Muon spin rotation measurements of the magnetic field distribution in the
vortex state of the oxygen deficient high-Tc superconductor YBa{2}Cu{3}O{6.60}
reveal a vortex-lattice melting transition at much lower temperature than that
in the fully oxygenated material. The transition is best described by a model
in which adjacent layers of ``pancake'' vortices decouple in the liquid phase.
Evidence is also found for a pinning-induced crossover from a solid 3D to
quasi-2D vortex lattice, similar to that observed in the highly anisotropic
superconductor Bi{2+x}Sr{2-x}CaCu{2}O{8+y}.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, 5 postscript file
Investigating the topology of interacting networks - Theory and application to coupled climate subnetworks
Network theory provides various tools for investigating the structural or
functional topology of many complex systems found in nature, technology and
society. Nevertheless, it has recently been realised that a considerable number
of systems of interest should be treated, more appropriately, as interacting
networks or networks of networks. Here we introduce a novel graph-theoretical
framework for studying the interaction structure between subnetworks embedded
within a complex network of networks. This framework allows us to quantify the
structural role of single vertices or whole subnetworks with respect to the
interaction of a pair of subnetworks on local, mesoscopic and global
topological scales.
Climate networks have recently been shown to be a powerful tool for the
analysis of climatological data. Applying the general framework for studying
interacting networks, we introduce coupled climate subnetworks to represent and
investigate the topology of statistical relationships between the fields of
distinct climatological variables. Using coupled climate subnetworks to
investigate the terrestrial atmosphere's three-dimensional geopotential height
field uncovers known as well as interesting novel features of the atmosphere's
vertical stratification and general circulation. Specifically, the new measure
"cross-betweenness" identifies regions which are particularly important for
mediating vertical wind field interactions. The promising results obtained by
following the coupled climate subnetwork approach present a first step towards
an improved understanding of the Earth system and its complex interacting
components from a network perspective
Comparison of some Reduced Representation Approximations
In the field of numerical approximation, specialists considering highly
complex problems have recently proposed various ways to simplify their
underlying problems. In this field, depending on the problem they were tackling
and the community that are at work, different approaches have been developed
with some success and have even gained some maturity, the applications can now
be applied to information analysis or for numerical simulation of PDE's. At
this point, a crossed analysis and effort for understanding the similarities
and the differences between these approaches that found their starting points
in different backgrounds is of interest. It is the purpose of this paper to
contribute to this effort by comparing some constructive reduced
representations of complex functions. We present here in full details the
Adaptive Cross Approximation (ACA) and the Empirical Interpolation Method (EIM)
together with other approaches that enter in the same category
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