Convex Hamiltonian energy surfaces and their periodic trajectories

In this paper we introduce symplectic invariants for convex Hamiltonian energy surfaces and their periodic trajectories and show that these quentities satisfy several nontrivial relations. In particular we show that they can be used to prove multiplicity results for the number of periodic trajectories.This paper represents results obtained while holding a visiting position at the Courant Institute for Mathematical Sciences, New YorkResearch partially supported by NSF Grant No. DMS-8603149 and a Rutgers University Research Council Grant     

Untersuchungen zur Wechselwirkung von gasf?rmigem molekularem Iod mit Silberoberfl?chen mittels XPS und AES

Summary The adsorption of gaseous molecular iodine on clean silver surfaces proceeds in the first stage by dissociative chemisorption. After the formation of half a monolayer of chemisorbed iodine atoms the formation of silver iodide begins, which forms a very regular overlayer on top of the substrate. Both iodine species can be distinguished due to a difference in chemical shift of the M₄N₄, ₅N₄, ₅-Auger transitions. After completion of this overlayer further iodine uptake is slowed down significantly. Above an overlayer thickness of about 10 nm a further progress of the reaction cannot be followed anymore due to the limited information depth of XPS.     

Construction algorithms for polynomial lattice rules for multivariate integration

We introduce a new construction algorithm for digital nets for integration in certain weighted tensor product Hilbert spaces. The first weighted Hilbert space we consider is based on Walsh functions. Dick and Pillichshammer calculated the worst-case error for integration using digital nets for this space. Here we extend this result to a special construction method for digital nets based on polynomials over finite fields. This result allows us to find polynomials which yield a small worst-case error by computer search. We prove an upper bound on the worst-case error for digital nets obtained by such a search algorithm which shows that the convergence rate is best possible and that strong tractability holds under some condition on the weights.

We extend the results for the weighted Hilbert space based on Walsh functions to weighted Sobolev spaces. In this case we use randomly digitally shifted digital nets. The construction principle is the same as before, only the worst-case error is slightly different. Again digital nets obtained from our search algorithm yield a worst-case error achieving the optimal rate of convergence and as before strong tractability holds under some condition on the weights. These results show that such a construction of digital nets yields the until now best known results of this kind and that our construction methods are comparable to the construction methods known for lattice rules.

We conclude the article with numerical results comparing the expected worst-case error for randomly digitally shifted digital nets with those for randomly shifted lattice rules.

     

Reciprocating sliding wear behavior of laser-clad small amplitude Mo2Ni3Si/NiSi metal silicide composite coatings

Mo₂Ni₃Si/NiSi metal silicide composite coatings with a fine microstructure consisting of Mo₂Ni₃Si primary dendrites and the interdendritic Mo₂Ni₃Si/NiSi eutectics were fabricated on austenitic stainless steel AISI 321 by laser cladding process. Small amplitude reciprocating sliding wear resistance of the coatings is evaluated as functions of normal load and slip amplitude and the wear mechanisms were discussed based on worn surface morphology observations. Results showed that the Mo₂Ni₃Si/NiSi coatings have excellent small amplitude reciprocating sliding wear resistance.     

Elliptic equations with BMO coefficients in Reifenberg domains

The inhomogeneous Dirichlet problems concerning divergence form elliptic equations are studied. Optimal regularity requirements on the coefficients and domains for the W^1,p theory, 1 < p < ∞, are obtained. The principal coefficients are supposed to be in the John‐Nirenberg space with small BMO seminorms. The domain is a Reifenberg domain. These conditions for the W^1,p theory not only weaken the requirements on the coefficients but also lead to a more general geometric condition on the domains. In fact, these domains might have fractal dimensions. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electronic transport properties of bismuth nanobridges through silicon-nitride membranes

The electronic transport through nanostructured bismuth nanobridges has been investigated at low temperatures (T<2 K) and in magnetic fields B up to 8.5 T. The samples show reproducible resistance fluctuations as a function of B, superimposed on a large magnetoresistance of up to 50%. In addition, time-dependent resistance fluctuations in zero magnetic field demonstrate the presence of bistable scatterers in the constriction region of our samples, which are described by two-level systems. Their dynamics are shown to be sensitive to subtle modifications of the static scatterer configuration in their vicinity, which cannot be detected in the sample magnetofingerprint.     

Thermal conductivity of crystalline chrysotile asbestos

The thermal conductivity of crystalline chrysotile asbestos made up of hollow tubular Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄ filaments is measured in the range 5–300 K. The paper discusses the possibility of using this material in studies of the thermal conductivity of thin filaments of metals and semiconductors incorporated into the channels of crystalline chrysotile asbestos tubes.     

Asymptotic expansions for eigenvalues in the presence of small inhomogeneities

We provide a rigorous derivation of an asymptotic formula for perturbations in the eigenvalues caused by the presence of a finite number of inhomogeneities of small diameter with conductivity different from the background conductivity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystallization and morphology of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) blends. I. Spherulitic morphology and growth by polarized microscopy

The development of the poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) morphology in the presence of already existent poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) spherulites was studied by two‐stage solidification with two separate crystallization temperatures. PVDF formed irregular dendrites at lower temperatures and regular, banded spherulites at elevated temperatures. The transition temperature of the spherulitic morphology from dendrites to regular, banded spherulites increased with increasing PVDF content. A remarkable amount of PHB was included in the PVDF dendrites, whereas PHB was rejected into the remaining melt from the banded spherulites. When PVDF crystallized as banded spherulites, PHB could consequently crystallize only around them, if at all. In contrast, PHB crystallized with a common growth front, starting from a defined site in the interfibrillar regions of volume‐filling PVDF dendrites. It formed by itself dendritic spherulites that included a large number of PVDF spherulites. For blends with a PHB content of more than 80 wt %, for which the PVDF dendrites were not volume‐filling, PHB first formed regular spherulites. Their growth started from outside the PVDF dendrites but could later interpenetrate them, and this made their own morphology dendritic. These PHB spherulites melted stepwise because the lamellae inside the PVDF dendrites melted at a lower temperature than those from outside. This reflected the regularity of the two fractions of the lamellae because that of those inside the dendrites of PVDF was controlled by the intraspherulitic order of PVDF, whereas that from outside was only controlled by the temperature and the melt composition. The described morphologies developed without mutual nucleating efficiency of the components. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 873–882, 2003