Model projections for household energy use in India

Energy use in developing countries is heterogeneous across households. Present day global energy models are mostly too aggregate to account for this heterogeneity. Here, a bottom-up model for residential energy use that starts from key dynamic concepts on energy use in developing countries is presented and applied to India. Energy use and fuel choice is determined for five end-use functions (cooking, water heating, space heating, lighting and appliances) and for five different income quintiles in rural and urban areas. The paper specifically explores the consequences of different assumptions for income distribution and rural electrification on residential sector energy use and CO(2) emissions, finding that results are clearly sensitive to variations in these parameters. As a result of population and economic growth, total Indian residential energy use is expected to increase by around 65-75% in 2050 compared to 2005, but residential carbon emissions may increase by up to 9-10 times the 2005 level. While a more equal income distribution and rural electrification enhance the transition to commercial fuels and reduce poverty, there is a trade-off in terms of higher CO(2) emissions via increased electricity use. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electromagnetic jigsaw: metal-cutting by combining electromagnetic and mechanical Forces

The magnetic saw effect, induced by the Lorentz force generated due to the application of a series of electromagnetic ( EM) pulses, can be utilized to cut a metallic component containing a pre-existing cut or crack. By combining a mechanical force with the Lorentz force, the cut can be propagated along any arbitrary direction in a controlled fashion, thus producing an `electromagnetic jigsaw', yielding a novel tool-less, free-formed manufacturing process, particularly suitable for hard-to-cut metals. This paper presents validation of the above concept based on a simple analytical model, along with experiments on two materials - Pb foil and steel plate. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Selection and/or peer-review under responsibility of Professor Bert Lauwers

Origin of the Spin-Orbital Liquid State in a Nearly J=0 Iridate Ba3ZnIr2O9

We show using detailed magnetic and thermodynamic studies and theoretical calculations that the ground state of Ba3ZnIr2O9 is a realization of a novel spin-orbital liquid state. Our results reveal that Ba3ZnIr2O9 with Ir5+ (5d(4)) ions and strong spin-orbit coupling (SOC) arrives very close to the elusive J = 0 state but each Ir ion still possesses a weak moment. Ab initio density functional calculations indicate that this moment is developed due to superexchange, mediated by a strong intradimer hopping mechanism. While the Ir spins within the structural Ir2O9 dimer are expected to form a spin-orbit singlet state (SOS) with no resultant moment, substantial frustration arising from interdimer exchange interactions induce quantum fluctuations in these possible SOS states favoring a spin-orbital liquid phase down to at least 100 mK.