Shear viscosity of an ordering latex suspension

The shear viscosity of a latex which is ordered at rest is studied as a function of the shear rate and volume fraction. At low shear rates and for moderate to high volume fractions, the flow curves show dynamic yield behavior which disappears below a volume fraction of 8%. At high shear rates, the onset to the high shear rate plateau of the viscosity can be observed. A new model for the shear viscosity for lattices at high volume fractions is described. This model is based upon theories for the shear viscosity of dilute lattices of Blachford et al. [J. Phys. Chem. 73, 1062 (1969)] and Russel [J. Fluid Mech. 85, 673 (1978)]. In terms of this model, the ordered latex is broken down under shear flow into ordered domains suspended in a disordered fluid. The larger the shear rate, the smaller the volume fraction of ordered domains. The experimental results can be described reasonably well with the model discussed here

Multi-mass solvers for lattice QCD on GPUs

Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) are more and more frequently used for lattice QCD calculations. Lattice studies often require computing the quark propagators for several masses. These systems can be solved using multi-shift inverters but these algorithms are memory intensive which limits the size of the problem that can be solved using GPUs. In this paper, we show how to efficiently use a memory-lean single-mass inverter to solve multi-mass problems. We focus on the BiCGstab algorithm for Wilson fermions and show that the single-mass inverter not only requires less memory but also outperforms the multi-shift variant by a factor of two.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures, 3 Table

Reducing liver lesion incidence in the Dutch pork supply chain

Livers with lesions are an cmportant quality aspect among slaughter pig producers and slaughterhouses. Total losses of non-marketable livers with lesions, lower growth and higher feed intake of pigs in the Netherlands in 2003 were estimated at €3.5 million. The major cause of liver lesions is the roundworm Ascaris suum. Worm treatment on the farm can be effective in reducing liver lesions. Before July 2004 an insurance with a fixed premium for each slaughtered pig was in place in the Netherlands to compensate slaughterhouses for pathological lesions. Individual pig producers had low incentcves to take control measures. In July 2004 a new incentive mechanism was introduced: a reduction in the payment of €1 for each pig with a liver lesion. Thcs placed the financcal burden of levers with lesions on the producer, thereby increasing incentives to treat roundworm infections. We analysed the data of 1,104 farms wcth 55,802 deliveries from 2003 to 2006. The mean liver lesion incidence decreased from 8% in 2003 when a collectcve insurance was in place to 5% in 2006, after the change to the price reduction. Of the producers, 68% reduced liver lesion mcidence. Of the producers with an increased incidence, 83% showed a low increase (less than 5%). We conclude that the price reduction was effective in reducing the mean incidence of liver lesions, although large differences between individual producers exist. Further research is needed to determme what causes these large differences

Double-heterostructure cavities: from theory to design

We derive a frequency-domain-based approach for radiation (FAR) from double-heterostructure cavity (DHC) modes. We use this to compute the quality factors and radiation patterns of DHC modes. The semi-analytic nature of our method enables us to provide a general relationship between the radiation pattern of the cavity and its geometry. We use this to provide general designs for ultrahigh quality factor DHCs with radiation patterns that are engineered to emit vertically

An iterative method to compute the overlap Dirac operator at nonzero chemical potential

The overlap Dirac operator at nonzero quark chemical potential involves the computation of the sign function of a non-Hermitian matrix. In this talk we present an iterative method, first proposed by us in Ref. [1], which allows for an efficient computation of the operator, even on large lattices. The starting point is a Krylov subspace approximation, based on the Arnoldi algorithm, for the evaluation of a generic matrix function. The efficiency of this method is spoiled when the matrix has eigenvalues close to a function discontinuity. To cure this, a small number of critical eigenvectors are added to the Krylov subspace, and two different deflation schemes are proposed in this augmented subspace. The ensuing method is then applied to the sign function of the overlap Dirac operator, for two different lattice sizes. The sign function has a discontinuity along the imaginary axis, and the numerical results show how deflation dramatically improves the efficiency of the method.Comment: 7 pages, talk presented at the XXV International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory, July 30 - August 4 2007, Regensburg, German

Broadband coated lens solutions for FIR-mm-wave instruments

This paper presents recent results of ongoing European Space Agency funded program of work aimed at developing large dielectric lenses suitable for future satellite missions, with a particular focus on requirements for CMB polarimetry. Two lens solutions are being investigated: (i) polymer lenses with broadband multi-layer antireflection coatings; (ii) silicon lenses with surface-structured anti-reflection coating represented by directly machined pyramidal features. For each solution, base materials with and without coatings have been optically characterized over a range of temperatures down to ∼10 K. Full lens solutions are under manufacture and will be tested in a bespoke large cryo-optical facility

Asymptotic behaviour of a semilinear elliptic system with a large exponent

Consider the problem \begin{eqnarray*} -\Delta u &=& v^{\frac 2{N-2}},\quad v>0\quad {in}\quad \Omega, -\Delta v &=& u^{p},\:\:\:\quad u>0\quad {in}\quad \Omega, u&=&v\:\:=\:\:0 \quad {on}\quad \partial \Omega, \end{eqnarray*} where $\Omega$ is a bounded convex domain in $\R^N,$ $N>2,$ with smooth boundary $\partial \Omega.$ We study the asymptotic behaviour of the least energy solutions of this system as $p\to \infty.$ We show that the solution remain bounded for $p$ large and have one or two peaks away form the boundary. When one peak occurs we characterize its location.Comment: 16 pages, submmited for publicatio

