Successes and failures of shallow-water interpretations of Voyager wind data

Studying the dynamics of Jupiter's atmosphere is a rewarding experience, in part because the planet's cloud-top circulations are easy to track from space, the jet streams flow in straight lines eastward or westward, and there is enough room for the vortices to usually keep out of each other's way. Earth, in contrast, is a planet with global circulations that are not easy to track from space, with jet streams that make wide, fluctuating arcs as they negotiate mountain ranges, and with vortices that are constantly jostling against each other in a cramped environment. But we know a great deal more about the vertical structure of Earth's atmosphere than of Jupiter's. In order to make headway on the Jovian problem, researchers have turned to the shallow-water model as a guide to interpreting the Voyager wind data. The shallow-water model matches the character of the data because it combines high-resolution horizontal dynamics with low-resolution vertical structure, but there is no guarantee that it captures the character of Jupiter's atmosphere itself. Remarkably, the model does well at reproducing the Great Red Spot, and it has revealed that Jupiter is clever about how it manages its vorticity by arranging its zonal winds to be neutrally stable with respect to Arnol'd's second stability theorem. We discuss reasons why the shallow-water model works for Jupiter and point out the limitations that are motivating researchers to develop more realistic models.     

Statistical hadronization of heavy flavor quarks in elementary collisions: Successes and failures

We analyze recently compiled data on the production of open heavy flavor hadrons and quarkonia in e⁺e⁻${\mathrm{e}}^{+}{\mathrm{e}}^{-}$ as well as pp and p-nucleus collisions in terms of the statistical hadronization model. Within this approach the production of open heavy flavor hadrons is well described with parameters deduced from a thermal analysis of light flavor hadron production. In contrast, quarkonium production in such collisions cannot be described in this framework. We point out the relevance of this finding for our understanding of quarkonium production in ultra-relativistic nucleus–nucleus collisions.     

The future of hard and electromagnetic probes at RHIC

Potential near- and long-term physics opportunities with jets, heavy flavors and electromagnetic probes at RHIC are presented. Much new physics remains to be unveiled using these probes, due to their sensitivity to the initial high density stage of RHIC collisions, when quark-gluon plasma (QGP) formation is expected. Additional physics will include addressing deconfinement, chiral symmetry restoration, properties of the strongly-coupled QGP and a possible weakly-interacting QGP, color glass condensate in the initial state, and hadronization. To fully realize the physics prospects of the RHIC energy regime, new detector components must be added to existing experiments, the RHIC machine luminosity upgraded, and a possible new detector with significantly extended coverage and capabilities added.Arrival of the final proofs: 26 July 2005PACS: 25.75Nq     

Organometallic sonochemistry: Successes,problems and by-products

This review summarizes a part of the work undertaken by a group in Grenoble in the area of organometallic sonochemistry. Organolithium and organozinc reactions promoted by ultrasonic waves offer synthetic advantages over the classical methods with regard to the selectivity, yields and rates. Tentative interpretations of the ultrasonic effects on such reactive systems are discussed. New trends in organometallic chemistry resulting from the sonochemical studies have become apparent, especially new reactions occurring in aqueous media.     

Surface studies with hyperfine probes

The current status of surface hyperfine fields measured with NMR, Mössbauer spectroscopy and PAC is reviewed. Emphasis is put on experiments with well-characterized, free surfaces and on results on surface electric field gradients. Applications to detection of probe sites and diffusion phenomena are discussed.This article is dedicated to the memory of our late colleague Dr. Wolfgang Keppner     

Surface physics with nuclear probes

A series of typical experiments using nuclear moments as microscopic probes for hyperfine fields on surfaces are discussed: Mössbauer spectroscopy, perturbed angular correlation studies, nuclear magnetic resonance, nuclear spin relaxation due to spin-lattice relaxation, and low-dimensional diffusion. Experiments are selected which deal mainly with well-characterized surfaces. Out of a wealth of data, particularly those that contribute to currently discussed topics in surface science are selected.Supported partly by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (contract 06 MR 853 I) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (contract Fi 311-1 and Fi 311-1)     

Mixtures of hard spherocylinders and hard spheres

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed for equimolar mixtures of hard prolate spherocylinders of length: breadth ratio 2:1 and hard spheres, in the fluid region. Two systems have been studied. In the first the breadth of the spherocylinder was equal to the hard sphere diameter, and in the second system both components were of equal molecular volume.

The compressibility factor, PV/NkT, has been obtained for both mixtures at four reduced densities (packing fractions) from 0·20 to 0·45. The results have been compared with the predictions of several analytical equations appropriate to mixtures of hard convex molecules, and an equation due to Pavlicek et al. was found to be very accurate. The results have been used to calculate the excess volumes of mixing at constant pressure, in an attempt to establish the relative importance of the effects of differences in molecular volume and shape on the thermodynamic properties.

The structural properties of the mixtures have also been investigated by calculating pair distribution functions for the three types of pair interactions present in these mixtures.     

Use of langmuir probes for monitoring of precursor concentrations during plasma activated chemical vapor deposition of hard coatings

Langmuir-probe characteristics were measured during the deposition of hard zirconium nitride films in H₂ plasmas with tetrakis(diethylamido)-zirconium-Zr[N(C₂H₅)₂]₄- as a precursor. A combination of fast repeatable probe sweeps and hysteresis measurements indicated undisturbed characteristics for approximately 1 h. Since the electron concentration is highly dependent on the partial pressure of the precursor it is possible to use probes as sensors to monitor precursor concentration in a discharge.     

