Experimental velocity fields and forces for a cylinder penetrating into a granular medium

We present here a detailed granular flow characterization together with force measurements for the quasi-bidimensional situation of a horizontal cylinder penetrating vertically at a constant velocity in dry granular matter between two parallel glass walls. In the velocity range studied here, the drag force on the cylinder does not depend on the velocity V_0 and is mainly proportional to the cylinder diameter d. Whereas the force on the cylinder increases with its penetration depth, the granular velocity profile around the cylinder is found stationary with fluctuations around a mean value leading to the granular temperature profile. Both mean velocity profile and temperature profile exhibit strong localization near the cylinder. The mean flow perturbation induced by the cylinder decreases exponentially away from the cylinder on a characteristic length \lambda, that is mainly governed by the cylinder diameter for large enough cylinder/grain size ratio d/d_g: \lambda ~ d/4 + 2d_g. The granular temperature exhibits a constant plateau value T_0 in a thin layer close to the cylinder of extension \delta_{T_0} ~ \lambda/2 and decays exponentially far away with a characteristic length \lambda_T of a few grain diameters (\lambda_T ~ 3d_g). The granular temperature plateau T_0 that scales as (V_0^2 d_g/d) is created by the flow itself from the balance between the "granular heat" production by the shear rate V_0/\lambda over \delta_{T_0} close to the cylinder and the granular dissipation far away

Accretion of a satellite onto a spherical galaxy. II. Binary evolution and orbital decay

We study the dynamical evolution of a satellite orbiting outside of a companion spherical galaxy. The satellite is subject to a back-reaction force resulting from the density fluctuations excited in the primary stellar system. We evaluate this force using the linear response theory developed in Colpi and Pallavicini (1997). The force is computed in the reference frame comoving with the primary galaxy and is expanded in multipoles. To capture the relevant features of the physical process determining the evolution of the detached binary, we introduce in the Hamiltonian the harmonic potential as interaction potential among stars. The dynamics of the satellite is computed self-consistently. We determine the conditions for tidal capture of a satellite from an asymptotic free state. If the binary comes to existence as a bound pair, stability against orbital decay is lost near resonance. The time scale of binary coalescence is computed as a function of the eccentricity and mass ratio. In a comparison with Weinberg's perturbative technique we demonstrate that pinning the center of mass of the galaxy would induce a much larger torque on the satellite.Comment: 13 pages, Tex,+ 10 .ps figures Submitted to The Astrophysical Journa

Dynamical friction and the evolution of satellites in virialized halos: the theory of linear response

The evolution of a small satellite inside a more massive truncated isothermal spherical halo is studied using both the Theory of Linear Response for dynamical friction and N-Body simulations. The analytical approach includes the effects of the gravitational wake, of the tidal deformation and the shift of the barycenter of the primary, so unifying the local versus global interpretation of dynamical friction. Sizes, masses, orbital energies and eccentricities are chosen as expected in hierarchical clustering models. We find that in general the drag force in self-gravitating backgrounds is weaker than in uniform media and that the orbital decay is not accompanied by a significant circularization. We also show that the dynamical friction time scale is weakly dependent on the initial circularity. We provide a fitting formula for the decay time that includes the effect of mass and angular momentum loss. Live satellites with dense cores can survive disruption up to an Hubble time within the primary, notwithstanding the initial choice of orbital parameters. Dwarf spheroidal satellites of the Milky Way, like Sagittarius A and Fornax, have already suffered mass stripping and, with their present masses, the sinking times exceed 10 Gyr even if they are on very eccentric orbits.Comment: 27 pages including 9 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. Part 2, issue November 10 1999, Volume 52

Darwin Tames an Andromeda Dwarf: Unraveling the Orbit of NGC 205 Using a Genetic Algorithm

