Mathematical modelling and analytical solution for workpiece temperature in grinding

This paper deals with modelling the workpiece temperature field produced during the grinding process. The proposed model is given in terms of a two-dimensional boundary-value problem where the interdependence among the grinding wheel, the workpiece and the coolant is described by two variable functions in the boundary condition. An explicit integral form solution is constructed using the Laplace and Fourier transforms and the Green’s function method.     

Study of the pore size distribution and fractal dimension of HNO3-treated activated carbons

In the present work, the effect of the oxidizing treatment with nitric acid on three activated carbon samples has been studied. The influence of the acid treatment on the surface groups of the different samples has been investigated by means of FT-IR spectroscopy. The pore size distributions of the different samples were determined by means of the HK and DFT methods. The HK method points out a moderate increment of the microporosity due to the action of the nitric acid, whereas the DFT method shows an increase in the microporosity range above 17 Å. Finally, the values of the fractal dimension reveal that the treatment of the samples with nitric acid leads to chemical reactions of a limited extent.     

Phase Transition in Vertex-Reinforced Random Walks on {\mathbb{Z}} with Non-linear Reinforcement

Vertex-reinforced random walk is a random process which visits a site with probability proportional to the weight w _k of the number k of previous visits. We show that if w _k ∼ k ^α, then there is a large time T ₀ such that after T ₀ the walk visits 2, 5, or ∞ sites when α < 1, = 1, or > 1, respectively. More general results are also proven.      

Curvature Conditions for Immersions of Submanifolds and Applications

Some curvature conditions about the geodesics emanating from a submanifold are obtained. These conditions are used to to study the topological and geometric properties of the ambient spaces which admit some minimal submanifolds.     

High energy physics in the atmosphere: phenomenology of cosmic ray air showers

The properties of cosmic rays with energies above 10⁶ GeV have to be deduced from the spacetime structure and particle content of the air showers which they initiate. In this review we summarize the phenomenology of these giant air showers. We describe the hadronic interaction models used to extrapolate results from collider data to ultra high energies, and discuss the prospects for insights into forward physics at the LHC. We also describe the main electromagnetic processes that govern the longitudinal shower evolution, as well as the lateral spread of particles. Armed with these two principal shower ingredients and motivation from the underlying physics, we provide an overview of some of the different methods proposed to distinguish primary species. The properties of neutrino interactions and the potential of forthcoming experiments to isolate deeply penetrating showers from baryonic cascades are also discussed. We finally venture into a terra incognita endowed with TeV-scale gravity and explore anomalous neutrino-induced showers.     

Mass‐lumping or not mass‐lumping for eigenvalue problems

In this article we analyze the effect of mass‐lumping in the linear triangular finite element approximation of second‐order elliptic eigenvalue problems. We prove that the eigenvalue obtained by using mass‐lumping is always below the one obtained with exact integration. For singular eigenfunctions, as those arising in non convex polygons, we prove that the eigenvalue obtained with mass‐lumping is above the exact eigenvalue when the mesh size is small enough. So, we conclude that the use of mass‐lumping is convenient in the singular case. When the eigenfunction is smooth several numerical experiments suggest that the eigenvalue computed with mass‐lumping is below the exact one if the mesh is not too coarse. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 19: 653–664, 2003     

Optimally Stable Multivariate Bases

We show that the tensor product B-spline basis and the triangular Bernstein basis are in some sense best conditioned among all nonnegative bases for the spaces of tensor product splines and multivariate polynomials, respectively. We also introduce some new condition numbers which are analogs of component-wise condition numbers for linear systems introduced by Skeel.     

Exact Scaling Functions for One-Dimensional Stationary KPZ Growth

We determine the stationary two-point correlation function of the one-dimensional KPZ equation through the scaling limit of a solvable microscopic model, the polynuclear growth model. The equivalence to a directed polymer problem with specific boundary conditions allows one to express the corresponding scaling function in terms of the solution to a Riemann–Hilbert problem related to the Painlevé II equation. We solve these equations numerically with very high precision and compare our, up to numerical rounding exact, result with the prediction of Colaiori and Moore⁽¹⁾ obtained from the mode coupling approximation.     

Volcanic monitoring for radon and chemical species in the soil and in spring water samples

Soil radon has been monitored at two fixed stations in the northern flank of Popocatepetl Volcano, a high risk volcano located 60 km SE from Mexico City. Water samples from three springs were also studied for radon as well as major and trace elements. Radon in the soil was recorded using track detectors. Radon in the water samples was evaluated using the liquid scintillation method and an Alphaguard. The major elements were determined through conventional chemical methods and trace elements using an ICP-MS equipment. Soil radon levels were low, indicating a moderate diffuse degassing through the flanks of the volcano. Groundwater radon had almost no relation with the eruptive stages. Water chemistry was stable in the reported time (2000–2002).