Task 1: In this effort, we developed a model of acoustic wave interaction with sand grains that included partitioning of wave energy into the rotational degrees of freedom of the sand grain. This model provides a physical explanation of the low frequency sound speeds measured at SAX99 and SAX04 which were found to be significantly below the Wood’s equation prediction. This effort was led by Nic...

This latest version of the vBow adds three degrees of freedom to the previous design, allowing for rotational motion across, vertical motion above, and longitudinal motion along the virtual strings, in addition to the original lateral motion of the bow stroke. Like the previous design, this version of the vBow uses servomotors with encoders and cable systems, to sense bow position and provide h...

The individual motion of a colloidal particle is described by an overdamped Langevin equation. When rotational degrees of freedom are relevant, these are described by a corresponding Langevin process. Our purpose is to show that the microscopic local density of colloids, in terms of a space and rotation state, also evolves according to a Langevin equation. The latter can then be used as the sta...

We review in these lecture notes some of our recent work on modelling the response of nematic elastomers to applied mechanical loads and/or to electric fields, both in the static and in the dynamic regime. Our aim is to compare theoretical results based on mathematical analysis and on numerical simulations with the available experimental evidence, in order to examine critically the various rece...

The Fourier Transform (FTIR) microspectrometer discussed in this paper is an example of a complex Micro-OptoElectro-Mechanical System (MOEMS) configured as an optical bench on a chip. It is an important benchmark application for microtechnology due to increased demands for the use of miniature wavelength detection instruments in bio, nano and material science. This device can be manufactured us...

A fundamental and unconventional characteristic of superconductivity in iron-based materials is that it occurs in the vicinity of two other instabilities. In addition to a tendency towards magnetic order, these Fe-based systems have a propensity for nematic ordering: a lowering of the rotational symmetry while time-reversal invariance is preserved. Setting the stage for superconductivity, it is...

The pneumatic robotic assistance system is fully MR-compatible and consists of a robot arm which can be manipulated in 6 degrees of freedom [1]. The robot arm is attached to a 260° arch that is mounted to the patient table of the scanner and can be passively prepositioned on the orbit at vertical 0°, 30° and 60° at each sides of the orbital according to the region of interest (e.g. spine, liver...

Materials and Method.s The pneumatic robotic assistance system is fully MR-compatible and consists of a robot arm which can be manipulated in 6 degrees of freedom [1]. The robot arm is attached to a 180° arch that is mounted to the patient table of the scanner and can be passively prepositioned on the orbit at vertical (0°, ± 35°, ± 67°) at each sides of the orbital according to the region of i...

A new scheme for numerical integration of motion for classical systems composed of rigid polyatomic molecules is proposed. The scheme is based on a matrix representation of the rotational degrees of freedom. The equations of motion are integrated within the Verlet framework in velocity form. It is shown that, contrary to previous methods, in the approach introduced the rigidity of molecules can...

The idea of a material body endowed with both translational and rotational degrees of freedom stems from the seminal work of the Cosserat brothers (Cosserat and Cosserat, 1909). A triad of orthonormal directors (d )i=1,3 is associated to the microstructure of each material point. The material transformation describes the displacement u of the material point and the rotation R∼ with respect to t...