Magnetic permeability of a diphasic flow, made of liquid gallium and iron beads

Magnetohydrodynamics studies in laboratory experiments have long been restricted to low magnetic Reynolds number flows, mainly as a result of the very high magnetic diffusivity λ = 1/μσ of common conducting fluids (μ is the fluid's magnetic permeability and σ its electrical conductivity). The best conductivities are found in liquid metals which have a unit magnetic permeability, relative to vacuum. We show experimentally that a suspension of solid particles with a high magnetic permeability in a liquid metal yields an effective medium that has a high electrical conductivity and an enhanced magnetic permeability. The dispersion of the beads results from the turbulent fluid motion. The range of accessible magnetic Reynolds number can be increased by a factor of as much as 4 in our experimental setup. Received 6 March 2000 and Received in final form 13 July 2000     

Response of bubbles to diagnostic ultrasound: a unifying theoretical approach

The scattering of ultrasound from bubbles of m radius, such as used in contrast enhancers for ultrasound diagnostics, is studied. We show that sound scattering and “active” emission of sound from oscillating bubbles are not contradictory, but are just two different aspects derived from the same physics. Treating the bubble as a nonlinear oscillator, we arrive at general formulas for scattering and absorption cross-sections. We show that several well-known formulas are recovered in the linear limit of this ansatz. In the case of strongly nonlinear oscillations, however, the cross-sections can be larger than those for linear response by several orders of magnitude. The major part of the incident sound energy is then converted into emitted sound, unlike what happens in the linear case, where the absorption cross-sections exceed the scattering cross-sections. Received: 26 February 1998 / Revised: 13 March 1998 / Accepted: 15 March 1998     

I. Formation and rise of a bubble stream in a viscous liquid

The continuous emission of gas bubbles from a single ejection orifice immersed in a viscous fluid is considered. We first present a semi empirical model of spherical bubble growth under constant flow conditions to predict the bubble volume at the detachment stage. In a second part, we propose a physical model to describe the rise velocity of in-line interacting bubbles and we derive an expression for the net viscous force acting on the surrounding fluid. Experimental results for air/water-glycerol systems are presented for a wide range of fluid viscosity and compared with theoretical predictions. An imagery technique was used to determine the bubble size and rise velocity. The effects of fluid viscosity, gas flow rate, orifice diameter and liquid depth on the bubble stream dynamic were analyzed. We have further studied the effect of large scale recirculation flow and the influence of a neighbouring bubble stream on the bubble growth and rising velocity. Received: 23 July 1997 / Revised: 16 December 1997 / Accepted: 11 May 1998     

How the financial crash of October 1997 could have been predicted

From the analysis of (closing value) stock market index like the Dow Jones Industrial average and the S&P500 it is possible to observe the precursor of a so-called crash. This is shown on the Oct. 1987 and Oct. 1997 cases. The data analysis indicates that the index divergence has followed twice a “universal” behavior, i.e. a logarithmic dependence, superposed on a well defined oscillation pattern. The prediction of the crash date is remarkable and can be done two months in advance. In the spirit of phase transition phenomena, the economic index is said to be analogous to a signal signature found in a two dimensional fluid of vortices. Received: 23 March 1998 / Revised and Accepted: 23 April 1998     

The statistical mechanics of turbo codes

The “turbo codes”, recently proposed by Berrou et al. [1] are written as a disordered spin Hamiltonian. It is shown that there exists a threshold such that for signal to noise ratios the error probability per bit vanishes in the thermodynamic limit, i.e. the limit of infinitely long sequences. The value of the threshold has been computed for two particular turbo codes. It is found that it depends on the code. These results are compared with numerical simulations. Received 14 March 2000 and Received in final form 17 July 2000     

Velocity measurement of a settling sphere

We study experimentally the motion of a solid sphere settling under gravity in a fluid at rest. The particle velocity is measured with a new acoustic method. Variations of the sphere size and density allow measurements at Reynolds numbers, based on limit velocity, between 40 and 7 000. At all Reynolds numbers, our observations are consistent with the presence of a memory-dependent force acting on the particle. At short times it has a t ^-1/2 behaviour as predicted by the unsteady Stokes equations and as observed in numerical simulations. At long times, the decay of the memory (Basset) force is better fitted by an exponential behaviour. Comparison of the dynamics of spheres of different densities for the same Reynolds number show that the density is an important control parameter. Light spheres show transitory oscillations at Re∼ 400, but reach a constant limit speed. Received 12 April 2000 and Received in final form 13 July 2000     

