Tai Chi, a Chinese martial art developed based on the laws of nature, emphasises how 'to conquer the unyielding with the yielding.' The recent observation of star formation shows that stars result from the interaction between gravity, turbulence and magnetic fields. This interaction again follows the natural rules that inspired Tai Chi. For example, if self-gravity is the force that dominates, the molecular cloud will collapse isotropically, which compresses magnetic field lines. The density of the yielding field lines increases until magnetic pressure reaches the critical value to support the cloud against the gravitational force in directions perpendicular to the field lines (Lorentz force). Then gravity gives way to Lorentz force, accumulating gas only along the field lines till the gas density achieves the critical value to again compress the field lines. The Tai Chi goes on in a self similar way.

With the fast pace of developments in quantum technologies, it is more than ever necessary to make the new generation of students in science and engineering familiar with the key ideas behind such disruptive systems. This book intends to fill such a gap between experts and non-experts in the field by providing the reader with the basic tools needed to understand the latest developments in quantum communications and its future directions. This is not only to expand the audience knowledge but also to attract new talents to this flourishing field. To that end, the book as a whole does not delve into much detail and most often suffices to provide some insight into the problem in hand. The primary users of the book will then be students in science and engineering in their final year of undergraduate studies or early years of their post-graduate programmes.

Thermal Solar Desalination: Methods and Systems presents numerous thermal seawater desalination technologies varying from the very simple, easy to construct and operate solar stills, to the more advance membrane and indirect distillation methods. All types of solar thermal desalination technologies are presented in detail to enable readers to comprehend the subject, from design details to enabling further research to be carried out in this area. The various units used in desalination are outlined, along with diagrams of all detailed working principles of desalination methods and systems. The authors consider the economic aspects of these processes, demonstrating successful implementation of desalination units suitable for areas where supplies of fresh water in natural ways is limited or non-existent.

Power Electronics and Motor Drive Systems is designed to aid electrical engineers, researchers, and students to analyze and address common problems in state-of-the-art power electronics technologies. Author Stefanos Manias supplies a detailed discussion of the theory of power electronics circuits and electronic power conversion technology systems, with common problems and methods of analysis to critically evaluate results. These theories are reinforced by simulation examples using well-known and widely available software programs, including SPICE, PSIM, and MATLAB/SIMULINK. Manias expertly analyzes power electronic circuits with basic power semiconductor devices, as well as the new power electronic converters. He also clearly and comprehensively provides an analysis of modulation and output voltage, current control techniques, passive and active filtering, and the characteristics and gating circuits of different power semiconductor switches, such as BJTs, IGBTs, MOSFETs, IGCTs, MCTs and GTOs.

The Outside the Research Lab series is a testament to the fact that the physics taught to high school and university students IS used in the real world. This book explores the physics and technology inherent to a selection of sports which have caught the author's attention and fascination over the years. Outside the Research Lab, Volume 3 is a path to discovering how less commonly watched sports use physics to optimize performance, diagnose injuries, and increase access to more competitors. It covers Olympic and Paralympic fencing, show jumping horses, and arguably the most brutal of motorsports - drag racing. Stunning images throughout the book and clear, understandable writing are supplemented by offset detail boxes which take the physics concepts to higher levels. Outside the Research Lab, Volume 3 is both for the general interest reader and students in STEM. Lecturers in university physics, materials science, engineering and other sciences will find this an excellent basis for teaching undergraduate students the range of applications for the physics they are learning. There is a vast range of different areas that require expertise in physics...this third volume of Outside the Research Lab shows a few with great detail provided by professionals doing the work.

This major new edition of a popular undergraduate text covers topics of interest to chemical engineers taking courses on fluid flow. These topics include non-Newtonian flow, gas-liquid two-phase flow, pumping and mixing. It expands on the explanations of principles given in the first edition and is more self-contained. Two strong features of the first edition were the extensive derivation of equations and worked examples to illustrate calculation procedures. These have been retained. A new extended introductory chapter has been provided to give the student a thorough basis to understand the methods covered in subsequent chapters.

Reliability, Risk and Safety: Back to the Future covers topics on reliability, risk and safety issues, including risk and reliability analysis methods, maintenance optimization, human factors, and risk management. The application areas range from nuclear engineering, oil and gas industry, electrical and civil engineering to information technology and communication, security, transportation, health and medicine or critical infrastructures. Significant attention is paid to societal factors influencing the use of reliability and risk assessment methods, and to combinatorial analysis, which has found its way into the analysis of probabilities and risk, from which quantified risk analysis developed. Integral demonstrations of the use of risk analysis and safety assessment are provided in many practical applications concerning major technological systems and structures. Reliability, Risk and Safety: Back to the Future will be of interest to academics and engineers interested in nuclear engineering, oil and gas engineering, electrical engineering, civil engineering, information technology, communication, and infrastructure.

