1,395 research outputs found
Liquid interfaces in viscous straining flows: Numerical studies of the selective withdrawal transition
This paper presents a numerical analysis of the transition from selective
withdrawal to viscous entrainment. In our model problem, an interface between
two immiscible layers of equal viscosity is deformed by an axisymmetric
withdrawal flow, which is driven by a point sink located some distance above
the interface in the upper layer. We find that steady-state hump solutions,
corresponding to selective withdrawal of liquid from the upper layer, cease to
exist above a threshold withdrawal flux, and that this transition corresponds
to a saddle-node bifurcation for the hump solutions. Numerical results on the
shape evolution of the steady-state interface are compared against previous
experimental measurements. We find good agreement where the data overlap.
However, the numerical results' larger dynamic range allows us to show that the
large increase in the curvature of the hump tip near transition is not
consistent with an approach towards a power-law cusp shape, an interpretation
previously suggested from inspection of the experimental measurements alone.
Instead the large increase in the curvature at the hump tip reflects a
logarithmic coupling between the overall height of the hump and the curvature
at the tip of the hump.Comment: submitted to JF
Radioactive Probes of the Supernova-Contaminated Solar Nebula: Evidence that the Sun was Born in a Cluster
We construct a simple model for radioisotopic enrichment of the protosolar
nebula by injection from a nearby supernova, based on the inverse square law
for ejecta dispersion. We find that the presolar radioisotopes abundances
(i.e., in solar masses) demand a nearby supernova: its distance can be no
larger than 66 times the size of the protosolar nebula, at a 90% confidence
level, assuming 1 solar mass of protosolar material. The relevant size of the
nebula depends on its state of evolution at the time of radioactivity
injection. In one scenario, a collection of low-mass stars, including our sun,
formed in a group or cluster with an intermediate- to high-mass star that ended
its life as a supernova while our sun was still a protostar, a starless core,
or perhaps a diffuse cloud. Using recent observations of protostars to estimate
the size of the protosolar nebula constrains the distance of the supernova at
0.02 to 1.6 pc. The supernova distance limit is consistent with the scales of
low-mass stars formation around one or more massive stars, but it is closer
than expected were the sun formed in an isolated, solitary state. Consequently,
if any presolar radioactivities originated via supernova injection, we must
conclude that our sun was a member of such a group or cluster that has since
dispersed, and thus that solar system formation should be understood in this
context. In addition, we show that the timescale from explosion to the creation
of small bodies was on the order of 1.8 Myr (formal 90% confidence range of 0
to 2.2 Myr), and thus the temporal choreography from supernova ejecta to
meteorites is important. Finally, we can not distinguish between progenitor
masses from 15 to 25 solar masses in the nucleosynthesis models; however, the
20 solar mass model is somewhat preferred.Comment: ApJ accepted, 19 pages, 3 figure
Varied Responses as a Means to the Richness of Discourse: Reading Tough Texts through Speaking and Writing
Abstract: New scholarship advocates that students should learn deeply and well. Little information exists on exactly how to get students deeply into material so that they understand it inside and out, backward and forward and in a way that enables them to construct knowledge schemas. The authors have developed a heuristic list of communication response styles that enrich understanding of complex ideas and works and promotes students to use metacognition to reflect deeply about what they are learning
Dynamics of Bloch Oscillations in Disordered Lattice Potentials
We present a detailed analysis of the dynamics of Bloch oscillations of
Bose-Einstein condensates in disordered lattice potentials. Due to the disorder
and the interparticle interactions these oscillations undergo a dephasing,
reflected in a damping of the center of mass oscillations, which should be
observable under realistic experimental conditions. The interplay between
interactions and disorder is far from trivial, ranging from an
interaction-enhanced damping due to modulational instability for strong
interactions, to an interaction-reduced damping due to a dynamical screening of
the disorder potential
Thermal history modeling of the H chondrite parent body
The cooling histories of individual meteorites can be empirically
reconstructed by using ages from different radioisotopic chronometers with
distinct closure temperatures. For a group of meteorites derived from a single
parent body such data permit the reconstruction of the cooling history and
properties of that body. Particularly suited are H chondrites because precise
radiometric ages over a wide range of closure temperatures are available. A
thermal evolution model for the H chondrite parent body is constructed by using
all H chondrites for which at least three different radiometric ages are
available. Several key parameters determining the thermal evolution of the H
chondrite parent body and the unknown burial depths of the H chondrites are
varied until an optimal fit is obtained. The fit is performed by an 'evolution
algorithm'. Empirical data for eight samples are used for which radiometric
ages are available for at least three different closure temperatures. A set of
parameters for the H chondrite parent body is found that yields excellent
agreement (within error bounds) between the thermal evolution model and
empirical data of six of the examined eight chondrites. The new thermal model
constrains the radius and formation time of the H chondrite parent body
(possibly (6) Hebe), the initial burial depths of the individual H chondrites,
the average surface temperature of the body, the average initial porosity of
the material the body accreted from, and the initial 60Fe content of the H
chondrite parent body.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure
Extended coherence time on the clock transition of optically trapped Rubidium
Optically trapped ensembles are of crucial importance for frequency
measurements and quantum memories, but generally suffer from strong dephasing
due to inhomogeneous density and light shifts. We demonstrate a drastic
increase of the coherence time to 21 s on the magnetic field insensitive clock
transition of Rb-87 by applying the recently discovered spin self-rephasing.
