785 research outputs found
Dynamic Fracture in Single Crystal Silicon
We have measured the velocity of a running crack in brittle single crystal
silicon as a function of energy flow to the crack tip. The experiments are
designed to permit direct comparison with molecular dynamics simulations;
therefore the experiments provide an indirect but sensitive test of interatomic
potentials. Performing molecular dynamics simulations of brittle crack motion
at the atomic scale we find that experiments and simulations disagree showing
that interatomic potentials are not yet well understood.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 19 reference
Localization and extinction of bacterial populations under inhomogeneous growth conditions
The transition from localized to systemic spreading of bacteria, viruses and
other agents is a fundamental problem that spans medicine, ecology, biology and
agriculture science. We have conducted experiments and simulations in a simple
one-dimensional system to determine the spreading of bacterial populations that
occurs for an inhomogeneous environment under the influence of external
convection. Our system consists of a long channel with growth inhibited by
uniform UV illumination except in a small ``oasis'', which is shielded from the
UV light. To mimic blood flow or other flow past a localized infection, the
oasis is moved with a constant velocity through the UV-illuminated ``desert''.
The experiments are modeled with a convective reaction-diffusion equation. In
both the experiment and model, localized or extinct populations are found to
develop, depending on conditions, from an initially localized population. The
model also yields states where the population grows everywhere. Further, the
model reveals that the transitions between localized, extended, and extinct
states are continuous and non-hysteretic. However, it does not capture the
oscillations of the localized population that are observed in the experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figure
Crucial role of sidewalls in velocity distributions in quasi-2D granular gases
Our experiments and three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of
particles confined to a vertical monolayer by closely spaced frictional walls
(sidewalls) yield velocity distributions with non-Gaussian tails and a peak
near zero velocity. Simulations with frictionless sidewalls are not peaked.
Thus interactions between particles and their container are an important
determinant of the shape of the distribution and should be considered when
evaluating experiments on a tightly constrained monolayer of particles.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Added reference, model explanation charified,
other minor change
Bridging the ARCH model for finance and nonextensive entropy
Engle's ARCH algorithm is a generator of stochastic time series for financial
returns (and similar quantities) characterized by a time-dependent variance. It
involves a memory parameter ( corresponds to {\it no memory}), and the
noise is currently chosen to be Gaussian. We assume here a generalized noise,
namely -Gaussian, characterized by an index
( recovers the Gaussian case, and corresponds to tailed
distributions). We then match the second and fourth momenta of the ARCH return
distribution with those associated with the -Gaussian distribution obtained
through optimization of the entropy S_{q}=\frac{% 1-\sum_{i} {p_i}^q}{q-1},
basis of nonextensive statistical mechanics. The outcome is an {\it analytic}
distribution for the returns, where an unique corresponds to each
pair ( if ). This distribution is compared with
numerical results and appears to be remarkably precise. This system constitutes
a simple, low-dimensional, dynamical mechanism which accommodates well within
the current nonextensive framework.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures.Figure 4 fixe
Novel Technique for Ultra-sensitive Determination of Trace Elements in Organic Scintillators
A technique based on neutron activation has been developed for an extremely
high sensitivity analysis of trace elements in organic materials. Organic
materials are sealed in plastic or high purity quartz and irradiated at the
HFIR and MITR. The most volatile materials such as liquid scintillator (LS) are
first preconcentrated by clean vacuum evaporation. Activities of interest are
separated from side activities by acid digestion and ion exchange. The
technique has been applied to study the liquid scintillator used in the KamLAND
neutrino experiment. Detection limits of <2.4X10**-15 g 40K/g LS, <5.5X10**-15
g Th/g LS, and <8X10**-15 g U/g LS have been achieved.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Nuclear Instruments
and Methods
Rhombic Patterns: Broken Hexagonal Symmetry
Landau-Ginzburg equations derived to conserve two-dimensional spatial symmetries lead to the prediction that rhombic arrays with characteristic angles slightly differ from 60 degrees should form in many systems. Beyond the bifurcation from the uniform state to patterns, rhombic patterns are linearly stable for a band of angles near the 60 degrees angle of regular hexagons. Experiments conducted on a reaction-diffusion system involving a chlorite-iodide-malonic acid reaction yield rhombic patterns in good accord with the theory.Energy Laboratory of the University of HoustonOffice of Naval ResearchU.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy SciencesRobert A. Welch FoundationCenter for Nonlinear Dynamic
Oscillating Fracture in Rubber
We have found an oscillating instability of fast-running cracks in thin
rubber sheets. A well-defined transition from straight to oscillating cracks
occurs as the amount of biaxial strain increases. Measurements of the amplitude
and wavelength of the oscillation near the onset of this instability indicate
that the instability is a Hopf bifurcation
Questioning the validity of non-extensive thermodynamics for classical Hamiltonian systems
We examine the non-extensive approach to the statistical mechanics of
Hamiltonian systems with where is the classical kinetic energy. Our
analysis starts from the basics of the formalism by applying the standard
variational method for maximizing the entropy subject to the average energy and
normalization constraints. The analytical results show (i) that the
non-extensive thermodynamics formalism should be called into question to
explain experimental results described by extended exponential distributions
exhibiting long tails, i.e. -exponentials with , and (ii) that in the
thermodynamic limit the theory is only consistent in the range
where the distribution has finite support, thus implying that configurations
with e.g. energy above some limit have zero probability, which is at variance
with the physics of systems in contact with a heat reservoir. We also discuss
the (-dependent) thermodynamic temperature and the generalized specific
heat.Comment: To appear in EuroPhysics Letter
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