6,930 research outputs found
Variation of the glass transition temperature with rigidity and chemical composition
The effects of flexibility and chemical composition in the variation of the
glass transition temperature are obtained by using the Lindemann criteria, that
relates melting temperature with atomic vibrations. Using this criteria and
that floppy modes at low frequencies enhance in a considerable way the average
cuadratic displacement, we show that the consequence is a modified glass
transition temperature. This approach allows to obtain in a simple way the
empirically modified Gibbs-DiMarzio law, which has been widely used in
chalcogenide glasses to fit the changes in the glass transition temperature
with the chemical composition . The method predicts that the constant that
appears in the law depends upon the ratio of two characteristic frequencies (or
temperatures). Then, the constant for the Se-Ge-As glass is estimated by using
the experimental density of vibrational states, and the result shows a very
good agreement with the experimental fit from glass transition temperature
variation
Extremely Anisotropic Scintillations
A small number of quasars exhibit interstellar scintillation on time-scales
less than an hour; their scintillation patterns are all known to be
anisotropic. Here we consider a totally anisotropic model in which the
scintillation pattern is effectively one-dimensional. For the persistent rapid
scintillators J1819+3845 and PKS1257-326 we show that this model offers a good
description of the two-station time-delay measurements and the annual cycle in
the scintillation time-scale. Generalising the model to finite anisotropy
yields a better match to the data but the improvement is not significant and
the two additional parameters which are required to describe this model are not
justified by the existing data. The extreme anisotropy we infer for the
scintillation patterns must be attributed to the scattering medium rather than
a highly elongated source. For J1819+3845 the totally anisotropic model
predicts that the particular radio flux variations seen between mid July and
late August should repeat between late August and mid November, and then again
between mid November and late December as the Earth twice changes its direction
of motion across the scintillation pattern. If this effect can be observed then
the minor-axis velocity component of the screen and the orientation of that
axis can both be precisely determined. In reality the axis ratio is finite,
albeit large, and spatial decorrelation of the flux pattern along the major
axis may be observable via differences in the pairwise fluxes within this
overlap region; in this case we can also constrain both the major-axis velocity
component of the screen and the magnitude of the anisotropy.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, MNRAS submitte
Algorithms for 3D rigidity analysis and a first order percolation transition
A fast computer algorithm, the pebble game, has been used successfully to
study rigidity percolation on 2D elastic networks, as well as on a special
class of 3D networks, the bond-bending networks. Application of the pebble game
approach to general 3D networks has been hindered by the fact that the
underlying mathematical theory is, strictly speaking, invalid in this case. We
construct an approximate pebble game algorithm for general 3D networks, as well
as a slower but exact algorithm, the relaxation algorithm, that we use for
testing the new pebble game. Based on the results of these tests and additional
considerations, we argue that in the particular case of randomly diluted
central-force networks on BCC and FCC lattices, the pebble game is essentially
exact. Using the pebble game, we observe an extremely sharp jump in the largest
rigid cluster size in bond-diluted central-force networks in 3D, with the
percolating cluster appearing and taking up most of the network after a single
bond addition. This strongly suggests a first order rigidity percolation
transition, which is in contrast to the second order transitions found
previously for the 2D central-force and 3D bond-bending networks. While a first
order rigidity transition has been observed for Bethe lattices and networks
with ``chemical order'', this is the first time it has been seen for a regular
randomly diluted network. In the case of site dilution, the transition is also
first order for BCC, but results for FCC suggest a second order transition.
