123 research outputs found
Screening of charged singularities of random fields
Many types of point singularity have a topological index, or 'charge',
associated with them. For example the phase of a complex field depending on two
variables can either increase or decrease on making a clockwise circuit around
a simple zero, enabling the zeros to be assigned charges of plus or minus one.
In random fields we can define a correlation function for the charge-weighted
density of singularities. In many types of random fields, this correlation
function satisfies an identity which shows that the singularities 'screen' each
other perfectly: a positive singularity is surrounded by an excess of
concentration of negatives which exactly cancel its charge, and vice-versa.
This paper gives a simple and widely applicable derivation of this result. A
counterexample where screening is incomplete is also exhibited.Comment: 12 pages, no figures. Minor revision of manuscript submitted to J.
Phys. A, August 200
Integrated environmental risk assessment of major accidents in the transport of hazardous substances
At present, the environmental risk assessment of major accidents is mainly carried out for stationary risk sources. Only marginal attention is paid to mobile risk sources, while the currently available methodologies require a relevant expertise and time for their application, which is only partially possible in most scenarios. In the present study, an integrated approach to environmental risk assessment in the transport of hazardous substances (iTRANSRISK) was developed. The approach proposed is based on the principle of index-based assessment of leakage scenarios involving toxic and flammable substances during transport, in the context of indexing environmental vulnerability. The key point of the method is the conversion of local-specific data concerning the risk potential of the transported substance, the consequences and the probability of a major accident, and environmental vulnerability assessment into a single entity. The created integral approach is proposed for the needs of carriers of the hazardous substances and the state administration bodies. The proposed approach is determined for the screening risk assessment at the beginning of the process of the planning a suitable transport routes and the results are for information only. An example of the application of the iTRANSRISK integrated approach is demonstrated considering an explosion scenario following a propane tanker leak (18 t) in a forested area, with moderately susceptible soils and no surface water or groundwater affected
Random wave functions and percolation
Recently it was conjectured that nodal domains of random wave functions are
adequately described by critical percolation theory. In this paper we
strengthen this conjecture in two respects. First, we show that, though wave
function correlations decay slowly, a careful use of Harris' criterion confirms
that these correlations are unessential and nodal domains of random wave
functions belong to the same universality class as non critical percolation.
Second, we argue that level domains of random wave functions are described by
the non-critical percolation model.Comment: 13 page
The Statistics of the Points Where Nodal Lines Intersect a Reference Curve
We study the intersection points of a fixed planar curve with the
nodal set of a translationally invariant and isotropic Gaussian random field
\Psi(\bi{r}) and the zeros of its normal derivative across the curve. The
intersection points form a discrete random process which is the object of this
study. The field probability distribution function is completely specified by
the correlation G(|\bi{r}-\bi{r}'|) = .
Given an arbitrary G(|\bi{r}-\bi{r}'|), we compute the two point
correlation function of the point process on the line, and derive other
statistical measures (repulsion, rigidity) which characterize the short and
long range correlations of the intersection points. We use these statistical
measures to quantitatively characterize the complex patterns displayed by
various kinds of nodal networks. We apply these statistics in particular to
nodal patterns of random waves and of eigenfunctions of chaotic billiards. Of
special interest is the observation that for monochromatic random waves, the
number variance of the intersections with long straight segments grows like , as opposed to the linear growth predicted by the percolation model,
which was successfully used to predict other long range nodal properties of
that field.Comment: 33 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl
Signed zeros of Gaussian vector fields-density, correlation functions and curvature
We calculate correlation functions of the (signed) density of zeros of
Gaussian distributed vector fields. We are able to express correlation
functions of arbitrary order through the curvature tensor of a certain abstract
Riemann-Cartan or Riemannian manifold. As an application, we discuss one- and
two-point functions. The zeros of a two-dimensional Gaussian vector field model
the distribution of topological defects in the high-temperature phase of
two-dimensional systems with orientational degrees of freedom, such as
superfluid films, thin superconductors and liquid crystals.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figure, uses iopart.cls, improved presentation, to appear
in J. Phys.
The distribution of extremal points of Gaussian scalar fields
We consider the signed density of the extremal points of (two-dimensional)
scalar fields with a Gaussian distribution. We assign a positive unit charge to
the maxima and minima of the function and a negative one to its saddles. At
first, we compute the average density for a field in half-space with Dirichlet
boundary conditions. Then we calculate the charge-charge correlation function
(without boundary). We apply the general results to random waves and random
surfaces. Furthermore, we find a generating functional for the two-point
function. Its Legendre transform is the integral over the scalar curvature of a
4-dimensional Riemannian manifold.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures, corrected published versio
Geometric characterization of nodal domains: the area-to-perimeter ratio
In an attempt to characterize the distribution of forms and shapes of nodal
domains in wave functions, we define a geometric parameter - the ratio
between the area of a domain and its perimeter, measured in units of the
wavelength . We show that the distribution function can
distinguish between domains in which the classical dynamics is regular or
chaotic. For separable surfaces, we compute the limiting distribution, and show
that it is supported by an interval, which is independent of the properties of
the surface. In systems which are chaotic, or in random-waves, the
area-to-perimeter distribution has substantially different features which we
study numerically. We compare the features of the distribution for chaotic wave
functions with the predictions of the percolation model to find agreement, but
only for nodal domains which are big with respect to the wavelength scale. This
work is also closely related to, and provides a new point of view on
isoperimetric inequalities.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure
Chaos and stability in a two-parameter family of convex billiard tables
We study, by numerical simulations and semi-rigorous arguments, a
two-parameter family of convex, two-dimensional billiard tables, generalizing
the one-parameter class of oval billiards of Benettin--Strelcyn [Phys. Rev. A
17, 773 (1978)]. We observe interesting dynamical phenomena when the billiard
tables are continuously deformed from the integrable circular billiard to
different versions of completely-chaotic stadia. In particular, we conjecture
that a new class of ergodic billiard tables is obtained in certain regions of
the two-dimensional parameter space, when the billiards are close to skewed
stadia. We provide heuristic arguments supporting this conjecture, and give
numerical confirmation using the powerful method of Lyapunov-weighted dynamics.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures. Submitted for publication. Supplementary video
available at http://sistemas.fciencias.unam.mx/~dsanders
Nodal domains on quantum graphs
We consider the real eigenfunctions of the Schr\"odinger operator on graphs,
and count their nodal domains. The number of nodal domains fluctuates within an
interval whose size equals the number of bonds . For well connected graphs,
with incommensurate bond lengths, the distribution of the number of nodal
domains in the interval mentioned above approaches a Gaussian distribution in
the limit when the number of vertices is large. The approach to this limit is
not simple, and we discuss it in detail. At the same time we define a random
wave model for graphs, and compare the predictions of this model with analytic
and numerical computations.Comment: 19 pages, uses IOP journal style file
On the Nodal Count Statistics for Separable Systems in any Dimension
We consider the statistics of the number of nodal domains aka nodal counts
for eigenfunctions of separable wave equations in arbitrary dimension. We give
an explicit expression for the limiting distribution of normalised nodal counts
and analyse some of its universal properties. Our results are illustrated by
detailed discussion of simple examples and numerical nodal count distributions.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
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