Size Dependent Heat Conduction in One-Dimensional Diatomic Lattices

We study the size dependency of heat conduction in one-dimensional diatomic FPU-β lattices and establish that for low dimensional material,contribution from optical phonons is found more effective to the thermal conductivity and enhance heat transport in the thermodynamic limit N →∞.For the finite size,thermal conductivity of 1D diatomic lattice is found to be lower than 1D monoatomic chain of the same size made up of the constituent particle of the diatomic chain.For the present 1D diatomic chain,obtained value of power divergent exponent of thermal conductivity0.428±0.001 and diffusion exponent 1.2723 lead to the conclusions that increase in the system size,increases the thermal conductivity and existence of anomalous energy diffusion.Existing numerical data supports our findings.     

High pressure structural,electronic and vibrational properties of InN and InP

A first-principles plane wave self-consistent method with the Ultrasoftpseudopotential scheme in the framework of density functional theory is performed to study the high pressure structural, electronic and vibrational properties of InX (X = N, P) for the zinc-blende (ZnS/B3), rock-salt (NaCl/B1) and cesium-chloride (CsCl/B2) phases. We also calculate the phase transition pressures among these different phases. Conclusions based on electronic energy band structure, phonon dispersion and phonon density of states at high pressure phases along phase transition regions are outlined.     

Study of thermal conductivity and thermal rectification in exponential mass graded lattices

Concept of exponential mass variation of oscillators along the chain length of N oscillators is proposed in the present Letter. The temperature profile and thermal conductivity of one-dimensional (1D) exponential mass graded harmonic and anharmonic lattices are studied on the basis of Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) β model. Present findings conclude that the exponential mass graded chain provide higher conductivity than that of linear mass graded chain. The exponential mass graded anharmonic chain generates the thermal rectification of 70-75% which is better than linear mass graded materials, so far. Thus instead of using linear mass graded material, the use of exponential mass graded material will be a better and genuine choice for controlling the heat flow at nano-scale.     

Superconducting state parameters of indium-based binary alloys

Our well-recognized pseudopotential is used to investigate the superconducting state parameters viz: electron-phonon coupling strength λ. Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, transition temperature T _c, isotope effective exponent α and interaction strength N ₀ V for the In_1−x Zn _x and In_1−x Sn _x binary alloys. We have incorporated six different types of local field correction functions, proposed by Hartree, Taylor, Vashistha-Singwi, Ichimaru-Utsumi, Farid et al and Sarkar et al to show the effect of exchange and correlation on the aforesaid properties. Very strong influence of the various exchange and correlation functions is concluded from the present study. The comparison with other such theoretical values is encouraging, which confirms the applicability of our model potential in explaining the superconducting state parameters of binary mixture.     

Computer Simulation Study of Thermal Conduction in 1D Chains of Anharmonic Oscillators

In this work thermal conduction in one-dimensional(1D) chains of anharmonic oscillators are studied using computer simulation.The temperature profile,heat flux and thermal conductivity are investigated for chain length N = 100,200,400,800 and 1600.In the computer simulation anharmonicity is introduced due to Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-β(FPU-β) model.For substrate interaction,an onsite potential due to Frenkel-Kontorova(FK) model has been used.Numerical simulations demonstrate that temperature gradient scales behave as N-1 linearly with the relation J = 0.1765/N.For the thermal conductivity K,KN to N obey the linear relation of the type KN = 0.8805N.It is shown that thermal transport is dependent on phonon-phonon interaction as well as phonon-lattice interaction.The thermal conductivity increases linearly with increase inanharmonicity and predicts relation κ = 0.133 + 0.804β.It is also concluded that for higher value of the strength of the onsite potential system tends to a thermal insulator.     

A piecewise linearization for retail shelf space allocation problem and a local search heuristic

Retail shelf space allocation problem is well known in literature. In this paper, we make three contributions to retail shelf space allocation problem considering space elasticity (SSAPSE). First, we reformulate an existing nonlinear model for SSAPSE to an integer programming (IP) model using piecewise linearization. Second, we show that the linear programming relaxation of the proposed IP model produces tight upper bound. Third, we develop a heuristic that consistently produces near optimal solutions for randomly generated instances of problems with size (products, shelves) varying from (25, 5) to (200, 50) within a minute of CPU time.     

