Dielectrophoretic adhesion of 50–300 μm particles under ambient atmospheric conditions

The SPABRINK EU project required temporary adhesion of coloured solid “ink” particles to form an image. We use dielectrophoretic force to attach ink particles under the field from a voltage applied to an interdigitated electrode on the image carrying surface.Finite element modeling results were compared in terms of an “adhesion factor” that included the density of particles as well as dielectric constant. In our experiments 50–300 μm alumina, silica sand and polymer particles were shown to adhere to a vertical plane electrode structure under laboratory ambient atmosphere.     

INVESTIGATION OF NON-LINFAR SCHRODINGER EQUATION SOLITON SOLUTION

Packet-like soliton solution of the non-linear Schrödinger's equation has been in-vestigated.We found that a state of a free particle can possibly be described by thissoliton solution,with the quantum property and the classical property of a particleas its limiting cases.A set of biorthogonal eigen-functions of non-hermitian opera-tor,which can be used in the pertubation expansion,has been found.We discoveredthat the discrete eigenvalue mode corresponds to the“classical”motion of a particle,and the continuous eigenvalue modes correspond to the“quantum”motion.Wesuggested that the parameter u describing the state of a system can be used to identifywhether the system is“quantum”or“classical”.     

The effects of size,shape, and surface composition on the diffusive behaviors of nanoparticles at/across water–oil interfaces via molecular dynamics simulations

We have employed molecular dynamics simulations to systematically investigate the effects of nanoparticles’ structural and chemical properties on their diffusive behaviors at/across the water–benzene interface. Four different nanoparticles were studied: modified hydrocarbon nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 1.2 nm (1.2HCPs), modified hydrocarbon nanoparticles with a mean diameter of 0.6 nm (0.6HCPs), single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and buckyballs. We found that the diffusion coefficients of 0.6 and 1.2HCP were larger than the corresponding values predicted using the Stokes–Einstein (SE) equation and attributed this deviation to the small particle size and the anisotropy of the interface system. In addition, the observed directional diffusive behaviors for various particles were well-correlated with the derivative of the potential of mean force (PMF), which might indicate an effective driving force for the particles along the direction perpendicular to the interface. We also found that nanoparticles with isotropic shape and uniform surface, e.g., buckyballs, tend to have smaller diffusion coefficients than those of nanoparticles with comparable dimensions but anisotropic shapes and non-uniform surface composition, e.g., SWCNT and 0.6HCP. One possible hypothesis for this behavior is that the “perfect” isotropic shape and uniform surface of buckyballs result in a better-defined “solvation shell” (i.e., a shell of solution molecules), which leads to a larger “effective radius” of the particle, and thus, a reduced diffusion coefficient.     

Geodesics of Random Riemannian Metrics

We analyze the disordered Riemannian geometry resulting from random perturbations of the Euclidean metric. We focus on geodesics, the paths traced out by a particle traveling in this quenched random environment. By taking the point of the view of the particle, we show that the law of its observed environment is absolutely continuous with respect to the law of the random metric, and we provide an explicit form for its Radon–Nikodym derivative. We use this result to prove a “local Markov property” along an unbounded geodesic, demonstrating that it eventually encounters any type of geometric phenomenon. We also develop in this paper some general results on conditional Gaussian measures. Our Main Theorem states that a geodesic chosen with random initial conditions (chosen independently of the metric) is almost surely not minimizing. To demonstrate this, we show that a minimizing geodesic is guaranteed to eventually pass over a certain “bump surface,” which locally has constant positive curvature. By using Jacobi fields, we show that this is sufficient to destabilize the minimizing property.     

Ultrasound-assisted fabrication of acoustically active,erythrocyte membrane “bubbles”

In this communication, we report an ultrasound-assisted method, utilising human red blood cell (RBC) or erythrocyte membranes, to produce acoustically active “bubbles”, intended for vasculature imaging. The resulting RBC membrane bubbles have an average size of 1.5 μm with a generally spherical morphology, altered internal aqueous compartment contents, and small gas-containing protrusions or “pockets” in between the membrane bilayer. We also found that this method produced some nanobubbles (200–400 nm diameter), due to the shedding of lipid components from the RBC membranes to compensate for the membrane structural changes. In vitro ultrasound imaging showed that RBC membrane bubbles had comparable ultrasound contrast enhancement as the standard DEFINTY^TM microbubble preparation (~13% v/v) and lower concentrations of this standard contrast agent. This current technology demonstrate a new and important application of ultrasound and of RBC membranes, having inherent biocompatibility, as potential material for the development of new types of ultrasound imaging agents, without the use of additional lipid components and pre-made microbubbles.     

