We study experimentally gravity-driven granular discharges of laboratory scale silos, during the initial instants of the discharge. We investigate deformable wall silos around their critical collapse height, as well as rigid wall silos. We propose a
criterion to determine a maximum time for the onset of the collapse and find that the onset of collapse always occurs before the grains adjacent to the wall are sliding down. We conclude that the evolution of the static friction toward a state of maximum mobilization plays a crucial role in the collapse of the silo.
Linear polarization measurements have been performed for $gamma$-rays in $^{91}$Ru produced with the $^{58}$Ni($^{36}$Ar, $2p1n$$gamma$)$^{91}$Ru reaction at a beam energy of 111 MeV. The EXOGAM Ge clover array has been used to measure the $gamma$-$g
amma$ coincidences, $gamma$-ray linear polarization and $gamma$-ray angular distributions. The polarization sensitivity of the EXOGAM clover detectors acting as Compton polarimeters has been determined in the energy range 0.3$-$1.3 MeV. Several transitions have been observed for the first time. Measurements of linear polarization and angular distribution have led to the firm assignments of spin differences and parity of high-spin states in $^{91}$Ru. More specifically, calculations using a semi-empirical shell model were performed to understand the structures of the first and second (21/2$^{+}$) and (17/2$^{+}$) levels. The results are in good agreement with the experimental data, supporting the interpretation of the non yrast (21/2$^{+}$) and (17/2$^{+}$) states in terms of the $J_{rm max}$ and $J_{rm max}-2$ members of the seniority-three $ u(g_{9/2})^{-3}$ multiplet.
We report on the observation of a new isomeric state in $^{68}$Ni. We suggest that the newly observed state at 168(1) keV above the first 2$^+$ state is a $pi(2p-2h)$ 0$^{+}$ state across the major Z=28 shell gap. Comparison with theoretical calculat
ions indicates a pure proton intruder configuration and the deduced low-lying structure of this key nucleus suggests a possible shape coexistence scenario involving a highly deformed state.
Due to the non-linearity of Hertzian contacts, the speed of sound in granular matter increases with pressure. Under gravity, the non-linear elastic description predicts that acoustic propagation is only possible through surface modes, called Rayleigh
-Hertz modes and guided by the index gradient. Here we directly evidence these modes in a controlled laboratory experiment and use them to probe the elastic properties of a granular packing under vanishing confining pressure. The shape and the dispersion relation of both transverse and sagittal modes are compared to the prediction of non-linear elasticity that includes finite size effects. This allows to test the existence of a shear stiffness anomaly close to the jamming transition.
We show here that the standard physical model used by Vriend et al. to analyse seismograph data, namely a non-dispersive bulk propagation, does not apply to the surface layer of sand dunes. According to several experimental, theoretical and field res
ults, the only possible propagation of sound waves in a dry sand bed under gravity is through an infinite, yet discrete, number of dispersive surface modes. Besides, we present a series of evidences, most of which have already been published in the literature, that the frequency of booming avalanches is not controlled by any resonance as argued in this article. In particular, plotting the data provided by Vriend et al. as a table, it turns out that they do not present any correlation between the booming frequency and their estimate of the resonant frequency.
