On the pulsating instability of two-dimensional flames

We consider a well-known thermo-diffusive model for the propagation of a premixed, adiabatic flame front in the large-activation-energy limit. That model depends only on one nondimensional parameter β, the reduced Lewis number. Near the pulsating instability limit, as β↓β0= 32/3, we obtain an asymptotic model for the evolution of a quasi-planar flame front, via a multi-scale analysis. The asymptotic model consists of two complex Ginzburg–Landau equations and a real Burgers equation, coupled by non-local terms. The model is used to analyse the nonlinear stability of the flame front

Nonlinear equation for curved stationary flames

A nonlinear equation describing curved stationary flames with arbitrary gas expansion $\theta = \rho_{{\rm fuel}}/\rho_{{\rm burnt}}$, subject to the Landau-Darrieus instability, is obtained in a closed form without an assumption of weak nonlinearity. It is proved that in the scope of the asymptotic expansion for $\theta \to 1,$ the new equation gives the true solution to the problem of stationary flame propagation with the accuracy of the sixth order in $\theta - 1.$ In particular, it reproduces the stationary version of the well-known Sivashinsky equation at the second order corresponding to the approximation of zero vorticity production. At higher orders, the new equation describes influence of the vorticity drift behind the flame front on the front structure. Its asymptotic expansion is carried out explicitly, and the resulting equation is solved analytically at the third order. For arbitrary values of $\theta,$ the highly nonlinear regime of fast flow burning is investigated, for which case a large flame velocity expansion of the nonlinear equation is proposed.Comment: 29 pages 4 figures LaTe

The Thermonuclear Explosion Of Chandrasekhar Mass White Dwarfs

The flame born in the deep interior of a white dwarf that becomes a Type Ia supernova is subject to several instabilities. We briefly review these instabilities and the corresponding flame acceleration. We discuss the conditions necessary for each of the currently proposed explosion mechanisms and the attendant uncertainties. A grid of critical masses for detonation in the range $10^7$ - $2 \times 10^9$ g cm$^{-3}$ is calculated and its sensitivity to composition explored. Prompt detonations are physically improbable and appear unlikely on observational grounds. Simple deflagrations require some means of boosting the flame speed beyond what currently exists in the literature. ``Active turbulent combustion'' and multi-point ignition are presented as two plausible ways of doing this. A deflagration that moves at the ``Sharp-Wheeler'' speed, $0.1 g_{\rm eff} t$, is calculated in one dimension and shows that a healthy explosion is possible in a simple deflagration if the front moves with the speed of the fastest floating bubbles. The relevance of the transition to the ``distributed burning regime'' is discussed for delayed detonations. No model emerges without difficulties, but detonation in the distributed regime is plausible, will produce intermediate mass elements, and warrants further study.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures included, uses aaspp4.sty. Submitted to Ap

Hydrodynamic Stability Analysis of Burning Bubbles in Electroweak Theory and in QCD

Assuming that the electroweak and QCD phase transitions are first order, upon supercooling, bubbles of the new phase appear. These bubbles grow to macroscopic sizes compared to the natural scales associated with the Compton wavelengths of particle excitations. They propagate by burning the old phase into the new phase at the surface of the bubble. We study the hydrodynamic stability of the burning and find that for the velocities of interest for cosmology in the electroweak phase transition, the shape of the bubble wall is stable under hydrodynamic perturbations. Bubbles formed in the cosmological QCD phase transition are found to be a borderline case between stability and instability.Comment: preprint # SLAC-PUB-5943, SCIPP 92/56 38 pages, 10 figures (submitted via `uufiles'), phyzzx format minor snafus repaire

Anomalous roughness with system size dependent local roughness exponent

We note that in a system far from equilibrium the interface roughening may depend on the system size which plays the role of control parameter. To detect the size effect on the interface roughness, we study the scaling properties of rough interfaces formed in paper combustion experiments. Using paper sheets of different width \lambda L, we found that the turbulent flame fronts display anomalous multi-scaling characterized by non universal global roughness exponent \alpha and the system size dependent spectrum of local roughness exponents,\xi_q, whereas the burning fronts possess conventional multi-affine scaling. The structure factor of turbulent flame fronts also exhibit unconventional scaling dependence on \lambda These results are expected to apply to a broad range of far from equilibrium systems, when the kinetic energy fluctuations exceed a certain critical value.Comment: 33 pages, 16 figure

