Electronic properties of b.c.c. transition metal solid solutions. a study of the Nr−Nb system

Summary Calculations of electron densities of states and of soft—X-ray absorption spectra in Zr−Nb alloys have been performed in the frame of the coherent potential approximation in its multiple-scattering version (KKR-CAP). It is shown that a lot of care is needed in applying the simple rigid-band model to these systems, in order to explain experimental data. Results are also diseussed in connection with existing experimental data and good agreement is found.

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Riassunto Sono stati eseguiti calcoli di densità di stati elettronici e di spettri di assorbimento di raggi X molli nella lega Zr−Nb a varie concentrazioni, nell'àmbito dell'approssimazione di potenziale coerente nella sua versione di scattering multiplo (KKR-CPA). Si mostra che è necessaria molta attenzione per poter interpretare dati sperimentali come semplice modello a bande rigide. I risultati sono inoltre, discussi in connessione con, i dati sperimentali esistenti con i quali si riscontra un buon accordo.

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Резюме в рамках приближения когерентного потенциала и его модификации для многократного рассеяния проводится вычисление плотностей электронных состояний и спектров поглощения мягких рентгеновских лучей в Zn−Nb сплавах. Показывается, что необходимо проявлять особое внимание при интерпретации экспериментальных данных с помощью простой модели недеформируемых зон. Полученные результаты обсуждаются в связи с имеющимися экспериментальными данными и овнаружено хорошее согласие.

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Work also sponsored by Assessorato Industria della Regione Siciliana.     

On the evolution law of weak discontinuities for hyperbolic quasi-linear systems

We show that the law of propagation of weak discontinuities obtained by A. Jeffrey is in agreement with the Bernoulli's law found by other authors.     

Solution phase synthesis of a library of tetrasubstituted pyrrole amides

An efficient strategy for the solution-phase parallel synthesis of a library of pyrrole-amides is described. Key reactions include functional homologation of beta-ketoesters with a set of aldehydes followed by oxidation to produce a series of differently substituted 1,4-dicarbonyl compounds. Rapid cyclization using a microwave-assisted Paal-Knorr reaction provided a set of 24 pyrrole esters that were further functionalized through a trimethylaluminum-mediated aminolysis to obtain a larger library of 288 diverse pyrrole-3-amides. The tetrasubstitution allows a good exploration of the chemical space around the central pyrrole core. The last step was entirely automated with a Bohdan Myriad personal synthesizer.     

A new method to exploit the Entropy Principle and galilean invariance in the macroscopic approach of Extended Thermodynamics

Abstract In extended thermodynamic the entropy principle and the Galilean invariance dictate respectively constraints for the constitutive equations and the velocity dependence. The entropy principle in particular requires the existence of a privileged field, the main field u^′, such that the original system becomes symmetric hyperbolic and is generated by four potentials. It is not easy to solve the restrictions of both principles, if we use as field the non convective main field and the velocity v. This is due to the fact that are not independent. Rather its components satisfy three scalar constraints. The aim of this paper is to solve the full problem using as new strategy to consider as independent variables and requiring an appropriate differential constraint. This new procedure is very efficient and we are able to solve the problem of 13 moments in the full non linear case (far from equilibrium). It turns out that the knowledge of only the equilibrium state function is sufficient to close the system. Keywords: Extended Thermodynamics, Entropy Principle, Galilean invariance, Rarefied Gas, Hyperbolic systems Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 74A20, 76P05, 35l60     

Elemental chemical analysis of submerged targets by double-pulse laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Double-pulse laser-induced plasma spectroscopy (DP-LIPS) is applied to submerged targets to investigate its feasibility for elemental analysis. The role of experimental parameters, such as inter-pulse delay and detection time, has been discussed in terms of the dynamics of the laser-induced bubble produced by the first pulse and its confinement effect on the plasma produced by the second laser pulse. The analytical performance of this technique applied to targets in a water environment are discussed. The elemental analysis of submerged copper alloys by DP-LIPS has been compared with conventional (single-pulse) LIBS in air. Theoretical investigation of the plasma dynamics in water bubbles and open air has been performed.     

RBFOpt: an open-source library for black-box optimization with costly function evaluations

We consider the problem of optimizing an unknown function given as an oracle over a mixed-integer box-constrained set. We assume that the oracle is expensive to evaluate, so that estimating partial derivatives by finite differences is impractical. In the literature, this is typically called a black-box optimization problem with costly evaluation. This paper describes the solution methodology implemented in the open-source library RBFOpt, available on COIN-OR. The algorithm is based on the Radial Basis Function method originally proposed by Gutmann (J Glob Optim 19:201–227, 2001.  https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1011255519438), which builds and iteratively refines a surrogate model of the unknown objective function. The two main methodological contributions of this paper are an approach to exploit a noisy but less expensive oracle to accelerate convergence to the optimum of the exact oracle, and the introduction of an automatic model selection phase during the optimization process. Numerical experiments show that RBFOpt is highly competitive on a test set of continuous and mixed-integer nonlinear unconstrained problems taken from the literature: it outperforms the open-source solvers included in our comparison by a large amount, and performs slightly better than a commercial solver. Our empirical evaluation provides insight on which parameterizations of the algorithm are the most effective in practice. The software reviewed as part of this submission was given the Digital Object Identifier (DOI)  https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.597767.     

Representation of MV-algebras by regular ultrapowers of [0, 1]

We present a uniform version of Di Nola Theorem, this enables to embed all MV-algebras of a bounded cardinality in an algebra of functions with values in a single non-standard ultrapower of the real interval [0,1]. This result also implies the existence, for any cardinal α, of a single MV-algebra in which all infinite MV-algebras of cardinality at most α embed. Recasting the above construction with iterated ultrapowers, we show how to construct such an algebra of values in a definable way, thus providing a sort of “canonical” set of values for the functional representation.     

An integral formulation procedure for the solutions to Helmholtz's equation in spherically symmetric media

Starting from Helmholtz's equation in inhomogeneous media, the associated radial second‐order equation is investigated through a Volterra integral equation. First the integral equation is considered in a sphere. Boundedness, uniqueness and existence of the (regular) solution are established and the series form of the solution is provided. An estimate is determined for the error arising when the series is truncated. Next the analogous problem is considered for a spherical layer. Again, boundedness, uniqueness and existence of two base solutions are established and error estimates are determined. The procedure proves more effective in the sphere. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maximum entropy principle for rarefied polyatomic gases

The aim of this paper is to show that the procedure of maximum entropy principle for the closure of the moments equations for rarefied monatomic gases can be extended also to polyatomic gases. The main difference with respect to the usual procedure is the existence of two hierarchies of macroscopic equations for moments of suitable distribution function, in which the internal energy of a molecule is taken into account. The field equations for 14 moments of the distribution function, which include dynamic pressure, are derived. The entropy and the entropy flux are shown to be a generalization of the ones for classical Grad’s distribution. The results are in perfect agreement with the recent macroscopic approach of extended thermodynamics for real gases.