Thermal diffusivity measurements in porous ceramics by photothermal methods

Received: 16 September 1996/Accepted: 6 January 1997     

Twistor Geometry for Hyperkähler Metrics on Complex Adjoint Orbits

We study the hyperkähler geometry of complex adjoint orbits from the point of view of twistor theory. We introduce, for complex semisimple adjoint orbits, the associated spectral curve and construct the twistor space as a union of certain regular adjoint orbits; we also exhibit the family of twistor lines. Furthermore, we show how our methods may be applied for describing hyperkähler metrics associated to more general spectral curves. In particular, we give an algebraic characterisation of the twistor lines.     

A new rosette design for more reliable hole-drilling residual stress measurements

A new six-element strain gage rosette is presented that can greatly improve residual stress measurement accuracy when using the hole-drilling method. The proposed rosette consists of three pairs of sector-shaped radial and circumferential gages connected as half-bridges. This rosette design increases effective strain sensitivity by a factor of 2.3 compared with a standard ASTM rectangular rosette, and can identify stresses at one-third greater depths from the measurement surface. Experimental measurements confirm theoretical strain response calculations within 3–4 percent. Apart from a small increase in time to complete the electrical connections, the practical use of the proposed rosette is identical to that of a conventional three-element rosette.     

Approximation in weighted Hardy spaces

This paper is concerned with several approximation problems in the weighted Hardy spacesH ^p(Ω) of analytic functions in the open unit disc D of the complex plane ℂ. We prove that ifX is a relatively closed subset of D, the class of uniform limits onX of functions inH ^p(Ω) coincides, moduloH ^p(Ω), with the space of uniformly continuous functions on a certain hull ofX which are holomorphic on its interior. We also solve the simultaneous approximation problems of describing Farrell and Mergelyan sets forH ^p(Ω), giving geometric characterizations for them. By replacing approximating polynomials by polynomial multipliers of outer functions, our results lead to characterizations of the same sets with respect to cyclic vectors in the classical Hardy spacesH ^p(D), 1 ⪯p < ∞. Dedicated to Professor Nácere Hayek on the occasion of his 75th birthday.     

Forced-air precooling of spherical foods in bulk: A parametric study

In this paper, a mathematical model for forced-air precooling of spherical food products in bulk is developed. The foods are arranged in horizontal layers stacked one above the other to form a rectangular parallelepiped with a vertical gap in between the product layers. The foods are cooled by chilled air blown along the height of the package. The governing equations for the conduction heat transfer in the foods, simultaneous heat and mass transfer at the food-air interface and in the air stream are solved numerically using finite-difference methods. A comprehensive numerical study is performed by varying the process parameters over a wide range. Typical results showing the variation of moist air properties along the height of the package and the effect of each parameter on the process time are presented. The ranges of parameters for advantageous operation of the precooling system are identified. Correlations are obtained for the process time based on the product center and mass-averaged temperatures in terms of process parameters.     

Low-temperature specific heat of crystalline and amorphous Eu2(MoO4)3

The specific heat C _total of crystalline and amorphous Eu₂(MoO₄)₃ is measured in the temperature interval 4.5–30 K. The amorphous state is obtained by applying pressure ∼7 GPa at room temperature. It is found that the specific heat of the crystal at T⩽7.5 K is described by a cubic function of temperature, while the specific heat of the amorphous sample has a strongly non-Debye character in the entire experimental temperature interval. The curve of C _total for amorphous europium molybdate is analyzed in a model of soft atomic potentials, and it is shown that it agrees well with universal low-temperature anomalies of the specific heat of classical glasses obtained by quenching from the liquid. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 8, 623–627 (25 October 1998)     

Assignment of conformation-sensitive near-infrared bands in high-spin ferrous haemoproteins. Low-temperature magnetic circular dichroism data

An assignment of the near-infrared bands in the 600–800 nm spectral region observed in magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of high-spin ferrous haemoproteins is presented. The assignment is based on a relative energy level scheme for iron d-electrons, a comparison of predicted and measured temperature dependences of MCD intensity, a sign of MCD bands and a group theoretical analysis of allowed transitions. The proposed assignment is consistent with the ∼15-nm red shift of the ∼760 nm band on breakage of the Fe-His bond in deoxy-myoglobin at low pH, with low-temperature photolysis experiments available for CO complexes of several haemoproteins. In accordance with the observations, the intensity of the MCD bands for proteins with a sulphur anion of cysteine as proximal haemligand (cytochrome P450 and chloroperoxidase) is predicted to be diminished by at least one order of magnitude compared to that for proteins with an imidazole of a histidine as a protein-derived haemligand (i.e. myoglobin, haemoglobin and horseradish peroxidase). Received: 4 February 1997 / Accepted: 1 May 1997     

Poincaré’s inequalities and Talagrand’s concentration phenomenon for the exponential distribution

Summary. We present a simple proof, based on modified logarithmic Sobolev inequalities, of Talagrand’s concentration inequality for the exponential distribution. We actually observe that every measure satisfying a Poincaré inequality shares the same concentration phenomenon. We also discuss exponential integrability under Poincaré inequalities and its consequence to sharp diameter upper bounds on spectral gaps. Received: 10 June 1996 / In revised form: 9 August 1996