Biological membranes mainly constituent lipid molecules along with some proteins and steroles. The properties of the pure lipid bilayers as well as in the presence of other constituents (in case of two or three component systems) are very important to be studied carefully to model these systems and compare them with the realistic systems. Molecular dynamic simulations provide a good opportunity to model such systems and to study them at microscopic level where experiments fail to do. In this thesis we study the structural and dynamic properties of the pure phospholipid bilayers and the phase behavior of phospholipid bilayers when other constituents are present in them. Material and structural properties like area per lipid and area compressibility of the phospholipids show a big scatter in experiments. These properties are studied for different system sizes and it was found that the increasing undulations in large systems effect these properties. A correction was applied to area per lipid and area compressibility using the Helfrich theory in Fourier space. Other structural properties like order of the lipid chains, electron density and radial distribution functions are calculated which give the structure of the lipid bilayer along the normal and in the lateral direction. These properties are compared to the X-ray and neutron scattering experiments after Fourier transform. Thermodynamic properties like heat capacity and heat of melting are also calculated from derivatives of energies available in molecular dynamics. Heat capacity on the other hand include quantum effect and are corrected for that by applying quantum correction using normal mode analysis for a simple as well as ambiguous system like water. Here it is done for SPC/E water model. The purpose of this study is to further apply the quantum corrections on macromolecules like lipids by using this technique. Furthermore the phase behavior of two component systems (phospholipids/cholesterol) is also studied. Phase transition in these systems is observed at different cholesterol concentrations as a function of temperature by looking at different quantities (as an order parameter) like the order of chains, area per molecule and partial specific area. Radial distribution functions are used to look at the in plane structure for different phases having a different lateral or positional order. Adding more cholesterol orders the lipid chains changing a liquid disordered system into a liquid ordered one and turning a solid ordered system into a liquid ordered one. Further more the free energy of domain formation is calculated to investigate the two phasecoexistence in binary systems. Free energy contains two terms. One is bulk freeenergy which was calculated by the chemical potential of cholesterol moleculein a homogeneous system which is favorable for segregation. Second is thefree energy of having an interface which is calculated from the line tension of the interface of two systems with different cholesterol concentration which in unfavorable for domain formation. The size of the domains calculated from these two contributions to the free energy gives the domains of a few nm in size. Though we could not find any such domains by directly looking at our simulations. / <p>QC 20120913</p>

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions plusieurs aspects de la radiation de Hawking en présence de violations de l'invariance locale de Lorentz. Ces violations sont introduites par une modification de la relation de dispersion, devenant non-linéaire aux courtes longueurs d’onde. Les principales motivations de ces travaux ont une double origine. Il y a d’une part le développement en matière condensée de trous noirs analogues, ou l’écoulement d’un fluide est perçu comme une métrique d’espace-temps pour les ondes de perturbations et ou la radiation de Hawking pourrait être détectée expérimentalement. D’autre part, il se pourrait que des effets de gravité quantique puissent être modélisés par une modification de la relation de dispersion. En premier lieu, nous avons obtenu des caractérisations précises des conditions nécessaires au maintien de l’effet Hawking en présence de violation de l’invariance de Lorentz. De plus, nous avons étudié l’apparition d’une onde macroscopique de fréquence nulle, dans des écoulements de type trous blancs et également pour des champs massifs. Une autre partie de ce travail a consisté à analyser une instabilité engendrée par les effets dispersifs, ou la radiation de Hawking est auto-amplifiée, générant ainsi un flux sortant exponentiellement croissant dans le temps. / In this thesis, we study several features of Hawking radiation in the presence of ultraviolet Lorentz violations. These violations are implemented by a modified dispersion relation that becomes nonlinear at short wavelengths. The motivations of this work arise on the one hand from the developing field of analog gravity, where we aim at measuring the Hawking effect in fluid flows that mimic black hole space-times, and on the other hand from the possibility that quantum gravity effects might be approximately modeled by a modified dispersion relation. We develop several studies on various aspects of the prob- lem. First we obtain precise characterizations about the deviations from the Hawking result of black hole radiation, which are induced by dispersion. Second, we study the emergence, both in white hole flows or for massive fields, of a macroscopic standing wave, spontaneously produced from the Hawking effect, and known as ‘undulation’. Third, we describe in detail an instability named black hole laser, which arises in the presence of two horizons, where Hawking radiation is self-amplified and induces an exponentially growing in time emitted flux.

