WITCH: A Penning Trap Retardation Spectrometer Combination for Precision Studies of the Weak Interaction

We present data from three seasons of experimental field work designed to recreate ancient Andean coastal ceramic firing techniques. Based on the recent discovery of two different archaeological ceramic production sites in the La Leche river valley of northern coastal Peru, the opportunity arose to apply Mössbauer spectroscopy and other analytical methods to reconstruct ancient firing procedures. Two sets of firings took place in 1993 and 1997 in Batán Grande using a partially restored Formative kiln from about 800 BC, local hardwood and cow dung as fuel. A third experiment followed in 2000 after the discovery of a Middle Sicán ceramics workshop in use between ca. AD 950 and 1050 at Huaca Sialupe, where an exact replica of an ancient kiln was built from local clay, and fired with local wood and cow dung. Additionally, inverted urns found at Huaca Sialupe were tested for their potential use as furnaces for metal working. Mössbauer spectroscopy was used to compare the physical and chemical state of specimens produced in the field experiments with ancient ceramics and with specimens produced in controlled laboratory experiments.     

Error Bounds and Implicit Multifunction Theorem in Smooth Banach Spaces and Applications to Optimization

In this paper we provide an error bound estimate and an implicit multifunction theorem in terms of smooth subdifferentials and abstract subdifferentials. Then, we derive a subdifferential calculus and Fritz–John type necessary optimality conditions for constrained minimization problems.     

Rigorous Generalization of Young's Law for Heterogeneous and Rough Substrates

We consider a SOS type model of interfaces on a substrate which is both heterogeneous and rough. We first show that, for appropriate values of the parameters, the differential wall tension that governs wetting on such a substrate satisfies a generalized law which combines both Cassie and Wenzel laws. Then in the case of an homogeneous substrate, we show that this differential wall tension satisfies either the Wenzel's law or the Cassie's law, according to the values of the parameters.     

Analysis and finite element simulations of a second‐order fluid model in a bounded domain

This article is concerned with the equations governing the steady motion of a viscoelastic incompressible second‐order fluid in a bounded domain. A new proof of existence and uniqueness of strong solutions is given. In addition, using appropriate finite element methods to approximate a coupled equivalent problem, sharp error estimates are obtained using a fixed point argument. The method is applied to the two‐dimensional lid‐driven cavity problem, at low Reynolds number and in a certain range of values of the viscoelastic parameters, to analyze the combined effects of inertia and viscoelasticity on the flow. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007     

Electron diffraction investigation of PPTA/nylon 3T blends from shear-oriented anisotropic solutions

Nematic solutions of PPTA and nylon 3T were prepared in H₂SO₄ Optical microscopy was used to ascertain the phase behaviour of the blends. In the studied concentration range, no phase separation was observed. The solutions were shear-oriented and coagulated, and the resulting samples were studied by x-ray and electron diffraction. Nylon 3T crystallised even at a low concentration, which is indicative of a phase separation. Electron diffraction investigations of the oriented samples showed that well-oriented areas, which were predominantly composed of PPTA, adjoined areas where the major component, nylon 3T, showed no orientation. The relative proportion of the unoriented areas increased with increasing nylon concentration. It was concluded that, upon coagulation, the nylon was segregated into separate phases and crystallised unoriented, whereas for PPTA, crystallisation proceeded with very little chain rearrangement therefore preserving the orientation.     

Time‐integrated energy domain measurements with synchrotron radiation

A new time integrated method for the study of resonant nuclear scattering of synchrotron radiation in the forward direction or in Bragg directions is introduced. This method gives in principle similar information as the well known time differential method. A brief comparison of both methods is presented. The idea is to excite coherently the nuclei incorporated in two absorbers, one moving with respect to the other. The fields radiated by the nuclei from both absorbers interfere and each time the nuclear energy in one absorber matches, by Doppler modulation, the nuclear energy of the other, an extremum in the time integrated intensity is observed. The results of the first experiments at the Advanced Photon Source at the Argonne National Laboratory will be presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Anisotropy of optical phonons in semiconductor superlattices: Raman scattering experiments

Experiments on Raman scattering in the “forward” geometry, permitting observation of anisotropy of the optical phonons, are performed on specially prepared short-period GaAs/AlAs superlattice structures with the substrates removed and the surfaces covered with an antireflective layer. The experimental data agree well with the computational results obtained for the angular dispersion of optical phonons in superlattices on the basis of a modified continuum model. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 1, 50–55 (10 July 1998)     

Extension of multivariate regression trees to interval data. Application to electricity load profiling

Summary  Several data can be presented as interval curves where intervals reflect a within variability. In particular, this representation is well adapted for load profiles, which depict the electricity consumption of a class of customers. Electricity load profiling consists in assigning a daily load curve to a customer based on their characteristics such as energy requirement. Within the load profiling scope, this paper investigates the extension of multivariate regression trees to the case of interval dependent (or response) variables. The tree method aims at setting up simultaneously load profiles and their assignment rules based on independent variables. The extension of multivariate regression trees to interval responses is detailed and a global approach is defined. It consists in a first stage of a dimension reduction of the interval response variables. Thereafter, the extension of the tree method is applied to the first principal interval components. Outputs are the classes of the interval curves where each class is characterized both by an interval load profile (e.g. the class prototype) and an assignment rule based on the independent variables.