Stochastic resonance in perspective

Summary We outline the historical development of stochastic resonance (SR), a phenomenon in which the signal and/or the signal-to-noise ratio in a nonlinear system increase with increasing intensity of noise. We discuss basic theoretical ideas explaining and describing SR, and we review some revealing experimental data that place SR within the wider context of statistical physics. We emphasize the close relationship of SR to some effects that are well known in condensed-matter physics. Paper presented at the International Workshop ?Fluctuations in Physics and Biology: Stochastic Resonance, Signal Processing and Related Phenomena?, Elba, 5–10 June 1994.     

Multi-valued solutions and branch point singularities for nonlinear hyperbolic or elliptic systems

Multi-valued solutions are constructed for 2 × 2 first-order systems using a generalization of the hodograph transformation. The solution is found as a complex analytic function on a complex Riemann surface for which the branch points move as part of the solution. The branch point singularities are envelopes for the characteristics and thus move at the characteristic speeds. We perform an analysis of stability of these singularities with respect to perturbations of the initial data. The generic singularity types are folds, cusps, and nondegenerate umbilic points with non-zero 3-jet. An isolated singularity is generically a square root branch point corresponding to a fold. Two types of collisions between singularities are generic: At a “tangential” collision between two singularities moving at the same characteristic speed, a cube root branch point is formed, corresponding to a cusp. A “non-tangential” collision, between two square root branch points moving at different characteristic speeds, remains a square root branch point at the collision and corresponds to a nondegenerate umbilic point. These results are also valid for a diagonalizable n-th order system for which there are exactly two speeds. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Evaluation of atomic fluorescence, absorption and emission techniques for the determination of mercury

Summary Atomic fluorescence (AFS), absorption (AAS) and emission (AES) systems were evaluated for the determination of inorganic mercury. Identical vapour generation and amalgamation procedures were used to permit direct comparison of the performance of a commercial long-path AAS instrument to laboratory constructed non-dispersive AFS as well as He-MIP based AES instruments. Instrumental noise-limited detection limits (LOD) were 0.94, 2.4, 2.8 pg for AAS, AES and AFS techniques, respectively. Methodological LOD's were found to be blank controlled and similar for all three instruments, viz. 9, 25 and 16 pg for AAS, AFS and AES, respectively. All three systems produced accurate results at the low ng/l concentration, as verified by the analysis of a certified river water reference material (NRCC ORMS-1).     

A new set of high speed matrix addressing schemes for ferroelectric liquid crystal displays

A new set of matrix addressing schemes for ferroelectric liquid crystal displays is reported. The schemes use the minimum in the response time-voltage characteristic found in certain mixtures and deliver improved operating speed and contrast ratio compared with previously reported schemes operating in this mode.     

Gasdynamic aspects of a modified expansion-shock tube for nucleation and condensation studies

A modified expansion-shock tube for nucleation and condensation studies in a supersaturated vapour is described. An analysis is made of the gas-dynamical properties of the new tube configuration and numerical simulations with the Random Choice Method are compared with experiments. It is shown that with the modified configuration one single nucleation pulse can be realized.     

Polymorphism in alternating polyketones studied by x-ray diffraction and calorimetry

Differential scanning calorimetry and high temperature x-ray diffraction were used to study the perfectly alternating copolymer of ethene and carbon monoxide (polyketone; POKC2). It was found that oriented POK-C2 fibers show a crystalline phase transition at a temperature between 110–125°C with a 10% change in crystalline density. At this temperature, the crystal structure reported recently (POK-α) is transformed to a crystal structure that was reported in the past for room temperature imperfectly alternating polyketone. The latter structure will be designated as POK-β. The influence of chain defects on the crystal structure was studied by synthesizing terpolymers (POK-C2/C3), in which small amounts of propylene-CO units are incorporated into the polymer backbone. The resulting terpolymers differ from the copolymer by the presence of methyl groups randomly distributed along the polyketone backbone chain. Evidence is presented that indicates that the methyl groups are built into the crystal lattice as defects. With more than 5 mole-% propene the terpolymer fibers crystallize exclusively in the β-modification. Below this level the α/β ratio (at room temperature) increases with decreasing amounts of propene. Both as-synthesized and as-spun POK-C2 were found to consist of both POK-α and POK-β; the α/β ratio depends on the method of preparation. Because the drawn POK-C2 fibers studied here consist exclusively of POK-α, the process of spinning and drawing leads to the transformation of unoriented β-rich material into oriented POK-α. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.