Flow mechanisms in dense silica-metal oxide-water suspensions

The rheological properties of dense silica in water suspensions (approx. 50% solids by volume) containing additions of metal oxides were examined. Metal oxides used were ferric, zinc and stannic. To prevent settling, testing was performed in a rheometer which was modified to provide for continual stirring of the materials. Relatively small oxide additions had the effect of thickening the mixtures and making them non-Newtonian. Different rate-limiting steps for flow were identified depending on the particular mixture, testing temperature and shear strain rate. Flow could be described using empirical equations which are identical to those often used to describe plastic flow in solid crystalline materials.     

In-beam spectroscopy of 253, 254No

In-beam conversion electron spectroscopy experiments have been performed on the transfermium nuclei ^{253, 254}No using the conversion electron spectrometer SACRED in nearly collinear geometry in conjunction with the gas-filled separator RITU at the University of Jyv?skyl?. The experimental setup is discussed and the spectra are compared to Monte Carlo simulations. The implications for the ground-state configuration of ²⁵³No are discussed. Received: 21 March 2002 / Accepted: 16 May 2002 / Published online: 31 October 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: rdh@ns.ph.liv.ac.uk RID="b" ID="b"Present address: GANIL, F-14021 Caen, France. RID="c" ID="c"Permanent address: IReS Strasbourg, IN2P3-CNRS, F-67037-Strasbourg, France. RID="d" ID="d"Present address: CEA/DIF DCRE/SDE/LDN F-91680 Bruyeres-le-Chatel. RID="e" ID="e"Present address: Daresbury Laboratory, Daresbury WA4 4AD, UK. RID="f" ID="f"Permanent address: IPN Lyon, IN2P3-CNRS, F-69037 Lyon, France.     

The timescale of spinodal dewetting at a polymer/polymer interface

We investigate the dynamics of spinodal dewetting in liquid-liquid polymer systems. Dewetting of poly(methyl-methacrylate) (PMMA) thin films on polystyrene (PS) “substrates” is followed in situ using neutron reflectivity. By following the development of roughness at the PS/PMMA interface and the PMMA surface we extract characteristic growth times for the dewetting process. These characteristic growth times are measured as a function of the molecular weight of the two polymers. By also carrying out experiments in the regime where the dynamics are independent of the PS molecular weight, we are able to use dewetting to probe the scaling of the PMMA thin film viscosity with temperature and molecular weight. We find that this scaling reflects bulk behaviour. However, absolute values are low compared to bulk viscosities, which we suggest may be due in part to slippage at the polymer/polymer interface. Received 25 June 2001 and Received in final form 5 December 2001     

Speckle detection for 3D ultrasound

Positioning accuracy of 3D ultrasound slice planes can be enhanced by speckle decorrelation of the B-scans. A suitable method requires accurate identification of zones of non-specular reflection in the image, a feature of parenchymal tissue. This has traditionally been achieved with statistics such as signal-to-noise ratios and measures of autocorrelation curves. Co-occurrence matrices and structural approaches have also been applied to ultrasound images. In this paper we assess the performance of these methods when only B-scan display data is available. We also report improved results with in vivo images using a proposed structural algorithm that detects speckle kernels. All detection algorithms yielded detection error rates between 28% and 38%, suggesting that user intervention may be required for clinically useful performance.     

Quantum computation with ions in microscopic traps

We discuss a possible experimental realization of fast quantum gates with high fidelity with ions confined in microscopic traps. The original proposal of this physical system for quantum computation comes from Cirac and Zoller (Nature 404, 579 (2000)). In this paper we analyse a sensitivity of the ion-trap quantum gate on various experimental parameters which was omitted in the original proposal. We address imprecision of laser pulses, impact of photon scattering, nonzero temperature effects and influence of laser intensity fluctuations on the total fidelity of the two-qubit phase gate.     

Hydrogen and muonium in silicon

First principles calculations of the properties of hydrogen and muonium in silicon are presented. H⁺ and H⁻ are shown to have definite preferences for bond-centred and tetrahedral interstitial sites respectively whereas H⁰ (or a muon) is shown to be stable at two sites with almost equal energies, the bond-centred and antibonding sites. The structures of normal and isotropic muonium are discussed. In contrast to common belief the tetrahedral site is shown to be unstable with the muon moving spontaneously towards one of the neighbouring silicon atoms. The barrier to motion between equivalent antibonding sites is low suggesting that the normal muonium signal is isotropic because of motional averaging, not due to the symmetry of a well defined equilibrium site.     

Some difficulties for Clifton,Redhead, and Butterfield's recent proof of nonlocality

Clifton, Redhead, and Butterfield have recently produced a generalization of the new non-locality proof due to Greenberger, Horne, and Zeilinger. Their proof is intended to have certain advantages over the standard Belltype arguments. One of these is that, although the proof allows for causally relevant apparatus hidden variables, it avoids the need for making certain standard locality assumptions about those parameters. On closer inspection, the part of the proof which supposedly removes the need for such assumptions is shown to rest on a fallacy. This renders the proof invalid. Two other, related difficulties are explored along the way.1. CRB actually provide two nonlocality proofs, but our concern here is with the first.2. Cf. p.173 for a precise formulation of these. (Any references in these footnotes are to [1].) Note that, due to the way CRB define the µ's, these conditions are not entirely independent.3. Cf. p.174. Note that CRB claim to derive the independence of outcomes from apparatus existents via our other assumptions without imposing any other conditions on their distributions, citing Lemma 2, which we shall object to in Sec. 4 below. This should be given a careful reading; Lemma 2 only purports to derive the statistical independence of outcomes fromlocal (i.e., nearby) apparatus hidden variables. The independence of outcomes fromdistant apparatus hidden variables is assumed, rather, in OL.4. Here, and in many places, I shall rely on [1] for the details.5. CRB have endorsed this definition of M (personal correspondence).6. More precisely, those values of do so for at least one possible quadruple of apparatus existents, and measurement results; and foruncountably many setting quadruples in (p.167).7. Given CRB's way of defining the µ's so as to include the information found in the 's, the terms in OF and most of those in OL would actually be ill-defined in most cases (for each ) inany theory. This is simply because the measuring devices cannot be set to measure in two different directions at once. However, it should be possible to remedy that situation by simply redefining µ so that it includes only information about the state of the apparatus not covered by .8. CRB endorse the first of these two suggestions (personal correspondence).9. I have omitted the arguments fromA,B,C andD. Wherever they appear without arguments they will implicitly have the three with which they were first introduced. Note that M⁺ should ideally be indexed by and , as there is no reason to think that all the same members of M will makeABCD = +1 for different values of and .10. Cf. note 6 above.11. Note that in light of this objection to their proof, we can see that CRB also fail to establish the link they claim exists between TF, strict correlations, and the condition they call TF.TF is the four-particle analogue of the conjunction of Shimony's outcome independence and his parameter independence (p.162). They rest their claim about the link on Lemma 2 (pp.162 and 165).