Superconductivity and resistance behaviour of σ-phase alloys: Nb−Rh and Ta−Rh

Superconductivity, structure and electrical resistance behaviour of -phase alloys of Nb–Rh and Ta–Rh are investigated. The Ta–Rh alloys do not become superconducting above 1.2 K. The andH _c2 (0) values of a homogeneous alloy with the composition Nb_65.2Rh_34.8 are 2.95 K, 13.9 kG/K and 23 kG, respectively, whereas for an inhomogeneous alloy with the composition Nb_63.7Rh_36.3 these values are 4.24 K, 5.5 kG/K and 14 kG, respectively. Splat quenching results in a substantial increase in the andH _c2 (0) values of the Rh-rich sample. Annealing (900°C, 100 h) of the Rh-rich sample leads only to small changes in the superconducting properties but a small amount of Nb–Rh solid solution has been formed. The electrical resistance of Nb_65.2Rh_34.8 decreases with decreasing temperature and varies asT ^0.5 between 150 and 240 K and asT between 60 and 140 K. For Ta_70.0Rh_30.0 the temperature coefficient changes to negative values below 170K. values are calculated for Nb–Rh using McMillan's formula. An estimatedT _c value of Ta–Rh is 0.2 K. TheH _c2 (0) values of Nb–Rh are in good agreement with the theoreticalH _c ^2** (0) values.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. W. Buckel on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

On the equation of state of classical one-component systems with long-range forces

Several definitions of the pressure are introduced for one-component systems and shown to be nonequivalent in the presence of a rigid neutralizing background. Relations between these pressures are derived for finite and infinite systems; these relations depend on the asymptotic behavior of the force at infinity, with the Coulomb force at the borderline between different properties. It is argued that only one of those definitions is physically acceptable and its properties are discussed in relation to the asymptotic behavior of the force. It is seen in particular that a knowledge of the state of the infinite system is not sufficient to determine its thermodynamic properties. The results are illustrated by some typical examples.For example, for two-dimensional systems with three-dimensional Coulomb interaction see refs. 2–4.     

Variations on the Theorem of Birkhoff – von Neumann and Extensions

 The theorem of Birkhoff – von Neumann concerns bistochastic matrices (i.e., matrices with nonnegative real entries such that all row sums and all column sums are equal to one). We consider here real matrices with entries unrestricted in sign and we extend the notion of permutation matrices (integral bistochastic matrices); some generalizations of the theorem are derived by using elementary properties of graph theory. Received: October 10, 2000 Final version received: April 11, 2002     

On Positive and Weakly Positive Implicative BCI-Algebras

Prove that the notion of positive implicative BCI-algebras coincides with that of weakly positive implicative BCI-algebras, thus the whole results in the latter are still true in the former, in particular, one of these results answers definitely the first half of J. Meng and X.L. Xin’s open problem: Does the class of positive implicative BCI-algebras form a variety? The second half of the same problem is: What properties will the ideals of such an algebra have? Here, some further properties are obtained.     

On quartics with three-divisible sets of cusps

 We study the geometry and codes of quartic surfaces with many cusps. We apply Gr?bner bases to find examples of various configurations of cusps on quartics. Received: 10 May 2002 / Revised version: 11 November 2002 Published online: 3 March 2003 Permanent address: Institute of Mathematics, Jagiellonian University, ul. Reymonta 4, 30-059 Kraków, Poland. e-mail: rams@mi.uni-erlangen.de, rams@im.uj.edu.pl Research partially supported by the Schwerpunktprogramm ``Global methods in complex geometry' of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and by EAGER. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 14J25, 14J17     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>-covering subgroup systems for the classes of supersoluble and nilpotent groups

LetF be a class of groups andG a group. We call a set Σ of subgroups ofG aG-covering subgroup system for the classF (or directly aF-covering subgroup system ofG) ifG ∈F whenever every subgroup in Σ is inF. In this paper, we provide some nontrivial sets of subgroups of a finite groupG which are simultaneouslyG-covering subgroup systems for the classes of supersoluble and nilpotent groups. Research of the first author is supported by the NNSF of China (Grant No. 10171086) and QLGCF of Jiangsu Province and a Croucher Fellowship of Hong Kong. Research of the second author is partially supported by a UGC (HK) grant #2060176 (2001/2002).     

An obstruction to the positivity of relative Yamabe invariants

For a supergroup , we describe an obstruction to the existence of positive scalar curvature metrics with minimal boundary condition on a compact n-dimensional -manifold W with nonempty boundary M, , in terms of the bordism class [M] in the Stolz obstruction group associated to [St2]. In par ticular, when W is a 5-dimensional spin manifold and the -invariant of a connected component of M is nonzero, we prove that W does not admit a positive scalar curvature metric with minimal boundary condition. Received: 4 July 2001; in final form: 5 February 2002 / Published online: 8 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*" Partially supported by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, No. 11640070.     

On Solvability of a Boundary Value Problem for Singular Integral Equations

This paper deals with the solvability of boundary value problems for singular integral equations of the form (i)-(ii).By an algebraic method we reduce the problem (i)-(ii) to a system of linear algebraic equations which gives all solutions in a closed form.AMS Subject Classification: 47G05, 45GO5, 45E05     

Empirical likelihood for partial linear models

In this paper the empirical likelihood method due to Owen (1988,Biometrika,75, 237–249) is applied to partial linear random models. A nonparametric version of Wilks' theorem is derived. The theorem is then used to construct confidence regions of the parameter vector in the partial linear models, which has correct asymptotic coverage. A simulation study is conducted to compare the empirical likelihood and normal approximation based method. Research supported by NNSF of China and a grant to the first author for his excellent Ph.D. dissertation work in China. Research supported by Hong Kong RGC CERG No. HKUST6162/97P.