This result confirms the general nature of this new mechanism and thus shows
its applicability in atom clocks and quantum memories. A systematic
investigation of all relevant frequency shifts and noise contributions yields a
stability of 2.4E-11 x tau^(-1/2), where tau is the integration time in
seconds. Based on a set of technical improvements, the presented frequency
standard is predicted to rival the stability of microwave fountain clocks in a
potentially much more compact setup.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Polyclonal B-cell activation by a synthetic analogue of bacterial lipoprotein is functionally different from activation by bacterial lipopolysaccharide
The reactivity of 38 murine strains to a synthetic analogue of bacterial lipoprotein, tripalmitoyl-pentapeptide (TPP), was tested and compared with the reactivity to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). These strains include common laboratory mice and H-2 recombinant inbred lines, as well as some newly bred lines originating from animals recently captured in different regions of Europe. All animals analysed were reactive to TPP and polyclonally activated to proliferation and immunoglobulin synthesis. Large differences in mitogen reactivities of various H-2 recombinant inbred strains suggest that MHC or closely linked gene products influence the reactivity to the LPS and TPP mitogens. By analysing the frequencies of precursor cells reactive to TPP or LPS and the isotype patterns obtained after stimulation, we demonstrated that both mitogens activate individual B cells in different ways.Peer reviewe
The use of weak waves as diagnostic tracers in unsteady flows
Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.This paper examines the tracing of the trajectories of weak waves behind a shock wave induced flow in order to establish how the domain shape influences the flow both from a spatial and temporal perspective. The basic principle is that if a particle produces a series of point disturbances in a flow field the perturbations induced will propagate outwards at the local sonic velocity whilst at the same time being convected along with the local flow velocity. A number of issues may be identified for an unsteady flow. Firstly the flow field at later times may be influenced by perturbations produced at earlier times. Secondly, if the positions of the perturbations can be monitored as a function of time then the trajectory and velocity of the particle may be deduced. Thirdly, if a perturbation arises from a point on a boundary then its influence, if any, on any particular part of the flow can be established.cs201
Enhancement of psychosocial treatment with D-cycloserine: models, moderators, and future directions
Advances in the understanding of the neurobiology of fear extinction have resulted in the development of d-cycloserine (DCS), a partial glutamatergic N-methyl-D-aspartate agonist, as an augmentation strategy for exposure treatment. We review a decade of research that has focused on the efficacy of DCS for augmenting the mechanisms (e.g., fear extinction) and outcome of exposure treatment across the anxiety disorders. Following a series of small-scale studies offering strong support for this clinical application, more recent larger-scale studies have yielded mixed results, with some showing weak or no effects. We discuss possible explanations for the mixed findings, pointing to both patient and session (i.e., learning experiences) characteristics as possible moderators of efficacy, and offer directions for future research in this area. We also review recent studies that have aimed to extend the work on DCS augmentation of exposure therapy for the anxiety disorders to DCS enhancement of learning-based interventions for addiction, anorexia nervosa, schizophrenia, and depression. Here, we attend to both DCS effects on facilitating therapeutic outcomes and additional therapeutic mechanisms beyond fear extinction (e.g., appetitive extinction, hippocampal-dependent learning).F31 MH103969 - NIMH NIH HHS; K24 DA030443 - NIDA NIH HHS; R34 MH099309 - NIMH NIH HHS; R34 MH086668 - NIMH NIH HHS; R21 MH102646 - NIMH NIH HHS; R34 MH099318 - NIMH NIH HH
Excitations in two-component Bose-gases
In this paper, we study a strongly correlated quantum system that has become
amenable to experiment by the advent of ultracold bosonic atoms in optical
lattices, a chain of two different bosonic constituents. Excitations in this
system are first considered within the framework of bosonization and Luttinger
liquid theory which are applicable if the Luttinger liquid parameters are
determined numerically. The occurrence of a bosonic counterpart of fermionic
spin-charge separation is signalled by a characteristic two-peak structure in
the spectral functions found by dynamical DMRG in good agreement with
analytical predictions. Experimentally, single-particle excitations as probed
by spectral functions are currently not accessible in cold atoms. We therefore
consider the modifications needed for current experiments, namely the
investigation of the real-time evolution of density perturbations instead of
single particle excitations, a slight inequivalence between the two
intraspecies interactions in actual experiments, and the presence of a
confining trap potential. Using time-dependent DMRG we show that only
quantitative modifications occur. With an eye to the simulation of strongly
correlated quantum systems far from equilibrium we detect a strong dependence
of the time-evolution of entanglement entropy on the initial perturbation,
signalling limitations to current reasonings on entanglement growth in
many-body systems
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