Functional characterization of generalized Langevin equations

We present an exact functional formalism to deal with linear Langevin equations with arbitrary memory kernels and driven by any noise structure characterized through its characteristic functional. No others hypothesis are assumed over the noise, neither the fluctuation dissipation theorem. We found that the characteristic functional of the linear process can be expressed in terms of noise's functional and the Green function of the deterministic (memory-like) dissipative dynamics. This object allow us to get a procedure to calculate all the Kolmogorov hierarchy of the non-Markov process. As examples we have characterized through the 1-time probability a noise-induced interplay between the dissipative dynamics and the structure of different noises. Conditions that lead to non-Gaussian statistics and distributions with long tails are analyzed. The introduction of arbitrary fluctuations in fractional Langevin equations have also been pointed out

Gotcha! Coronavirus, crises and the politics of blame games

Politicians are primarily motivated by avoiding blame for failure. But what happens in a major crisis, when some level of failure is inevitable? Matthew Flinders examines the politics of blame during the COVID-19 pandemic

Observing the evaporation transition in vibro-fluidized granular matter

By shaking a sand box the grains on the top start to jump giving the picture of evaporating a sand bulk, and a gaseous transition starts at the surface granular matter (GM) bed. Moreover the mixture of the grains in the whole bed starts to move in a cooperative way which is far away from a Brownian description. In a previous work we have shown that the key element to describe the statistics of this behavior is the exclusion of volume principle, whereby the system obeys a Fermi configurational approach. Even though the experiment involves an archetypal non-equilibrium system, we succeeded in defining a global temperature, as the quantity associated to the Lagrange parameter in a maximum entropic statistical description. In fact in order to close our approach we had to generalize the equipartition theorem for dissipative systems. Therefore we postulated, found and measured a fundamental dissipative parameter, written in terms of pumping and gravitational energies, linking the configurational entropy to the collective response for the expansion of the centre of mass (c.m.) of the granular bed. Here we present a kinetic approach to describe the experimental velocity distribution function (VDF) of this non-Maxwellian gas of macroscopic Fermi-like particles (mFp). The evaporation transition occurs mainly by jumping balls governed by the excluded volume principle. Surprisingly in the whole range of low temperatures that we measured this description reveals a lattice-gas, leading to a packing factor, which is independent of the external parameters. In addition we measure the mean free path, as a function of the driving frequency, and corroborate our prediction from the present kinetic theory.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted for publication September 1st, 200

Near-Bed Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget Under a Large-Scale Plunging Breaking Wave Over a Fixed Bar

Hydrodynamics under regular plunging breaking waves over a fixed breaker bar were studied in a large-scale wave flume. A previous paper reported on the outer flow hydrodynamics; the present paper focuses on the turbulence dynamics near the bed (up to 0.10 m from the bed). Velocities were measured with high spatial and temporal resolution using a two component laser Doppler anemometer. The results show that even at close distance from the bed (1 mm), the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) increases by a factor five between the shoaling, and breaking regions because of invasion of wave breaking turbulence. The sign and phase behavior of the time-dependent Reynolds shear stresses at elevations up to approximately 0.02 m from the bed (roughly twice the elevation of the boundary layer overshoot) are mainly controlled by local bed-shear-generated turbulence, but at higher elevations Reynolds stresses are controlled by wave breaking turbulence. The measurements are subsequently analyzed to investigate the TKE budget at wave-averaged and intrawave time scales. Horizontal and vertical turbulence advection, production, and dissipation are the major terms. A two-dimensional wave-averaged circulation drives advection of wave breaking turbulence through the near-bed layer, resulting in a net downward influx in the bar trough region, followed by seaward advection along the bar's shoreward slope, and an upward outflux above the bar crest. The strongly nonuniform flow across the bar combined with the presence of anisotropic turbulence enhances turbulent production rates near the bed

Time- and space-resolved spectroscopic characterization of laser-induced swine muscle tissue plasma

