Mössbauer and N.M.R. studies of ErFe2Hx

Hydrides of Intermetallic compounds have been the object of many studies because of their potential applications/1/. Recent papers were devoted to the problem of interstitial site occupation in connection with H-H exclusion rule (d_H–H > 2.1 A). The present work deals with ErFe₂H_X, which has been investigated both by⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer Effect and by¹⁶⁷Er N.M.R. Previous studies were limited to X 2, 3.5, 4.1. Here five values of x (1.45, 1.6, 1.84, 2.6, 3.3) are considered, in order to obtain information on hydrogen location, filling and diffusion as a function of x, and also on hydrogen contribution to the electric field gradient (E.F.G.) and crystalline field at the Rare Earth.     

E.P.R. study of γ-irradiated single crystals of K2C2O4.H2O and (NH4)2C2O4.H2O

The electron paramagnetic resonance of γ-irradiated single crystals of K₂C₂O₄.H₂O and (NH₄)₂C₂O₄.H₂O has been studied. The spectra show interesting microwave power saturation effects. The singlet spectrum is attributed to the C₂O₄ ^- radical derived from the C₂O₄ ^-- ion. The principal g-values are determined to be 1·998, 2·0028 and 2·0004. Certain weak lines are observed with different power saturation and interpreted as due to OH radicals derived from water molecules in the crystal lattice.     

Commentary on “Mechanical properties of monodomain side-chain nematic elastomers” by P. Martinoty,P. Stein,H. Finkelmann,H. Pleiner and H.R. Brand

We discuss the background to static and dynamic soft elasticity. The evidence in the static case and the symmetry basis for soft and semi-soft elasticity is well understood. By contrast the dynamic analogy is less clear. Lack of clean time scale separation clouds the interpretation of director relaxation keeping up, or not, with imposed strains. However, the reduction in modulus between geometries obtaining at low frequencies and being lost at high frequencies confirms that director reaction indeed determines dynamical semi-softness.Received: 13 April 2004, Published online: 17 August 2004PACS: 83.80.Va Elastomeric polymers - 61.30.-v Liquid crystals - 83.60.Bc Linear viscoelasticity     

Origin of the E.S.R. hyperfine anisotropy and the cos2 θ rule of the β-fluorine couplings

The origin of the hyperfine couplings of β-fluorine nuclei in free radicals has been studied using the hyperfine tensors determined for and in single crystals. The direction of the maximum principal element of the β-fluorine coupling tensor in was found to be very close to the direction of the maximum overlap of the fluorine 2p π orbital with the half-filled carbon 2p π orbital. This means that the spin density in the fluorine 2p π orbital is mainly due to the direct overlap with the carbon 2p π orbital and the contributions from the hyperconjugation and the spin polarization mechanisms are less important. The cos²θ rule, B ₀ + B cos²θ, for the β-fluorine coupling tensor was also derived from the conformational dependence of the overlap integral. Using the ratio of B/B ₀ calculated from the overlap integral together with the observed hyperfine tensor for , the absolute values of B ₂ and B were determined and results were applied to the β-fluorine coupling tensor of the rotating CF₃ group in . The calculated tensor is in very good agreement with the one observed.     

Large Deviations, Guerra’s and A.S.S. Schemes, and the Parisi Hypothesis

We investigate the problem of computing $$\lim_{N \to \infty}\frac{1}{aN}\log EZ_N^a$$ for any value of a, where Z _N is the partition function of the celebrated Sherrington-Kirkpatrick (SK) model, or of some of its natural generalizations. This is a natural “large deviation” problem. Its study helps to get a fresh look at some of the recent ideas introduced in the area, and raises a number of natural questions. We provide a complete solution for a ≥ 0.