Application of the Jacobi Davidson method for spectral low-rank preconditioning in computational electromagnetics problems

[EN] We consider the numerical solution of linear systems arising from computational electromagnetics applications. For large scale problems the solution is usually obtained iteratively with a Krylov subspace method. It is well known that for ill conditioned problems the convergence of these methods can be very slow or even it may be impossible to obtain a satisfactory solution. To improve the convergence a preconditioner can be used, but in some cases additional strategies are needed. In this work we study the application of spectral lowrank updates (SLRU) to a previously computed sparse approximate inverse preconditioner.The updates are based on the computation of a small subset of the eigenpairs closest to the origin. Thus, the performance of the SLRU technique depends on the method available to compute the eigenpairs of interest. The SLRU method was first used using the IRA s method implemented in ARPACK. In this work we investigate the use of a Jacobi Davidson method, in particular its JDQR variant. The results of the numerical experiments show that the application of the JDQR method to obtain the spectral low-rank updates can be quite competitive compared with the IRA s method.Mas Marí, J.; Cerdán Soriano, JM.; Malla Martínez, N.; Marín Mateos-Aparicio, J. (2015). Application of the Jacobi Davidson method for spectral low-rank preconditioning in computational electromagnetics problems. Journal of the Spanish Society of Applied Mathematics. 67:39-50. doi:10.1007/s40324-014-0025-6S395067Bergamaschi, L., Pini, G., Sartoretto, F.: Computational experience with sequential, and parallel, preconditioned Jacobi–Davidson for large sparse symmetric matrices. J. Comput. Phys. 188(1), 318–331 (2003)Carpentieri, B.: Sparse preconditioners for dense linear systems from electromagnetics applications. PhD thesis, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, CERFACS (2002)Carpentieri, B., Duff, I.S., Giraud, L.: Sparse pattern selection strategies for robust Frobenius-norm minimization preconditioners in electromagnetism. Numer. Linear Algebr. Appl. 7(7–8), 667–685 (2000)Carpentieri, B., Duff, I.S., Giraud, L.: A class of spectral two-level preconditioners. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 25(2), 749–765 (2003)Carpentieri, B., Duff, I.S., Giraud, L., Magolu monga Made, M.: Sparse symmetric preconditioners for dense linear systems in electromagnetism. Numer. Linear Algebr. Appl. 11(8–9), 753–771 (2004)Carpentieri, B., Duff, I.S., Giraud, L., Sylvand, G.: Combining fast multipole techniques and an approximate inverse preconditioner for large electromagnetism calculations. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 27(3), 774–792 (2005)Darve, E.: The fast multipole method I: error analysis and asymptotic complexity. SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 38(1), 98–128 (2000)Fokkema, D.R., Sleijpen, G.L., Van der Vorst, H.A.: Jacobi–Davidson style QR and QZ algorithms for the reduction of matrix pencils. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 20(1), 94–125 (1998)Greengard, L., Rokhlin, V.: A fast algorithm for particle simulations. J. Comput. Phys. 73(3), 325–348 (1987)Grote, M., Huckle, T.: Parallel preconditioning with sparse approximate inverses. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 18(3), 838–853 (1997)Harrington, R.: Origin and development of the method of moments for field computation. IEEE Antenna Propag. Mag. (1990)Kunz, K.S., Luebbers, R.J.: The finite difference time domain method for electromagnetics. SIAM J. Sci. Comput. 18(3), 838–853 (1997)Maxwell, J.C.: A dynamical theory of the electromagnetic field. Roy. S. Trans. CLV, (1864). Reprinted in Tricker, R. A. R. The Contributions of Faraday and Maxwell to Electrial Science, Pergamon Press (1966)Marín, J., Malla M.: Some experiments preconditioning via spectral low rank updates for electromagnetism applications. In: Proceedings of the international conference on preconditioning techniques for large sparse matrix problems in scientific and industrial applications (Preconditioning 2007), Toulouse (2007)Meijerink, J.A., van der Vorst, H.A.: An iterative solution method for linear systems of which the coefficient matrix is a symmetric M-matrix. Math. Comput. 31, 148–162 (1977)Sorensen, D.C., Lehoucq, R.B., Yang, C.: ARPACK users’ guide: solution of large-scale eigenvalue problems with implicitly restarted Arnoldi methods. SIAM, Philadelphia (1998)Rao, S.M., Wilton, D.R., Glisson, A.W.: Electromagnetic scattering by surfaces of arbitrary shape. IEEE Trans. Antenna Propag. 30, 409–418 (1982)Saad, Y.: Iterative methods for sparse linear systems. PWS Publishing Company, Boston (1996)Silvester, P.P., Ferrari, R.L.: Finite elements for electrical engineers. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1990)Sleijpen, S.L., van der Vorst, H.A.: A Jacobi–Davidson iteration method for linear eigenvalue problems. SIAM J. Matrix Anal. Appl. 17, 401–425 (1996)van der Vorst, H.A.: Bi-CGSTAB: a fast and smoothly converging variant of Bi-CG for the solution of non-symmetric linear systems. SIAM J. Sci. Stat. Comput. 12(6), 631–644 (1992