Spontaneous instability of soft thin films on curved substrates due to van der Waals interaction

The linear bifurcation theory is used to investigate the stability of soft thin films bonded to curved substrates. It is found that such a film can spontaneously lose its stability due to van der Waals or electrostatic interaction when its thickness reduces to the order of microns or nanometers. We first present the generic method for analyzing the surface stability of a thin film interacting with the substrate and then discuss several important geometric configurations with either a positive or negative mean curvature. The critical conditions for the onset of spontaneous instability in these representative examples are established analytically. Besides the surface energy and Poisson's ratio of the thin film, the curvature of the substrate is demonstrated to have a significant influence on the wrinkling behavior of the film. The results suggest that one may fabricate nanopatterns or enhance the surface stability of soft thin films on curved solid surfaces by modulating the mechanical properties of the films and/or such geometrical properties as film thickness and substrate curvature. This study can also help to understand various phenomena associated with surface instability.     

LIMIT CYCLES OF CUBIC VAN DER POL EQUATION WITH ONE FINITE CRITICALPOINT

ItiswellknownthatavarietyofsignificantpracticalproblemsleadtoVanderPciequation'Equation(l)canalsobewritteninitsequivalentformItisacubicdifferentialsystemiff(x,y)y h(x)isacubicpolynomial,correspondingly,equation(1)issaidtobecubicVanderPciequation.Inthispap…     

联合监测过程位置参数和尺度参数的非参数Shewhart控制图

用于检测生产服务过程的传统控制图多数都假定过程的分布是已知的。这些控制困经常是在正态分布的假设下构建的,然而在服务质量实时监控中数据往往是非正态的。在这种情况下,基于正态分布假设的控制图的结果是不可靠的。为了解决这个问题,通常考虑非参数方法,因为在过程分布未知情况下,非参数控制图比参数图更加稳健有效。本文提出一个新的基于Van der Waerden和Klotz检验的Lepage型非参数Shewhart控制图(称为LPN图)用于同时检测未知连续过程分布的位置参数和尺度参数。文中给出了LPN图在不同参数下的控制限。依据运行长度分布的均值,方差和分位数,分析了LPN图在过程受控和失控时的性能,并与其他一些现有的非参数控制图进行比较。基于蒙特卡洛的模拟结果表明,LPN图对非正态分布具有很好的稳健性,并且在不同的过程分布下对检测位置参数和尺度参数,尤其对检测尺度参数的漂移都具有很好的性能。最后通过监控出租车服务质量说明LPN图在实际中的应用。     

Unifying some known infinite families of combinatorial 3-designs

In this paper we present a construction of 3-designs by using a 3-design with resolvability. The basic construction generalizes a well-known construction of simple 3-(v,4,3) designs by Jungnickel and Vanstone (1986). We investigate the conditions under which the designs obtained by the basic construction are simple. Many infinite families of simple 3-designs are presented, which are closely related to some known families by Iwasaki and Meixner (1995), Laue (2004) and van Tran (2000, 2001). On the other hand, the designs obtained by the basic construction possess various properties: A theory of constructing simple cyclic 3-(v,4,3) designs by Köhler (1981) can be readily rebuilt from the context of this paper. Moreover many infinite families of simple resolvable 3-designs are presented in comparison with some known families. We also show that for any prime power q and any odd integer n there exists a resolvable 3-(qn+1,q+1,1) design. As far as the authors know, this is the first and the only known infinite family of resolvable t-(v,k,1) designs with t?3 and k?5. Those resolvable designs can again be used to obtain more infinite families of simple 3-designs through the basic construction.     

Vibration control for the primary resonance of the van der Pol oscillator by a time delay state feedback

We investigate the primary resonance of an externally excited van der Pol oscillator under state feedback control with a time delay. By means of the asymptotic perturbation method, two slow-flow equations on the amplitude and phase of the oscillator are obtained and external excitation-response and frequency-response curves are shown. We discuss how vibration control and high amplitude response suppression can be performed with appropriate time delay and feedback gains. Moreover, energy considerations are used in order to investigate existence and characteristics of limit cycles of the slow-flow equations. A limit cycle corresponds to a two-period modulated motion for the van der Pol oscillator. We demonstrate that appropriate choices for the feedback gains and the time delay can exclude the possibility of modulated motion and reduce the amplitude peak of the primary resonance. Analytical results are verified with numerical simulations.     

The Exit Problem from a Neighborhood of the Global Attractor for Dynamical Systems Perturbed by Heavy-Tailed Lévy Processes

The concept of filtered counting process is used to model several stochastic problems in manufacturing systems. Through a judicious selection of an appropriate response function, several system characteristics are evaluated under distribution-free condition. Applications include a machine shop problem, a machine sequencing problem, a flexible manufacturing problem, a job sequencing problem, a maintenance problem and an inventory problem. The methodology provides a unique, original and simple way to solve a large array of problems     

On a Theorem of Van de Ven

A result by Van de Ven characterizes linear subspaces as the only closed submanifolds X ? ? ^N for which the normal bundle exact sequence splits. We show that X is linear assuming only the splitting of the same exact sequence when restricted to some curve contained in X .     

A Floating Gaussian Orbital calculation on argon hydrochloride (Ar · HCl)

The electronic structure, properties and binding of the argon hydrochloride (Ar-HCl) complex are discussed in connexion with simpleab initio Floating Gaussian Orbital calculations on the system.     

Self-synchronization of nonlinear oscillations in the presence of fluctuations

A statistical mechanical theory is presented for the self-organization of a macroscopic oscillation with the presence of external fluctuations in a system of Van der Pol oscillators coupled through dissipative interactions. Starting from Langevin equations for the Van der Pol oscillators, the static and dynamic characteristics are studied. The threshold condition is given by the relative size between the fluctuation and the interaction. The transitions between synchronous and asynchronous phases are well discussed by a Landau-type equation. The steady state value of the order parameter and the onset time are compared between the theory and the computer experiments and a good agreement is obtained.     

Dirac's Claim and the Chemists

In 1929 Paul A. M. Dirac claimed that “the underlying physical laws necessary for the mathematical theory of ... the whole of chemistry are thus completely known, and the difficulty is only that the exact application of these laws leads to equations much too complicated to be soluble.” This sentence of Dirac's is cited frequently by historians and philosophers of chemistry in the context of discussions on the hypothetical reduction of chemistry to physics. But how did chemists themselves react to Dirac's claim? Did they feel threatened by physicists who felt they could do their job better than themselves? Did they feel indifferent, or did they simply not care? Was Dirac's paper often cited by chemists? Why was it cited? In this paper, I provide answers to these questions on the basis of an analysis of citations to Dirac's 1929 paper in the Science Citation Index. RID="*" ID="*"Ana Sim?es teaches history of science at the University of Lisbon. Her research is in the history of quantum chemistry and in the history of the sciences at the European peripheries.