Effect of annealing cold-drawn polystyrene and polymethylmethacrylate below Tg

Annealing of both cold-drawn atactic polystyrene and cold-drawn poly-methylmethacrylate at temperatures ranging from 50°C to their respective T_g's and for times ranging from 1 to 6 days gradually but completely eliminates the orientation arcing from the wide-angle X-ray diffraction pattern but induces only ～25% recovery of the cold-drawn deformation (as calculated from dimensional shrinkage). Analogous studies show that the birefringence of cold-drawn polystyrene is reduced by 57% during the annealing treatment. The results are evidence for segmental molecular motion below T_g and suggest that the molecular alignment responsible for the wide-angle X-ray diffraction arcing is not necessarily the same molecular orientation required for dimensional recovery. We have tentatively interpreted these results in terms of our recently proposed structural model consisting of both ordered domains and connecting disordered regions in the amorphous polymeric solid state. Annealing below T_g can produce chain backbone motion within the disordered regions and cause disorientation of the aligned ordered domains brought about by the initial cold-draw process.     

Two-dimensional Quantum Random Walk

We analyze several families of two-dimensional quantum random walks. The feasible region (the region where probabilities do not decay exponentially with time) grows linearly with time, as is the case with one-dimensional QRW. The limiting shape of the feasible region is, however, quite different. The limit region turns out to be an algebraic set, which we characterize as the rational image of a compact algebraic variety. We also compute the probability profile within the limit region, which is essentially a negative power of the Gaussian curvature of the same algebraic variety. Our methods are based on analysis of the space-time generating function, following the methods of Pemantle and Wilson (J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 97(1):129–161, 2002).     

Compressive Mass Analysis on Quadrupole Ion Trap Systems

Conventionally, quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometers eject ions of different mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) in a sequential fashion by performing a scan of the rf trapping voltage amplitude. Due to the inherent sparsity of most mass spectra, the detector measures no signal for much of the scan time. By exploiting this sparsity property, we propose a new compressive and multiplexed mass analysis approach—multi Resonant Frequency Excitation (mRFE) ejection. This new approach divides the mass spectrum into several mass subranges and detects all the subrange spectra in parallel for increased mass analysis speed. Mathematical estimation of standard mass spectrum is demonstrated while statistical classification on the parallel measurements remains viable because of the sparse nature of the mass spectra. This method can reduce mass analysis time by a factor of 3–6 and increase system duty cycle by 2×. The combination of reduced analysis time and accurate compound classification is demonstrated in a commercial quadrupole ion trap (QIT) system.

Computer experiment and global optimization of layered monocentric lens systems

In this paper we derive a general analytical solution for a monocentric lens system and present a global optimization method combining sequential design for global optimization and an expected improvement algorithm for global optimization for the design and analysis of a layered monocentric lens system, which provides an “intelligent” way to search the optimization space based on accumulated experience. We then apply these methods to an example of monocentric lens design, and explore the improvement in system performance obtained through increasing the system volume.     

Dense electron-positron plasmas and ultraintense γ rays from laser-irradiated solids

In simulations of a 10 PW laser striking a solid, we demonstrate the possibility of producing a pure electron-positron plasma by the same processes as those thought to operate in high-energy astrophysical environments. A maximum positron density of 10(26) m(-3) can be achieved, 7 orders of magnitude greater than achieved in previous experiments. Additionally, 35% of the laser energy is converted to a burst of γ rays of intensity 10(22) W cm(-2), potentially the most intense γ-ray source available in the laboratory. This absorption results in a strong feedback between both pair and γ-ray production and classical plasma physics in the new "QED-plasma" regime.