II. Recirculation flow induced by a bubble stream rising in a viscous liquid

The recirculation flow induced by the rising motion of a bubble stream in a viscous fluid within an open-top rectangular enclosure is studied. The three-dimensional volume averaged conservation equations are solved by a control-volume method using a hybrid finite differencing scheme to describe the liquid phase hydrodynamics. The momentum exhange between the bubbles and the liquid phase is modeled with a source term equals to the volumetric buoyancy force acting on the gas in the bubble stream. The volumetric buoyancy force accounts for in line interactions between bubbles through the average gas volume fraction in the gas liquid column which depends on the size and the rising velocity of bubbles. The fluid flow within an open-top rectangular enclosure is further investigated by particle image velocimetry for a bubble stream rising in a water-glycerol solution. The measured fluid velocities in a vertical plane are compared with the predictions of the numerical model over a wide range of fluid viscosity (43 mPa s-800 mPa s) and gas flow rates. Finally, the recirculation flows resulting from the interaction of two neighbouring vertical bubble streams are studied. Received: 23 July 1997 / Revised: 19 December 1997 / Accepted: 11 May 1998     

Fundamental framework for “technical analysis” of market prices

Starting from the characterization of the past time evolution of market prices in terms of two fundamental indicators, price velocity and price acceleration, we construct a general classification of the possible patterns characterizing the deviation or defects from the random walk market state and its time-translational invariant properties. The classification relies on two dimensionless parameters, the Froude number characterizing the relative strength of the acceleration with respect to the velocity and the time horizon forecast dimensionalized to the training period. Trend-following and contrarian patterns are found to coexist and depend on the dimensionless time horizon. The classification is based on the symmetry requirements of invariance with respect to change of price units and of functional scale-invariance in the space of scenarii. This “renormalized scenario” approach is fundamentally probabilistic in nature and exemplifies the view that multiple competing scenarii have to be taken into account for the same past history. Empirical tests are performed on about nine to thirty years of daily returns of twelve data sets comprising some major indices (Dow Jones, SP500, Nasdaq, DAX, FTSE, Nikkei), some major bonds (JGB, TYX) and some major currencies against the US dollar (GBP, CHF, DEM, JPY). Our “renormalized scenario” exhibits statistically significant predictive power in essentially all market phases. In contrast, a trend following strategy and following strategy perform well only on different and specific market phases. The value of the “renormalized scenario” approach lies in the fact that it always selects the best of the two, based on a calculation of the stability of their predicted market trajectories. Received 3 October 1999     

A note on the screening of hydrodynamic interactions, in electrophoresis, and in porous media

We consider two situations where hydrodynamic interactions are said to be “screened”: hydrodynamics in a gel or in a porous medium, and electrophoresis in an electrolyte. We focus on the corresponding Green functions, and show that the flow fields are similar in the two cases. Contrarily to statements often made, the fluid velocity decays algebraically with distance (), i.e. not exponentially. We point out that the pressure fields are different in the two cases. Received 23 March 2000     

Persistent current in metals with a large dephasing rate

In a weakly disordered metal electron interactions are responsible for both decoherence of the quasi-particles as well as for quantum corrections to thermodynamic properties. We consider electrons which are interacting with two-level-systems. We show that the two-level-systems enhance the average equilibrium (“persistent”) current in an ensemble of mesoscopic rings. The result supports the recent suggestion that two puzzles in mesoscopic physics may be related: The low temperature saturation of the dephasing time and the high persistent current in rings. Received 26 May 2000     

Computed structures and energetics of ionic neon clusters using DFT correlation corrections

The structural properties of some of the smaller ionic clusters of neon atoms are examined at the post-Hartree-Fock level using a variety of correlation corrections described within a Density Functional treatment. The results of the calculations, and the physical reliability of the method, are discussed in comparison with earlier theoretical results and with the scanty experimental data. The possible presence of a dimeric ion as the core ionic moiety of all the clusters is indicated by the present treatment which also underlines the weaker binding of the outer “shells” of Ne atoms to the central moiety and the rather marked overall charge localization into the central ionic core of the clusters. Received 30 December 1999 and Received in final form 29 February 2000     

Very fast relaxation in polycarbonate glass

Relaxations in amorphous bis-phenol A polycarbonate are studied by neutron scattering, as a function of temperature below the glass transition. Two different processes are observed. One is very fast, with a characteristic time (∼ 0.3 ps), that is independent of temperature and momentum transfer. Conversely the other is slower, with a time which is dependent on temperature and momentum transfer. The very fast localized anharmonic motion is interpreted by the overdamping of low-frequency vibrational modes, by nearby dynamic holes. The slower relaxation is thermally activated and momentum transfer dependent. It corresponds to molecular group motions and possibly to the short-time regime of the segmental relaxation. Received 29 February 2000 and Received in final form 13 June 2000     

