Direct numerical simulation of settling of a large solid particle during bioconvection

Settling of a large solid particle in bioconvection flow caused by gyrotactic microorganisms is investigated. The particle is released from the top of the bioconvection chamber; its settling pattern depends on whether it is released in the centre of the bioconvection plume or at its periphery. The Chimera method is utilized; a subgrid is generated around a moving particle. The method suggested by Liu and Wang (Comput. Fluid 2004; 33 :223–255) is further developed to account for the presence of a moving boundary in the streamfunction‐vorticity formulation using the finite‐difference method. A number of cases for different release positions of the particle are computed. It is demonstrated that bioconvection can either accelerate or decelerate settling of the particle depending on the initial position of the particle relative to the plume centre. It is also shown that the particle impacts bioconvection plume by changing its shape and location in the chamber. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sound radiation from a joint of plates of different thickness

A method of solving the problem of sound radiation from a plate with elements of different thickness in its plane is proposed, and the results obtained with this method are presented. It is shown that the main sources of sound radiation are the inhomogeneous flexural fields formed in the elements on both sides of their joint.     

An algebra of meromorphic corner symbols

Operators on manifolds with corners that have base configurations with geometric singularities can be analysed in the frame of a conormal symbolic structure which is in spirit similar to the one for conical singularities of Kondrat'ev's work. Solvability of elliptic equations and asymptotics of solutions are determined by meromorphic conormal symbols. We study the case when the base has edge singularities which is a natural assumption in a number of applications. There are new phenomena, caused by a specific kind of higher degeneracy of the underlying symbols. We introduce an algebra of meromorphic edge operators that depend on complex parameters and investigate meromorphic inverses in the parameter-dependent elliptic case. Among the examples are resolvents of elliptic differential operators on manifolds with edges.     

Roles of rhenium diimine complexes as metal‐ion probes and photosensitizers in functional polyurethanes

Polyurethanes incorporated with rhenium diimine complexes were synthesized. The polymers exhibited interesting morphologies and solution properties. Results from gel permeation chromatography suggested the formation of polymer aggregates in solutions. The polymers could act as probes for metal ions. The addition of metal ions to polymer solutions led to significant changes in the electronic absorption properties of the polymer solutions. This was attributed to the interactions between the polyether moieties and metal ions. The metal complexes could also act as efficient photosensitizers. After doping with charge‐transport viologens, the photoconductivity of the polymers was greatly enhanced. The experimental quantum efficiency was simulated with Onsager's theory. The thermalization distances and the primary yields were typically 12–14 Å and 10^?3, respectively. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1708–1715, 2003     

New insights on amorphous silicon-nitride microcavities

All amorphous silicon-nitride planar optical microcavities operating in the visible range have been grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The luminescence intensity of the N-rich silicon-nitride layer from a microcavity with 6 period distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) is two order of magnitude higher than that of the luminescent layer without the cavity. Moreover, a strong directionality of the microcavities emission can be observed. Such results can be ascribed to the anisotropic optical density of states induced in the Fabry–Perot structure. The quality factors of the resonators are strictly correlated to the number of periods of the DBRs.     

Two-Variable Identities in Groups and Lie Algebras

We study two-variable Engel-like relations and identities characterizing finite-dimensional solvable Lie algebras and, conjecturally, finite solvable groups and introduce some invariants of finite groups associated with such relations. Bibliography: 29 titles.     

Relationships between Electrodynamic and Quantum-Mechanical Parameters in the Theory of Quantum Transitions

Relationships between the electrodynamic (wave propagation constants) and quantum-mechanical parameters (probability of induced transitions) of interaction between energy quanta and particles of the medium are derived for dipole and paramagnetic interaction types. It is demonstrated that quantum-mechanical parameters are generally complex.     

Use of the two-moment boundary condition in the problem of rarefied gas slip over a solid cylindrical surface

The slip velocity of a rarefied gas nonuniform in temperature and mass velocity is calculated for gas slip over the surface of a right circular cylinder. The calculation uses the two-moment boundary condition in an approximation linear in Knudsen number. Corrections to the slip velocity that are due to the interface curvature, volume temperature stresses, and nonuniform temperature distribution in the Knudsen layer are studied as func-tions of the accommodation coefficients in the first two moments of the distribution function. The Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook model of the Boltzmann kinetic equation is employed as the basic equation for the gas state.     

A transform method for linear evolution PDEs on a finite interval

We study initial boundary value problems for linear scalar evolutionpartial differential equations, with spatial derivatives ofarbitrary order, posed on the domain {t > 0, 0 < x <L}. We show that the solution can be expressed as an integralin the complex k-plane. This integral is defined in terms ofan x-transform of the initial condition and a t-transform ofthe boundary conditions. The derivation of this integral representationrelies on the analysis of the global relation, which is an algebraicrelation defined in the complex k-plane coupling all boundaryvalues of the solution. For particular cases, such as the case of periodic boundaryconditions, or the case of boundary value problems for even-orderPDEs, it is possible to obtain directly from the global relationan alternative representation for the solution, in the formof an infinite series. We stress, however, that there existinitial boundary value problems for which the only representationis an integral which cannot be written as an infinite series.An example of such a problem is provided by the linearized versionof the KdV equation. Similarly, in general the solution of odd-orderlinear initial boundary value problems on a finite intervalcannot be expressed in terms of an infinite series.