A note on the complex semi‐definite matrix Procrustes problem

This note outlines an algorithm for solving the complex ‘matrix Procrustes problem’. This is a least‐squares approximation over the cone of positive semi‐definite Hermitian matrices, which has a number of applications in the areas of Optimization, Signal Processing and Control. The work generalizes the method of Allwright (SIAM J. Control Optim. 1988; 26 (3):537–556), who obtained a numerical solution to the real‐valued version of the problem. It is shown that, subject to an appropriate rank assumption, the complex problem can be formulated in a real setting using a matrix‐dilation technique, for which the method of Allwright is applicable. However, this transformation results in an over‐parametrization of the problem and, therefore, convergence to the optimal solution is slow. Here, an alternative algorithm is developed for solving the complex problem, which exploits fully the special structure of the dilated matrix. The advantages of the modified algorithm are demonstrated via a numerical example. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A computational study into the reactivity of epichlorohydrin and epibromohydrin under basic conditions in the gas phase and solution

Ab initio molecular orbital calculations were carried out on epibromohydrin (EBH) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) in an attempt to elucidate their reactivity with respect to a hard nucleophile, hydroxide. These systems were modeled in both the gas phase and a polar solvent under basic conditions. In the gas phase, it was determined that a direct displacement mechanism (nucleophilic attack at the C1 position) was operative for EBH, while an indirect pathway (nucleophilic attack at the C3 position and subsequent intramolecular displacement) was followed for ECH. In an acetone solution, only the indirect displacement mechanism was found to occur. An electrostatic argument is advanced to account for this behavior in polar solution. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vapour and plasma ignition thresholds for visible pulsed-laser ablation of metallic targets

The coupling of visible nanosecond laser pulses to metallic targets irradiated in vacuum is studied. The expressions of the vapour and plasma ignition times are obtained. Two cases for vapour breakdown in the plasma ignition process are considered. The first case is that 40 generations of new electrons are born in vapour generation time before plasma formation as assumed in the literature. The second case is that 10 generations of new electrons are born in vapour generation time. Molybdenum (Mo), niobium (Nb) and aluminium (Al) targets are considered for illustrations of our results. The expression of the plasma ignition time for the Al target is substantially different from that reported in the literature. The vapour and plasma ignition threshold laser intensities are calculated and compared with those reported in the literature. Reasons for disagreement are discussed. The plasma ignition threshold estimated in the second case is noted to be in good agreement with the reported experimental result.     

g-Natural Contact Metrics on Unit Tangent Sphere Bundles

We construct a three-parameter family of contact metric structures on the unit tangent sphere bundle T ₁ M of a Riemannian manifold M and we study some of their special properties related to the Levi-Civita connection. More precisely, we give the necessary and sufficient conditions for a constructed contact metric structure to be K-contact, Sasakian, to satisfy some variational conditions or to define a strongly pseudo-convex CR-structure. The obtained results generalize classical theorems on the standard contact metric structure of T ₁ M.     

Hochschild cohomology of Möbius algebras

The additive structure of the Hochschild cohomology ring for a Möbius algebra is described. We use the structure of the bimodule minimal projective resolution of the algebra, constructed in a previous paper. Bibliography: 4 titles.     

Rational matrix functions associated with the Nevanlinna-Pick problem in the class <Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis>[<Emphasis Type="Italic">a,b</Emphasis>] and orthogonal on a compact interval

We consider the interpolation Nevanlinna-Pick problem with infinitely many interpolation nodes in the class S[a, b] and rational matrix functions associated with this problem and orthogonal on the segment [a, b]. We obtain a criterion of complete indeterminacy of the Nevanlinna-Pick problem in terms of orthogonal rational matrix functions. __________ Translated from Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 59, No. 6, pp. 764–770, June, 2007.     

An invariance of geometric mean with respect to Lagrangian means

The invariance of the geometric mean G with respect to the Lagrangian mean-type mapping (Lf,Lg), i.e. the equation G○(Lf,Lg)=G, is considered. We show that the functions f and g must be of high class regularity. This fact allows to reduce the problem to a differential equation and determine the second derivatives of the generators f and g.