Shrimp-shape domains in a dissipative kicked rotator

Some dynamical properties for a dissipative kicked rotator are studied. Our results show that when dissipation is taken into account a drastic change happens in the structure of the phase space in the sense that the mixed structure is modified and attracting fixed points and chaotic attractors are observed. A detailed numerical investigation in a two-dimensional parameter space based on the behavior of the Lyapunov exponent is considered. Our results show the existence of infinite self-similar shrimp-shaped structures corresponding to periodic attractors, embedded in a large region corresponding to the chaotic regime.     

Continuous monitoring of dough fermentation and bread baking by magnetic resonance microscopy

The consumer quality of baked products is closely related with dough structure properties. These are developed during dough fermentation and finalized during its baking. In this study, magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) was employed in a study of dough fermentation and baking. A small hot air oven was installed inside a 2.35-T horizontal bore superconducting magnet. Four different samples of commercial bread mixes for home baking were used to prepare small samples of dough that were inserted in the oven and allowed to rise at 33°C for 112 min; this was followed by baking at 180°C for 49 min. The entire process was followed by dynamic T₁-weighted 3D magnetic resonance imaging with 7 min of temporal resolution and 0.23×0.23×1.5 mm³ of spatial resolution. Acquired images were analyzed to determine time courses of dough pore distribution, dough volume and bread crust thickness. Image analysis showed that both the number of dough pores and the normalized dough volume increased in a sigmoid-like fashion during fermentation and decreased during baking due to the bread crust formation. The presented magnetic resonance method was found to be efficient in analysis of dough structure properties and in discrimination between different dough types.     

Measurement of the spin correlation Aookk in pp elastic scattering from 0.88 to 2.7 GeV

The spin correlation parameter A_ookk in pp elastic scattering was measured using the SATURNE II polarized proton beam and the Saclay frozen spin polarized target. The measurements at 0.88 and 1.1 GeV were carried out in the angular region θ_CM from 28° to ⋍ 50° and complete our previous measurements from 45° to 90°. Above 1.1 GeV the measurements presented here cover both regions, extending from θ_CM = 28° (at the lower energies) or θ_CM = 18° (at the higher energies) to θ_CM > 90°. The shape of the angular distribution A_ookk (pp) = f(θ_CM) changes considerably between in our energy region.     

Local automorphisms of standard operator algebras

Let X be an infinite-dimensional separable real or complex Banach space and A a closed standard operator algebra on X. Then every local automorphism of A is an automorphism. The assumptions of infinite-dimensionality, separability, and closeness are all indispensable.     

Experimental modeling of physical laws

A physical law is represented by the probability distribution of a measured variable. The probability density is described by measured data using an estimator whose kernel is the instrument scattering function. The experimental information and data redundancy are defined in terms of information entropy. The model cost function, comprised of data redundancy and estimation error, is minimized by the creation-annihilation process. Received 24 February 2000 and Received in final form 21 February 2001     

Catalyst-free and controllable growth of SiCxNy nanorods

Non vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) method of growing high-purity silicon carbon nitride (SiC_xN_y) nanorods with rod widths ranging from 10 to 60 nm and lengths of microns is reported. Unlike the case for the ordinary VLS or catalyst-mediated growth, the two-stage process presented here is a catalyst-free approach since it does not involve any catalyst during the growth of the nanorods. The first stage involves formation of a buffer layer containing various densities of SiC_xN_y nanocrystals by electron cyclotron resonance plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD); whereas the second stage involves a high growth rate along a preferred orientation to produce high-aspect-ratio nanorods using microwave PECVD. Moreover, the number density and the diameter of the nanorods can be controlled by the number density and the size of the nanocrystals in the buffer layer. Production of quasi-aligned SiC_xN_y nanorods with a number density of the rods as high as 10¹⁰ cm⁻² has been achieved. The SiC_xN_y nanorods thus produced exhibit good field emission characteristics with stable operation over 8 h. The approach presented here provides a new advance to synthesize nanorod materials in a controllable manner.     

Calculation of the photoionization with deexcitation cross sections of He and helium-like ions

We discuss the results of the calculation of the photoionization with deexcitation of excited He and helium-like ions Li⁺ and B³⁺ at high but nonrelativistic photon energies θ. Several lower ¹ S and ³ S states are considered. We present and analyze the ratios R _d ⁺ * of the cross sections of photoionization with deexcitation, σ _(d) ⁺ *(θ), and of the photoionization with excitation, σ⁺*(θ). The dependence of R _d ⁺ * on the excitation of the target object and the charge of its nucleus is presented. In addition to theoretical interest, the results obtained can be verified using long-lived excited states such as 2³ S of He. The text was submitted by authors in English.     

Measurements of cavitation bubble dynamics based on a beam-deflection probe

We present an optodynamic measurement of a laser-induced cavitation bubble and its oscillations based on a scanning technique using a laser beam-deflection probe. The deflection of the beam was detected with a fast quadrant photodiode which was built into the optical probe. The applied experimental setup enabled us to carry out one- or two-dimensional scanning of the cavitation bubble, automatic control of the experiment, data acquisition and data processing. Shadow photography was used as a comparative method during the experiments.     

Dynamics modeling and robotic-assist,leader-follower control of tractor convoys

This paper proposes a generalized dynamics model and a leader-follower control architecture for skid-steered tracked vehicles towing polar sleds. The model couples existing formulations in the literature for the powertrain components with the vehicle-terrain interaction to capture the salient features of terrain trafficability and predict the vehicles response. This coupling is essential for making realistic predictions of the vehicles traversing capabilities due to the power-load relationship at the engine output. The objective of the model is to capture adequate fidelity of the powertrain and off-road vehicle dynamics while minimizing the computational cost for model based design of leader-follower control algorithms. The leader-follower control architecture presented proposes maintaining a flexible formation by using a look-ahead technique along with a way point following strategy. Results simulate one leader-follower tractor pair where the leader is forced to take an abrupt turn and experiences large oscillations of its drawbar arm indicating potential payload instability. However, the follower tractor maintains the flexible formation but keeps its payload stable. This highlights the robustness of the proposed approach where the follower vehicle can reject errors in human leader driving.