Phase transition in hierarchy model of Bonabeau et al

The model of Bonabeau explains the emergence of social hierarchies from the memory of fights in an initially egalitarian society. Introducing a feedback from the social inequality into the probability to win a fight, we find a sharp transition between egalitarian society at low population density and hierarchical society at high population density.Comment: 3 pages including two figs.; for Int. J. Mod. Phys.

Critical Casimir Forces for Films with Bulk Ordering Fields

The confinement of long-ranged critical fluctuations in the vicinity of second-order phase transitions in fluids generates critical Casimir forces acting on confining surfaces or among particles immersed in a critical solvent. This is realized in binary liquid mixtures close to their consolute point $T_{c}$ which belong to the universality class of the Ising model. The deviation of the difference of the chemical potentials of the two species of the mixture from its value at criticality corresponds to the bulk magnetic filed of the Ising model. By using Monte Carlo simulations for this latter representative of the corresponding universality class we compute the critical Casimir force as a function of the bulk ordering field at the critical temperature $T=T_{c}$. We use a coupling parameter scheme for the computation of the underlying free energy differences and an energy-magnetization integration method for computing the bulk free energy density which is a necessary ingredient. By taking into account finite-size corrections, for various types of boundary conditions we determine the universal Casimir force scaling function as a function of the scaling variable associated with the bulk field. Our numerical data are compared with analytic results obtained from mean-field theory.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Performance of a model cascade thrust reverser for short-haul applications

Aerodynamic and acoustic characteristics are presented for a cowlmounted, model cascade thrust reverser suitable for short-haul aircraft. Thrust reverser efficiency and the influence on fan performance were determined from isolated fan-driven models under static and forward velocity conditions. Cascade reverser noise characteristics were determined statically in an isolated pipe-flow test, while aerodynamic installation effects were determined with a wind-tunnel, fan-powered airplane model. Application of test results to short-haul aircraft calculations demonstrated that such a cascade thrust reverser may be able to meet both the performance and noise requirements for short-haul aircraft operation. However, aircraft installation effects can be quite significant

Fluid adsorption near an apex: Covariance between complete and critical wetting

Critical wetting is an elusive phenomenon for solid-fluid interfaces. Using interfacial models we show that the diverging length scales, which characterize complete wetting at an apex, precisely mimic critical wetting with the apex angle behaving as the contact angle. Transfer matrix, renormalization group (RG) and mean field analysis (MF) shows this covariance is obeyed in 2D, 3D and for long and short ranged forces. This connection should be experimentally accesible and provides a means of checking theoretical predictions for critical wetting.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Two Parameters for Three Dimensional Wetting Transitions

Critical effects at complete and critical wetting in three dimensions are studied using a coupled effective Hamiltonian H[s(y),\ell]. The model is constructed via a novel variational principle which ensures that the choice of collective coordinate s(y) near the wall is optimal. We highlight the importance of a new wetting parameter \Omega(T) which has a strong influence on critical properties and allows the status of long-standing Monte-Carlo simulation controversies to be re-examined.Comment: 4 pages RevTex, 2 encapsulated postscript figures, to appear in Europhys. Let

Current-mediated synchronization of a pair of beating non-identical flagella

The basic phenomenology of experimentally observed synchronization (i.e., a stochastic phase locking) of identical, beating flagella of a biflagellate alga is known to be captured well by a minimal model describing the dynamics of coupled, limit-cycle, noisy oscillators (known as the noisy Kuramoto model). As demonstrated experimentally, the amplitudes of the noise terms therein, which stem from fluctuations of the rotary motors, depend on the flagella length. Here we address the conceptually important question which kind of synchrony occurs if the two flagella have different lengths such that the noises acting on each of them have different amplitudes. On the basis of a minimal model, too, we show that a different kind of synchrony emerges, and here it is mediated by a current carrying, steady-state; it manifests itself via correlated "drifts" of phases. We quantify such a synchronization mechanism in terms of appropriate order parameters $Q$ and $Q_{\cal S}$ - for an ensemble of trajectories and for a single realization of noises of duration ${\cal S}$, respectively. Via numerical simulations we show that both approaches become identical for long observation times ${\cal S}$. This reveals an ergodic behavior and implies that a single-realization order parameter $Q_{\cal S}$ is suitable for experimental analysis for which ensemble averaging is not always possible.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

Interfacial Structural Changes and Singularities in Non-Planar Geometries

We consider phase coexistence and criticality in a thin-film Ising magnet with opposing surface fields and non-planar (corrugated) walls. We show that the loss of translational invariance has a strong and unexpected non-linear influence on the interface structure and phase diagram. We identify 4 non-thermodynamic singularities where there is a qualitative change in the interface shape. In addition, we establish that at the finite-size critical point, the singularity in the interface shape is characterized by two distint critical exponents in contrast to the planar case (which is characterised by one). Similar effects should be observed for prewetting at a corrugated substrate. Analogy is made with the behaviour of a non-linear forced oscillator showing chaotic dynamics.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

INDUCTION OF TOLERANCE TO HETEROLOGOUS PROTEINS AND THEIR CATABOLISM IN C57BL/6 MICE

C57BL/6 mice were rendered tolerant to one or another of 13 soluble protein antigens. Tolerance was induced by a single injection of 20 mg protein within 24 hours after birth. The duration of the unresponsive state was measured and compared with the rates of catabolism of the antigens as determined in adult and new born mice. The data presented fail to show a correlation between the persistence of labeled protein antigen and the duration of tolerance. In several occasions, even an inverse relationship between duration of the unresponsive state and persistence was demonstrated. The results, therefore, strongly indicate that the duration of tolerance is not dependent on the rates of catabolism of the antigens. Several of the commercial protein preparations used in this study contained minor impurities to which the animals were generally not rendered tolerant. By means of diffusion in agar techniques, it was demonstrated that mice injected at birth with a tolerance-inducing dose of antigen would generally not reveal precipitating antibodies to this antigen after the tolerant state had been abolished. A speculative explanation was given in terms of quantitative or qualitative differences of antibodies found in such animals as compared to the immunized control mice. After the 3rd or 4th day of life, newborn mice catabolized I131-labeled heterologous proteins at the same rates as adult mice. The apparent slow elimination during the first days of life was, at least in part, the result of retention of nonprotein-bound I131