Error scrutiny of measuring coefficients of refractive indices and Soret coefficients using Mach–Zehnder interferometer

No matter how vigilantly an experiment is performed, errors always there inside the experimental results. Since the results of laser based optical experiments are somewhat loftier in precision, commonly, sources of errors are mistreated. However, ample error scrutiny is vital in quantifying of physical parameters of liquids such as Soret and diffusion coefficients. There are two types of experimental errors, explicitly, systematic error and random error. Systematic error is associated to the apparatus and cannot be enhanced by recurrent experiments. Frequent systematic errors in Mach–Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) techniques originate from stability of laser wavelength, resolution of the electronics component etcetera. Random error is interrelated to the variation in the equivalent measurements of repeating experiment. Resolution of electronic components likewise constructs random errors by providing diverse values in the recurring experiment. Foremost, random error of MZI is caused by the environmental circumstances such as nonconformity of background light, air temperature, and air humidity. In this current amendment, a meticulous error analysis has been accomplished for evaluating thermodiffusion or Soret coefficients of hydrocarbon binary mixtures. Based on our knowledge, such a completed error scrutiny for measuring Soret coefficients using MZI does not yet exist in the literature. Study reveals that the utmost error of measuring Soret coefficient using MZI is less than 0.22%.     

Molecular simulation of binary phase diagrams from the osmotic equilibrium method: vapour pressure and activity in water–ethanol mixtures

ABSTRACT

Herein, an approach for simulating phase diagrams of binary mixtures is presented, where a bulk liquid and its corresponding vapour phase are simulated by means of molecular dynamics using explicit polarisation. Time-averaged density profiles for the pure compounds and mixtures at different mole fractions provide information about the spatial distribution in the bulk liquid and the amount of evaporated species in the adjacent vapour phase. The activities in the liquid phase are calculated from the mean vapour phase densities at a given composition, providing a good qualitative agreement compared to experimental data and the precision of the method follows a previously developed Poisson model of evaporation. With the Redlich–Kister approach for the activities in a binary mixture, the directly obtained activities are fitted providing corrected activity coefficients of the two species. This method is applied to ethanol water mixtures at different mole fractions. The obtained structural data are in good agreement with experimental data and time-averaged density profiles provide a detailed insight into the composition of the liquid–vapour interface. An azeotropic point is obtained for an excess concentration of ethanol at 87% as percentage by mass compared to the experimental value of 95%.     

Determination of the thermodiffusion coefficient in three binary organic liquid mixtures by the thermogravitational method (contribution of the Universidad del País Vasco,Bilbao, to the benchmark test)

Within the framework of an international benchmark test, the thermodiffusion coefficients D T of the three binary systems formed with dodecane, isobutylbenzene and 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (with a mass fraction of 0.5 for each component at a temperature of 25C) have been measured. Convective coupling in cylindrical thermogravitational columns has been used to determine D T based on the Furry-Jones-Onsager theory. For each system, several columns with different gaps and heights were employed. Our results for these three coefficients are in good agreement with those obtained by other benchmark tests; the maximum deviation from the proposed benchmark values is 8.5%, which is not too bad owing to the difficulties of measuring a thermodiffusion coefficient.     

Concentration dependence of water self-diffusion coefficients in dilute glycerol–water binary and glycerol–water–sodium chloride ternary solutions and the insights from hydrogen bonds

Water self-diffusion coefficients for glycerol–water binary and glycerol–water–sodium chloride ternary solutions at low glucose concentrations have been predicted using the mean square displacements method. It was found that the water self-diffusion coefficient decreases as the glycerol concentration increases. The reasons for the decrease have been analysed from the viewpoint of the hydrogen bonds.     

Measurement of the water content in oil and oil products using IR light-emitting diode–photodiode optrons

Technical Physics - The feasibility of using light-emitting devices, the radiation spectrum of which has maxima at wavelengths of 1.7, 1.9, and 2.2 μm for determining the water concentration...     

A green method for the synthesis of pyrrole derivatives using arylglyoxals, 1,3-diketones and enaminoketones in water or water–ethanol mixture as solvent

Molecular Diversity - Three-component reaction between arylglyoxals, 1,3-dicetones and enaminoketones leads to new polyfunctionalized tetraone derivatives which may be easily converted to...     

