Selective and simultaneous determination of phosphate and silicate ions in leaching process waters for ceramics glaze raw materials of narutal origin by ion-exclusion chromatography coupled with UV-detection after postcolumn derivatization.

The selective and simultaneous ion-exclusion chromatography (IEC) with UV-detection on a weakly acidic cation-exchange resin column in the H+ -form (TSKgel Super IC-A/C) was developed and applied for the simultaneous determination of phosphate and silicate ions as the water quality parameters required for optimizing the water-leaching process for ceramics glaze raw materials of natural origin including feldspar, woods-ash, and straw-ash. Phosphate and silicate ions in these water-leaching process water samples were separated selectively from the coexisting anions such as sulfate, chloride, nitrate and carbonate ions, based on the ion-exclusion separation mechanism. They were detected selectively and simultaneously by a postcolumn derivatization with molybdenum-yellow using the UV-detector. Under the optimized separation and detection conditions (eluent, 0-1 mM sulfuric acid; reactant, 10 mM sodium molybdate-25 mM sulfuric acid; detector, UV at 370 nm; temperature, 45 degrees C), the linearity of calibration was in the range 0.1 - 10 ppm for both phosphate and silicate ions, and the detection limits at S/N = 3 were 2.58 ppb for silicate ions and 4.75 ppb for phosphate ions. The effectiveness of this method was demonstrated in practical applications to the water-leaching process for some ceramics glaze raw materials.     

SDP diagonalizations and perspective cuts for a class of nonseparable MIQP

We present a new approach, requiring the solution of a SemiDefinite Program, for decomposing the Hessian of a nonseparable mixed-integer quadratic problem to permit using perspective cuts to improve its continuous relaxation bound. The new method favorably compares with a previously proposed one requiring a minimum eigenvalue computation.     

Space-time evolution of hadronization in DIS: Semi-exclusive processes and grey track production

Semi-exclusive processes and grey track production in DIS off nuclear targets are analyzed as possible tools to investigate the space time evolution of hadronization.     

BRST cohomology in classical mechanics

The classical (non-quantum) cohomology of the Becchi-Rouet-Stora-Tyutin (BRST) symmetry in phase space is defined and worked out. No group action for the gauge transformations is assumed. The results cover, therefore, the general case of an open algebra and are valid off-shell. Each cohomology class contains all BRST invariant functions with fixed ghost number (an integer) which differ from each other by a BRST variation. If the ghost number is negative there is only the trivial class whose elements are equivalent to zero. If the ghost number is positive or zero there is a bijective correspondence between the BRST classes and those of the exterior derivative along the gauge orbits. These gauge orbits lie in the phase space surface on which the gauge generators are constrained to vanish. The BRST invariant functions of ghost numberp are then related to closedp-forms along the orbits. The addition of a BRST variation corresponds to the addition of an exact form. Some comments about the quantum case are included. The physical meaning of the classes with ghost number greater than zero is not discussed.Chercheur qualifié du Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (Belgium)     

Periodic solutions of some infinite-dimensional Hamiltonian systems associated with non-linear partial difference equations. II

This is our second paper devoted to the study of some non-linear Schrödinger equations with random potential. We study the non-linear eigenvalue problems corresponding to these equations. We exhibit a countable family of eigenfunctions corresponding to simple eigenvalues densely embedded in the band tails. Contrary to our results in the first paper, the results established in the present paper hold for an arbitrary strength of the non-linear (cubic) term in the non-linear Schrödinger equation.     

Improved spectrophotometric determination of osmium(VIII) with 4-(2-pyridylazo) resorcinol in mixed surfactants

The colour development between 4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol(PAR) and osmium(VIII) in the presence of cationic and nonionic surfactants in a weakly acidic medium was more stable and reproducible than in the absence of surfactant (PAR-alone method). An improved spectrophotometric determination of osmium(VIII) with PAR was investigated in the presence of mixed surfactants of N-hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HTAC) and Brij 58 [poly(oxyethylene)lauryl ether] as cationic and nonionic surfactants at pH 6.0-7.2. The calibration graph was linear in the range 0-110 microg/10 ml osmium(VIII), and the apparent molar absorptivity was 2.4 x 10(4) l.mole(-1).cm(-1) with a Sandell sensitivity of 0.0079 microg/cm(2) osmium(VIII).     

On the spectrum of the Heisenberg Hamiltonian

The quantum, antiferromagnetic, spin-1/2 Heisenberg Hamiltonian on thed-dimensional cubic lattice ^d is considered for any dimensiond. First the anisotropic case is considered for small transversal coupling and a convergent expansion is given for a family of eigenprojections which is complete in all finite-volume truncations. Then the general case is considered, for which an upper bound to the ground-state energy is given which is optimal for strong enough anisotropy. This bound is expressed through a functional involving the statistical expectation value at finite temperature of a certain correlation function of an Ising model defined on the lattice ^d itself.