Modelling Spatial Variations of the Speed of Light

We extend a new method to measure possible variation of the speed of light by using Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the Hubble function onto an inhomogeneous pressure model of the universe. The method relies on the fact that there is a simple relation between the angular diameter distance maximum and the Hubble function (H) evaluated at the same maximum‐condition redshift, which includes the speed of light c. One limit of such a method was the assumption of the vanishing of spatial curvature (though, as it has been shown, a non‐zero curvature has negligible effect). In this paper, apart from taking into account an inhomogeneity, we consider non‐zero spatial curvature and calculate an exact relation between and H. Our main result is the evaluation if current or future missions such as Square Kilometer Array (SKA) can be sensitive enough to detect any spatial variation of c which can in principle be related to the recently observed spatial variation of the fine structure constant (an effect known as α‐dipole).     

Applications of the conformal transformation method in studies of composed superconducting systems

A framework for analytical studies of superconducting systems is presented and illustrated. The formalism, based on the conformal transformation of momentum space, allows one to study the effects of both the dispersion relation and the structure of the pairing interaction in two-dimensional anisotropic high-T _c superconductors. In this method, the number of employed degrees of freedom coincides with the dimension of the momentum space, which is different compared to that in the standard Van Hove scenario with a single degree of freedom. A new function, the kernel of the density of states, is defined and its relation to the standard density of states is explained. The versatility of the method is illustrated by analyzing coexistence and competition between spin-singlet and spin-triplet order parameters in superconducting systems with a tight-binding-type dispersion relation and an anisotropic pairing potential. Phase diagrams of stable superconducting states in the coordinates η (the ratio of hopping parameters) and n (the carrier concentration) are presented and discussed. Moreover, the role of attractive and repulsive on-site interactions for the stability of the s-wave order parameter is explained.     

Heterophase inclusions and dissolved impurities in Ge25Sb10S65 glass

The impurity content and microhomogeneity of Ge₂₅Sb₁₀S₆₅ glass samples, prepared by direct synthesis from elements, were investigated. It was shown that the increase in temperature of synthesis of the glass-forming melt resulted in the increase of the content of impurities of H, Na, Al, Si, K, Ca and transition metals in the prepared glasses. The glasses from the melt, subjected to chemical-distillation purification, were characterized by the low content of gas-forming impurities and the increased content of Al, Si and Cl. The glasses contained heterophase impurity inclusions mainly consisting of SiO₂, and their concentration and size depended on the conditions of glass preparation. The impurity content in the purest glasses was as follows: oxygen – <0.5 ppm wt, carbon – <5 ppm wt, hydrogen – 0.1 ppm wt, Si – <1 ppm wt, transition metals – <0.25 ppm wt, heterophase impurity inclusions with sizes larger than 80 nm – <10² cm³. It was shown that heterophase impurity inclusions behaved as the centers of glass crystallization.     

Making Mass Spectrometry See the Light: The Promises and Challenges of Cryogenic Infrared Ion Spectroscopy as a Bioanalytical Technique

The detailed chemical information contained in the vibrational spectrum of a cryogenically cooled analyte ion would, in principle, make infrared (IR) ion spectroscopy a gold standard technique for molecular identification in mass spectrometry. Despite this immense potential, there are considerable challenges in both instrumentation and methodology to overcome before the technique is analytically useful. Here, we discuss the promise of IR ion spectroscopy for small molecule analysis in the context of metabolite identification. Experimental strategies to address sensitivity constraints, poor overall duty cycle, and speed of the experiment are intimately tied to the development of a mass-selective cryogenic trap. Therefore, the most likely avenues for success, in the authors’ opinion, are presented here, alongside alternative approaches and some thoughts on data interpretation.

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Wigner Functions and Spin Tomograms for Qubit States

We establish the relation of the spin tomogram to the Wigner function on a discrete phase space of qubits. We use the quantizers and dequantizers of the spin tomographic star-product scheme for qubits to derive the expression for the kernel connecting Wigner symbols on the discrete phase space with the tomographic symbols.     

In situ study of stones adorning a silver Torah shield using portable Raman spectrometers

A silver Torah shield fitted with a set of precious stones and glass imitations crafted in Poland in the first half of the 19th century was investigated using two of the currently distributed portable and relatively low‐cost Raman spectrometers in situ at the Jewish Museum in Prague. Observed Raman peaks corresponded well (+/− 3 cm⁻¹) to the reference values. The hand‐held instruments operated at 785‐ and 532‐nm laser excitations showed good performance in the fast and unambiguous identification of nearly 60 stones which were fitted on the shield: one blue aquamarine, three purple amethysts, thirteen red garnets (all classified as high‐percentage almandines), three white pearls, fifteen pieces of red coral and five chalcedonies (one white and four red). All of the other stones were identified as colored glass. The rather chaotic mixture of stones of various colors, cuts and sizes and the total volume of imitation glass support the theory that the mounted stones were gathered from Jewish households and donated for the adornment of the shield. The common portable Raman instruments represent an ideal tool for the quick and accurate identification of gemstones mounted in historical artifacts in situ in the framework of museum or collection sites in a non‐destructive way. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Existence of a Canonical Lifting of Even Poisson Structures to the Algebra of Densities

