Gated-controlled electron pumping in connected quantum rings

We study the electronic transport across connected quantum rings attached to leads and subjected to time-harmonic side-gate voltages. Using the Floquet formalism, we calculate the net pumped current generated and controlled by the side-gate voltage. The control of the current is achieved by varying the phase shift between the two side-gate voltages as well as the Fermi energy. In particular, the maximum current is reached when the side-gate voltages are in quadrature. This new design based on connected quantum rings controlled without magnetic fields can be easily integrated in standard electronic devices.     

Separation of particles in time-dependent focusing billiards

We consider a family of stadium-like billiards with time-dependent boundaries. Two different cases of time dependence are studied: (i) the fixed boundary approximation and (ii) the exact model which takes into account the motion of the boundary. It is shown that when the billiards possess strong chaotic properties, the sequence of their boundary perturbations is the Fermi acceleration phenomenon which is three times larger than in the case of the fixed boundary approximation. However, weak mixing in such billiards leads to particle separation. Depending on the initial velocity three different things occur: (i) the particle ensemble may accelerate; (ii) the average velocity may stay constant or (iii) it may even decrease.     

Bayesian sequential reliability for Weibull and related distributions

Assume that the probability density function for the lifetime of a newly designed product has the form: [H(t)/Q()] exp{–H(t)/Q()}. The Exponential(), Rayleigh, WeibullW(, ) and Pareto pdf's are special cases.Q() will be assumed to have an inverse Gamma prior. Assume thatm independent products are to be tested with replacement. A Bayesian Sequential Reliability Demonstration Testing plan is used to eigher accept the product and start formal production, or reject the product for reengineering. The test criterion is the intersection of two goals, a minimal goal to begin production and a mature product goal. The exact values of various risks and the distribution of total number of failures are evaluated. Based on a result about a Poisson process, the expected stopping time for the exponential failure time is also found. Included in these risks and expected stopping times are frequentist versions, thereof, so that the results also provide frequentist answers for a class of interesting stopping rules.This research was supported by NSF grants DMS-8703620 and DMS-8923071, and forms part of the Ph.D. Thesis of the first author, the development of which was supported in part by a David Ross grant at Purdue University. The authors thank the editors and a referee for insightful comments and suggestions.     

Non-Amontons behavior of friction in single contacts

We report on the frictional properties of a single contact between a glassy polymer lens and a flat silica substrate covered either by a disordered or by a self-assembled alkylsilane monolayer. We find that, in contrast to a widely spread belief, the Amontons proportionality between frictional and normal stresses does not hold. Besides, we observe that the velocity dependence of the sliding stress is strongly sensitive to the structure of the silane layer. Analysis of the frictional rheology observed on both disordered and self-assembled monolayers suggests that dissipation is controlled by the plasticity of a glass-like interfacial layer in the former case, and by pinning of polymer chains on the substrate in the latter one.     

Time-series analysis of foreign exchange rates using time-dependent pattern entropy

Time-dependent pattern entropy is a method that reduces variations to binary symbolic dynamics and considers the pattern of symbols in a sliding temporal window. We use this method to analyze the instability of daily variations in foreign exchange rates, in particular, the dollar–yen rate. The time-dependent pattern entropy of the dollar–yen rate was found to be high in the following periods: before and after the turning points of the yen from strong to weak or from weak to strong, and the period after the Lehman shock.     

RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT OF STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS BASED ON DIRECTIONAL VECTOR SIMULATION TECHNIQUE

The new improved directional vector simulation method for analyzing the reliability of structural systems failure probability is researched. This paper also points out the defects of general directional vector simulation, and gives rise to a new higher accuracy approximate integral formula of structural systems failure probability. A new geometric meaning of characteristic function is obtained. A new simple method of generating uniformly distributed random vector samples inn-dimensional unit hyper-spherical surface is put forward and strictly proved. This method is easy to put into practice. Numerical examples are given to show the applicability and effectiveness of the suggested approach to structural systems reliability problems. Supported by Chinese Postdoctor Fund([1998]6, 23).     

