Direct numerical simulation of diluted combustion by evaporating droplets

Diluted combustion has been studied using DNS in a three-dimensional temporally developing reacting shear-layer with the oxidizer stream laden with evaporating droplets. The gaseous phase is described in the Eulerian frame while the discrete droplet phase is treated in the Lagrangian frame, with strong two-way coupling between the two phases through mass, momentum and energy exchange. Grid-resolution-independent results have been obtained in cases without and with droplets. A comprehensive parametric study has been conducted by varying the initial Stokes number (St₀) and mass loading ratio (MLR₀). Detailed field analysis has been conducted to examine the complex nonlinear interactions among droplet dynamics, evaporation, turbulence and combustion, and so on. Effects of evaporating droplets on averaged flow and combustion quantities have also been presented. In particular, the conditional scalar dissipation rate is found to be enhanced by evaporating droplets, which suggests that they can promote micromixing and combustion under certain conditions, in addition to their roles in combustion suppression. The transport equation for the mixture fraction variance has been analyzed, with a focus on the vaporization-related source terms. Such source terms exhibit more complex local variations in the present shear-flow non-premixed flame configuration, compared with the case in the homogeneous decaying turbulence configuration of Réveillon and Vervisch (2000).     

Probing the QCD critical point by higher moments of net-proton multiplicity distributions at STAR

Higher moments (kurtosis (??), skewness (S) and variance (?? ²)) of multiplicity distributions are sensitive to the correlation length and can be used to search for the QCD critical point. The moment products ??? ² and S ?? of net-proton distributions, which are also related to volume independent baryon number susceptibility ratios, can be compared with Lattice QCD and Hadron Resonance Gas (HRG) model calculations. We discuss the recent progress in the higher moments analysis of net-protons multiplicity distributions.     

Filamentation “remote” sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants using only one femtosecond laser source

All matters in the path of filaments induced by an intense femtosecond laser pulse propagating in air could be fragmented and result in the emission of characteristic fluorescence spectra from the excited fragments. The fluorescence spectra exhibit specific signatures (fingerprints) that can be used for the identification of various substances including chemical and biological species. In this paper, we present an overview of the recent progress in our laboratory concerning the “remote” sensing of chemical and biological agents/pollutants in air using filamentation-induced nonlinear fluorescence techniques.     

Fuzzy Matching Based on Gray-scale Difference for Quantum Images

Quantum image processing has recently emerged as an essential problem in practical tasks, e.g. real-time image matching. Previous studies have shown that the superposition and entanglement of quantum can greatly improve the efficiency of complex image processing. In this paper, a fuzzy quantum image matching scheme based on gray-scale difference is proposed to find out the target region in a reference image, which is very similar to the template image. Firstly, we employ the proposed enhanced quantum representation (NEQR) to store digital images. Then some certain quantum operations are used to evaluate the gray-scale difference between two quantum images by thresholding. If all of the obtained gray-scale differences are not greater than the threshold value, it indicates a successful fuzzy matching of quantum images. Theoretical analysis and experiments show that the proposed scheme performs fuzzy matching at a low cost and also enables exponentially significant speedup via quantum parallel computation.     

A New Method of Fractional Dynamics,i.e., Fractional Mei Symmetrical Method for Finding Conserved Quantity,and its Applications to Physics

In this paper, we present the fractional Mei symmetrical method of finding conserved quantity and explore its applications to physics. For the fractional generalized Hamiltonian system, we introduce the fractional infinitesimal transformation of Lie groups and, under the transformation, give the fractional Mei symmetrical definition, criterion and determining equation. Then, we present the fractional Mei symmetrical theorem of finding conserved quantity. As the fractional Mei symmetrical method’s applications, we respectively find the conserved quantities of a fractional general relativistic Buchduhl model, a fractional three-body model and a fractional Robbins–Lorenz model.     