In this note we construct a canonical lifting of arbitrary Poisson structures on a manifold to its algbera of densities. Using this construction we proceed to classify all extensions of a fixed structure on the original manifold to its algebra of densities. The question is analogous to the problem studied by H. M. Khudaverdian and Th. Voronov for odd Poisson structures and differential operators. Although the questions are similar the results are distinctly marked, namely in the case of even Poisson structures there always exists a lift which is naturally defined. The proof of this result bears a remarkable resemblance to the construction of the Frolicher – Nijenhuis bracket. In the final section we find a cocycle for the odd Lie algbera \({C^\infty (\Pi T* M)}\) originating from a singular point in the above lifitng.     

Laser-induced periodic surface structures on polymers for formation of gold nanowires and activation of human cells

Frequently observed coherent structures in laser-surface processing are ripples, also denoted as laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS). For polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polystyrene (PS), LIPSS can be induced by irradiation with linearly polarized ns-pulsed UV laser light. Under an angle of incidence of θ, their lateral period is close to the laser wavelength λ divided by (n _eff ? sinθ). Here, n _eff is the effective refractive index which is 1.32 and 1.23 for PET and PS, respectively. We describe potential applications of LIPSS for alignment and activation of human cells cultivated on polymer substrates, as well as for formation of separated gold nanowires which show pronounced surface plasmon resonances, e.g., at 775 nm for PET.     

Modeling of particle transport and combustion phenomena in a large-scale circulating fluidized bed boiler using a hybrid Euler-Lagrange approach

The constantly developing fiuidized combustion technology has become competitive with a conventional pulverized coal （PC） combustion. Circulating fluidized bed （CFB） boilers can be a good alternative to PC boilers due to their robustness and lower sensitivity to the fuel quality. However, appropriate engineering tools that can be used to model and optimize the construction and operating parameters of a CFB boiler still require development. This paper presents the application of a relatively novel hybrid Euler-Lagrange approach to model the dense gas-solid flow combined with a combustion process in a large-scale indus- trial CFB boiler. In this work, this complex flow has been resolved by applying the ANSYS FLUENT 14.0 commercial computational fluid dynamics （CFD） code. To accurately resolve the multiphase flow, the original CFD code has been extended by additional user-defined functions. These functions were used to control the boiler mass load, particle recirculation process （simplified boiler geometry）, and interphase hydrodynamic properties. This work was split into two parts. In the first part, which is referred to as pseudo combustion, the combustion process was not directly simulated. Instead, the effect of the chemi- cal reactions was simulated by modifying the density of the continuous phase so that it corresponded to the mean temperature and composition of the flue gases, In this stage, the particle transport was simu- lated using the standard Euler-Euler and novel hybrid Euler-Lagrange approaches, The obtained results were compared against measured data, and both models were compared to each other. In the second part, the numerical model was enhanced by including the chemistry and physics of combustion. To the best of the authors＇ knowledge, the use of the hybrid Euler-Lagrange approach to model combustion is a new engineering application of this model, In this work, the combustion process was modeled for air-fuel combustion. The simulation results were compared with experimental data.     

Comparison of the standard Euler-Euler and hybrid Euler-Lagrange approaches for modeling particle transport in a pilot-scale circulating fluidized bed

Particle transport phenomena in small-scale circulating fiuidized beds （CFB） can be simulated using the Euler-Euler, discrete element method, and Euler-Lagrange approaches. In this work, a hybrid Euler-Lagrange model known as the dense discrete phase model （DDPM）, which has common roots with the multiphase particle-in-cell model, was applied in simulating particle transport within a mid-sized experimental CFB facility. Implementation of the DDPM into the commercial ANSYS Fluent CFD package is relatively young in comparison with the granular Eulerian model. For that reason, validation of the DDPM approach against experimental data is still required and is addressed in this paper. Additional difficulties encountered in modeling fluidization processes are connected with long calculation times. To reduce times, the complete boiler models are simplified to include just the combustion chamber. Such simplifications introduce errors in the predicted solid distribution in the boiler. To investigate the conse- quences of model reduction, simulations were made using the simplified and complete pilot geometries and compared with experimental data. All simulations were performed using the ANSYSFLUENT 14.0 package. A set of user defined functions were used in the hybrid DDPM and Euler-Euler approaches to recirculate solid particles.