Physics in Melbourne

I survey highlights of the practice of physics and allied sciences in Melbourne,Australia, from the 1850s, soon after Europeans first settled in the area, to the present. I note recognizable sites of past and current physical-science activity that may be visited, as well as exhibits of historic items of physics apparatus. I trace the role of physics, in the course of a century and a half, in the evolution of a pioneering settlement into a large city embedded in a modern industrial economy.     

The design of molecules containing planar tetracoordinate carbon

A novel preference for planar tetracoordination was observed over the conventional tetrahedral arrangement in a new series of C₅H₂, C₅H₄, C₅H₄^1+/2+ and related compounds. The stability of these molecules is assessed with the ring-opening barriers, HOMO-LUMO gap, singlet-triplet energy differences and nucleus independent chemical shift values.     

Stress Tensor Fluctuations and Passive Quantum Gravity

The quantum fluctuations of the stress tensor of a quantum field are discussed, as are the resulting space-time metric fluctuations. Passive quantum gravity is an approximation in which gravity is not directly quantized, but fluctuations of the space-time geometry are driven by stress tensor fluctuations. We discuss a decomposition of the stress tensor correlation function into three parts, and consider the physical implications of each part. The operational significance of metric fluctuations and the possible limits of validity of semiclassical gravity are discussed.     

Simultaneous Determination of Carbamate and Organophosphorus Pesticides in Honeybees by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry

Summary The potential of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) has been studied for the simultaneous determination of sixteen carbamate and organophosphorus pesticides in honeybees using a traditional sample preparation protocol based on acetone extraction and dichloromethane partitioning. The performances of both atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) and electrospray (ES) interfaces were compared. APCI offered better sensitivity and specificity for a higher range of pesticides. Limits of quantification were from 0.01 to 0.17 mg kg^–1, at which recoveries obtained were between 64 and 93%, except for pirimicarb that was at 13%, with relative standard deviations ranging from 7 to 20%. Fenitrothion, fenoxycarb, methiocarb and phoxim were found in bees from Valencian Community beehives at concentrations between 0.03 and 3.75 mg kg^–1.     

Time-Reversed Dynamical Entropy and Irreversibility in Markovian Random Processes

A concept of time-reversed entropy per unit time is introduced in analogy with the entropy per unit time by Shannon, Kolmogorov, and Sinai. This time-reversed entropy per unit time characterizes the dynamical randomness of a stochastic process backward in time, while the standard entropy per unit time characterizes the dynamical randomness forward in time. The difference between the time-reversed and standard entropies per unit time is shown to give the entropy production of Markovian processes in nonequilibrium steady states.     

Spectroscopic Studies of 1-Aryl-2,2-Dichlorocyclopropanes

Seventeen 1-aryl-2,2-dichlorocyclopropanes were examined by using IR, ¹³C NMR, and mass spectrometry. The data obtained from IR and ¹³C NMR spectra indicate that the bond strength of carbon-chlorine on the cyclopropane ring and the electron density of that carbon depend on the substituent. The mass fragmentation patterns of compounds in this series resemble those of the dibromo analogues. The fragmentation mechanism is proposed to involve the formation of indenium ion through an electrocyclization.     

取代基效应(SCS)与乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物的序列结构Ⅲ.定量分析

本文在分析乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物序列结构时,把代表共单体反接单元的亚甲基(CH₂)βγ和γδ分别归属给了二元组VV和三元组EEV。与此同时,CH₂-δδ和δδ⁺归属给了二元组EE。表征乙烯长序列的CH₂-δ⁺δ⁺分属二元组EE和三元组EEE,对应峰强度在EE和EEE之间的分配是处理序列分布的关键。在本文中运用序列结构的Bovey关系和Randall统计进行演算,求得了修正值△的数学表达式,严格解和近似解。在规则链条件下得到的近似解与G.J.Ray的结果完全相同。当共单体含量较少时,谱峰强度Iδ⁺δ⁺的分配接近相等。在二元组和三元组的水平上,乙烯-α-稀烃共聚物的¹³C NMR谱中共有十三个峰,属于CH₂的有十个,属于CH的有三个。利用这些谱峰的强度数据可以建立一套计算公式,由此提供共聚物序列结构的全部信息。因此这是一个研究乙烯-α-烯烃共聚物序列结构的普适方法。     

Three New Diarylpropanes from Dioscorea composita

Three new diarylpropanes were isolated from the dried rhizomes of Dioscorea composita Hemsl., and their structures were determined as 1, 3-bis-(2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenyl) propane (1), 1, 3-bis-(2, 4-dihydroxyphenyl)propane (2), 1-(2′-hydroxy-4′-O-β-D- glucopymnosy-phenyl)-3-(2“, 4“-dihydroxyphenyl)propane (3), by spectroscopic analysis, respectively.     

Microscopic Theory of Blue Phases Ⅰ and Ⅱ of Liquid Crystal

The microscopic theory of the blue phases of chiral liquid crystal is proposed. Beginning with the potential between two molecules, by using the cell model of liquid, applying statistical physical method, the distribution function and the free energy of the system are obtained. By using variational approach and zero-order approximation, the differential equation that the order parameter tensor of the blue phase can satisfy is obtained. Then we change the differential equation to the eigenequation problem in quantum mechanics. Considering the symmetry of the blue phases,the order parameter tensors of blue phases Ⅰ and Ⅱ can be made up of the eigenvectors. Our results are the same as the results of Ginzberg-Landau‘s phenomenological theory. The parameters in the order parameter tensors that we calculate in the located system are close to the predecessors‘ results.