Even in bond-diluted lattices, while the transition appears massively first
order in the order parameter (the percolating cluster size), it is continuous
in the elastic moduli. This, and the apparent non-universality, make this phase
transition highly unusual.Comment: 28 pages, 19 figure
Sky localization of complete inspiral-merger-ringdown signals for nonspinning massive black hole binaries
We investigate the capability of LISA to measure the sky position of
equal-mass, nonspinning black hole binaries, combining for the first time the
entire inspiral-merger-ringdown signal, the effect of the LISA orbits, and the
complete three-channel LISA response. We consider an ensemble of systems near
the peak of LISA's sensitivity band, with total rest mass of 2\times10^6
M\odot, a redshift of z = 1, and randomly chosen orientations and sky
positions. We find median sky localization errors of approximately \sim3
arcminutes. This is comparable to the field of view of powerful electromagnetic
telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, that could be used to
search for electromagnetic signals associated with merging massive black holes.
We investigate the way in which parameter errors decrease with measurement
time, focusing specifically on the additional information provided during the
merger-ringdown segment of the signal. We find that this information improves
all parameter estimates directly, rather than through diminishing correlations
with any subset of well- determined parameters. Although we have employed the
baseline LISA design for this study, many of our conclusions regarding the
information provided by mergers will be applicable to alternative mission
designs as well.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Asymmetry of jets, lobe size and spectral index in radio galaxies and quasars
We investigate the correlations between spectral index, jet side and extent
of the radio lobes for a sample of nearby FRII radio galaxies. In
Dennett-Thorpe et al. (1997) we studied a sample of quasars and found that the
high surface brightness regions had flatter spectra on the jet side (explicable
as a result of Doppler beaming) whilst the extended regions had spectral
asymmetries dependent on lobe length. Unified schemes predict that asymmetries
due to beaming will be much smaller in narrow-line radio galaxies than in
quasars: we therefore investigate in a similar manner, a sample of radio
galaxies with detected jets. We find that spectral asymmetries in these objects
are uncorrelated with jet sidedness at all brightness levels, but depend on
relative lobe volume. Our results are not in conflict with unified schemes, but
suggest that the differences between the two samples are due primarily to power
or redshift, rather than to orientation. We also show directly that hotspot
spectra steepen as a function of radio power or redshift. Whilst a shift in
observed frequency due to the redshift may account for some of the steepening,
it cannot account for all of it, and a dependence on radio power is required.Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS, 10 pages; typos/minor correctio
Space shuttle with common fuel tank for liquid rocket booster and main engines (supertanker space shuttle)
An operation and schedule enhancement is shown that replaces the four-body cluster (Space Shuttle Orbiter (SSO), external tank, and two solid rocket boosters) with a simpler two-body cluster (SSO and liquid rocket booster/external tank). At staging velocity, the booster unit (liquid-fueled booster engines and vehicle support structure) is jettisoned while the remaining SSO and supertank continues on to orbit. The simpler two-bodied cluster reduces the processing and stack time until SSO mate from 57 days (for the solid rocket booster) to 20 days (for the liquid rocket booster). The areas in which liquid booster systems are superior to solid rocket boosters are discussed. Alternative and future generation vehicles are reviewed to reveal greater performance and operations enhancements with more modifications to the current methods of propulsion design philosophy, e.g., combined cycle engines, and concentric propellant tanks
Terminal velocity and drag reduction measurements on superhydrophobic spheres
Super water-repellent surfaces occur naturally on plants and aquatic insects and are created in the laboratory by combining micro- or nanoscale surface topographic features with hydrophobic surface chemistry. When such types of water-repellent surfaces are submerged they can retain a film of air (a plastron). In this work, we report measurements of the terminal velocity of solid acrylic spheres with various surface treatments settling under the action of gravity in water. We observed increases in terminal velocity corresponding to drag reduction of between 5% and 15% for superhydrophobic surfaces that carry plastrons
Liquid Film Falling on Horizontal Circular Cylinders
The objective of this study is to investigate experimentally and numerically the behaviour of liquid film flow over horizontal cylinders. Numerical simulations are performed using a CFD code (FLUENT) for 2D configurations with one, two and three cylinders. The numerical results have been compared with the present experimental results as well as those from the literature. The flow modes and film thickness are reported for the Reynolds numbers range of 400 and 3200. The effect of cylinder separation on the film flow is investigated
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