Étude numérique du couplage de la convection naturelle avec le rayonnement de surfaces en cavité carrée remplie d'airNumerical study of natural convection-surface radiation coupling in air-filled square cavities

A numerical tool is developed for coupling natural convection in cavities with surface radiation and computations are performed for an air-filled square cavity whose four walls have the same emissivity. Compared to the adiabatic case without radiation, the top wall is cooled, the bottom wall is heated, air flow along the horizontal walls are reinforced and thermal stratification in cavity core is reduced. Detailed analysis shows that net radiative heat flux is linear with ΔT if $\mathrm{\Delta }T?T_0$, which is the case at low Rayleigh number, and that radiative Nusselt number is a linear function of the cavity height. Surface radiation induces an early transition to time-dependent flows: for $?=0.2$ and a cavity height of 0.335 m the critical Rayleigh number is equal to $9.3\times {10}^6$ and the corresponding Hopf bifurcation is supercritical. Furthermore, multiple periodic solutions are observed between $\mathit{Ra}=1.2\times {10}^7$ and $1.3\times {10}^7$. To cite this article: H. Wang et al., C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).     

Advances in synchrotron hard X-ray based imaging

Modern synchrotron radiation (SR) sources have dramatically fostered the use of SR-based X-ray imaging. The relevant information such as density, chemical composition, chemical states, structure, and crystallographic perfection is mapped in two, or, increasingly, in three dimensions. The development of nano-science requires pushing spatial resolution down towards the nanoscale.The present article describes a selection of hard X-ray imaging and microanalysis techniques that emerged over the last few years, by taking advantage of the flux and coherence of the SR beams, as well as exploiting the advances in X-ray optics and detectors, and the increased possibilities of computers (memory, speed). Examples are given to illustrate the opportunities associated with the use of these techniques, and a number of recent references are provided. To cite this article: J. Baruchel et al., C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Magnetization dynamics: ultra-fast and ultra-small

Ultrafast magnetic processes are of great scientific interest but also form the basis of high density magnetic recording applications. We demonstrate the uniqueness of time resolved, high resolution magnetic X-ray microscopy, and show that the motion of a magnetic vortex core can be imaged. The vortex core direction is hidden to most experimental techniques, but has a decisive influence on the dynamics of the magnetic structure.We imaged the switching of a ferromagnetic nanostructure by a spin polarized current pulse using time resolved X-ray microscopy. As opposed to the common uniform switching process due to Néel and Stoner–Wohlfarth, the magnetization in spin injection devices does not switch uniformly, but involves the motion of a magnetic vortex. To cite this article: Y. Acremann, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Physicochemical and photocatalytic properties of the ZnO particles synthesized by two different methods using three different precursors

ZnO particles with different morphological forms and various scale sizes were successfully synthesized as photocatalysts using two different methods (sol–gel and precipitation) and three precursors (zinc acetate dihydrate, zinc nitrate hexahydrate, and zinc sulfate heptahydrate). These materials were calcined at 500 °C for 3 h and characterized by various physicochemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, transmission electron microscopy, S_BET, and UV–vis diffuse reflectance. The results showed that the crystalline structure, size, and morphology of the ZnO particles are strongly influenced by the preparation method and by the nature of the precursor used as reactant. The photocatalytic efficiency of the synthesized photocatalysts was evaluated by the photodegradation of methyl orange in aqueous solution under UV-A light. The results showed that the ZnO nanoparticles prepared the by sol–gel method from zinc acetate are more efficient than those prepared by the precipitation method.     

X radiation sources based on accelerators

Light sources based on accelerators aim at producing very high brilliance coherent radiation, tuneable from the infrared to X-ray range, with picosecond or femtosecond light pulses.The first synchrotron light sources were built around storage rings in which a large number of relativistic electrons produce “synchrotron radiation” when their trajectory is subjected to a magnetic field, either in bending magnets or in specific insertion devices (undulators), made of an alternating series of magnets, allowing the number of curvatures to be increased and the radiation to be reinforced.These “synchrotron radiation” storage rings are now used worldwide (there are more than thirty), and they simultaneously distribute their radiation to several tens of users around the storage ring.The most effective installations in term of brilliance are the so-called 3rd generation synchrotron radiation light sources. The radiation produced presents pulse durations of the order of a few tens of ps, at a high rate (of the order of MHz); it is tuneable over a large range, depending on the magnetic field and the electron beam energy and its polarisation is adjustable (in the VUV-soft-X range). Generally, a very precise spectral selection is made by the users with a monochromator.The single pass linear accelerators can produce very short electron bunches (). The beam of very high electronic density is sent into successive undulator modules, reinforcing the radiation's longitudinal coherence, produced according to a Free Electron Laser (FEL) scheme by the interaction between the electron bunch and a light wave. The very high peak brilliance justifies their designation as 4th generation sources. The number of users is smaller because an electron pulse produces a radiation burst towards only one beamline. Energy Recovery Linacs (ERL) let the beam pass several times in the accelerator structures either to recover the energy or to accelerate the electrons during several turns, and thus provide subpicosecond beams for a greater number of users.A state-of-the-art of X sources using conventional (and not laser plasma based) accelerators is given here, underlying the performance already reached or forecast and the essential challenges. To cite this article: M.-E. Couprie, J.-M. Filhol, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

Revisiting thermal radiation in the near field

Thermal radiation is generally assumed to be both spatially and temporally incoherent. In this paper, we challenge this idea. It is possible to design incandescent sources that are directional and spectrally selective by taking advantage of surface waves. We also report the discovery of the enhancement by several orders of magnitude of the energy density close to an interface at a particular frequency as well as the enhancement of the radiative flux between two interfaces when surface phonon polaritons can be excited. These results lead to the design of a novel class of infrared incandescent sources with potential applications in spectroscopy and thermophotovoltaic energy conversion.     

Planck 2015 results and inflation

The Planck mission prime objective was a very accurate and complete measurement of the temperature anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Cosmological results from the intensity data of the nominal mission of a duration of 15 months were disclosed on 21 March 2013. Fortunately, the satellite kept acquiring data for at least twice longer, and we announced in February 2015 new results based on all the data acquired, both in temperature and polarization. I provide a short overview of the latest data and findings of most interest for inflation, as a basis for the other contributions to this volume. This overview is entirely based on the published or submitted works of the Planck collaboration.     

Shear-layer acoustic radiation in an excited subsonic jet: experimental study

The subharmonic acoustic radiation of a tone excited subsonic jet shear-layer has been investigated experimentally. Two jet velocities $U_j=20\text{m}?{\text{s}}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ and $U_j=40\text{m}?{\text{s}}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ were studied. For $U_j=20\text{m}?{\text{s}}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, the natural boundary-layer at the nozzle exit is laminar. When the perturbation is applied, the fluctuations of the first and the second subharmonics of the excitation frequency are detected in the shear-layer. In addition, the first subharmonic near pressure field along the spreading jet is constituted of two strong maxima of sinusoidal shape. The far-field directivity pattern displays two lobes separated by an extinction angle ${\theta }^{?}$ at around 85° from the jet axis. These observations follow the results of Bridges about the vortex pairing noise. On the other hand, for $U_j=40\text{m}?{\text{s}}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, the initial boundary-layer is transitional and only the first subharmonic is observed in the presence of the excitation. The near pressure field is of Gaussian shape in the jet periphery and the acoustic far-field is superdirective as observed by Laufer and Yen. The state of the initial shear-layer seems to be the key feature to distinguish these two different radiation patterns. To cite this article: V. Fleury et al., C. R. Mecanique 333 (2005).