Asymptotics for turbulent flame speeds of the viscous G-equation enhanced by cellular and shear flows

G-equations are well-known front propagation models in turbulent combustion and describe the front motion law in the form of local normal velocity equal to a constant (laminar speed) plus the normal projection of fluid velocity. In level set formulation, G-equations are Hamilton-Jacobi equations with convex ($L^1$ type) but non-coercive Hamiltonians. Viscous G-equations arise from either numerical approximations or regularizations by small diffusion. The nonlinear eigenvalue $\bar H$ from the cell problem of the viscous G-equation can be viewed as an approximation of the inviscid turbulent flame speed $s_T$. An important problem in turbulent combustion theory is to study properties of $s_T$, in particular how $s_T$ depends on the flow amplitude $A$. In this paper, we will study the behavior of $\bar H=\bar H(A,d)$ as $A\to +\infty$ at any fixed diffusion constant $d > 0$. For the cellular flow, we show that $$\bar H(A,d)\leq O(\sqrt {\mathrm {log}A}) \quad \text{for all $d>0$}.$$ Compared with the inviscid G-equation ($d=0$), the diffusion dramatically slows down the front propagation. For the shear flow, the limit \nit $\lim_{A\to +\infty}{\bar H(A,d)\over A} = \lambda (d) >0$ where $\lambda (d)$ is strictly decreasing in $d$, and has zero derivative at $d=0$. The linear growth law is also valid for $s_T$ of the curvature dependent G-equation in shear flows.Comment: 27 pages. We improve the upper bound from no power growth to square root of log growt

Modulation of let-7 miRNAs controls the differentiation of effector CD8 T cells

The differentiation of naive CD8 T cells into effector cytotoxic T lymphocytes upon antigen stimulation is necessary for successful antiviral, and antitumor immune responses. Here, using a mouse model, we describe a dual role for the let-7 microRNAs in the regulation of CD8 T cell responses, where maintenance of the naive phenotype in CD8 T cells requires high levels of let-7 expression, while generation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes depends upon T cell receptor-mediated let-7 downregulation. Decrease of let-7 expression in activated T cells enhances clonal expansion and the acquisition of effector function through derepression of the let-7 targets, including Myc and Eomesodermin. Ultimately, we have identified a novel let-7-mediated mechanism, which acts as a molecular brake controlling the magnitude of CD8 T cell responses

Geometry-controlled kinetics

It has long been appreciated that transport properties can control reaction kinetics. This effect can be characterized by the time it takes a diffusing molecule to reach a target -- the first-passage time (FPT). Although essential to quantify the kinetics of reactions on all time scales, determining the FPT distribution was deemed so far intractable. Here, we calculate analytically this FPT distribution and show that transport processes as various as regular diffusion, anomalous diffusion, diffusion in disordered media and in fractals fall into the same universality classes. Beyond this theoretical aspect, this result changes the views on standard reaction kinetics. More precisely, we argue that geometry can become a key parameter so far ignored in this context, and introduce the concept of "geometry-controlled kinetics". These findings could help understand the crucial role of spatial organization of genes in transcription kinetics, and more generally the impact of geometry on diffusion-limited reactions.Comment: Submitted versio

c-REDUCE: Incorporating sequence conservation to detect motifs that correlate with expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Computational methods for characterizing novel transcription factor binding sites search for sequence patterns or "motifs" that appear repeatedly in genomic regions of interest. Correlation-based motif finding strategies are used to identify motifs that correlate with expression data and do not rely on promoter sequences from a pre-determined set of genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this work, we describe a method for predicting motifs that combines the correlation-based strategy with phylogenetic footprinting, where motifs are identified by evaluating orthologous sequence regions from multiple species. Our method, c-REDUCE, can account for variability at a motif position inferred from evolutionary information. c-REDUCE has been tested on ChIP-chip data for yeast transcription factors and on gene expression data in <it>Drosophila</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results indicate that utilizing sequence conservation information in addition to correlation-based methods improves the identification of known motifs.</p