3,427 research outputs found
New Particles Working Group Report of the Snowmass 2013 Community Summer Study
This report summarizes the work of the Energy Frontier New Physics working
group of the 2013 Community Summer Study (Snowmass)
High order amplitude equation for steps on creep curve
We consider a model proposed by one of the authors for a type of plastic
instability found in creep experiments which reproduces a number of
experimentally observed features. The model consists of three coupled
non-linear differential equations describing the evolution of three types of
dislocations. The transition to the instability has been shown to be via Hopf
bifurcation leading to limit cycle solutions with respect to physically
relevant drive parameters. Here we use reductive perturbative method to extract
an amplitude equation of up to seventh order to obtain an approximate analytic
expression for the order parameter. The analysis also enables us to obtain the
bifurcation (phase) diagram of the instability. We find that while
supercritical bifurcation dominates the major part of the instability region,
subcritical bifurcation gradually takes over at one end of the region. These
results are compared with the known experimental results. Approximate analytic
expressions for the limit cycles for different types of bifurcations are shown
to agree with their corresponding numerical solutions of the equations
describing the model. The analysis also shows that high order nonlinearities
are important in the problem. This approach further allows us to map the
theoretical parameters to the experimentally observed macroscopic quantities.Comment: LaTex file and eps figures; Communicated to Phys. Rev.
Run 2 Upgrades to the CMS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger
The CMS Level-1 calorimeter trigger is being upgraded in two stages to
maintain performance as the LHC increases pile-up and instantaneous luminosity
in its second run. In the first stage, improved algorithms including
event-by-event pile-up corrections are used. New algorithms for heavy ion
running have also been developed. In the second stage, higher granularity
inputs and a time-multiplexed approach allow for improved position and energy
resolution. Data processing in both stages of the upgrade is performed with
new, Xilinx Virtex-7 based AMC cards.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure
Soil Erosion Management in Catchments: Identifying Best Bet Options with Farmers' Participation
Abstract: Sustaining upland agriculture and food security is very much constrained by continuing land degradation brought by soil erosion in the sloping lands of Asia. With the primary purpose of developing and promoting sustainable and socially acceptable communitybased land management systems through a participatory and interdisciplinary approach, the Management of Soil Erosion Consortium (MSEC) started a project in 1998 with funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and supervised by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI). Representative catchments were selected by using carefully defined criteria and methodological guidelines (IBSRAM, 1997). The baseline information were established through biophysical and socio-economic characterization of the sites. Up to five smaller subcatchments of various land uses were further delineated and instrumented soil erosion and hydrological studies. Monitoring of the socieoeconomic parameters was likewise undertaken. The best bet options were identified in consultation with the farmers. Observations showed the significant influence of land use and catchment size on soil erosion. Smaller and more intensively cultivated catchments yielded relatively higher soil loss Variants of the contour hedgerow farming in combination with soil fertility management, use of improved varieties and livestock integration were the primary interventions identified. Consultation with the farmers helped very much in the identification of the land management options that were introduced. While farmers are aware of soil erosion and its effects, their more active involvement increased their appreciation of looking at a longer time horizon. As they are aware of the declining productivity of their land, they were also interested in improving the fertility of their land. Because their immediate concern are the benefits in the short term, other sources of livelihood must also be explored
Relaxation oscillations and negative strain rate sensitivity in the Portevin - Le Chatelier effect
A characteristic feature of the Portevin - Le Chatelier effect or the jerky
flow is the stick-slip nature of stress-strain curves which is believed to
result from the negative strain rate dependence of the flow stress. The latter
is assumed to result from the competition of a few relevant time scales
controlling the dynamics of jerky flow. We address the issue of time scales and
its connection to the negative strain rate sensitivity of the flow stress
within the framework of a model for the jerky flow which is known to reproduce
several experimentally observed features including the negative strain rate
sensitivity of the flow stress. We attempt to understand the above issues by
analyzing the geometry of the slow manifold underlying the relaxational
oscillations in the model. We show that the nature of the relaxational
oscillations is a result of the atypical bent geometry of the slow manifold.
The analysis of the slow manifold structure helps us to understand the time
scales operating in different regions of the slow manifold. Using this
information we are able to establish connection with the strain rate
sensitivity of the flow stress. The analysis also helps us to provide a proper
dynamical interpretation for the negative branch of the strain rate
sensitivity.Comment: 7 figures, To appear in Phys. Rev.