10 págs.; 12 figs.; 1 tab.The spatial-temporal evolution of muscle tissue sample plasma induced by a high-power transversely excited atmospheric (TEA) CO2 pulsed laser at vacuum conditions (0.1–0.01 Pa) has been investigated using high-resolution optical emission spectroscopy (OES) and imaging methods. The induced plasma shows mainly electronically excited neutral Na, K, C, Mg, H, Ca, N and O atoms, ionized C+, C2 +, C3 +, Mg+, Mg2 +, N+, N2 +, Ca+, O+ and O2 + species and molecular band systems of CN(B2Σ+–X2Σ+), C2(d3Πg–a3Πu), CH(B2Σ−–X2Π; A2Δ–X2Π), NH(A3Π–X3Σ−), OH(A2Σ+–X2 Σ+), and CaOH(B2Σ+–X2Σ+; A2Π–X2Σ+). Time-resolved two-dimensional emission spectroscopy is used to study the expanded distribution of different species ejected during ablation. Spatial and temporal variations of different atoms and ionic excited species are reported. Plasma parameters such as electron density and temperature were measured from the spatio-temporal analysis of different species. Average velocities of some plasma species were estimated. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.We gratefully acknowledge the support received in part by the DGICYT (Spain) Project MICINN: CTQ2013-43086-P for this research. The authors wish to thank the Geomaterials2 Program (S2013/MIT 2914) supported by the Comunidad de Madrid and EU structural and cohesion funds (FSE and FEDER).Peer reviewe

Beach profile evolution towards equilibrium from varying initial morphologies

The evolution of different initial beach profiles towards the same final beach configuration is investigated based on large-scale experimental data. The same wave condition was performed three times, each time starting from a different initial profile morphology. The three different initial profiles are an intermediate energy profile with an offshore bar and a small swash berm, a plane profile and a low energy profile with a large berm. The three cases evolve towards the same final (equilibrium) profile determined by the same wave condition. This implies that the same wave condition generates different sediment transport patterns. Largest beach changes and differences in hydrodynamics occur in the beginning of the experimental cases, highlighting the coupling between morphology and hydrodynamics for beach evolution towards the same profile. The coupling between morphology and hydrodynamics that leads to the same final beach profile is associated with differences in sediment transport in the surf and swash zone, and is explained by the presence of bar and berm features. A large breaker bar and concave profile promote wave energy dissipation and reduce the magnitudes of the mean near-bed flow velocity close to the shoreline limiting shoreline erosion. In contrast, a beach profile with reflective features, such as a large berm and a small or no bar, increases negative velocity magnitudes at the berm toe promoting shoreline retreat. The findings are summarised in a conceptual model that describes how the beach changes towards equilibrium from two different initial morphologies

Mathematical modeling and simulation of volatile reduced sulfur compounds oxidation in biotrickling filters

[Abstract] The odour generated by industrial gaseous emissions causing nuisances generally is due to the presence of volatile reduced sulfur compounds (VRSC) Although a number of microorganisms are known for degrading VRSC, the treatment of a mixture of reduced sulfur compounds remains challenging for several reasons. To resolve these problems two-stage systems have been proposed, in the first reactor H2S is bio-oxidized and in the second the rest of the VRSC mixture, avoiding the inhibition effects of H2S over the bio-oxidation of these compounds. In the systems described the complete oxidation of H2S must be performed in the first reactor, if some H2S pass though out the first reactor it would have an effect on the bio-oxidation of the other VRSC present in the mixture in the second bioreactor. This situation was modelled and simulated, and is presented in this article. The bio-oxidation of H2S and DMS in a biotrickling filter is described through a model of the mass transfer and chemical reaction processes. The biotrickling filter is modeled as a fixed bed of packing material which supports the growth of micro-organisms as biofilms. When air flows in the bed, H2S and DMS are continuously transferred from the gas phase to the biofilm, where they diffuse and are oxidized by aerobic microbial activity. A summary of the equations, results of the simulation and sensibility to the inhibition constants are reported

Geodesic Deviation Equation in Bianchi Cosmologies

We present the Geodesic Deviation Equation (GDE) for the Friedmann-Robertson-Walker(FRW) universe and we compare it with the equation for Bianchi type I model. We justify consider this cosmological model due to the recent importance the Bianchi Models have as alternative models in cosmology. The main property of these models, solutions of Einstein Field Equations (EFE) is that they are homogeneous as the FRW model but they are not isotropic. We can see this because they have a non-null Weyl tensor in the GDE.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS), ERE200