Related papers: Falling non-harmonic Slinkys
Using molecular dynamics we study the dependence of the friction force on the sliding speed when an elastic slab (block) is sliding on a rigid substrate with a ${\rm sin} (q_0 x)$ surface height profile. The friction force is nearly…
From the mathematical side, nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations are usually investigated via variational methods, that cease to work in higher dimensions. This thesis tries to overcome this problem by focusing on spherically symmetric…
This paper extends sliding-mode control theory to nonlinear systems evolving on smooth manifolds. Building on differential geometric methods, we reformulate Filippov's notion of solutions, characterize well-defined vector fields on quotient…
Previously, it was noticed that in some space-times with Killing horizons some curvature components, responsible for tidal forces, small or even zero in the static frame, become enhanced from the viewpoint of a falling observer. This leads…
A computational study of sliding blocks on inclined surfaces is presented. Assuming that the friction coefficient $\mu$ is a function of position, the probability $P(\lambda)$ for the block to slide down over a length $\lambda$ is…
On perfectly vertical surfaces, rolling is conventionally deemed impossible without external torque. While various species like geckos and spiders exhibit vertical locomotion, they cannot achieve rolling; instead, they fall. In this study,…
In the special relativity, a rigid rod slides upon itself, with one extremity oscillating harmonically. We discovered restrictions in the amplitude of the motion and in the length of the rod, essential to eliminate unphysical solutions.…
The dynamics of elongated inertial particles in an extensional flow is studied numerically by performing simulations of freely jointed bead-rod chains. The coil-stretch transition and the tumbling instability are characterized as a function…
Stability of self-similar solutions for gravitational collapse is an important problem to be investigated from the perspectives of their nature as an attractor, critical phenomena and instability of a naked singularity. In this paper we…
We discuss the effect that small fluctuations of both local anisotropy and energy density, may have on the occurrence of cracking in spherical compact objects satisfying a polytropic equation of state. A systematic scheme to bring the fluid…
We present a purely relativistic effect according to which asymmetric oscillations of a quasi-rigid body slow down or accelerate its fall in a gravitational background.
The origin of equilibrium gravitational configurations is sought in terms of the stability of their trajectories, as described by the curvature of their Lagrangian configuration manifold. We focus on the case of spherical systems, which are…
The spreading of large viscous drops of density-matched suspensions of non-Brownian spheres on a smooth solid surface is experimentally investigated at the global drop scale. The focus is on dense suspensions with a solid volume fraction…
The scalar normal modes of higher dimensional gravitating kink solutions are derived. By perturbing to second order the gravity and matter parts of the action in the background of a five-dimensional kink, the effective Lagrangian of the…
The principles of static equilibrium are of special interest to civil engineers. For a rigid body to be in static equilibrium the condition is that net force and net torque acting on the body should be zero. That clearly signifies that if…
We investigate the finite bending and the associated bending instability of an incompressible dielectric slab subject to a combination of applied voltage and axial compression, using nonlinear electro-elasticity theory and its incremental…
Frictional motion is harder to initiate than to sustain, as evident when pushing a heavy object. This disparity between static and kinetic friction drives instabilities and stick-slip dynamics in systems ranging from nanodevices and MEMS to…
We present a stability theory for kink propagation in chains of coupled oscillators and a new algorithm for the numerical study of kink dynamics. The numerical solutions are computed using an equivalent integral equation instead of a system…
Perturbative dynamics of gravity is investigated for high energy scattering and in black hole backgrounds. In the latter case, a straightforward perturbative analysis fails, in a close parallel to the failure of the former when the impact…
Slithering, crawling, slipping, gliding are various modes of limbless locomotion that have been mimicked for micro-manipulation of soft, slender and sessile objects. A lesser known mode is rolling which involves periodic, asymmetric and…