Experimental observation of quantum corrections to electrical resistivity in nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys

X-ray diffraction patterns of nanocrystalline Fe-Cu-Nb-Si-B (FINEMET) alloys reveal that bcc α-Fe/α-FeSi crystallites with the average grain size of 20(5) nm are dispersed in amorphous matrix. Enhanced electron—electron interaction (EEI) and quantum interference (QI) effects as well as electron-magnon (and/or electron-spin fluctuation) scattering turn out to be the main mechanisms that govern the temperature dependence of resistivity. Of all the inelastic scattering processes, inelastic electron-phonon scattering is the most effective mechanism to destroy phase coherence of electron wave functions. The diffusion constant, density of states at the Fermi level and the inelastic scattering time have been estimated, for the first time, for the alloys in question Article presented at the International Symposium on Advances in Superconductivity and Magnetism: Materials, Mechanisms and Devices, ASMM2D-2001, 25–28 September 2001, Mangalore, India.     

On additives, morphological evolution and dielectric breakdown in low density polyethylene

A series of low density polyethylene systems has been studied with respect to structural evolution and short-term dielectric breakdown behaviour. All materials were based upon a single polymer, that is commonly used in high voltage applications, but with different additives. In all three of these systems, multiple melting transitions were observed, as a result of molecular fractionation effects during crystallization. In the virgin polymer, a space-filling banded spherulitic morphology was found to develop at low temperatures (102 °C and below) whereas, at higher temperatures, only a few isolated axialites were observed. Inclusion of the antioxidant resulted in greatly increased nucleation densities, such that, at low temperatures, no evidence of spherulitic organisation remained. At higher temperatures, sheaf-like lamellar aggregates developed, which were much smaller and much more numerous than in the case of the virgin polymer. Further addition of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) resulted in the rapid formation of a crosslinked network at 200 °C. Some crosslinking also occurred at 150 °C, but over a much longer timescale. Where extensive crosslinking occurred prior to crystallization, the resulting gel inhibited structural development, such that only a few small, isolated sheaves were able to form at 102 °C. In view of the principal application area of this material, the breakdown strength of each of the above systems was then measured and the whole data set was analysed statistically. When structural factors were considered alongside the statistics, no clear trends emerged to indicate that either the compositional or morphological variations were reflected in the short-term electrical failure processes.     

To the Jubilee of Vsevolod Alekseevich Solonnikov

Bibliography: 42 titles.__________Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 306, 2003, pp. 7–15.     

Restrictions of Quadratic Forms to Lagrangian Planes,Quadratic Matrix Equations,and Gyroscopic Stabilization

We discuss the symplectic geometry of linear Hamiltonian systems with nondegenerate Hamiltonians. These systems can be reduced to linear second-order differential equations characteristic of linear oscillation theory. This reduction is related to the problem on the signatures of restrictions of quadratic forms to Lagrangian planes. We study vortex symplectic planes invariant with respect to linear Hamiltonian systems. These planes are determined by the solutions of quadratic matrix equations of a special form. New conditions for gyroscopic stabilization are found.     

Quantum diffusion

Basic ideas and results which characterize quantum diffusion of defects in quantum crystals like solid helium as a new phenomenon are presented. Quantum effects in such media lead to a delocalization of point defects (vacancies, impurities etc.) and they turn into quasiparticles of a new type—defectons, which are characterized not by their position in the crystal lattice but by their quasimomentum and dispersion law. Defecton-defecton and defecton-phonon scattering are considered and an interpolation formula for the diffusion coefficient valid in all interesting temperature and concentration regions is presented. A comparison with the experimental data is made. Some alternative points of view are discussed in detail and the inconsistency of the Kisvarsanyi-Sullivan theory is shown.     

Skew-Hermitian Triangular Splitting Iteration Methods for Non-Hermitian Positive Definite Linear Systems of Strong Skew-Hermitian Parts

By further generalizing the skew-symmetric triangular splitting iteration method studied by Krukier, Chikina and Belokon (Applied Numerical Mathematics, 41 (2002), pp. 89–105), in this paper, we present a new iteration scheme, called the modified skew-Hermitian triangular splitting iteration method, for solving the strongly non-Hermitian systems of linear equations with positive definite coefficient matrices. We discuss the convergence property and the optimal parameters of this new method in depth. Moreover, when it is applied to precondition the Krylov subspace methods like GMRES, the preconditioning property of the modified skew-Hermitian triangular splitting iteration is analyzed in detail. Numerical results show that, as both solver and preconditioner, the modified skew-Hermitian triangular splitting iteration method is very effective for solving large sparse positive definite systems of linear equations of strong skew-Hermitian parts.     

Effects of sodium salicylate on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in cerebrospinal fluid during endogenous pyrogen-induced fever in rabbits

To further evaluate the causality between endogenous pyrogen (EP)-induced fever and cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) level, the effects of sodium salicylate (SS) on the febrile response and increased levels of cyclic AMP in both cerebrospinal fluid (c.s.f.) and plasma during EP-induced fever in rabbits were observed. The results suggest that cyclic AMP is probably involved in the central mediation of EP-induced fever and that increased concentration of cyclic AMP in c.s.f. associated with EP-induced fever is not the result of temperature elevation but appears to be caused by the increased synthesis in the central nervous system. In addition it is confirmed that blood is impossibly a contributory source of increased cyclic AMP in c.s.f. during EP fever, and that SS may act subsequent to the increase in cyclic AMP.     

Numerical differentiation of photomechanical data using smoothing spline functions with generalized boundary conditions

The smoothing spline function has been used for differentiation of photomechanical data in experimental stress analysis. However, since the available software packages use the algorithm with the so-called natural boundary conditions which are not necessarily suitable in many circumstances, errors tend to occur in both the first and second derivatives. In this paper we have modified the algorithm so that the user can have more freedom in selecting boundary conditions which suit the problem best and therefore, as a result, improve the accuracy of the analysis. Two examples are given to show the improvement achievable using the new scheme.     

Coset extensions of <Emphasis Type=”Italic”>S</Emphasis>-sets

Summary Three weak variants of compactness which lie strictly between compactness and quasicompactness, are introduced. Their basic properties are studied. The interplay with mapping and their direct and inverse preservation under mappings are investigated. In the process three decompositions of compactness are observed.