Modal properties of circular and noncircular optical waveguides

We give a review and a comparison of recent methods of analyzing circular and noncircular optical waveguides. Comparison among competing methodologies is made as follows: Galerkin's method is used with Laguerre-Gauss basis functions in circular geometry to examine the modal solution in a step index fiber, and comparison with the exact solution is made. A W-fiber, which has no exact solution, is then examined. Rectangular geometry is considered, and discussion centers on the use of Galerkin's method using trigonometric basis functions and Hermite-Gauss basis functions. Re difficulty arising from the use of basis functions that do not decay exponentially for large argument (trigonometric functions) is illustrated. Finally, a square step index waveguide is used to illustrate a comparison between a variational method that uses the Gaussian approximation as the starting point, and Galerkin's method using Hermite-Gauss basis functions. We conclude that the variational method does well in predicting the propagation constant β but does not do well in predicting the modal field.     

Mössbauer studies on some Argentinian soil: Mollisols from Bahia Blanca

Clay fractions of a Mollisol sample as is, treated with ammonium oxalate (AO), with dithionite-citrate-bicarbonate (DCB) and with dithionite-ethilene-diamine-tetraacetic acid (D-EDTA) methods, were studied. Illite-montmorillonites together with hematites, goethites and maghemites, all of the AI-substituted and with a wide range of sizes, were identified. It is found that the AO attack extracts little iron, whereas the other two attacks extract the magnetic signal. Furthermore, the DCB attack facilitates the reduction of the Fe³⁺ ions, while the D-EDTA method does not. Instead, this attack extracts more clay mineral Fe ions. A comparison with large grain soil samples is made.     

Dynamic mechanical analysis

Using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) we have studied thermal degradation for a system containing a diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) and 1,3-bisaminomethylcylohexane (1,3-BAC). The changes of dynamic mechanical properties during thermal degradation indicated a shift of the glass transition temperature (T _g) to higher temperatures and a decrease in the peak value of the dynamic loss factor (tan δ) with an increasing of aging time. The value of dynamic storage modulus (E′) at the rubbery state showed an increase with aging time, whiteE′ at the glassy state only underwent a moderate change with increased thermal degradation. From these results it can be argued that thermal degradation during the stage prior to the onset of the severe degradation involves structural changes in the epoxy system, as further crosslinking and loss of dangling chains in the crosslinked network.     

Geochemical and physical analysis of the bedrock formations and lowest tills at the Wellsch Valley Site,Saskatchewan, Canada

Nine bedrock and two till samples were analyzed to determine whether their chemical and physical properties could be used to distinguish between bedrock units and to differentiate local bedrock from overlying tills. The bedrock samples came from The North Cliff subsite of the Wellsch Valley Site, and the till samples from Jaw Face subsite. Eight of the nine bedrock samples show great similarity. However, their geochemical differences from the overlying Quaternary tills establish that the tills contain much material entrained, during one or more early Quaternary glaciations, from older bedrock outcrops to the north and northeast. The glaciers that laid down the tills appear to have reworked and concentrated elements compatible with a dry climate, probably formed by weathering during long interglacial, and perhaps preglacial, intervals when the surface was undergoing slow degradation.     

An extension of the Borel-Weil construction to the quantum groupU q (n)

The Borel-Weil (BW) construction for unitary irreps of a compact Lie group is extended to a construction of all unitary irreps of the quantum groupU _q(n). Thisq-BW construction uses a recursion procedure forU _q(n) in which the fiber of the bundle carries an irrep ofU _q(n–1)×U _q(1) with sections that are holomorphic functions in the homogeneous spaceU _q(n)/U _q(n–1)×U _q(1). Explicit results are obtained for theU _q(n) irreps and for the related isomorphism of quantum group algebras.Supported in part by the National Science Foundation, No. PHY-9008007     

Untersuchung des anisotropen Kriechverhaltens vorgeschädigter Werkstoffe am austenitischen Stahl X8 CrNiMoNb 16 16

Übersicht Ziel der Untersuchung ist es, den Einfluß von Kriechschädigung und Belastungsvorgeschichte auf das weitere Kriechverhalten nach einer Änderung der Belastungsrichtung zu bestimmen. Die ermittelten Kriechbruchzeiten werden stark von der Änderung der Belastungsrichtung beeinflußt. Dieses Verhalten wird mit einer tensoriell nichtlinearen Theorie erklärt, indem man den Einfluß der Vorschädigung mit einem zweistufigen Tensor darstellt.

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Evaluation of a 6.71 kW power tiller for draft and drawbar power on tar roads

A 6.71 kW power tiller was evaluated for draft and drawbar power on tar roads. The effect of mounting 40 kg of wheel ballast was also studied. Polynomial regression analysis was used to establish the relationship between draft and wheel slip, drawbar power and wheel slip, drawbar power and fuel consumption, and drawbar power and specific fuel consumption. The results of the study showed draft values of 2107, 2110 and 2110 N in second low, third low and first high gears at an engine speed of 150o rpm with a 15% wheel slip. The respective draft values at engine speed of 2000 rpm with a 15% wheel slip were 2172, 2189 and 2212 N. With the mounting of 40kg wheel ballast there was an increase in draft of 217, 207 and 291 N at 1500 rpm, and 328, 306 and 344 N at 2000 rpm of the engine with a 15% wheel slip in second low, third low and first high gears, respectively. The increase in drawbar power with 40 kg ballast was 10.88%, 7.83% and 20.13% at 1500 rpm and 18.89%, 16.56% and 14.88% at 2000 rpm of engine over the drawbar power available with zero ballast. The fuel consumption with the use of wheel ballast was slightly more than the fuel consumption without any ballast.     

Formant frequency discrimination by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata).

These studies investigated formant frequency discrimination by Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) using an AX discrimination procedure and techniques of operant conditioning. Nonhuman subjects were significantly more sensitive to increments in the center frequency of either the first (F1) or second (F2) formant of single-formant complexes than to corresponding pure-tone frequency shifts. Furthermore, difference limens (DLs) for multiformant signals were not significantly different than those for single-formant stimuli. These results suggest that Japanese monkeys process formant and pure-tone frequency increments differentially and that the same mechanisms mediate formant frequency discrimination in single-formant and vowel-like complexes. The importance of two of the cues available to mediate formant frequency discrimination, changes in the phase and the amplitude spectra of the signals, was investigated by independently manipulating these two parameters. Results of the studies indicated that phase cues were not a significant feature of formant frequency discrimination by Japanese macaques. Rather, subjects attended to relative level changes in harmonics within a narrow frequency range near F1 and F2 to detect formant frequency increments. These findings are compared to human formant discrimination data and suggest that both species rely on detecting alterations in spectral shape to discriminate formant frequency shifts. Implications of the results for animal models of speech perception are discussed.     

Observation of sharp resistance anomalies near Tc in granular superconductors

Granular films prepared from well-defined In clusters embedded in Kr (? 10-40 at % Kr) show sharp resistance anomalies very close to the superconducting transition temperature. The observed resistance peak(s), which go(es) above the normal state resistance R_N and which can be as high as ? 1.5 R_N, can be explained by a “mesoscopic” effect: Superconducting percolation aggregates of size ξ_ρ, larger than the superconducting coherence length ξ_S, but smaller than the quasiparticle relaxation length λ_Q*, have a superconducting gap, but are not yet able to carry a supercurrent.