Structure of trans-1,4-polybutadiene synthesized with a new catalyst system

Abstract

The structure, phase composition, and temperature behavior of two trans-1,4-polybutadienes (TPBs) were studied by means of x-ray scattering and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The two samples examined were (1) PB synthesized using an immobilized titanium-magnesium catalyst and (2) a random copolymer based on PB prepared with a homogeneous vanadium-containing catalyst used as a reference material. It was found that the nascent structure of the first PB involves three phases: crystalline, mesomorphic (low-temperature form), and amorphous. In the vicinity of 65°C, a first-order phase transition occurs. The system becomes biphasic and contains the high-temperature form of the mesophase, as well as the amorphous phase, component. Above 165°C, the polymer melts to form a single-phase isotropic melt with a structure typical of liquids. The lateral dimension of crystallites reversibly changes at the crystal-mesophase transition. It is suggested that during annealing of the mesophase formed by cooling of the isotropic melt, the chains acquire an extended conformation. Loss of regularity of the structure of macromolecules of TPB causes a reduction of phase transition temperatures, an increase of the imperfection of the crystalline phase, and a contraction of the temperature range of existence of the mesophase.     

The structure of events triggered by direct photons in π− p, π+ p andpp collisions at 280 GeV/c

The structure of events associated with the production of direct photons in π^? p, π⁺ p andpp reactions of 280 GeV/c has been studied using data from the WA 70 experiment at the CERN SPS. Results are presented on the distributions of the fractional momenta of the colliding partons and on the fragmentation of the recoil jet and a comparison is made with predictions using the structure functions of Duke and Owens in the Lund Monte Carlo with string fragmentation.     

Experimental study of the stability and optimization of multipulse passive mode locking

We present an experimental study of the stability of passively mode-locked pulses against noise in multipulse operation of an erbium-doped fiber laser. The laser properties are determined by two dimensionless combinations of the laser parameters. Measurements of the pulses' destabilization threshold as a function of those laser parameters show the optimal regions that maximize the mode-locked pulse stability. We find good agreement between the experimental observations and the theoretical predictions.     

High temperature instability of hollow nanoparticles

The concept of the Gibbs energy balance is used to derive the evolution equation of both surfaces of a hollow nanosphere. The process is driven by reducing the surface energy and the elastic energy stored in the bulk. A semianalytical solution is provided for the time period during which a hollow nanosphere shrinks to a compact nanospherical particle. Comparison with recently reported results is performed.     

On the averaged quantum dynamics by white-noise hamiltonians with and without dissipation

Exact results are derived on the averaged dynamics of a class of random quantum-dynamical systems in continuous space. Each member of the class is characterized by a Hamiltonian which is the sum of two parts. While one part is deterministic, time-independent and quadratic, the Weyl-Wigner symbol of the other part is a homogeneous Gaussian random field which is delta correlated in time, but smoothly correlated in position and momentum. The averaged dynamics of the resulting white-noise system is shown to be a monotone mixing increasing quantum-dynamical semigroup. Its generator is computed explicitly. Typically, in the course of time the mean energy of such a system grows linearly to infinity. In the second part of the paper an extended model is studied, which, in addition, accounts for dissipation by coupling the white-noise system linearly to a quantum-mechanical harmonic heat bath. It is demonstrated that, under suitable assumptions on the spectral density of the heat bath, the mean energy then saturates for long times.     

Performance of a four‐element Si drift detector for X‐ray absorption fine‐structure spectroscopy: resolution, maximum count rate,and dead‐time correction with incorporation into the ATHENA data analysis software

The performance of a four‐element Si drift detector for energy‐dispersive fluorescence‐yield X‐ray absorption fine‐structure measurements is reported, operating at the National Institute of Standards and Technology beamline X23A2 at the National Synchrotron Light Source. The detector can acquire X‐ray absorption fine‐structure spectra with a throughput exceeding 4 × 10⁵ counts per second per detector element (>1.6 × 10⁶ total counts per second summed over all four channels). At this count rate the resolution at 6 keV is approximately 220 eV, which adequately resolves the Mn Kα and Kβ fluorescence lines. Accurate dead‐time correction is demonstrated, and it has been incorporated into the ATHENA data analysis program. To maintain counting efficiency and high signal to background, it is suggested that the incoming count rate should not exceed ～70% of the maximum throughput.     

UA(1) anomaly and $ \eta^{{\prime}}_{}$ -mass from an infrared singular quark-gluon vertex

The U _A(1) problem of QCD is inevitably tied to the infrared behaviour of quarks and gluons with its most visible effect being the -mass. A dimensional argument of Kogut and Susskind showed that the mixing of the pseudoscalar flavour-singlet mesons with gluons can provide a screening of the Goldstone pole in this channel if the full quark-quark interaction is strongly infrared singular as ∼ 1/k ⁴ . We investigate this idea using previously obtained results for the Landau gauge ghost and gluon propagator, together with recent determinations for the singular behaviour of the quark-gluon vertex. We find that, even with an infrared vanishing gluon propagator, the singular structure of the quark-gluon vertex for certain kinematics is apposite for yielding a non-zero screening mass.     

Dynamics of vector spin glasses: The Gabay-Toulouse line

The dynamics of ann-component vector spin glass with infinite range interactions are investigated near and above the Gabay-Toulouse (GT) line. The local transverse susceptibility _T for 0 varies along the whole GT lineT _c1 (H) as ^v , with a field and temperature independent critical exponentv=1/2. The longitudinal susceptibility _L () remains analytic for all (T, H)T _c1 (H), except for a cross-over fromv=1 tov=1/2 forH0 at the freezing temperatureT=T _f . The dynamic susceptibilities _T () and _L () are already coupled above the GT line via self-energy terms. BelowT _c1 (H), this coupling is strongly enhanced by other mechanisms.     

Dynamics of vector spin glasses with random anisotropy

The dynamics of vector spin glasses with additional random anisotropy is investigated in the mean field approximation. We find a cross-over of the upper critical line from a behaviour of Heisenberg spins with a field-temperature dependence , for large fieldsH, to Ising like behaviourT _f –TT ^2/3 , for small fields and fixed anisotropy, in agreement with results of Kotliar and Sompolinsky. Here, andT _f are characteristic spin glass temperatures. In addition, one has a second line with reversed behaviour which presumably represents a cross-over line from weak to strong non-ergodicity. The local transverse susceptibility _T () varies for large fields and 0 along the upper critical line as ^vT , with a critical exponentV _T = 1/2 – 11D/60 J, whereD andJ are the anisotropy and exchange coupling constants, respectively. On the Ising-like part of the upper critical line one has isotropic spin glass parameters,q _L =q _T , and susceptibilities, and a critical exponent, which is similar to that of Ising spins along the de Almeida-Thouless line.Dedicated to B. Mühlschlegel on the occasion of his 60th birthdaySFB Aachen-Jülich-Köln