Thermodynamics of Black Holes and the Symmetric Generalized Uncertainty Principle

In this paper, we have investigated the thermodynamics of Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordström black holes using the symmetric generalised uncertainty principle which contains correction terms involving momentum and position uncertainty. The mass-temperature relationship and the heat capacity for these black holes have been computed using which the critical and remnant masses have been obtained. The entropy is found to satisfy the area law upto leading order logarithmic corrections and corrections of the form A² (which is a new finding in this paper) from the symmetric generalised uncertainty principle.     

Electrochemical Properties of Carbon Nanoparticles Entrapped in Silica Matrix

Carbon-based electrode materials have been widely used for many years for electrochemical charge storage, energy generation, and catalysis. We have developed an electrode material with high specific capacitance by entrapping graphite nanoparticles into a sol-gel network. Films from the resulting colloidal suspensions were highly porous due to the removal of the entrapped organic solvents from sol-gel matrix giving rise to high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) specific surface areas (654 m(2)/g) and a high capacitance density ( approximately 37 F/g). An exponential increase of capacitance was observed with decreasing scan rates in cyclic voltammetry studies on these films suggesting the presence of pores ranging from micro (< 2 nm) to mesopores. BET surface analysis and scanning electron microscope images of these films also confirmed the presence of the micropores as well as mesopores. A steep drop in the double layer capacitance with polar electrolytes was observed when the films were rendered hydrophilic upon exposure to a mild oxygen plasma. We propose a model whereby the microporous hydrophobic sol-gel matrix perturbs the hydration of ions which moves ions closer to the graphite nanoparticles and consequently increase the capacitance of the film.     

Structure, cytotoxicity, and DNA-cleavage properties of the complex [Cu(II)(pbt)Br2

The reactions of the ligand 2-(2-pyridyl)benzthiazole (pbt) with CuBr 2 and ZnCl 2 in acetonitrile produce the complexes [Cu(pbt)Br 2] ( 1) and [Zn(pbt)Cl 2] ( 3), respectively. When complex 1 is dissolved in DMF, complex 2 is obtained as light-green crystals. The reaction of pbt with CuBr 2 in DMF also yields the complex [Cu(pbt)Br 2(dmf)] ( 2) (dmf = dimethylformamide). Complexes 1- 3 were characterized by X-ray crystallography. Complexes 1 and 3 have distorted tetrahedral coordination environments, and complex 2 is constituted of two slightly different copper centers, both exhibiting distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometries. Complexes 1 and 2 cleave phiX174 phage DNA, both in the presence and the absence of reductant. The free ligand pbt does not show any DNA-cleaving abilities. The poor solubility of complex 3 makes it not applicable for biological tests. The occurrence of DNA breaks in the presence of various radical scavengers suggests that no diffusible radicals are involved in the DNA cleavage by complex 1, as none of the scavengers inhibit the cleavage reaction. The DNA-cleavage products are not religated with the enzyme T4 DNA ligase, which is an additional proof that the cleavage is nonhydrolytic. Most probably the cleaving reaction involves reactive oxygen species, which could not be trapped, leading to an oxidative mechanism. An easy oxidation of Cu (II)(pbt)Br 2 to Cu (III) in DMF and the reduction of the same to Cu (I), under similar electrochemical conditions may lead to the in situ activation of molecular oxygen, resulting in the formation of metal solvated nondiffusible radicals able to prompt the oxidative cleavage of DNA. Complex 1 and the pure ligand exhibit remarkable cytotoxic effects against the cancer cell lines L1210 and A2780 and also against the corresponding cisplatin-resistant mutants of these cell lines.     

A study on natural coral stone—a fractal solid

This present research work contains the study of natural fractal material, coral stone. X-ray diffraction, FTIR, optical, DC and AC electrical characteristics are studied. The study includes Arrhenius like plots for both wafer and powder form of the material. Measurements show a possible partially irreversible phase transition occurs when coral is heated for a long time at an about 115?°C. From the XRD data it has been also established that coral stone contains nano sized clusters which is supported by DC electrical measurement. The variation of AC conductivity of coral with thickness of the sample is studied and found exhibit an interesting feature of fractal solid. A scaling relation between AC conductivity and thickness has also been proposed here. The overall behavior of the specimen is like that of a fractal system.     

Hawking radiation from black holes in de Sitter spaces via covariant anomalies

We apply the covariant anomaly cancellation method to compute the Hawking fluxes from the event and cosmic horizons of the Schwarzschild–de Sitter black hole. The derivation is new from the existing ones as we split the space in three different regions (near to and away from the event and cosmic horizons) and write down the covariant energy–momentum tensor using three step functions which covers the whole region leading elegantly to the conditions required to compute the Hawking fluxes from the event and cosmic horizons.     