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions plusieurs aspects de la radiation de Hawking en présence de violations de l'invariance locale de Lorentz. Ces violations sont introduites par une modification de la relation de dispersion, devenant non-linéaire aux courtes longueurs d'onde. Les principales motivations de ces travaux ont une double origine. Il y a d'une part le développement en matière condensée de trous noirs analogues, ou l'écoulement d'un fluide est perçu comme une métrique d'espace-temps pour les ondes de perturbations et ou la radiation de Hawking pourrait être détectée expérimentalement. D'autre part, il se pourrait que des effets de gravité quantique puissent être modélisés par une modification de la relation de dispersion. En premier lieu, nous avons obtenu des caractérisations précises des conditions nécessaires au maintien de l'effet Hawking en présence de violation de l'invariance de Lorentz. De plus, nous avons étudié l'apparition d'une onde macroscopique de fréquence nulle, dans des écoulements de type trous blancs et également pour des champs massifs. Une autre partie de ce travail a consisté à analyser une instabilité engendrée par les effets dispersifs, ou la radiation de Hawking est auto-amplifiée, générant ainsi un flux sortant exponentiellement croissant dans le temps.

No description available.

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet is drained primarily by five major ice streams, which together control the volume of ice discharged into the ocean across the grounding line. The grounding line of Kamb Ice Stream (KIS) is unusual because the ice stream upstream of it is stagnant. Here, a set of surface features--shore-parallel, long wavelength, low amplitude undulations--found only at that grounding line are examined and found to be "pinch and swell" features formed by an instability in the viscous deformation of the ice. When a relatively competent layer is surrounded by lower strength materials, particular wavelength features within the layer may be amplified under certain layer thickness and strain rate conditions. The undulations at KIS grounding line are possible due to the relatively large strain rates and particular ice thickness at that location. Several data sets are used to characterize the surface features. High resolution surface profiles are created using kinematic GPS carried on board a sled that was used to tow ice penetrating radar equipment. The radar data are used to examine the relationship between surface shape and basal crevasses. Additional surface profiles are created using ICESat laser altimeter observations. Repeat GPS surveys of a strain grid across the grounding line yields strain rate information. Analysis of repeat observations over tidal cycles and multi-day intervals shows that the features are not standing or traveling waves. Together, these observations are then used to evaluate the contributions of elastic and viscous deformation of the ice in creating the grounding line undulations.

No description available.

No description available.

The durability of Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) used on the turbine blades of aircraft and power generation engines has been known to be affected by sand particle ingression comprised of Calcium-Magnesium-Alumina-Silicate (CMAS). Previous studies have shown that these effects present themselves through variations in the thermomechanical and thermochemical properties of the coating. This study investigated the impact of CMAS ingression on the Yttria Stabilized Zirconia Topcoat (YSZ) and Thermally Grown Oxide (TGO) strain in sprayed Thermal Barrier Coating (TBC) samples of varying porosity with and without CMAS ingression. In-Situ Synchrotron X-ray Diffraction measurements were taken on the sample under thermal loading conditions from which the YSZ and TGO peaks were identified and biaxial strain calculations were determined at high temperature. Quantitative strain results are presented for the YSZ and TGO during a thermal cycle. In-plane strain results for YSZ near the TGO interface for a complete thermal cycle are presented, for a 6% porous superdense sample with CMAS infiltration. The outcomes from this study can be used to understand the role of CMAS on the strain tolerance of the TBC coating. It is well known that under engine operational conditions the development of the TGO layer, with large critical stresses, has been linked to failure of the coating. The growth of the TGO manifests as undulations in a series of peaks and troughs. Understanding the mechanics of the oxide layer at these locations provides significant information with respect to the failure mechanisms of the TBC coating. This study investigated the stress at the peak and trough of a TGO undulation for a cycled Dense Vertically Cracked (DVC) plasma sprayed TBC sample through photo-luminescence (PL) spectroscopy. High resolution nanoscale stress maps were taken nondestructively in the undulation of the TGO. Preliminary results from first line mapping of TGO peak and trough scan, at a resolution of 200 nm, have shown a non-uniform TGO stress variation. The results obtained from this study can be used to understand the stress variation in the peak and trough of a DVC sample's TGO undulation and how it contributes to the life of the TBC coating.

No description available.