Interchangeability and bounds on the effective conductivity of the square lattice

The effective conductivity ^* of an infinitely interchangeable two-component random medium is considered. This class of media includes cell materials in the continuum and the bond lattice on ^d , where the cells or bonds are randomly assigned the conductivities ₁ and ₂ ( ₁, ₂ne0) with probabilitiesp ₁ andp ₂=1–p ₁. A rigorous basis for the very old and widely used low volume fraction expansion of ^* is established, by proving that ^* is an analytic function ofp ₂ in a suitable domain containing [0, 1]. In the case of the bond lattice ind=2, rigorous fourth-order upper and lower bounds on ^* valid for allp ₂, ₁, and ₂ are derived. The four perturbation coefficients entering into the bounds are obtained from the first-order volume fraction coefficient using the method of infinite interchangeability.     

Effect of substitution of Ce on superconducting properties of Bi1.7Pb0.3Sr2Ca2−x Ce x Cu3O10+δ system

We have investigated the superconducting properties of the Bi_1.7 Pb_0.3Sr₂Ca_2−xCe _x Cu₃O_10+δ system with x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.1 by X-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility. The substitution of Ce for Ca has been found to drastically change the superconducting properties of the system. X-ray diffraction studies on these compounds indicate decrease in the c-parameter with increased substitution of Ce at Ca site and volume fraction of high T _c (2 : 2 : 2 : 3) phase decreases and low T _c phase increases. The magnetic susceptibility of this compound shows that the diamagnetic on set superconducting transition temperature (onset) varies from 109 K to 51 K for x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.1. These results suggest the possible existence of Ce in a tetravalent state rather than a trivalent state in this system; that is, Ca²⁺ → Ce⁴⁺ replacement changes the hole carrier concentration. Hole filling is the cause of lowering T _c of the system.     

Natural convection in a square cavity containing a nanofluid and an adiabatic square block at the center

The problem of free convection fluid flow and heat transfer of Cu–water nanofluid inside a square cavity having adiabatic square bodies at its center has been investigated numerically. The governing equations have been discretized using the finite volume method. The SIMPLER algorithm was employed to couple velocity and pressure fields. Using the developed code, a parametric study was conducted and the effects of pertinent parameters such as Rayleigh number, size of the adiabatic square body, and volume fraction of the Cu nanoparticles on the fluid flow and thermal fields and heat transfer inside the cavity were investigated. The obtained results show that for all Rayleigh numbers with the exception of Ra = 10⁴ the average Nusselt number increases with increase in the volume fraction of the nanoparticles. At Ra = 10⁴ the average Nusselt number is a decreasing function of the nanoparticles volume fraction. Moreover at low Rayleigh numbers (10³ and 10⁴) the rate of heat transfer decreases when the size of the adiabatic square body increases while at high Rayleigh numbers (10⁵ and 10⁶) it increases.     

Supra-atomic structure of radiation-induced defects in synthetic quartz from neutron scattering data

The nanostructure of synthetic quartz samples irradiated with fast reactor neutrons with energies E n > 0.1 MeV has been studied by small-angle neutron scattering. The fluences are varied from 10¹⁷ to 2 × 10²⁰ neutrons/cm². In the quartz samples irradiated with fluences higher than 10¹⁷ neutrons/cm², point, extended (dislocation loops), and volume defects, namely, thermal peaks up to 50 nm in radius, are observed over the entire volume. At a fluence of 2 × 10²⁰ neutrons/cm², the total fraction of the formed defect regions, where the material is in a noncrystalline state, exceeds 10% of the sample volume. The data on the formation of a metamikt glassy phase in the quartz sample have been obtained.     

Study of elementary excitations of superfluid4He in silica aerogels

We have studied the elementary excitations of superfluid⁴He in a silica aerogel at 1.8 K and various filling fractions. The results do not show any departure from bulk⁴He behaviour, suggesting that previously observed anomalies in heat capacity and superfluid fraction data could be the effect of a distribution of He I and He II liquids inside pores of different sizes.This article was processed by the author using the LATEX style filepljour2 from Springer-Verlag.     

