Development and analysis of some versions of the fractional-order point reactor kinetics model for a nuclear reactor with slab geometry

In this paper, we report the development and analysis of some novel versions and approximations of the fractional-order (FO) point reactor kinetics model for a nuclear reactor with slab geometry. A systematic development of the FO Inhour equation, Inverse FO point reactor kinetics model, and fractional-order versions of the constant delayed neutron rate approximation model and prompt jump approximation model is presented for the first time (for both one delayed group and six delayed groups). These models evolve from the FO point reactor kinetics model, which has been derived from the FO Neutron Telegraph Equation for the neutron transport considering the subdiffusive neutron transport. Various observations and the analysis results are reported and the corresponding justifications are addressed using the subdiffusive framework for the neutron transport. The FO Inhour equation is found out to be a pseudo-polynomial with its degree depending on the order of the fractional derivative in the FO model. The inverse FO point reactor kinetics model is derived and used to find the reactivity variation required to achieve exponential and sinusoidal power variation in the core. The situation of sudden insertion of negative reactivity is analyzed using the FO constant delayed neutron rate approximation. Use of FO model for representing the prompt jump in reactor power is advocated on the basis of subdiffusion. Comparison with the respective integer-order models is carried out for the practical data. Also, it has been shown analytically that integer-order models are a special case of FO models when the order of time-derivative is one. Development of these FO models plays a crucial role in reactor theory and operation as it is the first step towards achieving the FO control-oriented model for a nuclear reactor. The results presented here form an important step in the efforts to establish a step-by-step and systematic theory for the FO modeling of a nuclear reactor.     

Melnikov's criteria, parametric control of chaos, and stationary chaos occurrence in systems with asymmetric potential subjected to multiscale type excitation

We consider the problems of chaos and parametric control in nonlinear systems under an asymmetric potential subjected to a multiscale type excitation. The lower bound line for horseshoes chaos is analyzed using the Melnikov's criterion for a transition to permanent or transient nonperiodic motions, complement by the fractal or regular shape of the basin of attraction. Numerical simulations based on the basins of attraction, bifurcation diagrams, Poincare? sections, Lyapunov exponents, and phase portraits are used to show how stationary dissipative chaos occurs in the system. Our attention is focussed on the effects of the asymmetric potential term and the driven frequency. It is shown that the threshold amplitude ∣γ(c)∣ of the excitation decreases for small values of the driven frequency ω and increases for large values of ω. This threshold value decreases with the asymmetric parameter α and becomes constant for sufficiently large values of α. γ(c) has its maximum value for asymmetric load in comparison with the symmetric load. Finally, we apply the Melnikov theorem to the controlled system to explore the gain control parameter dependencies.     

A Robin-type non-overlapping domain decomposition procedure for second order elliptic problems

This article deals with the analysis of an iterative non-overlapping domain decomposition (DD) method for elliptic problems, using Robin-type boundary condition on the inter-subdomain boundaries, which can be solved in parallel with local communications. The proposed iterative method allows us to relax the continuity condition for Lagrange multipliers on the inter-subdomain boundaries. In order to derive the corresponding discrete problem, we apply a non-conforming Galerkin method using lowest order Crouzeix–Raviart elements. The convergence of the iterative scheme is obtained by proving that the spectral radius of the matrix associated with the fixed point iterations is less than 1. Parallel computations have been carried out and the numerical experiments confirm the theoretical results established in this paper.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">hp</Emphasis>-Discontinuous Galerkin methods for strongly nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems

In this paper, we have analyzed a one parameter family of hp-discontinuous Galerkin methods for strongly nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems with Dirichlet boundary conditions. These methods depend on the values of the parameter , where θ = + 1 corresponds to the nonsymmetric and θ = −1 corresponds to the symmetric interior penalty methods when and f(u,∇u) = −f, that is, for the Poisson problem. The error estimate in the broken H ¹ norm, which is optimal in h (mesh size) and suboptimal in p (degree of approximation) is derived using piecewise polynomials of degree p ≥ 2, when the solution . In the case of linear elliptic problems also, this estimate is optimal in h and suboptimal in p. Further, optimal error estimate in the L ² norm when θ = −1 is derived. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the theoretical results. Supported by DST-DAAD (PPP-05) project.     

An -local discontinuous Galerkin method for some quasilinear elliptic boundary value problems of nonmonotone type

In this paper, an -local discontinuous Galerkin method is applied to a class of quasilinear elliptic boundary value problems which are of nonmonotone type. On -quasiuniform meshes, using the Brouwer fixed point theorem, it is shown that the discrete problem has a solution, and then using Lipschitz continuity of the discrete solution map, uniqueness is also proved. A priori error estimates in broken norm and norm which are optimal in , suboptimal in are derived. These results are exactly the same as in the case of linear elliptic boundary value problems. Numerical experiments are provided to illustrate the theoretical results.

     

Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of essential oil of Heracleum rigens

The essential oil was extracted from the seeds of Heracleum rigens by hydrodistillation and a total of twenty compounds accounting for 98.5% of the total oil composition were identified. Physicochemical properties and chemical composition of the oil was determined by a combination GC/FID and GC/MS analysis. The major compounds identified were bornyl acetate (51.2%), alpha-pinene (22.6%), limonene (9.62%), octyl acetate (3.94%), rho-cymene (2.85%) and gamma-terpinene (1.93%). The antimicrobial activity of the oil was screened by the disc diffusion method against nine pathogenic bacterial strains. Maximum antimicrobial activity was noted against Klebsiella pneumonia and Bacillus subtillis. This investigation corroborates the traditional claim of H. rigens as an effective antimicrobial agent.     

An efficient algorithm for range computation of polynomials using the Bernstein form

We present a novel optimization algorithm for computing the ranges of multivariate polynomials using the Bernstein polynomial approach. The proposed algorithm incorporates four accelerating devices, namely the cut-off test, the simplified vertex test, the monotonicity test, and the concavity test, and also possess many new features, such as, the generalized matrix method for Bernstein coefficient computation, a new subdivision direction selection rule and a new subdivision point selection rule. The features and capabilities of the proposed algorithm are compared with those of other optimization techniques: interval global optimization, the filled function method, a global optimization method for imprecise problems, and a hybrid approach combining simulated annealing, tabu search and a descent method. The superiority of the proposed method over the latter methods is illustrated by numerical experiments and qualitative comparisons.     

Conduction Studies on Bismuth Selenide Thin Films

Thin films of Bi₂Se₃ have been prepared by vacuum deposition technique onto well cleaned glass and freshly cleaved KBr substrates. The film thicknesses are measured by Tolansky technique. The capacitance and dielectric constant have been measured from 303 K to 383 K in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 10 MHz. The a.c. conductivity s is calculated at different frequencies for various temperatures. The relation s μ wn fits well and the value of n is found to be greater than 1.5 and above at high frequencies suggests that the conduction mechanism in Bi₂Se₃ thin film is hopping. The d.c. conduction studies revealed the non-ohmic type of conduction( Log I versus Log V plot). From the Log I versus F1/2 plot, the field lowering coefficient b is evaluated.