Motion of a viscoelastic micellar fluid around a cylinder: flow and fracture

We present an experimental study of the motion of a viscoelastic micellar fluid around a moving cylinder, which ranges from fluidlike flow to solidlike tearing and fracture, depending on the cylinder radius and velocity. The observation of crack propagation driven by the cylinder indicates an extremely low tear strength, approximately equal to the steady state surface tension of the fluid. At the highest speeds a driven crack is observed in front of the cylinder, propagating with a fluctuating speed equal on average to the cylinder speed, here as low as 5% of the elastic wave speed.     

Feedback localization of freely diffusing fluorescent particles near the optical shot-noise limit

We report near-optimal tracking of freely diffusing fluorescent particles in a quasi-two-dimensional geometry via photon counting and real-time feedback. We present a quantitative statistical model of our feedback network and find excellent agreement with the experiment. We monitor the motion of a single fluorescent particle with a sensitivity of 15 nm/sqrt Hz while collecting fewer than 5000 fluorescence photons/s. Fluorescent microspheres (diffusion coefficient 1.3 microm2/s) are tracked with a root-mean-square tracking error of 170 nm, within a factor of 2 of the theoretical limit set by photon counting shot noise.     

Optimum intermediate fibers for reducing interconnection loss: exact solution

We derive an exact analytical solution for a transmission line of N single-mode intermediate optical fibers that minimize the interconnection loss between any two dissimilar fiber modes that are well described by that paraxial scalar wave equation. Our solution shows that N optimum intermediate fibers reduce the original interconnection loss by a factor of least 1/(N+1) and that the total interconnection loss is only a function of N and the original direct interconnection loss. Our solution is not restricted to axisymmetric fibers or mode fields and therefore could be useful for reducing the interconnection loss between microstructured optical fibers, between certain slab waveguides, or between fibers and optical sources or detectors.     

Sensing and compensation of femtosecond waveform distortion induced by all-order polarization mode dispersion at selected polarization states

We demonstrate full characterization of femtosecond pulse distortion induced by all-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) at selected polarization states via second-harmonic generation (SHG) frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurements at an average power of under 28 nW. By applying the inverse of the measured spectral phase via a programmable pulse shaper, we compress the distorted pulses from more than 3 ps to nearly bandwidth-limited durations of less than 500 fs. Our results show that SHG FROG measurements performed by using fiber-pigtailed aperiodically poled lithium niobate waveguides can serve as a robust and sensitive tool for characterization of PMD-induced spectral phase.     

Plasma Photocathodes

Plasma wakefield accelerators offer accelerating and focusing electric fields three to four orders of magnitude larger than state-of-the-art radiofrequency cavity-based accelerators. Plasma photocathodes can release ultracold electron populations within such plasma waves and thus open a path toward tunable production of well-defined, compact electron beams with normalized emittance and brightness many orders of magnitude better than state-of-the-art. Such beams will have far-reaching impact for applications such as light sources, but also open up new vistas on high energy and high field physics. This paper reviews the innovation of plasma photocathodes, and reports on the experimental progress, challenges, and future prospects of the approach. Details of the proof-of-concept demonstration of a plasma photocathode in 90° geometry at SLAC FACET within the E-210: Trojan Horse program are described. Using this experience, alongside theoretical and simulation-supported advances, an outlook is given on future realizations of plasma photocathodes such as the upcoming E-310: Trojan Horse-II program at FACET-II with prospects toward excellent witness beam parameter quality, tunability, and stability. Future installations of plasma photocathodes also at compact, hybrid plasma wakefield accelerators, will then boost capacities and open up novel capabilities for experiments at the forefront of interaction of high brightness electron and photon beams.     

Multivariate dynamic modeling for Bayesian forecasting of business revenue

Forecasting enterprise-wide revenue is critical to many companies and presents several challenges and opportunities for significant business impact. This case study is based on model developments to address these challenges for forecasting in a large-scale retail company. Focused on multivariate revenue forecasting across collections of supermarkets and product categories, hierarchical dynamic models are natural: these are able to couple revenue streams in an integrated forecasting model, while allowing conditional decoupling to enable relevant and sensitive analysis together with scalable computation. Structured models exploit multi-scale modeling to cascade information on price and promotion activities as predictors relevant across categories and groups of stores. With a context-relevant focus on forecasting revenue 12 weeks ahead, the study highlights product categories that benefit from multi-scale information, defines insights into when, how, and why multivariate models improve forecast accuracy, and shows how cross-category dependencies can relate to promotion decisions in one category impacting others. Bayesian modeling developments underlying the case study are accessible in custom code for interested readers.     

Absorption in the ultraviolet of copper-complex compounds in hydrocarbons

Flow, Turbulence and Combustion - Absorption spectroscopy in the near ultraviolet was used to explain high electrical conductivities obtainable in aromatic hydrocarbons on addition of copper...     

Computational aeroacoustics using the B-spline collocation method

One of the major problems in computational aero-acoustics is the disparity in length scales between the flow field and the acoustic field. As a result, a mapping function is normally used to achieve a non-uniform grid distribution. In this paper, a B-spline collocation method with an arbitrary grid placement capability is proposed. This capability not only allows an optimum grid distribution but also avoids the numerical complexities associated with the mapping function. The B-spline collocation method is applied to the case of spinning co-rotating vortices. The result agrees well with the matched asymptotic solution. To cite this article: R. Widjaja et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).     

Oscillatory Marangoni convection around the air bubble in a vertical surfactant stratificationConvection de Marangoni oscillante autour d'une bulle d'air dans une stratification verticale surfactante

The solutocapillary Marangoni convection around a gas bubble in the inhomogeneous binary mixture of miscible fluids with a vertical surfactant concentration gradient was studied experimentally. A new phenomenon, the oscillatory instability of the surfactant mass transfer, near the bubble boundary, was detected and investigated. The interpretation of this effect as an interaction between the surfactant adsorption at the bubble free surface and solutocapillary and buoyancy convective mechanisms is proposed. The experimental data on oscillation period in relation to bubble dimensions, time, liquid layer thickness, physico-chemical fluid parameters and concentration gradients are presented and discussed. To cite this article: K. Kostarev et al., C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).     

Condition Monitoring of Ground Anchorages by Dynamic Impulses: GRANIT System

The GRANIT system operates by applying an impulse of known force by means of an impact device that is attached to the tendon of the anchorage. The vibration response signals resulting from this impulse are complex in nature and require analysis to be undertaken in order to extract information from the vibrational response signatures that is relevant to the condition of the anchorage. In the system, the complicated relationship that exists between characteristics of an anchorage and its response to an impulse is identified and learned by a novel artificial intelligence network based on artificial intelligence techniques.The results presented in this paper demonstrate the potential of the GRANIT system to diagnose the integrity of ground anchorages at a site near Stone, England, by using a trained neural network capable of diagnosing the post-tension level of the anchorage. This neural network was used for the diagnosis of load in a second ground anchorage adjacent to the original anchorage used for the training of the neural network. Further tests were taken with a different anchor head configuration of the anchorage and a different relationship between the signature response of the anchorage to an applied impulse and its post-tension level was found.Problems encountered during the diagnosis of this second set of test signatures by the trained neural network are investigated with the use of a lumped parameter dynamic model. This model is able to identify the parameters in the anchorage system that affect this change in response signature. The results from the investigation lead to a new form of classification for the installed anchorages, based on their anchor head configuration.Laboratory strand anchorage tests were undertaken in order to compare with and validate the results obtained from the field tests and the lumped parameter dynamic model.