Microwave dielectric response of binary mixture of N,N-dimethylformamide with propylene glycol using TDR method

Dielectric relaxation study of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) has been carried out with propylene glycol (PLG) at different temperatures. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) in reflection mode has been used to measure the reflection coefficient in frequency range of 10 MHz to 20 GHz. The dielectric parameters static dielectric permittivity (? ₀) and relaxation time (τ) have been obtained by Fourier transform and least squares fit methods. The experimental results show nonlinear variation in dielectric permittivity and relaxation time with volume fraction of PLG confirm the structural formation due to the intermolecular interaction between N,N-dimethylformamide and PLG. The variation in excess permittivity (ε ^E), excess inverse relaxation times (1/τ)^E, Kirkwood correlation factors (g ^eff, g ^f), activation enthalpy (ΔH) and entropy (ΔS) are also calculated to study the binary mixture interaction.     

Thermal conductivity of the diamond-paraffin wax composite

The thermal conductivity of diamond-paraffin wax composites prepared by infiltration of a hydrocarbon binder with the thermal conductivity λ _m = 0.2 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ into a dense bed of diamond particles (λ _f ∼ 1500 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹) with sizes of 400 and 180 μm has been investigated. The calculations using universally accepted models considering isolated inclusions in a matrix have demonstrated that the best agreement with the measured values of the thermal conductivity of the composite λ = 10–12 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ is achieved with the use of the differential effective medium model, the Maxwell mean field scheme gives a very underestimated calculated value of λ, and the effective medium theory leads to a very overestimated value. An agreement between the calculation and the experiment can be provided by constructing thermal conductivity functions. The calculation of the thermal conductivity at the percolation threshold has shown that the experimental thermal conductivity of the composites is higher than this critical value. It has been established that, for the composites with closely packed diamond particles (the volume fraction is ∼0.63 for a monodisperse binder), the use of the isolated particle model (Hasselman-Johnson and differential effective medium models) for calculating the thermal conductivity is not quite correct, because the model does not take into account the percolation component of the thermal conductivity. In particular, this holds true for the calculation of the heat conductance of diamond-matrix interfaces in diamond-metal composites with a high thermal conductivity.     

A large volume cubic press with a pressure-generating capability up to about 10 GPa

A massive cubic press, with a maximum load of 1400 tons on every WC anvil, has been installed at the High Pressure Laboratory of Peking University. High-P experiments have been conducted to examine the performance of the conventional experimental setup and some newly developed assemblies adopting the anvil-preformed gasket system. The experimental results suggest that (1) the conventional experimental setup (assembly BJC2-0) can reach pressures up to about 6 GPa with a large cell volume of 34.33 cm³; (2) the anvil-preformed gasket system, despite decreasing the P-generating efficiency, extends the P-generating capability up to about 8 GPa at the expense of reducing the cell volume down to 8.62 cm³ (assembly BJC2-6); (3) due to the large cell volume, it is possible to make further modifications to extend the pressure range, as readily demonstrated, to about 10 GPa (assembly BJC5-7); (4) the effect of high temperature on the pressure generation of the press is not significant. It follows that this cubic press can be very useful in synthesizing materials of large volume at high pressures and to the studies such as high-P phase equilibrium, trace element partitioning and isotope fractionation in the research fields of Earth and planetary sciences.     

高压Ni77P23非晶合金自由体积变化的同步辐射研究

利用同步辐射高能X光散射的方法，研究了室温下非晶合金Ni₇₇P₂₃的自由体积的变化所引起的压缩行为的变化规律，通过傅里叶变换得到不同压力下的径向分布函数，并由此获得了不同压力下，该非晶合金的配位数、近邻原子间距等原子构型的结构信息. 研究表明，至直30.5GPa压力，Ni₇₇P₂₃合金仍保持稳定的非晶结构,根据Bridgman方程通过拟合数据，得到状态方程为-ΔV/V₀=0.08606P-3.2×10^-4P²+5.7×10^-6P³. 关键词： 非晶合金 自由体积 同步辐射     

