Turbulent Drag Reduction by a Near Wall Surface Tension Active Interface

In this work we study the turbulence modulation in a viscosity-stratified two-phase flow using Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) of turbulence and the Phase Field Method (PFM) to simulate the interfacial phenomena. Specifically we consider the case of two immiscible fluid layers driven in a closed rectangular channel by an imposed mean pressure gradient. The present problem, which may mimic the behaviour of an oil flowing under a thin layer of different oil, thickness ratio h₂/h₁ =?9, is described by three main flow parameters: the shear Reynolds number Re _τ (which quantifies the importance of inertia compared to viscous effects), the Weber number We (which quantifies surface tension effects) and the viscosity ratio λ = ν₁/ν₂ between the two fluids. For this first study, the density ratio of the two fluid layers is the same (ρ₂ = ρ₁), we keep Re _τ and We constant, but we consider three different values for the viscosity ratio: λ =?1, λ =?0.875 and λ =?0.75. Compared to a single phase flow at the same shear Reynolds number (Re _τ =?100), in the two phase flow case we observe a decrease of the wall-shear stress and a strong turbulence modulation in particular in the proximity of the interface. Interestingly, we observe that the modulation of turbulence by the liquid-liquid interface extends up to the top wall (i.e. the closest to the interface) and produces local shear stress inversions and flow recirculation regions. The observed results depend primarily on the interface deformability and on the viscosity ratio between the two fluids (λ).     

Magnetic couplings vs. stress and strain in epitaxial (La, Sr)MnO3

Based on ab initio calculations, we quantify the magnetic couplings and the stress tensor in ferromagnetic Sr-doped LaMnO₃ upon combined application of built-in epitaxial and external uniaxial strains. We suggest YAlO₃ as a substrate suited to change magnetic order in manganite film with practicable external strains. The effect could lead to strain-activated switches based on piezoelectric-piezomagnetic heterojunctions.     

A Simple and Versatile Re‐Catalyzed Meyer–Schuster Rearrangement of Propargylic Alcohols to α,β‐Unsaturated Carbonyl Compounds

Rhenium does the job! A readily available rhenium complex efficiently catalyzed the direct Meyer–Schuster‐like rearrangement of different alkyl‐ and aryl‐substituted propargylic secondary and tertiary alcohols to the corresponding α,β‐unsaturated compounds, which were produced with virtually complete E stereoselectivity. The reaction proceeded under neutral conditions and no racemization of potentially enolizable stereocenters was observed.

     

The quantum orbifold cohomology of weighted projective spaces

We calculate the small quantum orbifold cohomology of arbitrary weighted projective spaces. We generalize Givental’s heuristic argument, which relates small quantum cohomology to S ¹-equivariant Floer cohomology of loop space, to weighted projective spaces and use this to conjecture an explicit formula for the small J-function, a generating function for certain genus-zero Gromov–Witten invariants. We prove this conjecture using a method due to Bertram. This provides the first non-trivial example of a family of orbifolds of arbitrary dimension for which the small quantum orbifold cohomology is known. In addition we obtain formulas for the small J-functions of weighted projective complete intersections satisfying a combinatorial condition; this condition naturally singles out the class of orbifolds with terminal singularities.     

A note on the regularity of the free boundaries in the optimal partial transport problem

In this work we study the global regularity of the free boundaries arising in the optimal partial transport problem. Assuming the supports of both the source and the target measure to be convex, we show that the free boundaries of the active regions are globally C ^0,1/2.      

Three equivalent conjectures on the birational geometry of Fano 3-folds

I propose three equivalent conjectures on the birational geometry of Fano 3-folds. Roughly speaking, they suggest that ergodic, or chaotic, behaviour does not occur for Fano 3-folds.     

On groups whose subgroups are closed in the profinite topology

A group is called extended residually finite (ERF) if every subgroup is closed in the profinite topology. The ERF-property is studied for nilpotent groups, soluble groups, locally finite groups and FC-groups. A complete characterization is given of FC-groups which are ERF.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Superscript>1</Superscript> regularity of solutions of the Monge–Ampère equation for optimal transport in dimension two

We prove C ¹ regularity of c-convex weak Alexandrov solutions of a Monge–Ampère type equation in dimension two, assuming only a bound from above on the Monge–Ampère measure. The Monge–Ampère equation involved arises in the optimal transport problem. Our result holds true under a natural condition on the cost function, namely non-negative cost-sectional curvature, a condition introduced in Ma et al. (Arch Ration Mech Anal 177(2):151–183, 2005), that was shown in Loeper (Acta Math, to appear) to be necessary for C ¹ regularity. Such a condition holds in particular for the case “cost = distance squared” which leads to the usual Monge–Ampère equation det D ² u = f. Our result is in some sense optimal, both for the assumptions on the density [thanks to the regularity counterexamples of Wang (Proc Am Math Soc 123(3):841–845, 1995)] and for the assumptions on the cost-function [thanks to the results of Loeper (Acta Math, to appear)].