Stabilizing an uncertain production system

Consider a production system that consists ofm machines each of which can produce parts ofn types. When machinek is used, it produces a part of typei with probabilityp _ki . Requests arrive for parts, one at a time. With probability _i an arriving request is for a part of typei. The requests must be served without waiting. Thus, if a requested part is not available, it must be produced. We find necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a strategy (a choice of the machines to be used) which makes the inventory of parts stable and we provide such a strategy.Two variations of this model are also considered: the case of batch arrivals of requests, and that of a system where the requests can be queued.     

The onset of deconfinement inSU(2) lattice gauge theory

InSU(2) lattice gauge theory, we study deviations from ideal gas behaviour near the deconfinement point. On lattices of sizeN _σ ³ ×4,N _σ=8, 12, 18 and 26, we calculate the quantityΔ≡(ε?3P)/T ⁴. It increases sharply just aboveT _c , peaks atT/T _c =1.15 ±0.05 and then drops quickly. This form of behaviour is shown to be the consequence of a second order phase transition. Dynamically it could arise because just aboveT _c , the low momentum states of the system are remnant massive modes rather than deconfined massless gluons.     

V4S9Br4: a novel high-spin vanadium cluster thiobromide with square-planar metal core

The novel vanadium thiobromide, V4S9Br4, with a square-planar metal cluster core was synthesized and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, measurements of magnetic properties and the heat capacity, and DFT calculations of the electronic structure. At the room temperature, the compound displays paramagnetic properties with an independent spin on each V atom and with a weak exchange constant (J approximately 10 cm(-1)). The paramagnetic state is transformed into a low-spin state (AF-type ordering) at low temperatures. This change is accompanied by a heat-capacity anomaly. The observed magnetic and heat-capacity anomalies can be explained by the thermal excitation of electrons on the closely spaced molecular energy levels in the presence of the Jahn-Teller effect.