Nucleation and stability of defect clusters: New energetic model in the case of substituted wustites

Abstract

For wüstite Fe_1?z O (z < 0.08) an energetic model accounts for the stability of cubic defect clusters (m/n) which are partly ordered in the crystal. The Gibbs energy G_T (N) associated with clusters, including their distorted envelope, is expressed as a sum of a volume term in N ³ and of surface terms in N ⁴; N is the number of bonds characteristic of the cluster size. In the case of a (10/4) type cluster, this energy is negative and minimum for N_m ranging between 4 and 5, when the volume and surface energies range between specific values. Using simple assumptions, a volume energy ?0.80 eV per vacancy is found in accordance with the value of stabilization energy calculated by theorists for the (10/4) cluster. The substitution of Fe²⁺ by Ca²⁺ should lead to a decrease of cluster size; this has been recently suggested by neutron diffraction studies.     

The transition from bulk to nano as a phase transition

It is demonstrated that the chemical potential of bosons trapped in a harmonic potential shows a discontinuity as a function of the number of particles in the system. In the model used, it is shown that if the number of particles is of the order of 10⁶ or greater, bulk-like behaviour is exhibited by the system. This translates to a ratio of V/V_c>10⁶ for bulk behaviour, where V is the crystallite volume of the experimental sample and V_c is the volume of the unit cell. Several experimental results covering a wide range of physical phenomena that corroborate the fact that such a number-induced phase transition indeed exists are presented.     

Temperature dependence of the critical magnetic field of the structural transition in MBBA-based ferronematics

We studied the structural transitions in ferronematics based on the thermotropic nematic liquid crystal MBBA (4^′ -methoxybenzylidene-4-n-butylaniline) having a nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature T _N–I?=?48.0^○C and in MBBA-based ferronematics doped with a magnetic suspension consisting of Fe₃O₄ particles (10?nm in diameter) coated with oleic acid as a surfactant. The ferronematic samples were prepared with different volume concentrations of magnetic particles φ?=,1× 10^?4, 2× 10^?4 and 5×10^?4. The temperature dependences of the critical magnetic fields in a bias electric field under strong applied magnetic fields are presented. We calculated the surface density of anchoring energy W at the nematic–magnetic particle boundary. Scaling of the structural transition in the MBBA and MBBA-based ferronematics with the temperature of the nematic-to-isotropic transition was observed.     

Absolute cross sections for collision-induced depolarized scattering of light in krypton and xenon

Depolarized Raman spectra of binary collisional pairs of atoms in krypton and xenon are obtained at gas densities of 1–10 amagat. Absolute intensities relative to a known rotational transition of nitrogen are determined. For light of 4880 Å wavelength incident in the x-direction, polarized in the z-direction and scattered in the y-direction of a cartesian frame x, y, z, at a frequency shift of -12 cm^-1, the differential scattering cross section per unit wavenumber band times volume, is found to be 1·10 × 10^-52 cm⁶ ± 10 per cent for krypton, and 4·76 × 10^-52 cm⁶ ± 10 per cent for xenon, if the sum of both polarizations is considered. Wave-mechanical and classical computations reproduce both the shape and the intensity of the experimental spectra if the so-called point-dipole model of the anisotropy of the polarizability of collisional pairs of atoms is used. Other models of the anisotropy are seen to be overcorrected by these criteria.     

A methodology to optimize the quantification of sp carbon fraction from K edge EELS spectra

A methodology is presented to select a consistent method, using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), to extract the fraction of sp²-bonded carbon atoms in carbonaceous materials. According to this methodology, a reliable method has to conjointly fulfill two criteria. The first one consists in verifying, on a perfect graphite sample, that the experimental evolution of R = I_π*/(I_π* + I_σ*)-ratios is in good agreement with the one theoretically predicted as a function of experimental settings. The second criterion consists in measuring sp² fractions in amorphous carbon samples with a minimum of fluctuation. We test three commonly used R-extraction techniques, and we show that they exhibit some failures. We thus implement a more accurate R-extraction process that accounts for the predicted graphite R-evolution and exhibits a low intrinsic 4%-noise, as determined from the sp² fraction fluctuation. Moreover, we check the transferability of our method on a wide range of EELS spectra, acquired with different experimental resolutions on samples exhibiting various sp² contents.     