Vibration analyses of an inclined flat plate subjected to moving loads

The object of this paper is to present a moving mass element so that one may easily perform the dynamic analysis of an inclined plate subjected to moving loads with the effects of inertia force, Coriolis force and centrifugal force considered. To this end, the mass, damping and stiffness matrices of the moving mass element, with respect to the local coordinate system, are derived first by using the principle of superposition and the definition of shape functions. Next, the last property matrices of the moving mass element are transformed into the global coordinate system and combined with the property matrices of the inclined plate itself to determine the effective overall property matrices and the instantaneous equations of motion of the entire vibrating system. Because the property matrices of the moving mass element have something to do with the instantaneous position of the moving load, both the property matrices of the moving mass element and the effective overall ones of the entire vibrating system are time-dependent. At any instant of time, solving the instantaneous equations of motion yields the instantaneous dynamic responses of the inclined plate. For validation, the presented technique is used to determine the dynamic responses of a horizontal pinned–pinned plate subjected to a moving load and a satisfactory agreement with the existing literature is achieved. Furthermore, extensive studies on the inclined plate subjected to moving loads reveal that the influences of moving-load speed, inclined angle of the plate and total number of the moving loads on the dynamic responses of the inclined plate are significant in most cases, and the effects of Coriolis force and centrifugal force are perceptible only in the case of higher moving-load speed.     

Supersymmetry and functional integration measures

We complete the proof of a recently proposed new characterization of scalar supersymmetric theories and extend this result to “non-scalar” models such as supersymmetric gauge theories. The new characterization does not make use of anticommuting variables since supersymmetry can now be directly understood as a property of certain purely bosonic functional integration measures where all fermionic variables have been “integrated out”.     

Viscosity of a dusty plasma liquid

We present the results of our experimental study of the flow of a dusty plasma liquid produced by macroparticles in an argon plasma. The dependences of shear viscosity for such a liquid on the magnitude of the external force inducing the dusty plasma liquid flow and on the plasma-generating gas pressure are analyzed. We have established that the viscosity of a dusty plasma medium decreases with increasing shear stress in it, while the viscosity of such a liquid increases with buffer gas pressure. The flow of a dusty plasma liquid under the action of an external force has been found to resemble the plastic deformation of a Bingham body. We suggest that the formation of crystal-like dusty plasma clusters in a “liquid” phase can be responsible for the non-Newtonian behavior of the dusty plasma liquid flow.     

Some “No Hole” Spacetime Properties are Unstable

We show a sense in which the spacetime property of effective completeness—a type of “local hole-freeness” or “local inextendibility”—is not stable.     

Phase segregation in driven diffusive systems

Driven diffusive models describe an array of atoms in an external periodic potential, when the motion is damped due to energy exchange with the substrate. The systems of this class have wide application in modeling of charge and mass transport in solids. Recently, the driven diffusive models have been used in tribology, where the driving force emerges due to motion of one of two substrates, which are separated by a thin atomic layer. When a dc force is applied to the atoms, the system exhibits the locked-to-sliding transition. During the transition the system may split in domains of two kinds, the running domains where the atoms move with almost maximum velocity, and the immobile domains (“traffic jams”). We discuss a new model for a 1D chain, where the particles have a complex structure treated in a mean-field fashion: particle collisions are inelastic and also each particle is considered as having its own thermostat. This model exhibits a hysteresis and the “traffic jams” state even at high temperatures due to the clustering of atoms with the same velocity.     

Fredholm–Lagrangian–Grassmannian and the Maslov index

This is a review article on the topology of the space, so called, Fredholm–Lagrangian–Grassmannian and the quantity “Maslov index” for paths in this space based on the standard theory of functional analysis. Our standing point is to define the Maslov index for arbitrary paths in terms of the fundamental spectral property of the Fredholm operators as an intersection number with the “Maslov cycle”. This argument was first recognized by J. Phillips and was used to define the “Spectral flow” not only for loops but also for arbitrary paths of selfadjoint Fredholm operators. We make the arguments as elementary as possible.     

Wave propagation according to higher order field equations I

A detailed study is made of wave propagation according to a sixth-order partial differential equation with complex masses proposed by Swieca and Marques, which presents a kind of generalized Klein-Gordon equation. The choice of definite Green's functions in the corresponding Yang-Feldman integral equation corresponds to a certain choice of boundary conditions for the allowed solutions of the corresponding partial differential equation. The advanced and retarded Green's functions used possess the anomalous feature of having non-zero values in the neighbourhoods of those, past or future parts of the light cone, for which traditional advanced and retarded Green's functions are zero. However, it is shown that a suitable averaging procedure provides the possibility of defining sets of functions, such that solutions of the Yang-Feldman equations belonging to this set possess the property that the future behaviour of the solution is determined by its asymptotic initial conditions. Certain features of the wave propagation, according to the equations considered, can be usefully compared with the properties of the solutions of the ordinary differential equation - and corresponding integral equation - which represents the equation of motion of a charged particle including the force for radiation reaction. The particle then has a certain “size”. Analogously the “non-local field equations” have solutions characterized by a certain “fundamental length” indicating the space-time distances for which averaging occurs. The admitted solutions of the field equations seem to represent a relativistic field with a “finite a number of degrees of freedom” within a finite volume.     

