Direct Hopf Bifurcation in Parametric Resonance of Hybridized Waves

We study parametric resonance of interacting waves having the same wave vector and frequency. In addition to the well-known period-doubling instability we show that under certain conditions the instability is caused by a Hopf bifurcation leading to quasiperiodic traveling waves. It occurs, for example, if the group velocities of both waves have different signs and the damping is weak. The dynamics above the threshold is briefly discussed. Examples concerning ferromagnetic spin waves and surface waves of ferro fluids are discussed.Comment: Appears in Phys. Rev. Lett., RevTeX file and three postscript figures. Packaged using the 'uufiles' utility, 33 k

Stick-slip motion of solids with dry friction subject to random vibrations and an external field

We investigate a model for the dynamics of a solid object, which moves over a randomly vibrating solid surface and is subject to a constant external force. The dry friction between the two solids is modeled phenomenologically as being proportional to the sign of the object's velocity relative to the surface, and therefore shows a discontinuity at zero velocity. Using a path integral approach, we derive analytical expressions for the transition probability of the object's velocity and the stationary distribution of the work done on the object due to the external force. From the latter distribution, we also derive a fluctuation relation for the mechanical work fluctuations, which incorporates the effect of the dry friction.Comment: v1: 23 pages, 9 figures; v2: Reference list corrected; v3: Published version, typos corrected, references adde

Investigation of superstorm Sandy 2012 in a multi-disciplinary approach

At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy moved from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and entered the United States not far from New York. Along its track, Sandy caused more than 200 fatalities and severe losses in Jamaica, The Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, and the US. This paper demonstrates the capability and potential for near-real-time analysis of catastrophes. It is shown that the impact of Sandy was driven by the superposition of different extremes (high wind speeds, storm surge, heavy precipitation) and by cascading effects. In particular the interaction between Sandy and an extra-tropical weather system created a huge storm that affected large areas in the US. It is examined how Sandy compares to historic hurricane events, both from a hydro-meteorological and impact perspective. The distribution of losses to different sectors of the economy is calculated with simple input-output models as well as government estimates. Direct economic losses are estimated about USD 4.2 billion in the Caribbean and between USD 78 and 97 billion in the US. Indirect economic losses from power outages is estimated in the order of USD 16.3 billion. Modelling sector-specific dependencies quantifies total business interruption losses between USD 10.8 and 15.5 billion. Thus, seven years after the record impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy is the second costliest hurricane in the history of the United States

Investigation of superstorm Sandy 2012 in a multi-disciplinary approach

At the end of October 2012, Hurricane Sandy moved from the Caribbean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean and entered the United States not far from New York. Along its track, Sandy caused more than 200 fatalities and severe losses in Jamaica, The Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, and the US. This paper demonstrates the capability and potential for near-real-time analysis of catastrophes. It is shown that the impact of Sandy was driven by the superposition of different extremes (high wind speeds, storm surge, heavy precipitation) and by cascading effects. In particular the interaction between Sandy and an extra-tropical weather system created a huge storm that affected large areas in the US. It is examined how Sandy compares to historic hurricane events, both from a hydro-meteorological and impact perspective. The distribution of losses to different sectors of the economy is calculated with simple input-output models as well as government estimates. Direct economic losses are estimated about USD 4.2 billion in the Caribbean and between USD 78 and 97 billion in the US. Indirect economic losses from power outages is estimated in the order of USD 16.3 billion. Modelling sector-specific dependencies quantifies total business interruption losses between USD 10.8 and 15.5 billion. Thus, seven years after the record impact of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Hurricane Sandy is the second costliest hurricane in the history of the United States

Resonant steps and spatiotemporal dynamics in the damped dc-driven Frenkel-Kontorova chain

Kink dynamics of the damped Frenkel-Kontorova (discrete sine-Gordon) chain driven by a constant external force are investigated. Resonant steplike transitions of the average velocity occur due to the competitions between the moving kinks and their radiated phasonlike modes. A mean-field consideration is introduced to give a precise prediction of the resonant steps. Slip-stick motion and spatiotemporal dynamics on those resonant steps are discussed. Our results can be applied to studies of the fluxon dynamics of 1D Josephson-junction arrays and ladders, dislocations, tribology and other fields.Comment: 20 Plain Latex pages, 10 Eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

