An all-optical event horizon in an optical analogue of a Laval nozzle

Exploiting the fact that light propagation in defocusing nonlinear media can mimic the transonic flow of an equivalent fluid, we demonstrate experimentally the formation of an all-optical event horizon in a waveguide structure akin to a hydrodynamic Laval nozzle. The analogue event horizon, which forms at the nozzle throat is suggested as a novel platform for analogous gravity experiments

Confinement of supernova explosions in a collapsing cloud

We analyze the confining effect of cloud collapse on an expanding supernova shockfront. We solve the differential equation for the forces on the shockfront due to ram pressure, supernova energy, and gravity. We find that the expansion of the shockfront is slowed and in fact reversed by the collapsing cloud. Including radiative losses and a potential time lag between supernova explosion and cloud collapse shows that the expansion is reversed at smaller distances as compared to the non-radiative case. We also consider the case of multiple supernova explosions at the center of a collapsing cloud. For instance, if we scale our self-similar solution to a single supernova of energy 10^51 ergs occurring when a cloud of initial density 10^2 H/cm^3 has collapsed by 50%, we find that the shockfront is confined to ~15 pc in ~1 Myrs. Our calculations are pertinent to the observed unusually compact non-thermal radio emission in blue compact dwarf galaxies (BCDs). More generally, we demonstrate the potential of a collapsing cloud to confine supernovae, thereby explaining how dwarf galaxies would exist beyond their first generation of star formation.Comment: 3 pages, 4 figure

Effect of Nanocrystalline Diamond Films Deflection on Wear Observed in Reciprocating Sliding Tests

The present study deals with the tribological behavior of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) films. The diamond films were deposited by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) in methane/hydrogen/air plasma on the Si(100) substrates. The tribological properties were studied by reciprocal sliding tests against Si3N4 balls. The depth profiles and surface morphology of the wear scars were investigated by means of mechanical profilometry and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Various adaptation processes occur between contacting surfaces including asperity polishing, formation of carbonaceous tribolayer and ripple patterns on the wear scar surfaces. The film deflection is the specific form of adaptation decreasing contact pressure and, therefore, the damage (including wear) of both counter bodies. The deflection of NCD films in sliding tests can be related with the effect of fatigue

Fractional Variations for Dynamical Systems: Hamilton and Lagrange Approaches

Fractional generalization of an exterior derivative for calculus of variations is defined. The Hamilton and Lagrange approaches are considered. Fractional Hamilton and Euler-Lagrange equations are derived. Fractional equations of motion are obtained by fractional variation of Lagrangian and Hamiltonian that have only integer derivatives.Comment: 21 pages, LaTe

Solitons in cavity-QED arrays containing interacting qubits

We reveal the existence of polariton soliton solutions in the array of weakly coupled optical cavities, each containing an ensemble of interacting qubits. An effective complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is derived in the continuum limit taking into account the effects of cavity field dissipation and qubit dephasing. We have shown that an enhancement of the induced nonlinearity can be achieved by two order of the magnitude with a negative interaction strength which implies a large negative qubit-field detuning as well. Bright solitons are found to be supported under perturbations only in the upper (optical) branch of polaritons, for which the corresponding group velocity is controlled by tuning the interacting strength. With the help of perturbation theory for solitons, we also demonstrate that the group velocity of these polariton solitons is suppressed by the diffusion process