Four-transient phenomenon in dielectrophoretic effects on liquid stability

The phenomenon of “four transients” has been observed during the investigations of dielectrophoretic transient effects on the stability of weakly conducting liquids (n-heptane 95%). A “fast” transient is followed by a “slower” transient each on the application of an electric field to a heater surface and its subsequent switching off to zero. The results have been explained from the calculation of the relative magnitudes of the dielectrophoretic and electrophoretic terms in the body force equation.     

Null-Result Detection and Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Correlations

It follows from Bell’s theorem and quantum mechanics that the detection of a particle of an entangled pair can (somehow) “force” the other distant particle of the pair into a well-defined state (which is equivalent to a reduction of the state vector): no property previously shared by the particles can explain the predicted quantum correlations. This result has been corroborated by experiment, although some loopholes still remain. However, it has not been experimentally proved—and it is far from obvious—that the absence of detection, as in null-result (NR) experiments could have the very same effect. In this paper a way to try to bridge this gap is suggested.     

Statistical Physics Of Opinion Formation: Is it a SPOOF?

We present a short review based on the nonlinear q-voter model about problems and methods raised within statistical physics of opinion formation (SPOOF). We describe relations between models of opinion formation, developed by physicists, and theoretical models of social response, known in social psychology. We draw attention to issues that are interesting for social psychologists and physicists. We show examples of studies directly inspired by social psychology like: “independence vs. anticonformity” or “personality vs. situation”. We summarize the results that have been already obtained and point out what else can be done, also with respect to other models in SPOOF. Finally, we demonstrate several analytical methods useful in SPOOF, such as the concept of effective force and potential, Landau's approach to phase transitions, or mean-field and pair approximations.     

Spin waves in Heisenberg-ferromagnets above the critical point

A formulation of stripping reactions into the continuum is given taking the(d, p)-reaction as a specific example. We use the DWBA and the assumption that contributions from the nuclear interior are negligible. Under these assumptions we show that the cross section can be split into a “distortion matrix element” and a term depending on the neutron target interaction only through the phase shifts of the corresponding elastic neutron scattering. The interference with the “pure break-up” process is discussed. The connection between stripping to bound and unbound states in the limit of zero binding energy is established. A comparison with recent experimental results is given, where the “distortion matrix elements” are calculated, for the sake of simplicity, in the “Butler approximation”.     

Ground state energy of two dimensional electrons in strong magnetic fields: Small clusters in fractional occupations

We diagonalize numerically the Hamiltonian for a two-dimensional system of up to seven interacting via Coulomb force electrons in a strong magnetic field using the symmetric gauge. The effect of positive charge background is taken into account. We find significant downward cusps for certain values of the total angular momentum corresponding to fractional occupation of the lowest Landau level in agreement with results obtained by using Landau gauge. This commensurate energy for fractional occupation is interpreted in terms of the “closest configuration” in the space of single particle angular momentum.     

Numerical simulation of ultrafast expansion as the driving mechanism for confined laser ablation with ultra-short laser pulses

Recently, a so-called “directly induced” laser ablation effect has been reported, where an ultra-short laser pulse (660 fs and 1053 nm) irradiates a thin Mo film through a glass substrate, resulting in a “lift-off” of the irradiated layer in form of a thin, solid, cylindrical fragment. This effect provides a new and very energy-efficient selective structuring process for the Mo back electrode in thin-film solar cell production. To understand the underlying physical mechanisms, a 3D axisymmetric finite element model was created and numerically solved. The model is verified by a direct comparison of experimental and numerical results. It includes volume absorption of the laser pulse, heat diffusion in the electron gas and the lattice, thermal expansion of the solid phase and further volume expansion from phase transition to fluid and gas, and finally the mechanical motion of the layer caused by the resulting stress wave and the interaction with the substrate. The simulation revealed that irradiation of the molybdenum layer with an ultra-short pulse causes a rapid acceleration in the direction of the surface normal within a time frame of a hundred picoseconds to a peak velocity of about 100 m/s. The molybdenum layer continues to move as an oscillating membrane, and finally forms a dome after about 100 ns. The calculated strain at the edges of the dome exceeds the tensile stress limit at fluences that initiate the “lift-off” in experimental investigations. In addition, the simulation reveals that the driving mechanism of the “lift-off” is the ultrafast expansion of the interface layer and not the generated gas pressure.