Electromagnetic homogenization is the process of estimating the effective electromagnetic properties of composite materials in the long-wavelength regime, wherein the length scales of nonhomogeneities are much smaller than the wavelengths involved. This is a bird's-eye view of currently available homogenization formalisms for particulate composite materials. It presents analytical methods only, with focus on the general settings of anisotropy and bianisotropy. The authors largely concentrate on 'effective' materials as opposed to 'equivalent' materials, and emphasize the fundamental (but sometimes overlooked) differences between these two categories of homogenized composite materials. The properties of an 'effective' material represents those of its composite material, regardless of the geometry and dimensions of the bulk materials and regardless of the orientations and polarization states of the illuminating electromagnetic fields. In contrast, the properties of 'equivalent' materials only represent those of their corresponding composite materials under certain restrictive circumstances.

The need for sustainable sources of energy has become more prevalent in an effort to conserve natural resources, as well as optimize the performance of wireless networks in daily life. Renewable sources of energy also help to cut costs while still providing a reliable power sources. Biologically-Inspired Energy Harvesting through Wireless Sensor Technologies highlights emerging research in the areas of sustainable energy management and transmission technologies. Featuring technological advancements in green technology, energy harvesting, sustainability, networking, and autonomic computing, as well as bio-inspired algorithms and solutions utilized in energy management, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, academicians, and students interested in renewable or sustained energy in wireless networks.

Compendium of Hydrogen Energy, Volume 2: Hydrogen Storage, Distribution and Infrastructure focuses on the storage and transmission of hydrogen. As many experts believe the hydrogen economy will, at some point, replace the fossil fuel economy as the primary source of the world's energy, this book details hydrogen storage in pure form, including chapters on hydrogen liquefaction, slush production, as well as underground and pipeline storage. Other sections in the book explore physical and chemical storage, including environmentally sustainable methods of hydrogen production from water, with final chapters dedicated to hydrogen distribution and infrastructure.

Improve and optimize efficiency of HVAC and related energy systems from an exergy perspective. From fundamentals to advanced applications, Exergy Analysis of Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration provides readers with a clear and concise description of exergy analysis and its many uses. Focusing on the application of exergy methods to the primary technologies for heating, refrigerating, and air conditioning, Ibrahim Dincer and Marc A. Rosen demonstrate exactly how exergy can help improve and optimize efficiency, environmental performance, and cost-effectiveness. The book also discusses the analysis tools available, and includes many comprehensive case studies on current and emerging systems and technologies for real-world examples. From introducing exergy and thermodynamic fundamentals to presenting the use of exergy methods for heating, refrigeration, and air conditioning systems, this book equips any researcher or practicing engineer with the tools needed to learn and master the application of exergy analysis to these systems.

Plants offer some of the most elegant applications of soft matter principles in Nature. Understanding the interplay between chemistry, physics, biology, and fluid mechanics is critical to forecast plant behaviour, which is necessary for agriculture and disease management. It also provides inspiration for novel engineering applications. Starting with fundamental concepts around plant biology, physics of soft matter and viscous fluids, readers of this book will be given a cross-disciplinary and expert grounding to the field. The book covers local scale aspects, such as cell and tissue mechanics, to regional scale matters covering movement, tropism, roots, through to global scale topics around fluid transport. Focussed chapters on water stress, networks, and biomimetics provide the user with a concise and complete introduction. Edited by internationally recognised leading experts in this field with contributions from key investigators worldwide, this book is the first introduction to the subject matter and will be suitable for both physical and life science readers.

Modelling and Simulation of Reactive Flows presents information on modeling and how to numerically solve reactive flows. The book offers a distinctive approach that combines diffusion flames and geochemical flow problems, providing users with a comprehensive resource that bridges the gap for scientists, engineers, and the industry. Specifically, the book looks at the basic concepts related to reaction rates, chemical kinetics, and the development of reduced kinetic mechanisms. It considers the most common methods used in practical situations, along with equations for reactive flows, and various techniques-including flamelet, ILDM, and Redim-for jet flames and plumes, with solutions for both. In addition, the book includes techniques to accelerate the convergence of numerical simulation, and a discussion on the analysis of uncertainties with numerical results, making this a useful reference for anyone who is interested in both combustion in free flow and in porous media.