We propose a new perspective on the intermittency in weakly dissipative systems. It is focused on the elementary (burst-like) event separating states with different properties. This event is seen as a real-space-time manifestation of an instanton connecting in an extended space-time states with distinct topology of the idealized version of the system.

Conditions for nonlocal existence of a continuous storage function for nonlinear dissipative system are presented. More precisely, it is shown that under the local ω-uniform reachability assumption at one point x∗ the required supply function is continuous on the set of points reachable from x∗. Conditions for the local ωuniform reachability based on the local controllability properties of the ...

It is shown how grand unification can occur in models which are partly supersymmetric. The particle states which are composite do not contribute to the running of gauge couplings above the compositeness scale, while the elementary states contribute the usual large logarithmns. This introduces a new differential running contribution to the gauge couplings from partly composite SU(5) matter multi...

Newborn infants were familiarized to a three-dimensional display consisting of a rod which moved behind a central occluder, so that , only the top and bottom of the rod were visible. The infants’ eyes were 38 cm from the rod and the occluder was 15 cm in front of the rod, a separation intended to ensure that the gap between the two was detected by the infants. On subsequent test trials the infa...

The problem of existence of continuous storage functions for dissipative nonlinear systems is considered. It is shown that, if a nonlinear system is dissipative in the state x∗, then, under certain assumptions, a continuous storage function can be constructed on a set of points accessible from x∗ by concatenation of a finite number of forward and backward motions of the system. Most of these as...

We consider a class of ordinary differential equations describing one-dimensional quasiperiodically forced systems in the presence of large damping. We give a fully constructive proof of the existence of response solutions, that is quasi-periodic solutions which have the same frequency vector as the forcing. This requires dealing with a degenerate implicit function equation: we prove that the l...

Bénard convection, is one of the more intensely studied dissipative systems, both theoretically and empirically. It is therefore a useful starting point for discussing the properties of dissipative structures and developing an analogy between such structures and development and evolution. Both the simplifications involved in the Bénard cells and the possibilities that are nonetheless allowed ar...

The effects of dissipative heating on hurricane intensity are examined using a 72-h explicit simulation of Hurricane Andrew (1992) with a state-of-the-art, three-dimensional, nonhydrostatic mesoscale (cloud resolving) model (i.e., MM5). It is found that the inclusion of dissipative heating increases the central pressure deficit of the storm by 5–7 hPa and its maximum surface wind by about 10% p...

Friction and wear, often treated as unrelated, distinct phenomena, are manifestations of the same dissipative physical processes occurring at sliding interfaces. Friction force dissipates power and generates entropy. Wear irreversibly changes a material structure, often with loss of material. Associated with both friction and wear is production of irreversible entropy by interfacial dissipative...