BaSnF4 fast ion conductor: Variations versus the method of preparation and anomalous temperature variation of the quadrupole splitting

A new method of preparation of high performance fluoride ion conductor, BaSnF₄, by water leaching of newly discovered barium tin(II) chloride fluorides, has been designed, and the materials have been studied and compared to the solid prepared by the usual dry method. The unit-cell parameters and crystallite dimensions were found to vary with the method of preparation. In addition, the crystallite dimensions were found to be highly anisotropic for the samples obtained by the wet method. The Mössbauer spectrum is made of a large tin(II) quadrupole doublet, and a broad tin(IV) oxide peak due to surface oxidation. The tin(II) spectrum is in agreement with covalently bonded tin(II) having a strongly stereoactive lone pair. An unusually high dependence of the quadrupole splitting at low temperatures was observed (5.8 times larger than for α-SnF₂).     

Hilbert subsets ands-integral points

A classical tool for studying Hilbert's irreducibility theorem is Siegel's finiteness theorem forS-integral points on algebraic curves. We present a different approach based ons-integral points rather thanS-integral points. Given an integers>0, an elementt of a fieldK is said to bes-integral if the set of placesv ∈M _K for which |t|_v > l is of cardinality ≤s (instead of contained inS for “S-integral”). We prove a general diophantine result fors-integral points (Th.1.4). This result, unlike Siegel's theorem, is effective and is valid more generally for fields with the product formula. The main application to Hilbert's irreducibility theorem is a general criterion for a given Hilbert subset to contain values of given rational functions (Th.2.1). This criterion gives rise to very concrete applications: several examples are given (§2.5). Taking advantage of the effectiveness of our method, we can also produce elements of a given Hilbert subset of a number field with explicitely bounded height (Cor.3.7). Other applications, including the case thatK is of characteristicp>0, will be given in forthcoming papers ([8], [9]).     

Entanglements in glass

Ground state and elementary excitations (tunnelling modes) in glass are obtained from an analysis of its symmetry, a local gauge invariance. The configuration of glass is represented as a discrete fiber bundle. The base space is a continuous random network, standard model of the structure of covalent glasses. The connection is determined naturally by the elasticity of the network. The bundle is non-trivial, the elastic connection is entangled in one of two ways. Sources of non-triviality are closed loops, threading through odd rings in the network. To restore gauge invariance, tunnelling must occur between the two possible configurations about an odd loop. Entanglement and elementary excitations are labelled by permutations of the covalent bonds incident on an atom.Work supported by the Herbette Foundation.     

Smoothing and dispersive estimates for 1D Schrödinger equations with BV coefficients and applications

We prove smoothing estimates for Schrödinger equations it_∂?+x_∂(a(x)x_∂?)=0 with a(x)∈BV, real and bounded from below. We then bootstrap these estimates to obtain optimal Strichartz and maximal function estimates, all of which turn out to be identical to the constant coefficient case. We also provide counterexamples showing a∈BV to be in a sense a minimal requirement. Finally, we provide an application to sharp well-posedness for a generalized Benjamin-Ono equation.     

Towards the multiplicative behavior of the K-theoretical McKay correspondence

When the quotient of a symplectic vector space by the action of a finite subgroup of symplectic automorphisms admits as a crepant projective resolution of singularities the Hilbert scheme of regular orbits of Nakamura, then there is a natural isomorphism between the Grothendieck group of this resolution and the representation ring of the group, given by the Bridgeland-King-Reid map. However, this isomorphism is not compatible with the ring structures. For the Hilbert scheme of points on the affine plane, we study the multiplicative behavior of this map.     

Complexity theory and collaboration: An agent-based simulator for a space mission design team

In this paper, we investigate how complexity theory can benefit collaboration by applying an agent-based computer simulation approach to a new form of synchronous real-time collaborative engineering design. Fieldwork was conducted with a space mission design team during their actual design sessions, to collect data on their group conversations, team interdependencies, and error monitoring and recovery practices. Based on the fieldwork analysis, an agent-based simulator was constructed. The simulation shows how error recovery and monitoring is affected by the number of small group, or sidebar, conversations, and consequent noise in the room environment. This simulation shows that it is possible to create a virtual environment with cooperating agents interacting in a dynamic environment. This simulation approach is useful for identifying the best scenarios and eliminating potential catastrophic combinations of parameters and values, where error recovery and workload in collaborative engineering design could be significantly impacted. This approach is also useful for defining strategies for integrating solutions into organizations. Narjès Bellamine-Ben Saoud is an Associate Professor at the University of Tunis and Researcher at RIADI-GDL Laboratory, Tunisia. After Computer Science engineering diploma (1993) of the ENSEEIHT of Toulouse, France, she received her PhD (1996), on groupware design applied to the study of cooperation within a space project, from the University of Toulouse I, France. Her main research interests concern studying complex systems particularly by modeling and simulating collaborative and socio-technical systems; developing Computer Supported Collaborative Learning in tunisian primary schools; and Software Engineering. Her current reserach projects include modeling and simulation of emergency rescue activities for large-scale accidents, modeling of epidemics and study of malaria, simulation of collabration artifacts. Gloria Mark is an Associate Professor in the Department of Informatics, University of California, Irvine. Dr. Mark received her Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University in 1991. Prior to UCI, she was a Research Scientist at the GMD, in Bonn, Germany, a visiting research scientist at the Boeing Company, and a research scientist at the Electronic Data Systems Center for Advanced Research. Dr. Mark’s research focuses on the design and evaluation of collaborative systems. Her current projects include studying worklife in the network-centric organization, multi-tasking of information workers, nomad workers, and a work in a large-scale medical collaboratory. Dr. Mark is widely published in the fields of CSCW and HCI, is currently the program co-chair for the ACM CSCW’06 conference and is on the editorial board of Computer Supported Cooperative Work: The Journal of Collaborative Computing, and e-Service Qu@rterly.     

Discontinuous Galerkin finite element methods for dynamic linear solid viscoelasticity problems

We consider the usual linear elastodynamics equations augmented with evolution equations for viscoelastic internal stresses. A fully discrete approximation is defined, based on a spatially symmetric or non‐symmetric interior penalty discontinuous Galerkin finite element method, and a displacement‐velocity centred difference time discretisation. An a priori error estimate is given but only the main ideas in the proof of the error estimate are reported here due to the large number of (mostly technical) estimates that are required. The full details are referenced to a technical report. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007