Harmonic maps with torsion

In this article we introduce a natural extension of the well-studied equation for harmonic maps between Riemannian manifolds by assuming that the target manifold is equipped with a connection that is metric but has non-vanishing torsion. Such connections have already been classified in the work of Cartan(1924).The maps under consideration do not arise as critical points of an energy functional leading to interesting mathematical challenges. We will perform a first mathematical analysis of these maps which we will call harmonic maps with torsion.     

Characterization of low molecular weight hydrocarbon oligomers by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry using a solvent-free sample preparation method.

A new solvent-free sample preparation method using silver trifluoroacetate (AgTFA) was developed for the analysis of low molecular weight paraffins and microcrystalline waxes by laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOFMS). Experiments show that spectral quality can be enhanced by dispersing AgTFA directly in liquid paraffins without the use of additional solvents. This preparation mixture is applied directly to the MALDI probe. Solid waxes could be examined by melting prior to analysis. The method also provides sufficiently reproducible spectra that peak area ratios between mono- and bicyclic alkane peaks indicated variations in the cycloalkane content of paraffin samples. Dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons observed during the desorption/ionization process was studied by analysis of alkane standards.     

A class of stationary charged dust solutions of Einstein's field equations

We consider a special class of stationary rotating charged dust solutions of Einstein's field equations without cosmological constant. In these space-times, the motion of freely falling particles and of light rays can be visualized by the motion of charged particles in an appropriate model magnetic field. Any curl-free magnetostatic field, given on an open subset of Euclidean 3-space, can serve as a model magnetic field for a charged dust solution in this sense. The simplest example, corresponding to a homogeneous model magnetic field, is given by Som-Raychaudhuri space-time. Some other examples are worked out.     

A possible counterexample to well posedness of entropy solutions and to Godunov scheme convergence

A particular case of initial data for the two-dimensional Euler equations is studied numerically. The results show that the Godunov method does not always converge to the physical solution, at least not on feasible grids. Moreover, they suggest that entropy solutions (in the weak entropy inequality sense) are not well posed.

     

Design of neutral, mono- or di-cationic water-soluble trihydrazidophosphoradamantanes

The versatile behavior of a trihydrazidophosphoradamantane allowing the synthesis of a variety of neutral, mono- or di-cationic water-soluble molecules of potential interest for biphasic catalysis is reported.     

On the geometry of infinite cyclic subgroups

In this paper we construct an example of a word metric on an infinite cyclic subgroup. This example shows that subexponential distortion does not obstruct non-trivial growth of connected radii. This answers a question of Gromov [6]. The constructed metric has other pathological properies. Specifically, its asymptotic cone depends on the choice of ultrafilter and scaling sequence. The work has been partially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

IFS attractors and Cantor sets

We build a metric space which is homeomorphic to a Cantor set but cannot be realized as the attractor of an iterated function system. We give also an example of a Cantor set K in R³ such that every homeomorphism f of R³ which preserves K coincides with the identity on K.     

Integral Inequalities and Global Solutions of Semilinear Evolution Equations

A criterion for the nonexplosion of solutions to semilinear evolution equations on Banach spaces is proved. The result is obtained by applying a modification of the Bihari type inequality to the case of a weakly singular nonlinear integral inequality.     

Asymptotic Analysis of the Current-Voltage Curve of a pnpn Semiconductor Device

We consider the one-dimensional steady-state semiconductor deviceequations modelling a pnpn device. There are two relevant scalingsof the equations corresponding to small and large applied voltages.In both scalings, the semiconductor equations can be consideredas singularly perturbed. It turns out that the small-voltagescaling breaks down for current values between two saturationcurrents. In that interval, the large-voltage scaling has tobe employed. For both scalings, we derive the first-order termsof an asymptotic expansion and show that the reduced problemhas a solution. An example verifies that the current-voltagecurves obtained have the expected qualitative structure.