Modelling of an underground waste disposal site by upscaling

In this paper, we study the global behaviour of an underground waste disposal in order to have an accurate upscaled model suitable for the computations involved in safety assessment processes. We start from a detailed model describing the transport of pollutant leaking from a high number of units. Using the method of homogenization, going to the limit, we obtain first a macroscopic model where the sources are now appearing globally. Then we compute a first‐order matched asymptotic expansion and we give the error estimates for this approximation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic boundary stabilization of a Reissner–Mindlin plate with Timoshenko beam

This paper is concerned with well‐posedness results for a mathematical model for the transversal vibrations of a two‐dimensional hybrid elastic structure consisting of a rectangular Reissner–Mindlin plate with a Timoshenko beam attached to its free edge. The model incorporates linear dynamic feedback controls along the interface between the plate and the beam. Classical semigroup methods are employed to show the unique solvability of the coupled initial‐boundary‐value problem. We also show that the energy associated with the system exhibits the property of strong stability. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Artificial boundary conditions for Petrovsky systems of second order in exterior domains and in other domains of conical type

The approximation of solutions to boundary value problems on unbounded domains by those on bounded domains is one of the main applications for artificial boundary conditions. Based on asymptotic analysis, here a new method is presented to construct local artificial boundary conditions for a very general class of elliptic problems where the main asymptotic term is not known explicitly. Existence and uniqueness of approximating solutions are proved together with asymptotically precise error estimates. One class of important examples includes boundary value problems for anisotropic elasticity and piezoelectricity. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mean curvature flows and isotopy of maps between spheres

Let f be a smooth map between unit spheres of possibly different dimensions. We prove the global existence and convergence of the mean curvature flow of the graph of f under various conditions. A corollary is that any area‐decreasing map between unit spheres (of possibly different dimensions) is isotopic to a constant map. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Nowhere zero 4‐flow in regular matroids

Jensen and Toft 8 conjectured that every 2‐edge‐connected graph without a K₅‐minor has a nowhere zero 4‐flow. Walton and Welsh 19 proved that if a coloopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M(K_3,3), M*(K₅)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4‐flow. In this note, we prove that if a coloopless regular matroid M does not have a minor in {M(K₅), M*(K₅)}, then M admits a nowhere zero 4‐flow. Our result implies the Jensen and Toft conjecture. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory     

Efficient synthesis of an aldehyde‐capped polythiophene containing fluorinated electron‐withdrawing groups

To incorporate an acceptor type polythiophene segment onto a supramolecular block copolymer for potential light harvesting applications, effective synthetic routes for the end‐functionalized and acceptor‐substituted polythiophenes are critical. The Ullmann coupling reaction can be utilized to obtain electron‐deficient polythiophenes and to attach terminal thiophene units that carry functional groups. In this article, the reactions involving a 2,5‐dibromothiophene monomer containing an electron‐withdrawing fluorinated ester and 5‐bromo‐2‐thiophenecarboxaldehyde (the end‐capper) were studied in detail. It was found that the Ullmann coupling reaction of the dibromide is very fast (completed in a few minutes) and the terminal bromine group does not survive long under the reaction condition. These findings lead to the development of an effective procedure for aldehyde end‐capping of electron‐deficient polythiophenes. Polymers with molecular weights around 4000 Da are routinely obtained. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 41–47, 2007     

Effect of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) films

Influences of oxygen exposure on the magnetic properties of Co/Ge(1 1 1) ultrathin films have been investigated by surface magneto-optic Kerr effect technique. As the oxygen exposure increases on Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, their magnetic properties could be modified. As an example for 15 ML Co/Ge(1 1 1) films, the coercivity increases from 730 to 920 Oe and the remanence Kerr intensity is reduced for 500 Langmuir (L) of oxygen exposure. Corresponding compositions analyzed by Auger electron spectroscopy measurement shows that the amount of oxygen on the surface layers increases with increasing the oxygen exposure time. Oxygen distributes on the topmost layers of the film. The adsorbed oxygen influences the electronic density of states of Co and results in the changes of the magnetic properties. Besides, the appearance of O/Co/Ge interface could modify the stress anisotropy, and as a result the coercivity of ultrathin Co/Ge(1 1 1) film is enhanced.