Measurements of electron-phonon coupling factor and interfacial thermal resistance of metallic nano-films using a transient thermoreflectance technique

Using a transient thermoreflectance (TTR) technique,several Au films with different thicknesses on glass and SiC substrates are measured for thermal characterization of metallic nano-films,including the electron-phonon coupling factor G,interfacial thermal resistance R,and thermal conductivity K s of the substrate. The rear heating-front detecting (RF) method is used to ensure the femtosecond temporal resolution. An intense laser beam is focused on the rear surface to heat the film,and another weak laser beam is focused on the very spot of the front surface to detect the change in the electron temperature. By varying the optical path delay between the two beams,a complete electron temperature profile can be scanned. Different from the normally used single-layer model,the double-layer model involving interfacial thermal resistance is studied here. The electron temperature cooling profile can be affected by the electron energy transfer into the substrate or the electron-phonon interactions in the metallic films. For multiple-target optimization,the genetic algorithm (GA) is used to obtain both G and R. The experimental result gives a deep understanding of the mechanism of ultra-fast heat transfer in metals.     

Theoretical study of the phonon–phonon scattering mechanism and the thermal conductive coefficients for energetic material

Abstract

The elastic constants and force constants of an energetic material named as 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) are calculated by first-principles method under the GGA+vdW functional. Based on them, a physical picture to describe the phonon–phonon scattering mechanism is obtained, and a method to evaluate the thermal conductive tensor is developed. The resulting thermal conductivities are in agreement with the available experiments. We find that 20 vibrational modes play important roles in determining the heat exchange process of TATB. The vibrational direction, symmetry, displacement field and the detailed information of the key vibrational modes are obtained.     

Behavior of the layer compression elastic modulus near,above, and below a smectic C–hexatic I critical point in binary mixtures

We present the first study of the layer compression modulus B carried out near, above and below the Smectic C–Hexatic I critical point in racemic mixtures of methylbutyl phenyl octylbiphenyl-carboxylate (8SI) and the octyloxy biphenyl analog (8OSI), at frequencies ranging from 0.2 Hz to 2 ×103 Hz. The behavior of B as a function of temperature shows a progressive evolution from a first order transition in 8SI to a continuous supercritical behavior in 8OSI. The latter is characterized by an increase in B, which appears above the transition, and which is followed by a leveling off when the temperature is decreased towards the transition. It is proposed that this behavior stems from the relaxation of the hexatic domains which are frozen in the frequency range studied. For the supercritical and near-critical compounds, B exhibits a small dip near the transition temperature, which is visible in the low frequency range only, indicating that the dynamics associated with the critical point is very slow. We also report measurements in the Crystal-J phase of the pure compounds, and show that 8SI behaves mechanically as a hexatic phase and 8OSI as a soft crystal phase.     

Dielectric relaxation and hydrogen bonding studies of 1,3-propanediol–dioxane mixtures using time domain reflectometry technique

The complex permittivity, static dielectric constant and relaxation time for 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-dioxane and their mixtures have been studied using time domain reflectometry (TDR). The excess permittivity, excess inverse relaxation time and Kirkwood correlation factor have also been determined at various concentrations of dioxane. Hydrogen bonded theory was applied to compute the correlation terms for the mixtures. The Bruggeman model for the nonlinear case has been fitted to the dielectric data for mixtures.     

Transport and relaxation properties of isotopomeric hydrogen–helium binary mixtures. II. HD,D2, T2–He mixtures

The comprehensive comparison between calculated bulk non-equilibrium properties of hydrogen–helium isotopomeric mixtures and experiment that has previously been carried out for H₂–helium mixtures [2004, Molec. Phys., submitted] has been extended to mixtures of HD, D₂ and T₂ with ³He and ⁴He. For HD–⁴He mixtures, comparison is also made, where possible, with previous calculations of Köhler and Schaefer [1983, Physica A, 120, 185]. The phenomena examined herein include low temperature interaction second virial coefficients, binary diffusion and thermal conductivity coefficients, rotational relaxation, transport property field effects and flow birefringence. Scattering calculations have been carried out for the HD–He PES of Schaefer and Köhler [1985, Physica A, 129, 469], and for both the Köhler–Schaefer and Tao [1994, J. chem. Phys., 100, 4947] potential surfaces for the D₂–He and T₂–He interactions. Comparisons between calculated and experimental results for HD, D₂, T₂–He mixtures confirm the conclusion, reached earlier from the H₂–He comparisons, that these potential surfaces are very close to the correct one for the hydrogen–helium interaction, and that the small differences between them cannot be distinguished readily by measurements of bulk gas phenomena unless the attendant experimental uncertainties are better than ±0.3%.     

