A method of variation of boundaries for waveguide grating couplers

We describe a method for calculating the solution of the electromagnetic field in a non-rectilinear open waveguide by using a series expansion, starting from the field of a rectilinear waveguide. Our approach is based on a method of variation of boundaries. We prove that the obtained series expansion converges and we provide a radiation condition at infinity in such a way that the problem has a unique solution. Our approach can model several kinds of optical devices which are used in optical integrated circuits. Numerical examples will be shown for the case of finite aperiodic waveguide grating couplers.     

Strong solutions for semilinear wave equations with damping and source terms

This article deals with local existence of strong solutions for semilinear wave equations with power-like interior damping and source terms. A long-standing restriction on the range of exponents for the two nonlinearities governs the literature on wellposedness of weak solutions of finite energy. We show that this restriction may be eliminated for the existence of higher regularity solutions by employing natural methods that use the physics of the problem. This approach applies to the Cauchy problem posed on the entire ? ⁿ as well as for initial boundary problems with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions.     

研究材料动态本构特性中的重要作用

在材料动态本构关系的研究中，不论是由波传播信息反求材料本构关系，即所谓解第二类反问题，还是利用应力波效应和应变率效应解耦的方法（如SHPB技术），应力波传播实际上都起着关键作用。在一般性讨论的基础上，就SHPB试验技术分析了应力波传播如何影响材料动态本构特性的有效确定。对于应力/应变沿试件长度均匀分布假定以及一维应力波假定，着重进行了分析。     

Review: Aptamers in microfluidic chips

This review, covering reports published from 2002 to August 2010, shows how aptamers have made significant contributions in the improvements of microfluidic chips for affinity extraction, separations and detections. Furthermore, microfluidic chip methods for studying aptamer-target interactions and performing aptamer selections have also been summarized. Accordingly, research vacancies and future development trends in these areas are discussed.     

Learning multiple belief propagation fixed points for real time inference

In the context of inference with expectation constraints, we propose an approach based on the “loopy belief propagation” algorithm (lpb), as a surrogate to an exact Markov Random Field (mrf) modelling. A prior information composed of correlations among a large set of N variables, is encoded into a graphical model; this encoding is optimized with respect to an approximate decoding procedure (lbp), which is used to infer hidden variables from an observed subset. We focus on the situation where the underlying data have many different statistical components, representing a variety of independent patterns. Considering a single parameter family of models we show how lpb may be used to encode and decode efficiently such information, without solving the NP-hard inverse problem yielding the optimal mrf. Contrary to usual practice, we work in the non-convex Bethe free energy minimization framework, and manage to associate a belief propagation fixed point to each component of the underlying probabilistic mixture. The mean field limit is considered and yields an exact connection with the Hopfield model at finite temperature and steady state, when the number of mixture components is proportional to the number of variables. In addition, we provide an enhanced learning procedure, based on a straightforward multi-parameter extension of the model in conjunction with an effective continuous optimization procedure. This is performed using the stochastic search heuristic cmaes and yields a significant improvement with respect to the single parameter basic model.     

Front propagation in the bromate-sulfite-ferrocyanide-aluminum (III) system: Autocatalytic front in a buffer system

We study the propagation of pH fronts in a narrow, pseudo-one-dimensional strip of gel containing bromate, sulfite, ferrocyanide and aluminum ions. The front propagation speed v decreases with [ Al³⁺] as , where c is a constant. We determine the diffusion coefficients of protons and ferricyanide ions and find that Al(OH)₃ loaded in agarose or acrylamide gels binds protons reversibly, thereby slowing the propagating fronts without significantly affecting the diffusion of ferricyanide ions. We present a model that qualitatively reproduces the experimental behavior, and we suggest some general principles governing autocatalytic fronts in buffered systems.     

Filtering performance improvement in V-doped ZnO/diamond surface acoustic wave filters

High-frequency surface acoustic wave (SAW) filters using undoped and V-doped ZnO films were fabricated on diamond. Compared with their counterparts, the SAW filters using V-doped ZnO films have higher electromechanical coupling coefficient of ∼2.9% and lower insertion loss. The filtering performance improvement is considered to be due to the ferroelectricity in V-doped ZnO films and the resultant high piezoresponse (∼110 pm/V), which is one order of magnitude larger than that of undoped ZnO films. In addition, more perfect (0 0 2) preferred orientation, better uniform grains and smoother surface of V-doped ZnO films also contribute to the filtering performance improvement.     

The effective dielectric constant of plasmas — A mean field theory built from the electromagnetic ionic T-matrix

This work aims to obtain the effective dielectric constant tensor of a warm plasma in the spirit of the derivation of a mixing law. The medium is made of non point-like ions immersed in an electron gas with usual conditions relating the various lengths which define the problem. In this paper the ion dielectric constants are taken from their RPA responses as developed in a previous paper [1]. Furthermore the treatment of the screening effects is made through a mathematical redefinition of the initial problem as proposed in Ref. [1]. Here the complete calculation of the T-matrix describing the scattering of an electromagnetic wave on an isolated ion immersed in an “effective medium” is given. It is used for building , in the spirit of a mixing law, a self-consistent effective medium theory for the plasma dielectric tensor. We then extend the results obtained in Ref. [1] to higher orders in ion or dielectric inclusion densities. The techniques presented are generic and can be used in areas such as elasticity, thermoelasticity, and piezoelectricity.     

Sound field prediction in long enclosures with branches: A combined method

The propagation of sound in long enclosures with branches has been studied theoretically and experimentally, and an efficient combined method is proposed to predict the sound field in long enclosures with branches. Based on the wave-acoustics theory, the theoretical analysis of the sound field of the long enclosures with branches is performed. This paper also investigated the sound field prediction of long enclosures with branches, by using the acoustic modeling program, ODEON. The results obtained by the theoretical analysis and the numerical simulation ODEON are compared with the experimental measurements, and the characteristics of the two methods for predicting the sound field of long enclosures with branches are analyzed. Compared with the experimental results, it is found that: (1) the results predicted by the theoretical analysis fluctuate relatively large with respect to the source-receiver distance, and the sound pressure level (SPL) attenuation obtained is smaller than that measured; and (2) the results predicted by the numerical simulation is smoother, and the calculated SPL attenuation is larger than that measured. To effectively predict the sound field of long enclosures with branches, a combined numerical method is thus proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed combined method is demonstrated by the scale-model experiments.     

Effects of the transducer dynamics in underwater acoustic communication

The inter-carrier interference (ICI) of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols, which is caused by the transducer’s dynamics, has been analysed and simulated in this paper. The small Cyclic Prefix (CP) method is proposed to overcome the ICI caused by the transducer in order to maintain the orthogonality between sub-carriers without much loss of the energy and the bandwidth efficiency. The simulation results show that the small CP whose length is longer than the transient response of the transducer can eliminate the ICI problem.