Differential hysteresis modeling of a shape memory alloy wire actuator

In this paper, we develop a complete mathematical model of a shape memory alloy (SMA) wire actuated by an electric current and a bias spring. The operation of the SMA actuator involves different physical phenomena, such as heat transfer, phase transformation with temperature hysteresis, stress-strain variations and electrical resistance variation accompanying the phase transformation. We model each of these phenomena in a modular fashion. A key feature of the proposed model is that one or more of its modules can be extended to fit other SMA applications. At the heart of the proposed model is a differential hysteresis model capable of representing minor hysteresis loops. We generate the temperature profile for the hysteresis model using lumped parameter analysis. We extend the variable sublayer model to represent actuator strain and electrical resistance. This model can be used to develop a position control system for the actuator. Simulation results from the model are found to be in good agreement with experimental data.     

Generalized Nash equilibrium problem, variational inequality and quasiconvexity

It is well known that the generalized Nash equilibrium problem, a model for multi-leader–follower games, can be reformulated as a quasivariational inequality. We show that, in fact, a reformulation in terms of a variational inequality can be obtained in the general setting of quasiconvex nondifferentiable decision functions. An existence result is deduced.     

Synthesis and characterization of L‐leucine containing chiral vinyl monomer and its polymer,poly(2‐(methacryloyloxyamino)‐4‐methyl pentanoic acid)

A chiral monomer containing L ‐leucine as a pendant group was synthesized from methacryloyl chloride and L ‐leucine in presence of sodium hydroxide at 4 °C. The monomer was polymerized by free radical polymerization in propan‐2‐ol at 60 °C using 2,2′‐azobis isobutyronitrile (AIBN) as an initiator under nitrogen atmosphere. The polymer, poly(2‐(Methacryloyloxyamino)‐4‐methyl pentanoic acid) is thus obtained. The molecular weight of the polymer was determined to be: M_w is 6.9 × 10³ and M_n is 5.6 × 10³. The optical rotation of both chiral monomer and its polymer varies with the solvent polarity. The amplification of optical rotation due to transformation of monomer to polymer is associated with the ordered conformation of chiral monomer unit in the polymeric chain due to some secondary interactions like H‐bonding. The synthesized monomer and polymer exhibit intense Cotton effect at 220 nm. The conformation of the chain segments is sensitive to external stimuli, particularly the pH of the medium. In alkaline medium, the ordered chain conformation is destroyed resulting disordered random coils. The ordered coiling conformation is more firmly present on addition of HCl. The polymer exhibits swelling‐deswelling characteristics with the change of pH of the medium, which is reversible. The Cotton effect decreases linearly with the increase of temperature which is reversible on cooling. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2228–2242, 2009     

Phase conjugation of gap solitons: A numerical study

We study the effect of a nearby phase-conjugate mirror (PCM) on the gap soliton of a Kerr non-linear periodic structure. We show that phase conjugation of the gap soliton (in the sense of replication of the amplitude profile in the reverse direction) is possible under the condition of PCM reflectivity approaching unity. This is in contrast with the results for linear structures, where the wave profiles can be conjugated for arbitrary values of the PCM reflectivity. The sensitivity of the conjugation of the gap solitons to PCM reflectivity is ascribed to the fine balance of non-linearity with dispersion, necessary for their existence.     

Beyond the standard model: Working group report

This report summarises the activities of the working group on ‘Physics beyond the Standard Model’. The results of investigations in incorporatingR-parity in grand unification, the possibility of a light charged Higgs boson in extension of MSSM and radiative generation of neutral vector boson self-couplings within the MSSM are described. Also given is an account of activities in neutrino physics, namely a proposal for a study of the atmospheric muon anomaly in deep underground mines, a field theoretic study of neutrino oscillations and a mechanism to generate appropriate masses of three active plus one sterile neutrino species.     

Traffic grooming in WDM networks: past and future

Traffic grooming refers to techniques used to combine low-speed traffic streams onto high-speed wavelengths in order to minimize the networkwide cost in terms of line terminating equipment and/or electronic switching. Such techniques become increasingly important for emerging network technologies, including SONET/WDM rings and MPLS/MP/spl lambda/S backbones, for which traffic grooming is essential. In this article we formally define the traffic grooming problem, and we provide a general formulation that captures the features of a wide range of problem variants. We then present a comprehensive comparative survey of the literature that unveils the significant amount of research on this subject (the traffic grooming past). We also offer a broad set of ambitious research directions (the traffic grooming future) that are motivated by the exciting new challenges arising with the advent of MP/spl lambda/S technology.     

Characterization of erbium-doped fibers and application to modeling 980-nm and 1480-nm pumped amplifiers

Erbium-doped fibers are characterized using loss and gain coefficients, and one amplifier saturation parameter. With a large-signal amplifier model that resolves the amplified spontaneous emission spectrum, these easily measured parameters allow the fiber performance in 980-nm or 1480-nm pumped optical amplifiers to be assessed rapidly. In tests at 980-nm pump wavelength, good agreement between the theoretical and experimentally measured gains was obtained with amplifiers having either germano-silicate or germano-alumino-silicate core fibers.<>     

Third harmonic generation in layered media in presence of optical bistability of the fundamental

We study third harmonic generation in layered configuration when the fundamental exhibits bistable response. We consider two geometries, namely, a Fabry-Perot cavity with reflection coatings and a distributed feedback structure with alternate nonlinear layers. In both the cases for suitable choice of frequency, the power response at the fundamental frequency is bistable. We show that bistability of the fundamental leads to a multivalued character of the generated third harmonic in both the forward and backward directions. Moreover, we study frequency response in the case of the Fabry-Perot cavity and show that additional structures arise in the generated third harmonic due to frequency bistability of the fundamental. Our calculations suggest the possibility of an all optical switch at third harmonic frequency controlled by the parameters (like intensity, frequency) of the fundamental.     

Controlled Markov processes on the infinite planning horizon: Weighted and overtaking cost criteria

Stochastic control problems for controlled Markov processes models with an infinite planning horizon are considered, under some non-standard cost criteria. The classical discounted and average cost criteria can be viewed as complementary, in the sense that the former captures the short-time and the latter the long-time performance of the system. Thus, we study a cost criterion obtained as weighted combinations of these criteria, extending to a general state and control space framework several recent results by Feinberg and Shwartz, and by Krass et al. In addition, a functional characterization is given for overtaking optimal policies, for problems with countable state spaces and compact control spaces; our approach is based on qualitative properties of the optimality equation for problems with an average cost criterion.Research partially supported by the Engineering Foundation under grant RI-A-93-10, in part by the National Science Foundation under grant NSF-INT 9201430, and in part by a grant from the AT&T Foundation.Research partially supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under Grant F49620-92-J-0045, and in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant CDR-8803012.     

Hard photon production from unsaturated quark–gluon plasma at two-loop level

The hard photon production from bremsstrahlung and annihilation with scattering that arise at two-loop level are estimated for a chemically non-equilibrated quark–gluon plasma in the framework of Hard Thermal Loop (HTL) resummed effective field theory. The rate of photon production is found to be suppressed due to unsaturated phase space compared to equilibrated plasma. For an unsaturated plasma, unlike the effective one-loop case, the reduction in the effective two-loop processes is found to be independent of gluon fugacity, due to an additional collinear enhancement arising from the decrease in thermal quark mass but strongly depends on quark and antiquark fugacities. It is also found that the photon production is dominated by bremsstrahlung mechanism, since the phase space suppression is higher for annihilation with scattering, in contrast to the equilibrated plasma where annihilation with scattering dominates the photon production.