Effect of the shape of an organic water–coal fuel particle on the condition and characteristics of its ignition in a hot air flow

The results of experimental studies of the effect of the shape of an organic water–coal fuel (OCWF) particle on its ignition delay time and the time of its complete burnout in a hot air flow are reported. Three most common shapes of real particles, such as spherical, ellipsoidal, and irregular-polyhedron-like, are considered. It is shown that the shortest ignition delay time and the time of complete burnout correspond to polyhedron- shaped OCWF particles. Conditions are identified under which this factor significantly influences the ignition characteristics. The experiments were carried out at initial particle sizes (averaged maximum values) of 0.5–5 mm and temperatures and velocities of the oxidant flow of 600–900 K and 0.5–5 m/s, respectively. The main components of the studied fuels were coal processing wastes and waste motor, turbine, and transformer oils.     

Evaluation of the brain pH using a phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique – a comparison of women and men

The aim of this study was to determine the reference value of pH in healthy women and men using the phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy technique. The brains of 65 young volunteers were examined. The intracellular pH was calculated in the group of women and the group of men. In both groups, the average pH was slightly alkaline (respectively 7.10?±?0.08 and 7.08?±?0.12). No statistically significant sex difference in brain pH was found. Thus, in case if this method is used to estimate possible brain pathology in the young population, it is not needed to take the gender factor into consideration.     

Dependence of the beam–channel interaction force on the radial profiles of a relativistic electron beam and an ion channel in the ion-focusing regime

Technical Physics - We have derived the formulas for calculating the force of the interaction of a relativistic electron beam with an ion plasma channel in the case of the beam transportation...     

Calculation of the Debye–Waller factor of crystals using the n-dimensional Debye function involving binomial coefficients and incomplete gamma functions

The objective of this work was to obtain a simpler and more accurate analytical expression to determine the Debye–Waller factor of crystals using an n-dimensional Debye approximation involving binomial coefficients and incomplete gamma functions. The results obtained were compared with the corresponding experimental and theoretical results and, the calculated values were shown to be in excellent agreement with those obtained in the experimental and other previous studies.     

Hysteresis and negative differential resistance of the I–V characteristic of a water bridge

It is experimentally demonstrated that the recently discussed properties of the nanopore ion-exchange membranes (hysteresis of the I–V characteristic in solution and negative differential resistance) are not related to the membrane structure. The same effects are observed in a water bridge and tubes filled with water and may be related to the geometrical shape of the liquid conductor. The experimental effects are qualitatively interpreted.     

Measurement of nonlinear refractive index of pure and doped KTP crystals by Z-scan technique using cw He–Ne Laser

Single crystals of pure, Mo and W doped KTP crystals were grown by flux technique. The grown crystals were subjected to various characterization studies such as EDX, powder XRD, FTIR and UV analysis. The SHG efficiencies of the pure and doped KTP crystals were measured by Kurtz–Perry technique and it was found that the doped KTP crystals exhibit higher values of SHG. Nonlinear refractive indexes were measured on different growth planes of pure and doped crystals by Z-scan method using a cw (continuous wave) He–Ne laser at 632.8 nm. The measured values of nonlinear refraction of different planes were in the order of 10⁻¹² cm²/W.     

Measurement of the space–time interval between two events using the retarded and advanced times of each event with respect to a time-like world-line

Several recent studies have been devoted to investigating the limitations that standard quantum mechanics and/or quantum gravity might impose on the measurability of space–time observables. These analyses are often confined to the simplified context of 2D flat space–time and rely on a simple procedure for the measurement of space-like distances based on the exchange of light signals. We present a generalization of this measurement procedure applicable to all three types of space–time intervals between two events in space–times of any number of dimensions. We also present a preliminary account of an alternative measurement procedure that can be applied taking into account the gravitational field of the macroscopic measuring apparatus.     

First-principles calculations of the structural,electronic, optical and thermal properties of the BNxAs1–x alloys

The present paper aims to study the structural, electronic, optical and thermal properties of the boron nitride (BN) and BAs bulk materials as well as the BN_xAs_1–x ternary alloys by employing the full-potential-linearised augmented plane wave method within the density functional theory. The structural properties are determined using the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation that is based on the optimisation of the total energy. For band structure calculations, both the Wu–Cohen generalised gradient approximation and the modified Becke–Johnson of the exchange-correlation energy and potential, respectively, are used. We investigated the effect of composition on the lattice constants, bulk modulus and band gap. Deviations of the lattice constants and the bulk modulus from the Vegard’s law and the linear concentration dependence, respectively, were observed for the alloys where this result allows us to explain some specific behaviours in the electronic properties of the alloys. For the optical properties, the calculated refractive indices and the optical dielectric constants were found to vary nonlinearly with the N composition. Finally, the thermal effect on some of the macroscopic properties was predicted using the quasi-harmonic Debye model in which the lattice vibrations are taken into account.