Low Energy Ar+ Ions Scattering from SiO2 (001)<Ῑ10> Surface under Grazing Incidence

This article presents the results of computer modeling of small-angle scattering of Ar+ ions from the surface of the SiO2 thin film under bombardment by low-energy. The study of the trajectory of the scattered ions showed that the trajectories with two focuses are observed not only near the center of the semichannel but also nearby the surface of the atomic chain. An increase in the value of the initial energy of incident particles leads to a narrowing of the trajectory of the scattered ions, which leads to the appearance of low-intensity peaks in the energy spectrum of the scattered ions.

Bolus formation from fission of nonlinear internal waves over a mild slope

Breaking nonlinear internal waves (NLIWs) of depression on boundary slopes drives mixing in the coastal ocean. Of the different breaker types, fission is most commonly observed on mild slopes of continental margins. However, fission on mild slopes has rarely been investigated in the laboratory owing to limitations on flume length. In the present work, a train of NLIWs of depression is generated in an 18.2 m wave flume and shoaled upon a mild uniform slope. During fission, each NLIW of depression scatters into one or two NLIWs of elevation, which transforms into a bolus at the bolus birth point, where shear instability occurs through the pycnocline. The bolus propagates upslope, decreasing in size until it degenerates by shear and lobe-cleft instability, while losing volume to a return flow along the bed. The location of the bolus birth point, bolus propagation length scale, initial size and the number of boluses from each incident wave are parameterized from the wave half-width and the wave Froude number associated with the incident NLIW. These are compared with the characteristics of boluses generated by other breaking mechanisms on steeper slopes. Some bolus characteristics (height to length ratio, change in size and velocity field) are similar for boluses generated by fission, collapsing sinusoidal waves and internal solitary waves of elevation; however, the number of boluses, their birth point and initial height differ. The boluses formed by fission have more initial energy and no reflection. Further research is required to better quantify bolus-driven mixing on continental margins.

Relaxation of the Boussinesq system and applications to the Rayleigh–Taylor instability

We consider the evolution of two incompressible fluids with homogeneous densities $$\rho _{-}<\rho _+$$ ρ - < ρ + subject to gravity described by the inviscid Boussinesq equations and provide the explicit relaxation of the associated differential inclusion. The existence of a subsolution to the relaxation allows one to conclude the existence of turbulently mixing solutions to the original Boussinesq system. As a specific application we investigate subsolutions emanating from the classical Rayleigh-Taylor initial configuration where the two fluids are separated by a horizontal interface with the heavier fluid being on top of the lighter. It turns out that among all self-similar subsolutions the criterion of maximal initial energy dissipation selects a linear density profile and a quadratic growth of the mixing zone. The subsolution selected this way can be extended in an admissible way to exist for all times. We provide two possible extensions with different long-time limits. The first one corresponds to a total mixture of the two fluids, the second corresponds to a full separation with the lighter fluid on top of the heavier. There is no motion in either of the limit states.

Energy Retrofit. A Case Study—Santi Romano Dormitory on the Palermo University

Electrical and thermal consumption related to buildings, whether civil, commercial, public, or of any other kind, is very much in focus today. With today’s targets for energy savings, reduction of consumption, and environmental impact, it is necessary to carry out energy retrofits to modernize installations and their management. The realization of an effective improvement requires a careful analysis of the case study because each category of building has different requirements such as different load profiles and different installations and needs. This was carried out by studying the electrical and thermal load profiles. A good initial energy audit can provide the retrofit solutions capable of achieving the reduction of energy consumption and the emission of climate-changing gases into the atmosphere. A case study, carried out by the Department of Engineering of Palermo, showed how it is possible to perform an energy retrofit to modernize the energy system of the student dormitory at the University of Palermo. The paper presented a study carried out by programming a series of interlinked calculations in Microsoft Excel. In order to quantify the energy savings of the structure under examination, it is necessary to enter some input data, thanks to which all the formulas implemented in the calculation software were automatically completed. The programming of the calculations makes it possible to carry out an energy retrofit with interventions on the building envelope and the installations. The desire to program an automated calculation by modifying only the input data is intended to replicate a study on other buildings with the same peculiarities. In this way, it is possible to verify which retrofit hypotheses would be useful to upgrade old public administration buildings. In the analyzed case study, 65% of electrical energy and 33% of thermal energy could be saved by replacing generation systems, installing a co-generator, replacing windows, and replacing lamps with LED ones.