NGC 205, a close satellite of the M31 galaxy, is our nearest example of a dwarf elliptical galaxy. Photometric and kinematic observations suggest that NGC 205 is undergoing tidal distortion from its interaction with M31. Despite earlier attempts, the orbit and progenitor properties of NGC 205 are not well known. We perform an optimized search for these unknowns by combining a genetic algorithm with restricted N-body simulations of the interaction. This approach, coupled with photometric and kinematic observations as constraints, allows for an effective exploration of the parameter space. We represent NGC 205 as a static Hernquist potential with embedded massless test particles that serve as tracers of surface brightness. We explore 3 distinct, initially stable configurations of test particles: cold rotating disk, warm rotating disk, and hot, pressure-supported spheroid. Each model reproduces some, but not all, of the observed features of NGC 205, leading us to speculate that a rotating progenitor with substantial pressure support could match all of the observables. Furthermore, plausible combinations of mass and scale length for the pressure-supported spheroid progenitor model reproduce the observed velocity dispersion profile. For all 3 models, orbits that best match the observables place the satellite 11+/-9 kpc behind M31 moving at very large velocities: 300-500 km/s on primarily radial orbits. Given that the observed radial component is only 54 km/s, this implies a large tangential motion for NGC 205, moving from the NW to the SE. These results suggest NGC 205 is not associated with the stellar arc observed to the NE of NGC 205. Furthermore, NGC 205's velocity appears to be near or greater than its escape velocity, signifying that the satellite is likely on its first M31 passage.Comment: 34 pages, 20 figures, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal, A pdf version with high-resolution figures may be obtained from http://www.ucolick.org/~kirsten/ms.pd

Dense flow around a sphere moving into a cloud of grains

A bidimensional simulation of a sphere moving at constant velocity into a cloud of smaller spherical grains without gravity is presented with a non-smooth contact dynamics method. A dense granular “cluster” zone of about constant solid fraction builds progressively around the moving sphere until a stationary regime appears with a constant upstream cluster size that increases with the initial solid fraction ϕ0 of the cloud. A detailed analysis of the local strain rate and local stress fields inside the cluster reveals that, despite different spatial variations of strain and stresses, the local friction coeffcient μ appears to depend only on the local inertial number I as well as the local solid fraction ϕ, which means that a local rheology does exist in the present non parallel flow. The key point is that the spatial variations of I inside the cluster does not depend on the sphere velocity and explore only a small range between about 10−2 and 10−1. The influence of sidewalls is then investigated on the flow and the forces

Organic farming and climate change: major conclusions of the Clermont-Ferrand seminar (2008)

This seminar confirmed that less greenhouse gas (GHG) is emitted per unit area under organic agriculture than under conventional agriculture, and that our eating patterns have a strong impact on factors involved in climate change. Moreover, it shed new light on and contributed original information to a variety of fields. The two major advantages of organic farming in terms of the mitigation of GHG emissions are its ability to store carbon in the ground and the non-use of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. Means for improving practices and research priorities were identified

HARDROC, Readout chip of the Digital Hadronic Calorimeter of ILC

HARDROC (HAdronic Rpc Detector ReadOut Chip) [1] is the very front end chip designed for the readout of the RPC or Micromegas foreseen for the Digital HAdronic CALorimeter (DHCAL) of the future International Linear Collider. The very fine granularity of the ILC hadronic calorimeters (1cm2 pads) implies a huge number of electronics channels (4 105 /m3) which is a new feature of “imaging” calorimetry. Moreover, for compactness, the chips must be embedded inside the detector making crucial the reduction of the power consumption to 10 μW per channel. This is achieved using power pulsing, made possible by the ILC bunch pattern (1 ms of data acquisition for 199 ms of dead time). HARDROC readout is a semi-digital readout with three thresholds which allows both good tracking and coarse energy measurement, and also integrates on chip data storage. The overall performance of HARDROC will be described with detailed measurements of all the characteristics. Hundreds of chips have indeed been produced and tested before being mounted on printed boards developed for the readout of large scale (1m2) RPC and Micromegas prototypes. These prototypes have been tested with cosmics and also in testbeam at CERN in 2008 and 2009 to evaluate the performance of different kinds of GRPCs and to validate the semi-digital electronics readout system in beam conditions