Friction of the surface plasmon by high-energy particle-hole pairs: Are memory effects important?

We show that the dynamics of the surface plasmon in metallic nanoparticles damped by its interaction with particle-hole excitations can be modelled by a single degree of freedom coupled to an environment. In this approach, the fast decrease of the dipole matrix elements that couple the plasmon to particle-hole pairs with the energy of the excitation allows a separation of the Hilbert space into low- and high-energy subspaces at a characteristic energy that we estimate. A picture of the spectrum consisting of a collective excitation built from low-energy excitations which interacts with high-energy particle-hole states can be formalised. The high-energy excitations yield an approximate description of a dissipative environment (or "bath") within a finite confined system. Estimates for the relevant timescales establish the Markovian character of the bath dynamics with respect to the surface plasmon evolution for nanoparticles with a radius larger than about 1 nm.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; see also cond-mat/070372

Propeller design IV : a simple method for determining the strength of propellers

The object of this report, the last of a series of four on propeller design, is to describe a simple method for determining whether the strength of a propeller of a standard form is sufficient for safe operation. An approximate method of stress analysis is also given

Propeller design I : practical application of the blade element theory

This report is the first of a series of four on propeller design and contains a description of the blade elements or modified Drzewiecke theory as used in the Bureau of Aeronautics, U.S. Navy Department. Blade interference corrections are used which were taken from R.& M. NO. 639 of the British Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The airfoil characteristics used were obtained from tests of model propellers, not from tests of model wings

Propeller design: extension of test data on a family of model propellers by means of the modified blade element theory II

This report is the second of a series of four on propeller design, and describes the method used to extend the data obtained from tests on a family of thirteen model propellers to include all propellers of the same form likely to be met in practice. This necessitates the development of a method of propeller analysis which when used to calculate the powers and efficiencies gives results which check the tests throughout their range

The Behavior of Conventional Airplanes in Situations Thought to Lead to Most Crashes

Simple flight tests were made on ten conventional airplanes for the purpose of determining their action in the following two situations, which are generally thought to precede and lead to a large proportion of airplane crashes

Propeller scale effect and body interference

This note shows that the main part of the discrepancy between full flight propeller performance and the performance of models in a wind tunnel is due to a scale effect, and that a minor part is caused by body interference. Analyses are made of propeller performances on several standard airplanes, and the actual brake horsepower compared with the power as calculated from model test data. The calculated power is based on that absorbed by a wind tunnel propeller model which is geometrically similar to the full scale propeller and is operating under the same ratio of V/nD

The Effect of the Sperry Messenger Fuselage on the Air Flow at the Propeller Plane

In order to study the effect of the fuselage, landing gear, and engine on the air flow through the propeller, a survey was made in the plane of the Sperry Messenger propeller with the propeller removed. The tests were made in the 20-foot air stream of the propeller research tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at Langley Field, Virginia. The variation of the velocity with distance from the center in the propeller plane was found to be appreciable and well worth consideration in the design of propellers. It was also found that the velocity through the propeller plane was affected by the presence of the engine, and that the velocity in front of the landing gear was lower than that at other points in the propeller plane having the same radius

Study of open jet wind tunnel cones

Tests have been made by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics on the air flow in an open jet wind tunnel with various sizes, shapes, and spacings of cones, and the flow studied by means of velocity and direction surveys in conjunction with flow pictures. It was found that for all combinations of cones tested the flow is essentially the same, consisting of an inner core of decreasing diameter having uniform velocity and direction, and a boundary layer of more or less turbulent air increasing in thickness with length of jet. The energy ratio of the tunnel was obtained for the different combinations of cones, and the spilling around the exit cone causing undesirable air currents in the experiment chamber was noted. An empirical formula is given for the design of cones having no appreciable spilling

Wind-tunnel Tests of a Hall High-life Wing

Wind-tunnel tests have been made to find the lift, drag, and center-of-pressure characteristics of a Hall high-lift wing model. The Hall wing is essentially a split-flap airfoil with an internal air passage. Air enters the passage through an opening in the lower surface somewhat back of and parallel to the leading edge, and flows out through an opening made by deflecting the rear portion of the under surface downward as a flap. For ordinary flight conditions the front opening and the rear flap can be closed, providing in effect a conventional airfoil (the Clark Y in this case). The tests were made with various flap settings and with the entrance to the passage both open and closed. The highest lift coefficient found, C(sub L) = 2.08, was obtained with the passage closed