133 research outputs found
Granular Rayleigh-Taylor Instability: Experiments and Simulations
A granular instability driven by gravity is studied experimentally and
numerically. The instability arises as grains fall in a closed Hele-Shaw cell
where a layer of dense granular material is positioned above a layer of air.
The initially flat front defined by the grains subsequently develops into a
pattern of falling granular fingers separated by rising bubbles of air. A
transient coarsening of the front is observed right from the start by a finger
merging process. The coarsening is later stabilized by new fingers growing from
the center of the rising bubbles. The structures are quantified by means of
Fourier analysis and quantitative agreement between experiment and computation
is shown. This analysis also reveals scale invariance of the flow structures
under overall change of spatial scale.Comment: 4 pages, 11 figure
Nonextensive statistics in viscous fingering
Measurements in turbulent flows have revealed that the velocity field in
nonequilibrium systems exhibits -exponential or power law distributions in
agreement with theoretical arguments based on nonextensive statistical
mechanics. Here we consider Hele-Shaw flow as simulated by the Lattice
Boltzmann method and find similar behavior from the analysis of velocity field
measurements. For the transverse velocity, we obtain a spatial -Gaussian
profile and a power law velocity distribution over all measured decades. To
explain these results, we suggest theoretical arguments based on Darcy's law
combined with the non-linear advection-diffusion equation for the concentration
field. Power law and -exponential distributions are the signature of
nonequilibrium systems with long-range interactions and/or long-time
correlations, and therefore provide insight to the mechanism of the onset of
fingering processes.Comment: 8 pages including 3 figures; to appear in PHYSICA
Self-Adjointness of the Dirac Hamiltonian and Fermion Number Fractionization in the Background of a Singular Magnetic Vortex
The method of self-adjoint extensions is employed to determine the vacuum
quantum numbers induced by a singular static magnetic vortex in
-dimensional spinor electrodynamics. The results obtained are
gauge-invariant and, for certain values of the extension parameter, both
periodic in the value of the vortex flux and possessing definite parity with
respect to the charge conjugation.Comment: LaTe
Continuum-particle hybrid coupling for mass, momentum and energy transfers in unsteady fluid flow
The aim of hybrid methods in simulations is to communicate regions with
disparate time and length scales. Here, a fluid described at the atomistic
level within an inner region P is coupled to an outer region C described by
continuum fluid dynamics. The matching of both descriptions of matter is made
across an overlapping region and, in general, consists of a two-way coupling
scheme (C->P and P->C) which conveys mass, momentum and energy fluxes. The
contribution of the hybrid scheme hereby presented is two-fold: first it treats
unsteady flows and, more importantly, it handles energy exchange between both C
and P regions. The implementation of the C->P coupling is tested here using
steady and unsteady flows with different rates of mass, momentum and energy
exchange. In particular, relaxing flows described by linear hydrodynamics
(transversal and longitudinal waves) are most enlightening as they comprise the
whole set of hydrodynamic modes. Applying the hybrid coupling scheme after the
onset of an initial perturbation, the cell-averaged Fourier components of the
flow variables in the P region (velocity, density, internal energy, temperature
and pressure) evolve in excellent agreement with the hydrodynamic trends. It is
also shown that the scheme preserves the correct rate of entropy production. We
discuss some general requirements on the coarse-grained length and time scales
arising from both the characteristic microscopic and hydrodynamic scales.Comment: LaTex, 12 pages, 9 figure
Vacuum polarization for neutral particles in 2+1 dimensions
In 2+1 dimensions there exists a duality between a charged Dirac particle
coupled minimally to a background vector potential and a neutral one coupled
nonminimally to a background electromagnetic field strength. A constant uniform
background electric current induces in the vacuum of the neutral particle a
fermion current which is proportional to the background one. A background
electromagnetic plane wave induces no current in the vacuum. For constant but
nonuniform background electric charge, known results for charged particles can
be translated to give the induced fermion number. Some new examples with
infinite background electric charge are presented. The induced spin and total
angular momentum are also discussed.Comment: REVTeX, 7 pages, no figur
Urban–rural differences in pediatric traumatic head injuries: A prospective nationwide study