Acoustic Wave Properties in Footpoints of Coronal Loops in 3D MHD Simulations

Acoustic waves excited in the photosphere and below might play an integral part in the heating of the solar chromosphere and corona. However, it is yet not fully clear how much of the initially acoustic wave flux reaches the corona and in what form. We investigate the wave propagation, damping, transmission, and conversion in the lower layers of the solar atmosphere using 3D numerical MHD simulations. A model of a gravitationally stratified expanding straight coronal loop, stretching from photosphere to photosphere, is perturbed at one footpoint by an acoustic driver with a period of 370 s. For this period, acoustic cutoff regions are present below the transition region (TR). About 2% of the initial energy from the driver reaches the corona. The shape of the cutoff regions and the height of the TR show a highly dynamic behavior. Taking only the driven waves into account, the waves have a propagating nature below and above the cutoff region, but are standing and evanescent within the cutoff region. Studying the driven waves together with the background motions in the model reveals standing waves between the cutoff region and the TR. These standing waves cause an oscillation of the TR height. In addition, fast or leaky sausage body-like waves might have been excited close to the base of the loop. These waves then possibly convert to fast or leaky sausage surface-like waves at the top of the main cutoff region, followed by a conversion to slow sausage body-like waves around the TR.

Mitigation of Iron Irradiation-Induced Genotoxicity and Genomic Instability by Postexposure Dietary Restriction in Mice

Background and Purpose. Postexposure onset of dietary restriction (DR) is expected to provide therapeutic nutritional approaches to reduce health risk from exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) due to such as manned space exploration, radiotherapy, or nuclear accidents as IR could alleviate radiocarcinogenesis in animal models. However, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. This study is aimed at investigating the effect from postexposure onset of DR on genotoxicity and genomic instability (GI) induced by total body irradiation (TBI) in mice. Materials and Methods. Mice were exposed to 2.0 Gy of accelerated iron particles with an initial energy of 500 MeV/nucleon and a linear energy transfer (LET) value of about 200 keV/μm. After TBI, mice were either allowed to free access to a standard laboratory chow or treated under DR (25% cut in diet). Using micronucleus frequency (MNF) in bone marrow erythrocytes, induction of acute genotoxicity and GI in the hematopoietic system was, respectively, determined 1 and 2 months after TBI. Results and Conclusions. TBI alone caused a significant increase in MNF while DR alone did not markedly influence the MNF. DR induced a significant decrease in MNF compared to the treatment by TBI alone. Results demonstrated that postexposure onset of DR could relieve the elevated MNF induced by TBI with high-LET iron particles. These findings indicated that reduction in acute genotoxicity and late GI may be at least a part of the mechanisms underlying decreased radiocarcinogenesis by DR.

Electron beam-plasma discharge in GDT mirror trap: Experiments on plasma start-up with electron gun

The paper describes experiments on the injection of an electron beam into a gas at the Gas Dynamic Trap (GDT) and develops a technique for creating a starting plasma with parameters sufficient for its subsequent heating by neutral beams. It is found that a relatively thin electron beam is capable of ionizing plasma in the entire volume of the trap, and the plasma turbulence it excites is capable of accelerating some of the electrons to energies tens of times higher than the initial energy of the beam. It is shown that, in contrast to early experiments on tabletop open traps, collective beam relaxation under GDT conditions occurs in the vicinity of the entrance magnetic mirror. Since the electron cyclotron frequency in this region significantly exceeds the plasma frequency, it is necessary to study the mechanism of a beam-plasma discharge under these conditions. As a first step along this path, we measure the radial diffusion coefficient of fast particles, as well as the rate at which they gain energy.

Energy spreading, equipartition and chaos in lattices with non-central forces

We numerically study a one dimensional, nonlinear lattice model which in the linear limit is relevant to the study of bending (flexural) waves. In contrast with the classic one dimensional mass-spring system, the linear dispersion relation of the considered model has different characteristics in the low frequency limit. By introducing disorder in the masses of the lattice particles, we investigate how different nonlinearities (cubic, quadratic and their combination) lead to energy delocalization, equipartition and chaotic dynamics. We excite the lattice using single site initial momentum excitations corresponding to a strongly localized linear mode and increase the initial energy of excitation. Beyond a certain energy threshold, when the cubic nonlinearity is present, the system is found to reach energy equipartition and total delocalization. On the other hand, when only the quartic nonlinearity is activated, the system remains localized and away from equipartition at least for the energies and evolution times considered here. However, for large enough energies for all types of nonlinearities we observe chaos. This chaotic behavior is combined with energy delocalization when cubic nonlinearities are present, while the appearance of only quadratic nonlinearity leads to energy localization. Our results reveal a rich dynamical behavior and show differences with the relevant Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou model. Our findings pave the way for the study of models relevant to bending (flexural) waves in the presence of nonlinearity and disorder, anticipating different energy transport behaviors.