Calculation of photoemission spectra of the doped Mott insulator using LDA+DMFT(QMC)

The spectral properties of La_1–xSr_xTiO₃, a doped Mott insulator with strong Coulomb correlations, are calculated with the ab initio computational scheme LDA+DMFT(QMC). It starts from the non-interacting electronic band structure as calculated by the local density approximation (LDA), and introduces the missing correlations by the dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), using numerically exact quantum Monte-Carlo (QMC) techniques to solve the resulting self-consistent multi-band single-impurity problem. The results of the LDA+DMFT(QMC) approach for the photoemission spectra of La_1–xSr_xTiO₃ are in good agreement with experiment and represent a considerable qualitative and quantitative improvement on standard LDA calculations. Received 20 May 2000 and Received in final form 27 July 2000     

Pulsed holmium laser ablation of tissue phantoms: correlation between bubble formation and acoustic transients

5 Pa served as tissue phantoms to evaluate such effects. Holmium laser pulses (wavelength: 2.12 μm, duration: 180 μs FWHM), were delivered through 400 and 600 μm diameter optical fibers inserted into cubes of clear gel. Bubble effects were investigated using simultaneous flash micro-videography and pressure recording for radiant exposures of 20–382 J/cm². Bubble formation and bubble collapse induced pressure transients were observed regardless of phantom stiffness. Bubbles of up to 4.2 mm in length were observed in gels with a Young’s modulus of 2.9×10⁵ Pa at a pulse energy of 650 mJ. An increase of Young’s modulus (reduction in water content) led to a monotonic reduction of bubble size. In the softest gels, bubble dimensions exceeded those observed in water. Pressure amplitudes at 3 mm decreased from 100±14 bars to 17±6 bars with increasing Young’s modulus over the studied range. Theoretical analysis suggested a major influence on bubble dynamics of the mass and energy transfer through the bubble boundary. Received: 26 August 1996/Revised version: 10 February 1997     

Pressure dependence of the Mg transition in superfluid He

The pressure shifts of the 3s4s³S P_0,1,2 transition of magnesium atoms immersed in superfluid helium have been measured at K between saturated vapour pressure and 24 bar. The wavelength is blue shifted linearly by . This value can be satisfactorily described in the framework of the standard bubble model. Received 18 February 2000     

Dry microfoams: formation and flow in a confined channel

We present an experimental investigation of the agglomeration of microbubbles into a 2D microfoam and its flow in a rectangular microchannel. Using a flow-focusing method, we produce the foam in situ on a microfluidic chip for a large range of liquid fractions, down to a few percent in liquid. We can monitor the transition from separated bubbles to the desired microfoam, in which bubbles are closely packed and separated by thin films. We find that bubble formation frequency is limited by the liquid flow rate, whatever the gas pressure. The formation frequency creates a modulation of the foam flow, rapidly damped along the channel. The average foam flow rate depends non-linearly on the applied gas pressure, displaying a threshold pressure due to capillarity. Strong discontinuities in the flow rate appear when the number of bubbles in the channel width changes, reflecting the discrete nature of the foam topology. We also produce an ultra flat foam, reducing the channel height from 250 μm to 8 μm, resulting in a height to diameter ratio of 0.02; we notice a marked change in bubble shape during the flow.     

Charge transfer between alkali cluster ions and atoms in the 1 to 10 keV collisional energy range

The cross-sections for collisional charge transfer between singly charged free clusters M _n ⁺ (M = Li, Na; n=1...50) and atomic targets A (cesium, potassium) have been measured as a function of collisional relative velocity in laboratory energy range 1–10 keV. For each cluster size, the experimental values of the charge transfer cross-section are fitted with an universal parametric curve with two independent parameters and v_m, the maximum cross-section and the corresponding velocity. For small size clusters (), the characteristic parameters show strong variations with the number of atoms in the cluster. Abrupt dips observed for n=10 and n=22 are attributed to electronic properties. Charge transfer patterns observed for various collisional systems present similarities, which appear more sensitive to cluster quantum size effects than to collision energy defects. In their whole, the and v_m parameters show differences in both their size evolution and their absolute values discussed in term of projectile and target electronic structures. Received 13 April 2000 and Received in final form 29 June 2000