2,234 research outputs found
Transport composite fuselage technology: Impact dynamics and acoustic transmission
A program was performed to develop and demonstrate the impact dynamics and acoustic transmission technology for a composite fuselage which meets the design requirements of a 1990 large transport aircraft without substantial weight and cost penalties. The program developed the analytical methodology for the prediction of acoustic transmission behavior of advanced composite stiffened shell structures. The methodology predicted that the interior noise level in a composite fuselage due to turbulent boundary layer will be less than in a comparable aluminum fuselage. The verification of these analyses will be performed by NASA Langley Research Center using a composite fuselage shell fabricated by filament winding. The program also developed analytical methodology for the prediction of the impact dynamics behavior of lower fuselage structure constructed with composite materials. Development tests were performed to demonstrate that the composite structure designed to the same operating load requirement can have at least the same energy absorption capability as aluminum structure
Solution of the Fokker-Planck equation with a logarithmic potential and mixed eigenvalue spectrum
Motivated by a problem in climate dynamics, we investigate the solution of a
Bessel-like process with negative constant drift, described by a Fokker-Planck
equation with a potential V(x) = - [b \ln(x) + a\, x], for b>0 and a<0. The
problem belongs to a family of Fokker-Planck equations with logarithmic
potentials closely related to the Bessel process, that has been extensively
studied for its applications in physics, biology and finance. The Bessel-like
process we consider can be solved by seeking solutions through an expansion
into a complete set of eigenfunctions. The associated imaginary-time
Schroedinger equation exhibits a mix of discrete and continuous eigenvalue
spectra, corresponding to the quantum Coulomb potential describing the bound
states of the hydrogen atom. We present a technique to evaluate the
normalization factor of the continuous spectrum of eigenfunctions that relies
solely upon their asymptotic behavior. We demonstrate the technique by solving
the Brownian motion problem and the Bessel process both with a negative
constant drift. We conclude with a comparison with other analytical methods and
with numerical solutions.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Forces on Bins - The Effect of Random Friction
In this note we re-examine the classic Janssen theory for stresses in bins,
including a randomness in the friction coefficient. The Janssen analysis relies
on assumptions not met in practice; for this reason, we numerically solve the
PDEs expressing balance of momentum in a bin, again including randomness in
friction.Comment: 11 pages, LaTeX, with 9 figures encoded, gzippe
Levy-Student Distributions for Halos in Accelerator Beams
We describe the transverse beam distribution in particle accelerators within
the controlled, stochastic dynamical scheme of the Stochastic Mechanics (SM)
which produces time reversal invariant diffusion processes. This leads to a
linearized theory summarized in a Shchr\"odinger--like (\Sl) equation. The
space charge effects have been introduced in a recent paper~\cite{prstab} by
coupling this \Sl equation with the Maxwell equations. We analyze the space
charge effects to understand how the dynamics produces the actual beam
distributions, and in particular we show how the stationary, self--consistent
solutions are related to the (external, and space--charge) potentials both when
we suppose that the external field is harmonic (\emph{constant focusing}), and
when we \emph{a priori} prescribe the shape of the stationary solution. We then
proceed to discuss a few new ideas~\cite{epac04} by introducing the generalized
Student distributions, namely non--Gaussian, L\'evy \emph{infinitely divisible}
(but not \emph{stable}) distributions. We will discuss this idea from two
different standpoints: (a) first by supposing that the stationary distribution
of our (Wiener powered) SM model is a Student distribution; (b) by supposing
that our model is based on a (non--Gaussian) L\'evy process whose increments
are Student distributed. We show that in the case (a) the longer tails of the
power decay of the Student laws, and in the case (b) the discontinuities of the
L\'evy--Student process can well account for the rare escape of particles from
the beam core, and hence for the formation of a halo in intense beams.Comment: revtex4, 18 pages, 12 figure
Boundary driven zero-range processes in random media
The stationary states of boundary driven zero-range processes in random media
with quenched disorder are examined, and the motion of a tagged particle is
analyzed. For symmetric transition rates, also known as the random barrier
model, the stationary state is found to be trivial in absence of boundary
drive. Out of equilibrium, two further cases are distinguished according to the
tail of the disorder distribution. For strong disorder, the fugacity profiles
are found to be governed by the paths of normalized -stable
subordinators. The expectations of integrated functions of the tagged particle
position are calculated for three types of routes.Comment: 23 page
Dobinski-type relations and the Log-normal distribution
We consider sequences of generalized Bell numbers B(n), n=0,1,... for which
there exist Dobinski-type summation formulas; that is, where B(n) is
represented as an infinite sum over k of terms P(k)^n/D(k). These include the
standard Bell numbers and their generalizations appearing in the normal
ordering of powers of boson monomials, as well as variants of the "ordered"
Bell numbers. For any such B we demonstrate that every positive integral power
of B(m(n)), where m(n) is a quadratic function of n with positive integral
coefficients, is the n-th moment of a positive function on the positive real
axis, given by a weighted infinite sum of log-normal distributions.Comment: 7 pages, 2 Figure
Stochastic Gravity
Gravity is treated as a stochastic phenomenon based on fluctuations of the
metric tensor of general relativity. By using a (3+1) slicing of spacetime, a
Langevin equation for the dynamical conjugate momentum and a Fokker-Planck
equation for its probability distribution are derived. The Raychaudhuri
equation for a congruence of timelike or null geodesics leads to a stochastic
differential equation for the expansion parameter in terms of the
proper time . For sufficiently strong metric fluctuations, it is shown that
caustic singularities in spacetime can be avoided for converging geodesics. The
formalism is applied to the gravitational collapse of a star and the
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmological model. It is found that owing to the
stochastic behavior of the geometry, the singularity in gravitational collapse
and the big-bang have a zero probability of occurring. Moreover, as a star
collapses the probability of a distant observer seeing an infinite red shift at
the Schwarzschild radius of the star is zero. Therefore, there is a vanishing
probability of a Schwarzschild black hole event horizon forming during
gravitational collapse.Comment: Revised version. Eq. (108) has been modified. Additional comments
have been added to text. Revtex 39 page
Can rates of ocean primary production and biological carbon export be related through their probability distributions?
© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 32 (2018): 954-970, doi:10.1029/2017GB005797.We describe the basis of a theory for interpreting measurements of two key biogeochemical fluxesâprimary production by phytoplankton (p, ÎŒg C · Lâ1 · dayâ1) and biological carbon export from the surface ocean by sinking particles (f, mg C · mâ2 · dayâ1)âin terms of their probability distributions. Given that p and f are mechanistically linked but variable and effectively measured on different scales, we hypothesize that a quantitative relationship emerges between collections of the two measurements. Motivated by the many subprocesses driving production and export, we take as a null model that largeâscale distributions of p and f are lognormal. We then show that compilations of p and f measurements are consistent with this hypothesis. The compilation of p measurements is extensive enough to subregion by biome, basin, depth, or season; these subsets are also well described by lognormals, whose logâmoments sort predictably. Informed by the lognormality of both p and f we infer a statistical scaling relationship between the two quantities and derive a linear relationship between the logâmoments of their distributions. We find agreement between two independent estimates of the slope and intercept of this line and show that the distribution of f measurements is consistent with predictions made from the moments of the p distribution. These results illustrate the utility of a distributional approach to biogeochemical fluxes. We close by describing potential uses and challenges for the further development of such an approach.National Science Foundation Grant Number: OCE-1315201;
Simons Foundation Grant Numbers: 329108, 553242;
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant Numbers: NNX16AR47G, NNX16AR49
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