Flood Impacts on Road Transportation Using Microscopic Traffic Modelling Techniques
This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via the DOI in this recordThis paper proposes a novel methodology for modelling the impacts of floods on traffic. Often, flooding is a complex combination of various causes (coastal, fluvial and pluvial). Further, transportation systems are very sensitive to external disturbances. The interactions between these two complex and dynamic systems have not been studied in detail so far. To address this issue, this paper proposes a methodology for a dynamic integration of a flood model (MIKE FLOOD) and a microscopic traffic simulation model (SUMO). The flood modelling results indicate which roads are inundated for a period of time. The traffic on these links will be halted or delayed according to the flood characteristics—extent, propagation and depth. As a consequence, some of the trips need to be cancelled; some need to be rerouted to unfavourable routes; and some are indirectly affected. A comparison between the baseline and a flood scenario yields the impacts of that flood on traffic, estimated in terms of lost business hours, additional fuel consumption and additional CO2 emissions. The proposed methodology will be further developed as a workable tool to evaluate the flooding impact on transportation network at city scale automatically.Research on the PEARL (Preparing for Extreme And Rare events in coastaL regions) project is funded by the European Commission through Framework Programme 7, Grant Number 603663
Triggering on electrons, jets and tau leptons with the CMS upgraded calorimeter trigger for the LHC RUN II
The Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment has implemented a sophisticated two-level online selection system that achieves a rejection factor of nearly 10e5. During Run II, the LHC will increase its centre-of-mass energy up to 13 TeV and progressively reach an instantaneous luminosity of 2e34cm-2s-1. In order to guarantee a successful and ambitious physics programme under this intense environment, the CMS Trigger and Data acquisition (DAQ) system has been upgraded. A novel concept for the L1 calorimeter trigger is introduced the Time Multiplexed Trigger (TMT). In this design, nine main receive each all of the calorimeter data from an entire event provided by 18 preprocessors. This design is not different from that of the CMS DAQ and HLT systems. The advantage of the TMT architecture is that a global view and full granularity of the calorimeters can be exploited by sophisticated algortihms. The goal is to maintain the current thresholds for calorimeter objects and improve the performance for their selection. The performance of these algorithms will be demonstrated, both in terms of efficiency and rate reduction. The callenging aspects of the pile-up mitigation and firmware design will be presented
The Unseen Population of F to K-type Companions to Hot Subdwarf Stars
We present a method to select hot subdwarf stars with A to M-type companions
using photometric selection criteria. We cover a wide range in wavelength by
combining GALEX ultraviolet data, optical photometry from the SDSS and the
Carlsberg Meridian telescope, near-infrared data from 2MASS and UKIDSS. We
construct two complimentary samples, one by matching GALEX, CMC and 2MASS, as
well as a smaller, but deeper, sample using GALEX, SDSS and UKIDSS. In both
cases, a large number of composite subdwarf plus main-sequence star candidates
were found. We fit their spectral energy distributions with a composite model
in order to estimate the subdwarf and companion star effective temperatures
along with the distance to each system. The distribution of subdwarf effective
temperature was found to primarily lie in the 20,000 - 30,000 K regime, but we
also find cooler subdwarf candidates, making up ~5-10 per cent. The most
prevalent companion spectral types were seen to be main-sequence stars between
F0 and K0, while subdwarfs with M-type companions appear much rarer. This is
clear observational confirmation that a very efficient first stable Roche-lobe
overflow channel appears to produce a large number of subdwarfs with F to
K-type companions. Our samples thus support the importance of binary evolution
for subdwarf formation.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figures, 11 tables. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Recurrent governance challenges in the implementation and alignment of flood risk management strategies: a review
In Europe increasing flood risks challenge societies to diversify their Flood Risk Management Strategies (FRMSs). Such a diversification implies that actors not only focus on flood defence, but also and simultaneously on flood risk prevention, mitigation, preparation and recovery. There is much literature on the implementation of specific strategies and measures as well as on flood risk governance more generally. What is lacking, though, is a clear overview of the complex set of governance challenges which may result from a diversification and alignment of FRM strategies. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap. It elaborates on potential processes and mechanisms for coordinating the activities and capacities of actors that are involved on different levels and in different sectors of flood risk governance, both concerning the implementation of individual strategies and the coordination of the overall set of strategies. It identifies eight overall coordination mechanisms that have proven to be useful in this respect
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