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Prediction of catastrophes: an experimental model.

Authors :
Peters RD
Le Berre M
Pomeau Y
Source :
Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics [Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys] 2012 Aug; Vol. 86 (2 Pt 2), pp. 026207. Date of Electronic Publication: 2012 Aug 16.
Publication Year :
2012

Abstract

Catastrophes of all kinds can be roughly defined as short-duration, large-amplitude events following and followed by long periods of "ripening." Major earthquakes surely belong to the class of "catastrophic" events. Because of the space-time scales involved, an experimental approach is often difficult, not to say impossible, however desirable it could be. Described in this article is a "laboratory" setup that yields data of a type that is amenable to theoretical methods of prediction. Observations are made of a critical slowing down in the noisy signal of a solder wire creeping under constant stress. This effect is shown to be a fair signal of the forthcoming catastrophe in two separate dynamical models. The first is an "abstract" model in which a time-dependent quantity drifts slowly but makes quick jumps from time to time. The second is a realistic physical model for the collective motion of dislocations (the Ananthakrishna set of equations for unstable creep). Hope thus exists that similar changes in the response to noise could forewarn catastrophes in other situations, where such precursor effects should manifest early enough.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1550-2376
Volume :
86
Issue :
2 Pt 2
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Physical review. E, Statistical, nonlinear, and soft matter physics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
23005845
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.86.026207