Time-dependent fluctuations in infrared vsCH2 frequencies in acyl chain membranes of Acholeplasma laidlawii cells

We measured FT-IR spectra of intact Acholeplasma laidlawii cells grown at 37 °C on palmitic acid (C16:0) or on binary palmitic acid-d31/oleic acid (C16:0-d31/C18:1(9)) at an initial mole ratio of 2:3, which have been previously reported to produce significant fluctuations in CH₂ symmetric stretching (ν_sCH₂) and CD₂ asymmetric stretching (ν_aCD₂) frequencies (Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1279 (1996) 49). Time courses for acyl chain ν_sCH₂ and ν_aCD₂ frequencies determined from fourth derivative spectra are presented. Fluctuations were detected with the C16:0 enriched cells at temperatures above 40 °C as well as with the cells enriched in 2:3 C16:0-d₃₁/C18:1(9). These observations at temperatures above 40 °C for the C16:0 enriched cells were not in agreement with the conclusion in the previous work by Moore et al. Our results have suggested that the 2850 cm⁻¹ ν_sCH₂ band comprises two components arising from trans and gauche conformations, and that the fluctuations in ν_sCH₂ frequency are caused by random temporal changes in the relative intensities of these two components.     

Covariate model-based fault tree analysis for risk assessment in chemical process industries: A case study of a chlorine manufacturing facility

Fault tree analysis (FTA) is a promising quantitative technique for risk analysis in chemical process industries (CPIs). In FTA, a certain sequence of basic events (causes) leads to one specific Top event (critical event of interest). However, the conventional fault tree analysis has the limitations of staticity and uncertainty. The staticity in conventional FTA arises due to its inability to accommodate time-dependent characteristics of the process system. Whereas uncertainty primarily lies in the failure probability data of basic events. This paper proposes an innovative methodology that uses a time-dependent covariate model to update the failure probability values of major contributing basic events in FTA. A novel subclass of the family of phase-type distributions is used to model the covariates corresponding to the basic events. The newly developed methodology is applied for a case study in a chlorine manufacturing facility to estimate the chlorine release probability. The blockage in the pipeline was identified as the significant reason for chlorine release from expert opinion and sensitivity analysis. The results of the proposed model of FTA are compared with that of conventional FTA.     

Time-dependent density-functional and reduced density-matrix methods for few electrons: Exact versus adiabatic approximations

To address the impact of electron correlations in the linear and non-linear response regimes of interacting many-electron systems exposed to time-dependent external fields, we study one-dimensional (1D) systems where the interacting problem is solved exactly by exploiting the mapping of the 1D N-electron problem onto an N-dimensional single electron problem. We analyze the performance of the recently derived 1D local density approximation as well as the exact-exchange orbital functional for those systems. We show that the interaction with an external resonant laser field shows Rabi oscillations which are detuned due to the lack of memory in adiabatic approximations. To investigate situations where static correlations play a role, we consider the time-evolution of the natural occupation numbers associated to the reduced one-body density matrix. Those studies shed light on the non-locality and time-dependence of the exchange and correlation functionals in time-dependent density and density-matrix functional theories.     

自紧身管临界裂纹尺寸的概率断裂力学研究

基于概率断裂力学理论和Mome Caflo模拟方法,本文进行了自紧身管临界裂纹尺寸的可靠性研究。自紧身管内表面的疲劳裂纹考虑为半椭圆形式。裂纹尖端处的应力强度因子由内压和自紧残余应力共同产生。自紧残余应力采用了符合身管材料具有强化和包辛格效应性能推导的公式计算,它产生的应力强度因子通过权函数方法得到。根据断裂准则,可计算出自紧身管的临界裂纹尺寸。实例分析表明,对数正态分布为临界裂纹尺寸的最佳分布,同时给出了在各种置信度和可靠度下自紧身管的临界裂纹尺寸。