Measurements and simulations of particle dispersion in a turbulent flow

A particle imaging technique has been used to collect droplet displacement statistics in a round turbulent jet of air. Droplets are injected on the jet axis, and a laser sheet and position-sensitive photomultiplier tube are used to track their radial displacement and time-of-flight. Dispersion statistics can be computed which are Lagrangian or Eulerian in nature. The experiments have been simulated numerically using a second-order closure scheme for the jet and a stochastic simulation for the particle trajectories. Results are presented for non-vaporizing droplets of sizes from 35 to 160 μm. The simulations have underscored the importance of initial conditions and early droplet displacement history on the droplet trajectory for droplets with large inertia relative to the turbulence. Estimates of initial conditions have been made and their effect on dispersion is quantified.     

Influence of high-order dispersion on self-focusing. II. Numerical investigation

The self-focusing described by the nonlinear Schrödinger equation with a higher-order derivative term is investigated numerically. We demonstrate that, depending on the sign before this term, it may lead in the final stage either to defocusing or to a steady homogeneous wave beam. In both cases the transition to the final state is shown to be oscillatory.     

Optical waveguide analysis using modified Airy functions

We review a little-used but powerful method of solving the scalar wave equation. It uses a modification of the well-known Airy functions, which are easily calculated on desktop computers. The techniques are reminiscent of the WKBJ methodology, but the solution, although approximate, is much more useful than the traditional WKBJ solution and can be used with almost as much ease. Re method is extremely powerful but, to our knowledge, is not used in the optics community. It is useful in analyzing integrated optical waveguide components.