The propagation of the tide inside a lagoon

Summary Propagation of the tide in a lagoon is studied, taking into account expansion of the waves in the shallows, but otherwise utilizing the classic theory of first approximation. The time lag in propagation and the attenuation of the wave may thus be determined.

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Sommario Si studia la propagazione della marea in una laguna, tenendo conto della espansione delle onde sui bassifondi, ma per il resto, utilizzando la teoria classica di prima approssimazione. Si giunge così a determinare il ritardo nella propagazione e l'attenuazione dell'onda.

     

Are defect models consistent with the entropy and specific heat of glass formers?

We show that pointlike defect model of glasses cannot explain the thermodynamic properties of glass formers, as for example, the excess specific heat close to the glass transition, contrary to the claim of Garrahan and Chandler [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 9710 (2003)]. More general models and approaches in terms of extended defects are also discussed.     

Soluzioni cilindriche nella teoria dei plasmi anisotropi

Sunto Si determinano delle classi di soluzioni delle equazioni descriventi nell'ambito della teoria di Chew, Goldberger e Low un plasma anisotropo con condizioni al contorno relative ai due casi: (a) dominio cilindrico indefinito, (b) dominio cilindrico finito. Si danno poi le condizioni necessarie e sufficienti per la stabilità delle soluzioni trovate. Lavoro eseguito nell'ambito della attività dei Gruppi di Ricerca Matematica del C.N.R. presso l'Istituto di Matematiche Applicate della Facoltà di Ingegneria della Università di Pisa.     

On correlation function methods for detecting the stochastic transition

The use of correlation function methods to predict the onset of chaotic motion in conservative Hamiltonian systems is critically examined. It is shown that microcanonical correlation functions do not, in general, provide a convenient criterion to distinguish between stable and unstable motions.     

Signatures of short-range many-body effects in the dielectric function of silicon for finite momentum transfer

We present an investigation of the dynamic structure factor and of the dielectric function epsilonM(Q,omega) of the prototypical semiconductor silicon for finite momentum transfer, combining inelastic x-ray scattering experiments and ab initio calculations. In contrast with optical spectra, for finite momentum transfer time-dependent density-functional theory in the adiabatic local-density approximation together with lifetime broadening describes the physics of valence excitations correctly. Major structures in the spectra, governed by short-range crystal and exchange-correlation local-field effects, are strongly influenced by a mixing of transitions of positive and negative energies, in striking difference to spectra for vanishing momentum transfer. This mixing gives rise to a pronounced Fano asymmetry.     

Two-dimensional lipid mixing entropy regulates the formation of multicomponent lipoplexes

The mechanism of formation of multicomponent lipoplexes was investigated by means of synchrotron Small-Angle X-ray Diffraction (SAXD). Mixed lipid dispersions were prepared by mixing different populations of binary cationic liposomes. When adding DNA to mixed lipid dispersions, multicomponent lipoplexes spontaneously formed exhibiting structural properties, i.e., membrane thickness, surface charge density, and one-dimensional DNA packing density, intermediate between those of binary lipoplexes. These results suggested that DNA lets liposomes come into contact and fuse and that a complete lipid mixing at the molecular level occurs. The equilibrium structure of multicomponent lipoplexes was found to be unique and did not depend on the number and kind of populations composing lipid dispersion but only on the lipid species involved and on their relative molar ratio. According to recent theoretical models we identified two-dimensional lipid mixing entropy as the key factor regulating the existence of only multicomponent lipoplexes with ideally mixed lipid species.     

Metal-support interaction and redox behavior of Pt(1 wt %)/Ce0.6Zr0.4O2

The catalyst Pt(1 wt %)/Ce(0.6)Zr(0.4)O(2) is studied by CO-temperature programmed reduction (CO-TPR), isothermal oxygen storage complete capacity (OSCC), X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Pt L(III) edge, and in situ X-ray diffraction (in situ XRD), with the aim of elucidating the role of supported metal in CO oxidation by ceria-based three-way catalysts (TWC). The redox behavior of Pt(1 wt %)/Ce(0.6)Zr(0.4)O(2) is compared to that of bare ceria-zirconia. OSCC of redox-aged Pt/ceria-zirconia is twice that of bare ceria-zirconia, and the maximum of CO consumption occurs at a temperature about 300 K lower than redox-aged ceria-zirconia. XAS analysis allows one to evidence the formation of a platinum-cerium alloy in redox-aged samples and the stability of the metal particles toward oxidation and sintering during high-temperature treatments. Under CO flux at 773 K, bare ceria-zirconia shows a continuous drift of diffraction peaks toward smaller Bragg angles, due to a progressive increase of Ce(III) content. Under the same treatment, the structural rearrangement of Pt-supported ceria-zirconia starts after an induction time and takes place with an abrupt change of the lattice constant. The experimental evidence points to the role of supported Pt in modifying the redox properties of ceria-zirconia with respect to the bare support. It is proposed that the much faster bulk reduction observed by in situ XRD for redox-aged Pt/ceria-zirconia can be attributed to an easier release of reacted CO(2), producing a more effective turnover of reactants at the catalyst surface.     

Bootstrap Percolation and Kinetically Constrained Models on Hyperbolic Lattices

We study bootstrap percolation (BP) on hyperbolic lattices obtained by regular tilings of the hyperbolic plane. Our work is motivated by the connection between the BP transition and the dynamical transition of kinetically constrained models, which are in turn relevant for the study of glass and jamming transitions. We show that for generic tilings there exists a BP transition at a nontrivial critical density, 0<ρ _c <1. Thus, despite the presence of loops on all length scales in hyperbolic lattices, the behavior is very different from that on Euclidean lattices where the critical density is either zero or one. Furthermore, we show that the transition has a mixed character since it is discontinuous but characterized by a diverging correlation length, similarly to what happens on Bethe lattices and random graphs of constant connectivity.     

Explanation of Variability and Removal of Confounding Factors from Data through Optimal Transport

A methodology based on the theory of optimal transport is developed to attribute variability in data sets to known and unknown factors and to remove such attributable components of the variability from the data. Denoting by x the quantities of interest and by z the explanatory factors, the procedure transforms x into filtered variables y through a z‐dependent map, so that the conditional probability distributions ρ(x|z) are pushed forward into a target distribution μ(y), independent of z. Among all maps and target distributions that achieve this goal, the procedure selects the one that minimally distorts the original data: the barycenter of the ρ(x|z). Connections are found to unsupervised learning and to fundamental problems in statistics such as conditional density estimation and sampling. Particularly simple instances of the methodology are shown to be equivalent to k‐means and principal component analysis. An application is shown to a time series of ground temperature hourly data across the United States.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Compactness and Vitali’s compactness criterion in vector-valued F-seminormed function spaces

Results of compactness for vector-valued F-seminormed function spaces and a general Vitali’s compactness criterion under the W-property are exhibited.