Fatigue failure of materials under broad band random vibrations

The fatigue life of material under multifactor influence of broad band random excitations has been investigated. Parameters which affect the fatigue life are postulated to be peak stress, variance of stress and the natural frequency of the system. Experimental data were processed by the hybrid computer. Based on the experimental results and regression analysis a best predicting model has been found. All values of the experimental fatigue lives are within the 95% confidence intervals of the predicting equation

Time scale, objectivity and irreversibility in quantum mechanics

It is argued that setting isolated systems as primary scope of field theory and looking at particles as derived entities, the problem of an objective anchorage of quantum mechanics can be solved and irreversibility acquires a fundamental role. These general ideas are checked in the case of the Boltzmann description of a dilute gas.Comment: 13 pages, latex, no figures, to appear in the Proceedings of the XXI International Colloquium on Group Theoretical Methods in Physics, 1996 (Goslar, Germany

Effect of NLTE model atmospheres on photometric amplitudes and phases of early B-type pulsating stars

We study all possible sources of inaccuracy in theoretical values of the photometric observables, i.e. amplitude ratios and phase differences, of early B-type main sequence pulsators. Here, we discuss effects of parameters coming from both models of stellar atmospheres and linear nonadiabatic theory of stellar pulsation. In particular, we evaluate for the first time the effect of the departure from the LTE approximation. The atmospheric input comes from line-blanketed, LTE and NLTE plane-parallel, hydrostatic models. To compute the limb-darkening coefficients for NLTE models, we use the Least-Square Method taking into account the accuracy of the flux conservation. We present effects of NLTE atmospheres, chemical composition and opacities on theoretical values of the photometric observables of early B-type pulsators. To this end, we compute tables with the passband fluxes, flux derivatives over effective temperature and gravity as well as the non-linear limb-darkening coefficients in 12 most often used passbands, i.e. in the Str\"omgern system, $uvby$, and in the Johnson-Cousins-Glass system, $UBVRIJHK$. We make these tables public available at the Wroc{\l}aw HELAS Web page, http://helas.astro.uni.wroc.pl.Comment: 13 pages, 2 tables, 17 figues submitted to A&

Iron in Hot DA White Dwarfs

We present a study of the iron abundance pattern in hot hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs. The study is based on new and archival far ultraviolet spectroscopy of a sample of white dwarfs in the temperature range 30,000 K < T_eff < 64,000 K. The spectra obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer along with spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the International Ultraviolet Explorer sample FeIII to FeVI absorption lines enabling a detailed iron abundance analysis over a wider range of effective temperatures than previously afforded. The measurements reveal abundance variations in excess of two orders of magnitude between the highest and the lowest temperatures probed, but also show considerable variations (over one order of magnitude) between objects with similar temperatures and surface gravities. Such variations in cooler objects may be imputed to accretion from unseen companions or so-called circumstellar debris although the effect of residual mass-loss and selective radiation pressure in the hottest objects in the sample remain dominant.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Number operator-annihilation operator uncertainty as an alternative of the number-phase uncertainty relation

We consider a number operator-annihilation operator uncertainty as a well behaved alternative to the number-phase uncertainty relation, and examine its properties. We find a formulation in which the bound on the product of uncertainties depends on the expectation value of the particle number. Thus, while the bound is not a constant, it is a quantity that can easily be controlled in many systems. The uncertainty relation is approximately saturated by number-phase intelligent states. This allows us to define amplitude squeezing, connecting coherent states to Fock states, without a reference to a phase operator. We propose several setups for an experimental verification.Comment: 8 pages including 3 figures, revtex4; v2: typos corrected, presentation improved; v3: presentation considerably extended; v4: published versio

Completely Positive Quantum Dissipation

A completely positive master equation describing quantum dissipation for a Brownian particle is derived starting from microphysical collisions, exploiting a recently introduced approach to subdynamics of a macrosystem. The obtained equation can be cast into Lindblad form with a single generator for each Cartesian direction. Temperature dependent friction and diffusion coefficients for both position and momentum are expressed in terms of the collision cross-section.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, no figure

Incoherent dynamics in neutron-matter interaction

Coherent and incoherent neutron-matter interaction is studied inside a recently introduced approach to subdynamics of a macrosystem. The equation describing the interaction is of the Lindblad type and using the Fermi pseudopotential we show that the commutator term is an optical potential leading to well-known relations in neutron optics. The other terms, usually ignored in optical descriptions and linked to the dynamic structure function of the medium, give an incoherent contribution to the dynamics, which keeps diffuse scattering and attenuation of the coherent beam into account, thus warranting fulfilment of the optical theorem. The relevance of this analysis to experiments in neutron interferometry is briefly discussed.Comment: 15 pages, revtex, no figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A classical appraisal of quantum definitions of non-Markovian dynamics

We consider the issue of non-Markovianity of a quantum dynamics starting from a comparison with the classical definition of Markovian process. We point to the fact that two sufficient but not necessary signatures of non-Markovianity of a classical process find their natural quantum counterpart in recently introduced measures of quantum non-Markovianity. This behavior is analyzed in detail for quantum dynamics which can be built taking as input a class of classical processes.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures; to appear in J. Phys. B, Special Issue on "Loss of coherence and memory effects in quantum dynamics

Hot UV-bright stars of galactic globular clusters

Context. We have performed a census of the UV-bright population in 78 globular clusters using wide-field UV telescopes. This population includes a variety of phases of post-horizontal branch (HB) evolution, including hot post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, and post-early AGB stars. There are indications that old stellar systems like globular clusters produce fewer post-(early) AGB stars than currently predicted by evolutionary models, but observations are still scarce. Aims. We wish to derive effective temperatures, surface gravities, and helium abundances of the luminous hot UV-bright stars in these clusters to determine their evolutionary status and compare the observed numbers to predictions from evolutionary theory. Methods. We obtained FORS2 spectroscopy of eleven of these UV-selected objects (covering a range of -2.3†< †[Fe/H]†< †-1.0), which we (re-)analysed together with previously observed data. We used model atmospheres of different metallicities, including super-solar ones. Where possible, we verified our atmospheric parameters using UV spectrophotometry and searched for metal lines in the optical spectra. We calculated evolutionary sequences for four metallicity regimes and used them together with information about the HB morphology of the globular clusters to estimate the expected numbers of post-AGB stars. Results. We find that metal-rich model spectra are required to analyse stars hotter than 40 000 K. Seven of the eleven new luminous UV-bright stars are post-AGB or post-early AGB stars, while two are evolving away from the HB, one is a foreground white dwarf, and another is a white dwarf merger. Taking into account published information on other hot UV-bright stars in globular clusters, we find that the number of observed hot post-AGB stars generally agrees with the predicted values, although the numbers are still low. Conclusions. Spectroscopy is clearly required to identify the evolutionary status of hot UV-bright stars. For hotter stars, metal-rich model spectra are required to reproduce their optical and UV spectra, which may affect the flux contribution of hot post-AGB stars to the UV spectra of evolved populations. While the observed numbers of post-AGB and post-early AGB stars roughly agree with the predictions, our current comparison is affected by low number statistics.Fil: Moehler, Sabine. European Southern Observatory; AlemaniaFil: Landsman, W. B.. National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Estados UnidosFil: Lanz, T.. Observatoire de la Cote D'Azur; FranciaFil: Miller Bertolami, Marcelo Miguel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas. Instituto de Astrofísica La Plata; Argentin