Production of hypernuclei with hadronic and electromagnetic probes

We present an overview of a fully covariant formulation for describing hypernuclear production with hadronic and electromagnetic probes. This theory is based on an effective Lagrangian picture and it focuses on production amplitudes that are described via creation, propagation and decay into relevant channels of N^∗(1650), N^∗(1710) and N^∗(1720) intermediate baryonic resonance states in the initial collision of the projectile with one of the target nucleons. The bound state nucleon and hyperon wave functions are obtained by solving the Dirac equation with appropriate scalar and vector potentials. Specific examples are discussed for reactions which are of interest in current and future experiments on hypernuclear production.     

Cascading failures in congested complex networks with feedback

In this article, we investigate cascading failures in complex networks by introducing a feedback. To characterize the effect of the feedback, we define a procedure that involves a self-organization of trip distribution during the process of cascading failures. For this purpose, user equilibrium with variable demand is used as an alternative way to determine the traffic flow pattern throughout the network. Under the attack, cost function dynamics are introduced to discuss edge overload in complex networks, where each edge is assigned a finite capacity (controlled by parameter α). We find that scale-free networks without considering the effect of the feedback are expected to be very sensitive to α as compared with random networks, while this situation is largely improved after introducing the feedback.     

Imaging sclera with hard X-ray microscopy

In this study, the organization of collagen fibrils within the sclera of the eye was investigated using the 7 keV hard X-ray microscope of the Pohang light source and compared to images from electron and atomic force microscopy. From the captured X-ray images, individual collagen fibrils were observed clearly in a spatial resolution much better than 100 nm, both in longitudinal sections and in transverse sections. Some of the collagen fibrils showed evidence of axial periodicity. In some regions of the samples, we could see cross-bridge like structures between adjacent collagen fibrils. The X-ray microscope also allowed the observation of keratocytes and the lamella structure of the scleral stroma. The X-ray microscope has some unique advantages in the nano-scale imaging of bio-samples relative to other established imaging techniques.     

Virial coefficients and equations of state for mixtures of hard discs,hard spheres and hard hyperspheres

The composition-independent virial coefficients of a d-dimensional binary mixture of (additive) hard hyperspheres following from a recent proposal for the equation of state of the mixture (Santos, A., Yuste, S. B., and López de Haro, M., 1999, Molec. Phys., 96, 1) are examined. Good agreement between theoretical estimates and available exact or numerical results is found for d = 2, 3, 4 and 5, except for mixtures whose components are very disparate in size. A slight modification that remedies this deficiency is introduced and the resummation of the associated virial series is carried out, leading to a new proposal for the equation of state. The case of binary hard sphere mixtures (d = 3) is analysed in some detail.     

Extending nanoscale spectroscopy with titanium nitride probes

We present a means of controlling the stoichiometry of titanium nitride (TiN) coatings on probes for tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy measurements made using sputtering so that outstanding enhancements can be obtained. This provides a more robust alternative to gold‐coated tips that also has potential for tuning the plasmon resonance and working in new environments. Proof of concept measurements on poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) thin films demonstrate increases in the observed intensity with contrast values up to 3.1. TiN is mechanically, chemically, and thermally robust. When deposited under appropriate conditions it has optical properties, including a plasmon resonance, very similar to those of gold. However, the spontaneous formation of a surface TiN_xO_y layer with relatively high values of y has prevented attaining enhancements in tip‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy beyond that provided by the lightning rod effect. Depositing a thin layer of aluminum to form a passivating Al₂O₃ layer over the TiN plasmonic structure allows the stoichiometry achieved in the vacuum deposition to be maintained. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fluctuation measurements with emissive probes in tokamaks

A new probe head, composed of two electro-emissive probes and two Langmuir probes has been designed to measure edge fluctuations in the CASTOR tokamak. In this contribution, only one Langmuir and one electron-emissive probe are used to measure the temperature and potential fluctuations and the phase angle between them.     

NMR Imaging with shorted coaxial line probes

At frequencies below 1 GHz, resonant sections of coaxial lines have long been used in CW-Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) with the sample placed at the position of maximum B₁ at a short circuited end. Here, we show that because of the excellent separation of the B and E fields, the shield of the line can be removed in the region of the truncated end without greatly perturbing the RF properties of the line. The open region of the shield provides an aperture for local imaging in MRI. The B₁ fields can be shaped by contouring the inner conductor and outer shield, and the image aperture is controlled by the shape of the shield cutout. The shield opening can range from a narrow longitudinal slit up to a full 360° section that has only a few conducting strips of the shield remaining. Imaging with probes having shield diameters from 2 mm to 10 cm have been demonstrated. For imaging the useful depth is limited to approximately three to four times the probe's outer radius. Alternately, a relatively sharp cutoff at only a mm depth can be obtained by controlling the region of the shield removed, the RF power applied, and the probe diameter. The probes described here can be resonant or nonresonant. Because of the inherent broad bandwidth of the nonresonant truncated line probes, they have the potential for use in FT-EPR and FT-EPR imaging as well as other applications that require minimizing dead times.