Continuos Parameterization of the Median Surface of an Ellipsoidal Shell and Its Geometric Parameters

When analyzing the stress-strain state of thin-walled structural elements that have the shape of an ellipsoid, it becomes necessary to calculate the geometric characteristics of the ellipsoidal surface. When using the canonical ellipsoid equation, regions of uncertainty appear in the Cartesian coordinate system at the intersection points of the ellipsoid surface with the horizontal coordinate plane. To exclude these areas of uncertainty, we propose an expression of the radius vector of an ellipsoidal surface whose projections are functions of two parametric representations in mutually perpendicular planes. One of the planes is the vertical plane XOZ, and the other plane is the plane perpendicular to the axis O at the point with the x coordinate. The parameter T of the ellipse obtained from the intersection of the ellipsoid with the XOZ plane was chosen as the argument of the first parametric function. The argument of the second parametric function t is the parameter of an ellipse formed as a result of the intersection of an ellipsoidal surface with a plane perpendicular to the abscissa axis at a distance of x from the origin. The proposed representation of the ellipsoidal surface allowed us to exclude uncertainties at the intersection points of the ellipsoid with the HOWE coordinate plane. By differentiating the proposed radius-vector expression at an arbitrary point on an ellipsoidal surface, we obtain relations for the basis vectors of an arbitrary point and their derivatives represented by components in the same local basis. These relations are necessary for the development of algorithms for numerical analysis of deformation processes of engineering structures that have ellipsoidal surfaces.

Shell potentials for microgravity Bose–Einstein condensates

Extending the understanding of Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) physics to new geometries and topologies has a long and varied history in ultracold atomic physics. One such new geometry is that of a bubble, where a condensate would be confined to the surface of an ellipsoidal shell. Study of this geometry would give insight into new collective modes, self-interference effects, topology-dependent vortex behavior, dimensionality crossovers from thick to thin shells, and the properties of condensates pushed into the ultradilute limit. Here we propose to implement a realistic experimental framework for generating shell-geometry BEC using radiofrequency dressing of magnetically trapped samples. Such a tantalizing state of matter is inaccessible terrestrially due to the distorting effect of gravity on experimentally feasible shell potentials. The debut of an orbital BEC machine (NASA Cold Atom Laboratory, aboard the International Space Station) has enabled the operation of quantum-gas experiments in a regime of perpetual freefall, and thus has permitted the planning of microgravity shell-geometry BEC experiments. We discuss specific experimental configurations, applicable inhomogeneities and other experimental challenges, and outline potential experiments.