Polypyrrole–polyvinyl alcohol stable nanodispersion: A prospective conducting black ink

Chemical polymerization of pyrrole within aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) solution gives rise to a nanodispersion with unique stability and monodispersity. The nanodispersion has shown uniform distribution of perfectly spherical ～110 nm polypyrrole particles (from transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering) with high doping level (from UV‐Vis analysis) and sufficient electrical conductivity (10^?3 S/cm). The dispersion with optimum stability and conductivity was subjected to viscoelastic studies. The viscosity of the system was adjusted by dilution with water and shear thinning (under steady shear) was generally observed. Dynamic mechanical studies have shown that the dispersion behaves like a semidiluted polymeric solution that roughly follows the Zimm model of viscoelasticity. This behavior accounts for its unique stability and miscibility with water at any proportion without precipitation. On drying or leaving the sample for 7 days, Fe³⁺ induced partial crosslinking of PVA chains takes place via –OH groups, although complete gelling does not occur. The dispersion forms flexible and uniform films on glass and metal surfaces that does not dissolve after complete drying; this observation combined with shear thinning encourages its application as ink or paint. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2011     

Solution of a hypersingular integral equation in two disjoint intervals

A hypersingular integral equation in two disjoint intervals is solved by using the solution of Cauchy type singular integral equation in disjoint intervals. Also a direct function theoretic method is used to determine the solution of the same hypersingular integral equation in two disjoint intervals. Solutions by both the methods are in good agreement with each other.     

Discrete Hamiltonian symmetries and semiclassical quantization

Most quantum Hamiltonian systems exhibit discrete symmetries. Allowing for these is crucial when properly calculating the fluctuation properties of the quantal spectrum. These properties are then employed to distinguish between classically chaotic or non-chaotic quantum systems. In general, semiclassical quantization procedures do not take into account irreducible representations of the Hamiltonian. A procedure is presented to take these into account in semiclassical quantization schemes and calculate some of the energy eigenvalues belonging to a specific irreducible representation.     

Nonradiative inter- and intramolecular energy transfer from the aromatic donor anisole to a synthesized photoswitchable acceptor system

We report steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements on acetonitrile (ACN) solutions of the model compounds, energy donor anisole (A) and a photoswitchable acceptor N,N′-1,2-phenylene di-p-tosylamide (B) and the multichromophore (M) where A and B are connected by a spacer containing both rigid triple (acetylenic) and flexible methylene bonds. Both steady state and time correlated single photon counting measurements demonstrate that though intermolecular energy transfer, of Forster type, between the donor and acceptor moieties occurs with rate 10⁸ s^?1 but when these two reacting components are linked by a spacer (multichromophore, M) the observed transfer rate (～10¹¹ s^?1) enhances. This seemingly indicates that the imposition of the spacer by inserting a triple bond may facilitate in the propagation of electronic excitation energy through bond. The time resolved fluorescence measurements along with the theoretical predictions using Configuration interaction singles (CIS) method by using 6-31G (d,p) basis set, implemented in the Gaussian package indicate the formations of the two excited conformers of B. The experimental findings made from the steady state and time resolved fluorescence measurements demonstrate that, though two different isomeric species of the acceptor B are formed in the excited singlet states, the prevailing singlet–singlet nonradiative energy transfer route was found from the donor A to the relatively longer-lived isomeric species of B.     

Enhanced water photolysis with Pt metal nanoparticles on single crystal TiO2 surfaces

Two novel deposition methods were used to synthesize Pt-TiO(2) composite photoelectrodes: a tilt-target room temperature sputtering method and aerosol-chemical vapor deposition (ACVD). Pt nanoparticles (NPs) were sequentially deposited by the tilt-target room temperature sputtering method onto the as-synthesized nanostructured columnar TiO(2) films by ACVD. By varying the sputtering time of Pt deposition, the size of deposited Pt NPs on the TiO(2) film could be precisely controlled. The as-synthesized composite photoelectrodes with different sizes of Pt NPs were characterized by various methods, such as SEM, EDS, TEM, XRD, and UV-vis. The photocurrent measurements revealed that the modification of the TiO(2) surface with Pt NPs improved the photoelectrochemical properties of electrodes. Performance of the Pt-TiO(2) composite photoelectrodes with sparsely deposited 1.15 nm Pt NPs was compared to the pristine TiO(2) photoelectrode with higher saturated photocurrents (7.92 mA/cm(2) to 9.49 mA/cm(2)), enhanced photoconversion efficiency (16.2% to 21.2%), and increased fill factor (0.66 to 0.70). For larger size Pt NPs of 3.45 nm, the composite photoelectrode produced a lower photocurrent and reduced conversion efficiency compared to the pristine TiO(2) electrode. However, the surface modification by Pt NPs helped the composite electrode maintain higher fill factor values.