Total energy, equation of state and bulk modulus of AlP, AlAs and AlSb semiconductors

Recently proposed model potential which combines both linear and quadratic types of interactions is employed for the investigation of some properties like the total energy, equation of state and bulk modulus of AlP, AlAs and AlSb semiconductor compounds using higher-order perturbation theory. The model potential parameter is determined using zero pressure condition. The ratio of the covalent bonding termE _cov to the secondorder termE ₂ is 6.77% to 11.85% which shows that contribution from higher order terms are important for zinc-blende-type crystals. The calculated numerical results of the total energy, energy band gap at Jones-zone face and bulk modulus of these compounds are in good agreement with the experimental data and found much better than other such theoretical findings. We have also studied pressure-volume relations of these compounds. The present study is carried out using six different screening functions along with latest screening function proposed by Sarkaret al. It is found from the present study that effect of exchange and correlation is clearly distinguishable.     

The Absolute Instability of Thin Wakes in an Incompressible/Compressible Fluid

RID="ID=" Communicated by P. HallAbstract:The absolute/convective instability of two-dimensional wakes forming behind a flat plate and near the trailing-edge of a thin wedge-shaped aerofoil in an incompressible/compressible fluid is investigated. The mean velocity profiles are obtained by solving numerically the classical compressible boundary-layer equations with a negative pressure gradient for the flat plate case, and the incompressible triple-deck equations for a thin wedge-shaped trailing-edge. In addition for a Joukowski aerofoil the incompressible mean boundary-layer flow in the vicinity of the trailing-edge is also calculated by solving the interactive boundary-layer equations. A linear stability analysis of the boundary-layer profiles shows that a pocket of absolute instability occurs downstream of the trailing-edge with the extent of the instability region increasing with more adverse pressure gradients. The region of absolute instability persists along the near-wake axis, while the majority of the wake is convectively unstable. For a thin wedge-shaped trailing-edge in an incompressible fluid, a similar stability analysis of the velocity profiles obtained via a composite expansion, also shows the occurrence of absolute instability behind the trailing-edge for a wedge angle greater than a critical value. For increasing values of the wedge angle and for thicker aerofoils, separation takes place near the trailing-edge and the extent of absolute instability increases. Calculations also show that for insulated plates compressibility has a stabilizing effect but cooling the wall destabilizes the flow unlike wall heating.} Received 11 May 1998 and accepted 25 February 1999     

Global flow instability in a lid‐driven cavity

The stability of flow in a lid‐driven cavity is investigated using an accurate numerical technique based on a hybrid scheme with spectral collocation and high‐order finite differences. A global stability analysis is carried out and critical parameters are identified for various aspect ratios. It is found that while there is reasonable agreement with the literature for the critical parameters leading to loss of stability for the square cavity, there are significant discrepancies for cavities of aspect ratios 1.5 and 2. Simulations of the linearized unsteady equations confirm the results from the global stability analysis for aspect ratios A = 1, 1.5 and A = 2. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative morphologic evaluation of white matter in survivors of childhood medulloblastoma

In survivors of pediatric brain tumors, cranial radiation therapy can cause a debilitating cognitive decline associated with decreased volume in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). We applied fractal geometry to quantify white matter (WM) integrity in the brain of medulloblastoma survivors. Fractal features of WM were evaluated by indices of fractal dimensions (FDs) of WM intensity and boundary on T1-weighted magnetic resonance images. The FD index of WM intensity was calculated by using a fractional Brownian motion model, and the FD index of WM boundary was calculated by using a box-counting method. Fractal features of WM on 116 magnetic resonance images of 58 patients with medulloblastoma were investigated at the start of therapy (Start TX) and approximately 2 years later (After TX). Patients were assigned to one of two groups based on change in NAWM volumes. Fractal features in patients with decreased NAWM volume were significantly greater After TX, whereas those in patients with increased NAWM volumes were not. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that fractal features were strongly correlated with NAWM volumes After TX in patients with decreased NAWM volume. These results demonstrated significant deficit in NAWM integrity and WM density changes in children treated for medulloblastoma. Multiple regression analysis illustrated that deficits in NAWM integrity in these children may partly explain the decrease in NAWM volume. We conclude that fractal geometry can be used to monitor the morphologic effects of neurotoxicity in brain tumor survivors.