Optical visualization of non-linear acoustic propagation in cavitating liquids

Non-linearity effects on sound propagation induced by cavitation bubbles are investigated. The convergence of an acoustic wave due to the interaction with the microbubbles produced in the cavitation zone is shown experimentally. In these conditions the theoretical analysis shows that the self-focusing primarily depends on the effective microbubble volume fraction. This fraction turns out to be about 10^?6 with a corresponding self-focusing distance of about 9 cm in the Fraunhofer region of a plane circular transducer.     

Asymptotic bounds on pion form factor

A technique recently developed for inelastic electron proton scattering is applied for inelastic electron pion scattering. It is found that all the derivatives of off-shell form factor of pion nears=m _π ² and for largeQ ² are bounded from above, provided that the dispersion relation for the form factor requires no more than one subtraction. The elastic pion form factor is bounded by [lnQ ²] ^c /Q ², wherec is any positive constant.     

Optical properties of laser-produced plasmas from Cd and layered crystalline CdAl2Se4 targets

An experimental investigation into emission by plasmas from Cd and crystalline CdAl₂Se₄ targets irradiated with a pulse-periodic YAG: Nd³⁺ laser is presented. The laser operates at a pulse width of 20 ns and provides 1−2×10⁹ W/cm² at the focus. The spectral and time characteristics of the emission are examined. The main findings are as follows: (1) The strongest lines correspond to the transitions from the 6³ S ₁ and 5³ D ₂ levels of Cd I. (2) With the Cd target, the recombination bottlenecks are 5² D _5/2 of Cd II (E _up=20.11 eV) and 8³ D _{1, 3} of Cd I (E _up=8.60–8.65 eV). (3) The average electron temperature outside the core of the plume is 0.64 eV. (4) For the 508.6-nm line of Cd I, the high filling rate of the 6³ S ₁ upper energy level may be related to the rapid recombination of cadmium ions with electrons via the intermediate levels of Cd⁻ at 6.82 and 7.24 eV.     

Line strengths and lifetimes for Kr II

Relative line strengths have been calculated for transitions between states of the 4p ⁴ 5p and 4p ⁴ 5s configurations in Kr II. The wavefunctions are obtained in intermediate coupling, including an effective correction for configuration interaction. Absolute values for the line strengths are determined using the coulomb approximation. Lifetimes for the upper 4p ⁴ 5p levels are given together with available experimental results for comparison.     

4‐Phenyl‐1,2,4‐triazoline‐3,5‐dione in the ene reactions with cyclohexene, 1‐hexene and 2,3‐dimethyl‐2‐butene. The heat of reaction and the influence of temperature and pressure on the reaction rate

The values of the enthalpy (53.3; 51.3; 20.0 kJ mol^?1), entropy (?106; ?122; ?144 J mol^?1K^?1), and volume of activation (?29.1; ?31.0; ?cm³ mol^?1), the reaction volume (?25.0; ?26.6; ?cm³ mol^?1) and reaction enthalpy (?155.9; ?158.2; ?150.2 kJ mol^?1) have been obtained for the first time for the ene reactions of 4‐phenyl‐1,2,4‐triazoline‐3,5‐dione 1 , with cyclohexene 4 , 1‐hexene 6 , and with 2,3‐dimethyl‐2‐butene 8 , respectively. The ratio of the values of the activation volume to the reaction volume (?V^≠_corr/ΔV_{r ? n}) in the ene reactions under study, 1 + 4 → 5 and 1 + 6 → 7 , appeared to be the same, namely 1.16. The large negative values of the entropy and the volume of activation of studied reactions 1 + 4 → 5 and 1 + 6 → 7 better correspond to the cyclic structure of the activated complex at the stage determining the reaction rate. The equilibrium constants of these ene reactions can be estimated as exceeding 10¹⁸ L mol^?1, and these reactions can be considered irreversible. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.