Cherenkov Gravitational Radiation during the Radiation Era

Cherenkov radiation may occur whenever the source is moving faster than the waves it generates. In a radiation dominated universe, with equation-of-state w=1/3, we have recently shown that the Bardeen scalar-metric perturbations contribute to the linearized Weyl tensor in such a manner that its wavefront propagates at acoustic speed w=1/3. In this work, we explicitly compute the shape of the Bardeen Cherenkov cone and wedge generated respectively by a supersonic point mass (approximating a primordial black hole) and a straight Nambu-Goto wire (approximating a cosmic string) moving perpendicular to its length. When the black hole or cosmic string is moving at ultra-relativistic speeds, we also calculate explicitly the sudden surge of scalar-metric induced tidal forces on a pair of test particles due to the passing Cherenkov shock wave. These forces can stretch or compress, depending on the orientation of the masses relative to the shock front’s normal.

The Effects of the Structural and Acoustic Parameters of the Skull Model on Transcranial Focused Ultrasound

Transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) has great potential in brain imaging and therapy. However, the structural and acoustic differences of the skull will cause a large number of technical problems in the application of tFUS, such as low focus energy, focal shift, and defocusing. To have a comprehensive understanding of the skull effect on tFUS, this study investigated the effects of the structural parameters (thickness, radius of curvature, and distance from the transducer) and acoustic parameters (density, acoustic speed, and absorption coefficient) of the skull model on tFUS based on acrylic plates and two simulation methods (self-programming and COMSOL). For structural parameters, our research shows that as the three factors increase the unit distance, the attenuation caused from large to small is the thickness (0.357 dB/mm), the distance to transducer (0.048 dB/mm), and the radius of curvature (0.027 dB/mm). For acoustic parameters, the attenuation caused by density (0.024 dB/30 kg/m3) and acoustic speed (0.021 dB/30 m/s) are basically the same. Additionally, as the absorption coefficient increases, the focus acoustic pressure decays exponentially. The thickness of the structural parameters and the absorption coefficient of the acoustic parameters are the most important factors leading to the attenuation of tFUS. The experimental and simulation trends are highly consistent. This work contributes to the comprehensive and quantitative understanding of how the skull influences tFUS, which further enhances the application of tFUS in neuromodulation research and treatment.

Ion-acoustic solitary structures at the acoustic speed in a collisionless magnetized nonthermal dusty plasma

At the acoustic speed, we have investigated the existence of ion-acoustic solitary structures including double layers and supersolitons in a collisionless magnetized plasma consisting of negatively charged static dust grains, adiabatic warm ions, and nonthermal electrons. At the acoustic speed, for negative polarity, the system supports solitons, double layers, supersoliton structures after the formation of double layer, supersoliton structures without the formation of double layer, solitons after the formation of double layer whereas the system supports solitons and supersolitons without the formation of double layer for the case of positive polarity. But it is not possible to get the coexistence of solitary structures (including double layers and supersolitons) of opposite polarities. For negative polarity, we have observed an important transformation viz., soliton before the formation of double layer → double layer → supersoliton → soliton after the formation of double layer whereas for both positive and negative polarities, we have observed the transformation from solitons to supersolitons without the formation of double layer. There does not exist any negative (positive) potential solitary structures within 0 < μ < μ c (μ c < μ < 1) and the amplitude of the positive (negative) potential solitary structure decreases for increasing (decreasing) μ and the solitary structures of both polarities collapse at μ = μ c, where μ c is a critical value of μ, the ratio of the unperturbed number density of electrons to that of ions. Similarly there exists a critical value β e2 of the nonthermal parameter β e such that the solitons of both polarities collapse at β e = β e2.

Measurement of Elastic Properties of Brittle Materials by Ultrasonic and Indentation Methods

The measurements of acoustic properties of three brittle materials i.e., ITO (alkaline earth boro-aluminosilicate) glass, bulk metallic glass (BMG) and nickel-based superalloy (CM247LC) are conducted in this work to obtain various properties. The elastic moduli of materials are derived from the results by simple acoustic speed-elasticity relationship and compared with the data obtained with nanoindentation. The difference between the Young’s modulus of ITO glass by ultrasonic and nanoindentation is 0.83%, a perfect match within range error. As for BMG, the difference (Young’s modulus) is 23.59%, and 5.11% for the CM247LC superalloys. The pulse-echo method proves to be reliable for homogeneous amorphous glass, however, the elastic moduli of metallic glass and CM247LC superalloy by ultrasonic are quite different from those by nanoindentation. The difference is large enough to cover the maximal error associated with the nanoindentation method. The relationship of acoustic speed and elastic constants must be reviewed in dealing with compound materials.

the Interaction of Resonance And Bragg Scattering Effects for the Locally Resonant Phononic Crystal with Alternating Elastic and Fluid Matrices

Three-dimensional (3D) locally resonant phononic crystals (LRPCs) are studied with the aim of optimising the sub-wavelength band gaps of such composites. By analysing their effective acoustic properties, it has been found that the effective acoustic speed of the composite will drop to zero when local resonance arise, and will increase monotonically when Bragg scattering effects occur. Moreover, if the matrix is a low-shear-speed medium, local resonators can significantly reduce the effective acoustic speed of the composite and, therefore, lower the frequency where Bragg scattering effects occur. Hence, a specific LRPC with alternating elastic and fluid matrices is proposed, whose resonance and Bragg gaps are already close in frequency. The fluid matrix behaves as a wave filter, which prevents the shear waves from propagating in the composite. By using the layer-multiple-scattering theory, the coupling behaviour of local resonance and Bragg scattering band gaps has been investigated. Both gaps are enhanced when they move closer to each other. Finally, a gap-coupled case is obtained that displays a broad sub-wavelength band gap. Such proposal excels at the application of underwater acoustic materials since the arrangement of structure can be handily adjusted for tuning the frequency of coupled gap.