Coupled normal fluid and superfluid profiles of turbulent helium II in channels

We perform fully coupled two--dimensional numerical simulations of plane channel helium II counterflows with vortex--line density typical of experiments. The main features of our approach are the inclusion of the back reaction of the superfluid vortices on the normal fluid and the presence of solid boundaries. Despite the reduced dimensionality, our model is realistic enough to reproduce vortex density distributions across the channel recently calculated in three--dimensions. We focus on the coarse--grained superfluid and normal fluid velocity profiles, recovering the normal fluid profile recently observed employing a technique based on laser--induced fluorescence of metastable helium molecules.Comment: 26 pages, 8 Figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Piezo-electromechanical smart materials with distributed arrays of piezoelectric transducers: Current and upcoming applications

This review paper intends to gather and organize a series of works which discuss the possibility of exploiting the mechanical properties of distributed arrays of piezoelectric transducers. The concept can be described as follows: on every structural member one can uniformly distribute an array of piezoelectric transducers whose electric terminals are to be connected to a suitably optimized electric waveguide. If the aim of such a modification is identified to be the suppression of mechanical vibrations then the optimal electric waveguide is identified to be the 'electric analog' of the considered structural member. The obtained electromechanical systems were called PEM (PiezoElectroMechanical) structures. The authors especially focus on the role played by Lagrange methods in the design of these analog circuits and in the study of PEM structures and we suggest some possible research developments in the conception of new devices, in their study and in their technological application. Other potential uses of PEMs, such as Structural Health Monitoring and Energy Harvesting, are described as well. PEM structures can be regarded as a particular kind of smart materials, i.e. materials especially designed and engineered to show a specific andwell-defined response to external excitations: for this reason, the authors try to find connection between PEM beams and plates and some micromorphic materials whose properties as carriers of waves have been studied recently. Finally, this paper aims to establish some links among some concepts which are used in different cultural groups, as smart structure, metamaterial and functional structural modifications, showing how appropriate would be to avoid the use of different names for similar concepts. © 2015 - IOS Press and the authors

The two-fluid extended model of superfluid helium

In this paper we perform the first numerical comparison between the two main existing models of superfluid helium: the two-fluid model proposed by Landau and the one-fluid extended model proposed from the extended thermodynamics. The numerical experiments in this paper regard the profiles of the so-called normal and superfluid components in 2D counterflow turbulence

Cross-Component Energy Transfer in Superfluid Helium-4

The reciprocal energy and enstrophy transfers between normal fluid and superfluid components dictate the overall dynamics of superfluid $^4$He including the generation, evolution and coupling of coherent structures, the distribution of energy among lengthscales, and the decay of turbulence. To better understand the essential ingredients of this interaction, we employ a numerical two-way model which self-consistently accounts for the back-reaction of the superfluid vortex lines onto the normal fluid. Here we focus on a prototypical laminar (non-turbulent) vortex configuration which is simple enough to clearly relate the geometry of the vortex line to energy injection and dissipation to/from the normal fluid: a Kelvin wave excitation on two vortex anti-vortex pairs evolving in (a) an initially quiescent normal fluid, and (b) an imposed counterflow. In (a), the superfluid injects energy and vorticity in the normal fluid. In (b), the superfluid gains energy from the normal fluid via the Donnelly-Glaberson instability

Intra-scales energy transfer during the evolution of turbulence in a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate

In turbulence phenomena, including the quantum turbulence in superfluids, an energy flux flows from large to small length scales, composing a cascade of energy. A universal characteristic of turbulent flows is the existence of a range of scales where the energy flux is scale-invariant: this interval of scales is often referred to as inertial region. This property is fundamental as, for instance, in turbulence of classical fluids it characterizes the behavior of statistical features such as spectra and structure functions. Here we show that also in decaying quantum turbulence generated in trapped Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), intervals of momentum space where the energy flux is constant can be identified. Indeed, we present a procedure to measure the energy flux using both the energy spectrum and the continuity equation. A range of scales where the flux is constant is then determined employing two distinct protocols and in the same range, the momentum distribution measured is consistent with previous work. The successful identification of a region with constant flux in turbulent BECs is a manifestation of the universal character of turbulence in these quantum systems. These measurements pave the way for studies of energy conservation and dissipation in trapped atomic superfluids, and also analogies with the related processes that take place in ordinary fluids.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

How social learning adds up to a culture:From birdsong to human public opinion

Distributed social learning may occur at many temporal and spatial scales, but it rarely adds up to a stable culture. Cultures vary in stability and diversity (polymorphism), ranging from chaotic or drifting cultures, through cumulative polymorphic cultures, to stable monolithic cultures with high conformity levels. What features can sustain polymorphism, preventing cultures from collapsing into either chaotic or highly conforming states? We investigate this question by integrating studies across two quite separate disciplines: the emergence of song cultures in birds, and the spread of public opinion and social conventions in humans. In songbirds, the learning process has been studied in great detail, while in human studies the structure of social networks has been experimentally manipulated on large scales. In both cases, the manner in which communication signals are compressed and filtered – either during learning or while traveling through the social network – can affect culture polymorphism and stability. We suggest a simple mechanism of a shifting balance between converging and diverging social forces to explain these effects. Understanding social forces that shape cultural evolution might be useful for designing agile communication systems, which are stable and polymorphic enough to promote gradual changes in institutional behavior

Prova di micro-tomografia a raggi X di provini sotto carico analizzata mediante un algoritmo a Correlazione Digitale di Volume

In questa comunicazione viene presentata una strategia robusta per la Correlazione Digitale di Immagini di Volume (3D-Volume DIC), atta a fornire accurate misure di campo cinematiche in provini opachi soggetti a prove di carico. Tale problema inverso consiste nella stima del campo di moto tridimensionale all’interno di un volume, sulla base di sequenze di immagini digitali tridimensionali ottenute mediante micro-tomografia a raggi X. E’ stata qui sviluppata una nuova formulazione variazionale per il problema DIC nel continuo, evidenziandone alcune importanti proprietà. Nell’ambito di una discretizzazione alla Galerkin elementi-finiti del campo di spostamento, il problema DIC viene risolto secondo uno schema ricorsivo impiegando una famiglia gerarchica di griglie di calcolo, legate mediante opportuni operatori di prolungamento e restrizione. Tali griglie strutturate sono definite ai diversi livelli di una piramide di immagini, generata partendo dalle grezze ricostruzioni tomografiche attraverso l’applicazione reiterata di operatori di media e sotto-campionamento. Allo scopo di ottenere stime robuste del campo di spostamento, cicli multi-griglia vengono effettuati salendo e scendendo tra i diversi livelli della piramide secondo una sequenza definita dall’utente, effettuando a ogni livello una sola iterazione di Newton come se il problema di stima fosse lineare nel passo. E’ stata inoltre implementata una strategia di regolarizzazione alla Tychonoff, allo scopo di ridurre oscillazioni numeriche spurie tipiche delle stime DIC su discretizzazioni fini. Infine vengono discussi alcuni risultati preliminari, riguardanti prove di micro-tomografia a raggi X effettuate in laboratorio su un provino di spugna polimerica, soggetto a condizioni di compressione uniassiale mediante un microapparato di prova appositamente realizzato