Control of Quantum Echo and Bell State Swapping of Two Atomic Qubits in the Two-Mode Vacuum Field Environment

We investigate quantum echo control and Bell state swapping for two atomic qubits (TAQs) coupling to two-mode vacuum cavity field (TMVCF) environment via two-photon resonance. We discuss the effect of initial entanglement factor ?? and relative coupling strength R=g₁/g₂ on quantum state fidelity of TAQs, and analyze the relation between three kinds of quantum entanglement(C(ρ_a),C(ρ_f),S(ρ_a)) and quantum state fidelity, then reveal physical essence of quantum echo of TAQs. It is shown that in the identical coupling case R=1, periodic quantum echo of TAQs with π cycle is always produced, and the value of fidelity can be controlled by choosing appropriate ?? and atom-filed interaction time. In the non-identical coupling case R≠1, quantum echoes with periods of π, 2π and 4π can be formed respectively by adjusting R. The characteristics of quantum echo results from the non-Markovianity of TMVCF environment, and then we propose Bell state swapping scheme between TAQs and two-mode cavity field.     

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of 2D laminar flows past two tandem cylinders

We apply the lattice Boltzmann equation (LBE) with multiple-relaxation-time (MRT) collision model to simulate laminar flows in two-dimensions (2D). In order to simulate flows in an unbounded domain with the LBE method, we need to address two issues: stretched non-uniform mesh and inflow and outflow boundary conditions. We use the interpolated grid stretching method to address the need of non-uniform mesh. We demonstrate that various inflow and outflow boundary conditions can be easily and consistently realized with the MRT-LBE. The MRT-LBE with non-uniform stretched grids is first validated with a number of test cases: the Poiseuille flow, the flow past a cylinder asymmetrically placed in a channel, and the flow past a cylinder in an unbounded domain. We use the LBE method to simulate the flow past two tandem cylinders in an unbounded domain with Re = 100. Our results agree well with existing ones. Through this work we demonstrate the effectiveness of the MRT-LBE method with grid stretching.     

Effect of MgO additive on the high-frequency properties of Z-type hexaferrites

MgO was introduced into low-temperature sintered Z-type hexaferrites in order to improve their high-frequency electromagnetic properties. In the doped samples the major Z-type phase coexists with a small amount of W-type magnetoplumbite phase. The addition of MgO causes a decrease of the average grain size and an increase of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (K₁) and the saturation magnetization (M_s) with the increment of K₁ being larger than that of M_s. These factors result in a reduce of the initial permeability. Also, the samples with MgO additive exhibit higher Q-factor and dc resistivity. Furthermore, the introduction of MgO can decrease the dielectric constant and improve the dielectric loss tangent of the samples by reducing the electronic transition in octahedral site (B-site) between Fe²⁺ and Fe³⁺ ions.     

First-principles study of the formation mechanisms of nitrogen molecule in annealed ZnO

Recently, N₂ molecule was reported to induce localized states in the band gap and trap two holes in ZnO. In this Letter, the detailed mechanism for the formation of N₂ molecule in high temperature annealing process in ZnO was investigated based on density-functional theory. By analyzing the interactions between N-related defects, we found that the nitrogen molecule would form by the binding of two interstitial nitrogen atoms. Interstitial oxygen facilitated the formation of N₂ by kicking out N_O to interstitial site. The formation of nitrogen molecule in ZnO would cause low doping efficiency and degeneration of the p-type in annealing process. Our results could explain the recently reported formation of N₂ molecule in high temperature annealing process in N-doped ZnO. Appropriate annealing conditions were suggested in order to get p-type ZnO.     

Development of picosecond time‐resolved X‐ray absorption spectroscopy by high‐repetition‐rate laser pump/X‐ray probe at Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility

A new setup and commissioning of transient X‐ray absorption spectroscopy are described, based on the high‐repetition‐rate laser pump/X‐ray probe method, at the 1W2B wiggler beamline at the Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility. A high‐repetition‐rate and high‐power laser is incorporated into the setup with in‐house‐built avalanche photodiodes as detectors. A simple acquisition scheme was applied to obtain laser‐on and laser‐off signals simultaneously. The capability of picosecond transient X‐ray absorption spectroscopy measurement was demonstrated for a photo‐induced spin‐crossover iron complex in 6 mM solution with 155 kHz repetition rate.