Simulated three-component granular segregation in a rotating drum

Discrete particle simulations are used to model segregation in granular mixtures of three different particle species in a horizontal rotating drum. Axial band formation is observed, with medium-size particles tending to be located between alternating bands of big and small particles. Partial radial segregation also appears; it precedes the axial segregation and is characterized by an inner core region richer in small particles. Axial bands are seen to merge during the long simulation runs, leading to a coarsening of the band pattern; the relocation of particles involved in one such merging event is examined. Overall, the behavior is similar to experiment and represents a generalization of what occurs in the simpler two-component mixture.Comment: 7 pages, 11 figures (low resolution color figures only; originals at author's website http://www.ph.biu.ac.il/~rapaport/research/granular.html) [revised version contains extra figures

Modelling the Extreme X-ray Spectrum of IRAS 13224-3809

The extreme NLS1 galaxy IRAS 13224-3809 shows significant variability, frequency depended time lags, and strong Fe K line and Fe L features in the long 2011 XMM-Newton observation. In this work we study the spectral properties of IRAS 13224-3809 in detail, and carry out a series of analyses to probe the nature of the source, focusing in particular on the spectral variability exhibited. The RGS spectrum shows no obvious signatures of absorption by partially ionised material (warm absorbers). We fit the 0.3-10.0 keV spectra with a model that includes relativistic reflection from the inner accretion disc, a standard powerlaw AGN continuum, and a low-temperature (~0.1 keV) blackbody, which may originate in the accretion disc, either as direct or reprocessed thermal emission. We find that the reflection model explains the time-averaged spectrum well, and we also undertake flux-resolved and time-resolved spectral analyses, which provide evidence of gravitational light-bending effects. Additionally, the temperature and flux of the blackbody component are found to follow the $L\propto T^{4}$ relation expected for simple thermal blackbody emission from a constant emitting area, indicating a physical origin for this component.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

PCA of PCA: Principal Component Analysis of Partial Covering Absorption in NGC 1365

We analyse 400 ks of XMM-Newton data on the active galactic nucleus NGC 1365 using principal component analysis (PCA) to identify model independent spectral components. We find two significant components and demonstrate that they are qualitatively different from those found in MCG?6-30-15 using the same method. As the variability in NGC 1365 is known to be due to changes in the parameters of a partial covering neutral absorber, this shows that the same mechanism cannot be the driver of variability in MCG-6-30-15. By examining intervals where the spectrum shows relatively low absorption we separate the effects of intrinsic source variability, including signatures of relativistic reflection, from variations in the intervening absorption. We simulate the principal components produced by different physical variations, and show that PCA provides a clear distinction between absorption and reflection as the drivers of variability in AGN spectra. The simulations are shown to reproduce the PCA spectra of both NGC 1365 and MCG-6-30-15, and further demonstrate that the dominant cause of spectral variability in these two sources requires a qualitatively different mechanism.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

The sparrow invasion of 1962

During late 1962 and early 1963, a report that sparrows were at large in the metropolitan area close to Perth drew intense public interest. This article gives some facts about the reported sightings

A method for computation of vibration modes and frequencies of orthotropic thin shells of revolution having general meridional curvature

Finite element method for computing natural frequencies and mode shapes of thin shells of revolutio

Vibration characteristics of ring-stiffened orthotropic shells of revolution

Computer program solves vibration modes and frequencies of thin shells of revolution having general meridional curvature and orthotropic elastic properties in order to evaluate the dynamic behavior of structures with thin shelled components

Generating Polarization-Entangled Photon Pairs with Arbitrary Joint Spectrum

We present a scheme for generating polarization-entangled photons pairs with arbitrary joint spectrum. Specifically, we describe a technique for spontaneous parametric down-conversion in which both the center frequencies and the bandwidths of the down-converted photons may be controlled by appropriate manipulation of the pump pulse. The spectral control offered by this technique permits one to choose the operating wavelengths for each photon of a pair based on optimizations of other system parameters (loss in optical fiber, photon counter performance, etc.). The combination of spectral control, polarization control, and lack of group-velocity matching conditions makes this technique particularly well-suited for a distributed quantum information processing architecture in which integrated optical circuits are connected by spans of optical fiber.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure