24,372 research outputs found
A fundamental approach to the sticking of insect residues to aircraft wings
The aircraft industry is concerned with the increase of drag on planes due to the sticking of insects on critical airfoil areas. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the effects of surface energy and elasticity on the number of insects sticking onto the polymer coatings on a modified aircraft wing and to determine the mechanism by which insects stick onto surfaces during high velocity impact. Analyses including scanning electron microscopy, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis and contact angle measurements of uncoated and polymer coated aluminum surfaces were performed. A direct relation between the number of insects sticking on a sample and its surface energy was obtained. Since the sticky liquid from a burst open insect will not spread on the low energy surface, it will ball up providing poor adhesion between the insect debris and the surface. The incoming air flow can easily blow off the insect debris and thus reducing the number of insects that remain stuck on the surface. Also a direct relation between the number of insect sticking onto a surface and their modulus of elasticity was obtained
Fermions on one or fewer Kinks
We find the full spectrum of fermion bound states on a Z_2 kink. In addition
to the zero mode, there are int[2 m_f/m_s] bound states, where m_f is the
fermion and m_s the scalar mass. We also study fermion modes on the background
of a well-separated kink-antikink pair. Using a variational argument, we prove
that there is at least one bound state in this background, and that the energy
of this bound state goes to zero with increasing kink-antikink separation, 2L,
and faster than e^{-a2L} where a = min(m_s, 2 m_f). By numerical evaluation, we
find some of the low lying bound states explicitly.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Making vortices in dipolar spinor condensates via rapid adiabatic passage
We propose to the create vortices in spin-1 condensates via magnetic
dipole-dipole interaction. Starting with a polarized condensate prepared under
large axial magnetic field, we show that by gradually inverting the field,
population transfer among different spin states can be realized in a controlled
manner. Under optimal condition, we generate a doubly quantized vortex state
containing nearly all atoms in the condensate. The resulting vortex state is a
direct manifestation of the dipole-dipole interaction and spin textures in
spinor condensates. We also point out that the whole process can be
qualitatively described by a simple rapid adiabatic passage model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Aharonov-Bohm Radiation of Fermions
We analyze Aharonov-Bohm radiation of charged fermions from oscillating
solenoids and cosmic strings. We find that the angular pattern of the radiation
has features that differ significantly from that for bosons. For example,
fermionic radiation in the lowest harmonic is approximately isotropically
distributed around an oscillating solenoid, whereas for bosons the radiation is
dipolar. We also investigate the spin polarization of the emitted
fermion-antifermion pair. Fermionic radiation from kinks and cusps on cosmic
strings is shown to depend linearly on the ultraviolet cut-off, suggesting
strong emission at an energy scale comparable to the string energy scale.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Version 2: Expanded discussion on boundary
conditions obeyed by Dirac equation mode functions (in Section V B).
Acknowledgements and references added. Version 3: Minor changes made in
response to referee's comment
The Composite Fermion Hierarchy: Condensed States of Composite Fermion Excitations?
A composite Fermion hierarchy theory is constructed in a way related to the
original Haldane picture by applying the composite Fermion (CF) transformation
to quasiparticles of Jain states. It is shown that the Jain theory coincides
with the Haldane hierarchy theory for principal CF fillings. Within the Fermi
liquid approach for few electron systems on the sphere a simple interpretation
of many-quasiparticle spectra is given and provides an explanation of failure
of CF hierarchy picture when applied to the hierarchical state.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, 4 figures in PostScript, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Let
Factors affecting the sticking of insects on modified aircraft wings
Past studies have shown that the surface energy of a polymer coating has an important effect on the sticking of insects to the surface. However, mechanical properties of polymer coatings such as elasticity may also be important. A further study is suggested using polymer coatings of known surface energy and modulus so that a better understanding of the mechanism of the sticking of insects to surfaces can be achieved. As the first step for the study, surface analysis and road tests were performed using elastomers having different energies and different moduli. The number of insects sticking to each elastomer was counted and compared from sample to sample and with a control (aluminum). An average height moment was also calculated and comparisons made between samples
Variability of Low-ionization Broad Absorption Line Quasars Based on Multi-epoch Spectra from The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
We present absorption variability results for 134 bona fide \mgii\ broad
absorption line (BAL) quasars at 0.46~~2.3 covering days
to 10 yr in the rest frame. We use multiple-epoch spectra from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey, which has delivered the largest such BAL-variability sample
ever studied. \mgii-BAL identifications and related measurements are compiled
and presented in a catalog. We find a remarkable time-dependent asymmetry in EW
variation from the sample, such that weakening troughs outnumber strengthening
troughs, the first report of such a phenomenon in BAL variability. Our
investigations of the sample further reveal that (i) the frequency of BAL
variability is significantly lower (typically by a factor of 2) than that from
high-ionization BALQSO samples; (ii) \mgii\ BAL absorbers tend to have
relatively high optical depths and small covering factors along our line of
sight; (iii) there is no significant EW-variability correlation between \mgii\
troughs at different velocities in the same quasar; and (iv) the EW-variability
correlation between \mgii\ and \aliii\ BALs is significantly stronger than that
between \mgii\ and \civ\ BALs at the same velocities. These observational
results can be explained by a combined transverse-motion/ionization-change
scenario, where transverse motions likely dominate the strengthening BALs while
ionization changes and/or other mechanisms dominate the weakening BALs.Comment: 24 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ
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