Geometric groups. I

We define a geometry on a group to be an abelian semigroup of symmetric open sets with certain properties. Examples include well-known structures such as invariant Riemannian metrics on Lie groups, hyperbolic groups, and valuations on fields. In this paper we are mostly concerned with geometries where the semigroup is isomorphic to the positive reals, which for Lie groups come from invariant Finsler metrics. We explore various aspects of these geometric groups, including a theory of covering groups for arcwise connected groups, algebraic expressions for invariant metrics and inner metrics, construction of geometries with curvature bounded below, and finding geometrically significant curves in path homotopy classes.

     

Whirling of a forced cantilevered beam with static deflection. I: Primary resonance

The response of a slender, clastic, cantilevered beam to a transverse, vertical, harmonic excitation is investigated. The effects of nonlinear curvature, nonlinear inertia, viscous damping and static load are included. Previous work often has neglected the static deflection caused by the weight of the beam, which adds quadratic terms in the governing equations of motion. Galerkin's method is used with three modes and approximate solutions of the temporal equations are obtained by the method of multiple scales. Primary resonance is treated here, and out-of-plane motion is possible in the first and second modes when the principal moments of inertia of the beam cross-section are approximately equal. In Parts II and III, secondary resonances and nonstationary passages through various resonances are considered.     

Snap Loads in Mooring Lines During Large Three-Dimensional Motions of a Cylinder

The nonlinear dynamic response of a moored, rigid, horizontalcylinder is considered. Use of the structure as a breakwater or a waveenergy device is envisaged. Inertial and nonlinear damping effects ofthe external fluid are not included, i.e., a dry analysis is carriedout. The four mooring lines are modeled as massless springs which onlyresist tension. The six coupled equations of motion of the cylinder arederived and solved numerically. Linear free vibrations are treatedfirst, followed by the nonlinear three-dimensional response to harmonicforces simulating the action of waves. Normal, longitudinal, and obliqueforces are considered, and time histories of the displacements andmooring line tensions are computed. Snap loads tend to occur in thelines when they are alternately slack and taut. The effects of theforcing direction, amplitude, and frequency are investigated. Chaoticmotions are observed in some cases, and the structure collapses forsufficiently large forcing amplitudes.     

Die Bestimmung des S?uregehaltes der Milch

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Quantum superarrivals and information transfer through a time-varying boundary

The time-dependent Schrödinger equation is solved numerically for the case of a Gaussian wave packet incident on a time-varying potential barrier. The time evolving reflection and transmission probabilities of the wave packet are computed for several different time-dependent boundary conditions obtained by reducing or increasing the height of the potential barrier. We show that in the case when the barrier height is reduced to zero, a time interval is found during which the reflection probability is larger (superarrivals) compared to the unperturbed case. We further show that the transmission probability exhibits superarrivals when the barrier is raised from zero to a finite value of its height. Superarrivals could be understood by ascribing the features of a real physical field to the Schrödinger wave function which acts as a carrier through which a disturbance, resulting from the boundary condition being perturbed, prpagates from the barrier to the detectors measuring reflected and transmitted probabilities. The speed of propagation of this effect depends upon the rate of reducing or raising the barrier height, thus suggesting an application for secure information transfer using superarrivals.     

Electric Nusselt number characterization of electroconvection in nematic liquid crystals

We develop a characterization method of electroconvection structures in a planar nematic liquid crystal layer by a study of the electric current transport. Because the applied potential difference has a sinusoidal time dependence, we define two electric Nusselt numbers corresponding to the in-phase and out-of-phase components of the current. These Nusselt numbers are predicted theoretically using a weakly nonlinear analysis of the standard model. Our measurements of the electric current confirm that both numbers vary linearly with the distance from onset until the occurence of secondary transitions. A systematic comparison between our theoretical and experimental results, using no adjusted parameters, demonstrates moderate agreement, but discrepancies remain. Electric transport measurements during electroconvection represent a quantitative test of the standard model completely independent from optical probes. Thus, the technique described here can be a useful complement to traditional structural measurements. Received 21 January 2001 and Received in final form 1st February 2002     

Spaces of Wald-Berestovskii curvature bounded below

We consider inner metric spaces of curvature bounded below in the sense of Wald, without assuming local compactness or existence of minimal curves. We first extend the Hopf-Rinow theorem by proving existence, uniqueness, and “almost extendability” of minimal curves from any point to a denseG _δ subset. An immediate consequence is that Alexandrov’s comparisons are meaningful in this setting. We then prove Toponogov’s theorem in this generality, and a rigidity theorem which characterizes spheres. Finally, we use our characterization to show the existence of spheres in the space of directions at points in a denseG _δ set. This allows us to define a notion of “local dimension” of the space using the dimension of such spheres. If the local dimension is finite, the space is an Alexandrov space.