On the driven Frenkel-Kontorova model: II. Chaotic sliding and nonequilibrium melting and freezing

The dynamical behavior of a weakly damped harmonic chain in a spatially periodic potential (Frenkel-Kontorova model) under the subject of an external force is investigated. We show that the chain can be in a spatio-temporally chaotic state called fluid-sliding state. This is proven by calculating correlation functions and Lyapunov spectra. An effective temperature is attributed to the fluid-sliding state. Even though the velocity fluctuations are Gaussian distributed, the fluid-sliding state is clearly not in equilibrium because the equipartition theorem is violated. We also study the transition between frozen states (stationary solutions) and=7F molten states (fluid-sliding states). The transition is similar to a first-order phase transition, and it shows hysteresis. The depinning-pinning transition (freezing) is a nucleation process. The frozen state contains usually two domains of different particle densities. The pinning-depinning transition (melting) is caused by saddle-node bifurcations of the stationary states. It depends on the history. Melting is accompanied by precursors, called micro-slips, which reconfigurate the chain locally. Even though we investigate the dynamics at zero temperature, the behavior of the Frenkel-Kontorova model is qualitatively similar to the behavior of similar models at nonzero temperature.Comment: Written in RevTeX, 13 figures in PostScript, appears in PR

Climate change affecting oil palm agronomy, and oil palm cultivation increasing climate change, require amelioration

Palm oil is used in various valued commodities and is a large global industry worth over US$ 50 billion annually. Oil palms (OP) are grown commercially in Indonesia and Malaysia and other countries within Latin America and Africa. The large-scale land-use change has high ecological, economic, and social impacts. Tropical countries in particular are affected negatively by climate change (CC) which also has a detrimental impact on OP agronomy, whereas the cultivation of OP increases CC. Amelioration of both is required. The reduced ability to grow OP will reduce CC, which may allow more cultivation tending to increase CC, in a decreasing cycle. OP could be increasingly grown in more suitable regions occurring under CC. Enhancing the soil fauna may compensate for the effect of CC on OP agriculture to some extent. The effect of OP cultivation on CC may be reduced by employing reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation plans, for example, by avoiding illegal fire land clearing. Other ameliorating methods are reported herein. More research is required involving good management practices that can offset the increases in CC by OP plantations. Overall, OP-growing countries should support the Paris convention on reducing CC as the most feasible scheme for reducing CC.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Grant/Award Number: UID/ BIO/04469/2013, COMPETE 2020 (POCI01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004); European Regional Development Fund through Norte2020—Programa Operacional Regional do Norteinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Time-Resolved Studies of Stick-Slip Friction in Sheared Granular Layers

Sensitive and fast force measurements are performed on sheared granular layers undergoing stick-slip motion, along with simultaneous imaging. A full study has been done for spherical particles with a +-20% size distribution. Stick-slip motion due to repetitive fluidization of the layer occurs for low driving velocities. Between major slip events, slight creep occurs that is variable from one event to the next. The effects of changing the stiffness k and velocity V of the driving system are studied in detail. The stick-slip motion is almost periodic for spherical particles over a wide range of parameters, but becomes irregular when k is large and V is relatively small. At larger V, the motion becomes smoother and is affected by the inertia of the upper plate bounding the layer. Measurements of the period T and amplitude A of the relative motion are presented as a function of V. At a critical value Vc, a transition to continuous sliding motion occurs that is discontinuous for k not too large. The time dependence of the instantaneous velocity of the upper plate and the frictional force produced by the granular layer are determined within individual slipping events. The force is a multi-valued function of the instantaneous velocity, with pronounced hysteresis and a sudden drop prior to resticking. Measurements of vertical displacement reveal a small dilation of the material (about one tenth of the mean particle size in a layer 20 particles deep) associated with each slip event. Finally, optical imaging reveals that localized microscopic rearrangements precede (and follow) each slip event. The behavior of smooth particles is contrasted with that of rough particles.Comment: 20, pages, 17 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.