Jonas G Halldorsson1, Kjell M Flekkoy2, Kristinn R Gudmundsson3, Gudmundur B Arnkelsson4, Eirikur Orn Arnarson1,51Psychological Health Services, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; 2Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; 4Faculty of Social Science, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 5Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, IcelandAims: To estimate differences in the incidence of recorded traumatic head injuries by gender, age, severity, and geographical area.Methods: The study was prospective and nationwide. Data were collected from all hospitals, emergency units and healthcare centers in Iceland regarding all Icelandic children and adolescents 0–19 years old consecutively diagnosed with traumatic head injuries (N = 550) during a one-year period.Results: Annual incidence of minimal, mild, moderate/severe, and fatal head injuries (ICD-9 850–854) was 6.41 per 1000, with 95% confi dence interval (CI) 5.9, 7.0. Annual incidence of minimal head injuries (ICD-9 850) treated at emergency units was 4.65 (CI 4.2, 5.1) per 1000, mild head injuries admitted to hospital (ICD-9 850) was 1.50 (CI 1.3, 1.8) per 1000, and moderate/severe nonfatal injuries (ICD-9 851–854) was 0.21 (CI 0.1, 0.3) per 1000. Death rate was 0.05 (CI 0.0, 0.1) per 1000. Young children were at greater risk of sustaining minimal head injuries than older ones. Boys were at greater risk than girls were. In rural areas, incidence of recorded minimal head injuries was low.Conclusions: Use of nationwide estimate of the incidence of pediatric head injury shows important differences between urban and rural areas as well as between different age groups.Keywords: incidence, nationwide, pediatric, prospective, traumatic head injuries, urban-rural difference
The prognostic value of injury severity, location of event, and age at injury in pediatric traumatic head injuries
Jonas G Halldorsson1, Kjell M Flekkoy2, Gudmundur B Arnkelsson3, Kristinn Tomasson4, Kristinn R Gudmundsson5, Eirikur Orn Arnarson1,61Psychological Health Services, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; 2Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, and Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ulleval University Hospital, Oslo, Norway; 3Department of Psychology, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland; 4Administration of Occupational Safety and Health, Reykjavik, Iceland; 5Department of Neurosurgery, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; 6Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, IcelandAims: To estimate the prognostic value of injury severity, location of event, and demographic parameters, for symptoms of pediatric traumatic head injury (THI) 4 years later.Methods: Data were collected prospectively from Reykjavik City Hospital on all patients age 0–19 years, diagnosed with THI (n = 408) during one year. Information was collected on patient demographics, location of traumatic event, cause of injury, injury severity, and ICD-9 diagnosis. Injury severity was estimated according to the Head Injury Severity Scale (HISS). Four years post-injury, a questionnaire on late symptoms attributed to the THI was sent.Results: Symptoms reported were more common among patients with moderate/severe THI than among others (p < 0.001). The event location had prognostic value (p < 0.05). Overall, 72% of patients with moderate/severe motor vehicle-related THI reported symptoms. There was a curvilinear age effect (p < 0.05). Symptoms were least frequent in the youngest age group, 0–4 years, and most frequent in the age group 5–14 years. Gender and urban/rural residence were not significantly related to symptoms.Conclusions: Motor vehicle related moderate/severe THI resulted in a high rate of late symptoms. Location had a prognostic value. Patients with motor vehicle-related THI need special consideration regardless of injury severity.Keywords: follow-up, pediatric, symptoms, traumatic head injur
Fractionalization of angular momentum at finite temperature around a magnetic vortex
Ambiguities in the definition of angular momentum of a quantum-mechanical
particle in the presence of a magnetic vortex are reviewed. We show that the
long-standing problem of the adequate definition is resolved in the framework
of the second-quantized theory at nonzero temperature. Planar relativistic
Fermi gas in the background of a point-like magnetic vortex with arbitrary flux
is considered, and we find thermal averages, quadratic fluctuations, and
correlations of all observables, including angular momentum, in this system.
The kinetic definition of angular momentum is picked out unambiguously by the
requirement of plausible behaviour for the angular momentum fluctuation and its
correlation with fermion number.Comment: 32 pages, submitted to Annals of Physic
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