315 research outputs found
Probing the sp^2 dependence of elastic moduli in ultrahard diamond films
The structural and elastic properties of diamond nanocomposites and
ultrananocrystalline diamond films (UNCD) are investigated using both empirical
potentials and tight binding schemes. We find that both materials are extremely
hard, but their superb diamondlike properties are limited by their sp^2
component. In diamond composites, the sp^2 atoms are found in the matrix and
far from the interface with the inclusion, and they are responsible for the
softening of the material. In UNCD, the sp^2 atoms are located in the grain
boundaries. They offer relaxation mechanisms which relieve the strain but, on
the other hand, impose deformations that lead to softening. The higher the sp^2
component the less rigid these materials are.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. to appear in Diamond and Relarted Material
Chinese food security and climate change: Agriculture futures
Climate change is now affecting agriculture and food production in every country of the world. Here the authors present the IMPACT model results on yield, production, and net trade of major crops in China, and on daily calorie availability as an overall indicator of food security under climate change scenarios and socio-economic pathways in 2050. The obtained results show a relatively optimistic outlook on yield, production and trade toward 2050. The outcomes of calorie availability suggest that China will be able to maintain a level of at least 3,000 kilocalories per day through 2010 to 2050. Overall, Chinese agriculture is relatively resilient to climate change. It is unlikely that Chinese food security by 2050 will be compromised in the context of climate change. The major challenge to food security, however, will rise from increasing demand coupled with regional disparities in adaptive capacity to climate change
Microscopic theory of atom-molecule oscillations in a Bose-Einstein condensate
In a recent experiment at JILA [E.A. Donley et al., Nature (London) 417, 529
(2002)] an initially pure condensate of Rb-85 atoms was exposed to a specially
designed time dependent magnetic field pulse in the vicinity of a Feshbach
resonance. The production of new components of the gas as well as their
oscillatory behavior have been reported. We apply a microscopic theory of the
gas to identify these components and determine their physical properties. Our
time dependent studies allow us to explain the observed dynamic evolution of
all fractions, and to identify the physical relevance of the pulse shape. Based
on ab initio predictions, our theory strongly supports the view that the
experiments have produced a molecular condensate.Comment: 18 pages, 20 figure
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Evaluation of impact tests of solid steel billet onto concrete pads, and application to generic ISFSI storage cask for tipover and side drop
Twelve tests were performed at LLNL to assess loading conditions on a spent fuel casts for side drops, end drops and tipover events. The tests were performed with a 1/3-scale model concrete pad to benchmark the structural analysis code DYNA3D. The side drop and tipover test results are discussed in this report. The billet and test pad were modified with DYNA3D using material properties and techniques used in earlier tests. The peak or maximum deceleration test results were compared to the simulated analytical results. It was concluded that an analytical model based on DYNA3D code and has been adequately benchmarked for this type of application. A generic or represented cask was modified with the DYNA3D code and evaluated for ISFSI side drop and tipover events. The analytical method can be applied to similar casks to estimate impact loads on storage casks resulting from low-velocity side or tip impacts onto concrete storage pads
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Summary and evaluation of steel billet testing
Tests were performed at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) to assess loading conditions on a spent fuel storage cask for end drops, side drops and tipover events. The tests were performed with a 1/3-scale model billet and a 1/3-scale model concrete pad, and included a variety of substrate materials. A NUREG/CR report was prepared for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and provides a summary and an evaluation of all the billet testing conducted. This paper provides a description of the testing and analysis method, and a summary of the results. A generic or representative cask was modeled with the benchmarked finite element analysis approach and evaluated for ISFSI end and side drops and tipover events. The analytical method can be applied to similar casks to estimate deceleration loads on storage casks resulting from low-velocity drop or tipover impacts onto concrete storage pads
Linear and Second-order Optical Response of the III-V Mono-layer Superlattices
We report the first fully self-consistent calculations of the nonlinear
optical properties of superlattices. The materials investigated are mono-layer
superlattices with GaP grown on the the top of InP, AlP and GaAs (110)
substrates. We use the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave method
within the generalized gradient approximation to obtain the frequency dependent
dielectric tensor and the second-harmonic-generation susceptibility. The effect
of lattice relaxations on the linear optical properties are studied. Our
calculations show that the major anisotropy in the optical properties is the
result of strain in GaP. This anisotropy is maximum for the superlattice with
maximum lattice mismatch between the constituent materials. In order to
differentiate the superlattice features from the bulk-like transitions an
improvement over the existing effective medium model is proposed. The
superlattice features are found to be more pronounced for the second-order than
the linear optical response indicating the need for full supercell calculations
in determining the correct second-order response.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phy. Rev.
Electro-osmotic flow of couple stress fluids in a microchannel propagated by peristalsis
A mathematical model is developed for electro-osmotic peristaltic pumping of a non-Newtonian liquid in a deformable micro-channel. Stokes’ couple stress fluid model is deployed to represent realistic working liquids. The Poisson-Boltzmann equation for electric potential distribution is implemented owing to the presence of an electrical double layer (EDL) in the micro-channel. Using long wavelength, lubrication theory and Debye-Huckel approximations, the linearized transformed dimensionless boundary value problem is solved analytically. The influence of electro-osmotic parameter (inversely proportional to Debye length), maximum electro-osmotic velocity (a function of external applied electrical field) and couple stress parameter on axial velocity, volumetric flow rate, pressure gradient, local wall shear stress and stream function distributions is evaluated in detail with the aid of graphs. The Newtonian fluid case is retrieved as a special case with vanishing couple stress effects. With increasing couple stress parameter there is a significant elevation in axial pressure gradient whereas the core axial velocity is reduced. An increase in electro-osmotic parameter induces both flow acceleration in the core region (around the channel centreline) and also enhances axial pressure gradient substantially. The study is relevant to simulation of novel smart bio-inspired space pumps, chromatography and medical microscale devices
Nonperturbative renormalization group approach to frustrated magnets
This article is devoted to the study of the critical properties of classical
XY and Heisenberg frustrated magnets in three dimensions. We first analyze the
experimental and numerical situations. We show that the unusual behaviors
encountered in these systems, typically nonuniversal scaling, are hardly
compatible with the hypothesis of a second order phase transition. We then
review the various perturbative and early nonperturbative approaches used to
investigate these systems. We argue that none of them provides a completely
satisfactory description of the three-dimensional critical behavior. We then
recall the principles of the nonperturbative approach - the effective average
action method - that we have used to investigate the physics of frustrated
magnets. First, we recall the treatment of the unfrustrated - O(N) - case with
this method. This allows to introduce its technical aspects. Then, we show how
this method unables to clarify most of the problems encountered in the previous
theoretical descriptions of frustrated magnets. Firstly, we get an explanation
of the long-standing mismatch between different perturbative approaches which
consists in a nonperturbative mechanism of annihilation of fixed points between
two and three dimensions. Secondly, we get a coherent picture of the physics of
frustrated magnets in qualitative and (semi-) quantitative agreement with the
numerical and experimental results. The central feature that emerges from our
approach is the existence of scaling behaviors without fixed or pseudo-fixed
point and that relies on a slowing-down of the renormalization group flow in a
whole region in the coupling constants space. This phenomenon allows to explain
the occurence of generic weak first order behaviors and to understand the
absence of universality in the critical behavior of frustrated magnets.Comment: 58 pages, 15 PS figure
The ^4He trimer as an Efimov system
We review the results obtained in the last four decades which demonstrate the
Efimov nature of the He three-atomic system.Comment: Review article for a special issue of the Few-Body Systems journal
devoted to Efimov physic
Temporal structure of stimulated-Brillouin-scattering reflectivity considering transversal-mode development
The time-resolved reflectivity of optical phase conjugation by stimulated Brillouin scattering ~SBS! is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A three-dimensional and transient model of SBS is developed to compare the experimental and theoretical results. Noise initiation of the SBS process is included in the model to simulate the shot-to-shot variation in the reflectivity and the Stokes temporal profile.Shahraam Afshaarvahid, Axel Heuer, Ralf Menzel, and Jesper Munc
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