Spectral boundary controllability of networks of strings

In this Note we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the spectral controllability from one simple node of a general network of strings that undergoes transversal vibrations in a sufficiently large time. This condition asserts that no eigenfunction vanishes identically on the string that contains the controlled node. The proof combines the Beurling–Malliavin's theorem and an asymptotic formula for the eigenvalues of the network. The optimal control time may be characterized as twice the sum of the lengths of all the strings of the network. To cite this article: R. Dáger, E. Zuazua, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 545–550.     

Analogue Models of and for Gravity

Condensed matter systems, such as acoustics in flowing fluids, light in moving dielectrics, or quasiparticles in a moving superfluid, can be used to mimic aspects of general relativity. More precisely these systems (and others) provide experimentally accessible models of curved-space quantum field theory. As such they mimic kinematic aspects of general relativity, though typically they do not mimic the dynamics. Although these analogue models are thereby limited in their ability to duplicate all the effects of Einstein gravity they nevertheless are extremely important—they provide black hole analogues (some of which have already been seen experimentally) and lead to tests of basic principles of curved-space quantum field theory. Currently these tests are still in the realm of gedanken-experiments, but there are plausible candidate models that should lead to laboratory experiments in the not too distant future.     

The Neumann problem for some degenerate elliptic equations

In the paper we study the equation L _u = f, where L is a degenerate elliptic operator, with Neumann boundary condition in a bounded open set μ. We prove existence and uniqueness of solutions in the space H(μ) for the Neumann problem.     

High-throughput experimentation in synthetic polymer chemistry: From RAFT and anionic polymerizations to process development

The application of combinatorial and high-throughput approaches in polymer research is described. An overview of the utilized synthesis robots is given, including different parallel synthesizers and a process development robot. In addition, the application of the parallel synthesis robots to reversible addition fragmentation termination (RAFT) radical polymerizations and ionic copolymerizations is overviewed. Moreover, first results concerning the process development of semi-batch free radical polymerizations are described.     

New examples of Osserman metrics with nondiagonalizable Jacobi operators

Explicit examples of Osserman 4-manifolds with exactly two distinct eigenvalues of the Jacobi operators, α and β=4α≠0, are given. The former has multiplicity two and is a double root of the minimal polynomial of the Jacobi operators.     

Complementary regioselective esterification of non-reducing oligosaccharides catalyzed by different hydrolases

The enzymatic transesterification of several tri- and tetrasaccharides with vinyl laurate is described. The lipases from Candida antarctica B (Novozym 435) and Thermomyces lanuginosus (Lipozyme TL IM) and the alkaline protease from Bacillus licheniformis (subtilisin Carlsberg) have been used with each carbohydrate to obtain different regioisomers. By using the sugars in their amorphous form, complete solubility is achieved in the reaction media (tert-butanol/pyridine mixtures for the lipases and pyridine for the protease) and high isolated yields of the corresponding monoesters are obtained. Good to excellent regioselectivity is observed for all the enzymes, showing a final complementary picture respect to the primary hydroxyls of the oligosaccharides studied.     

The symmetric eigenvalue complementarity problem

In this paper the Eigenvalue Complementarity Problem (EiCP) with real symmetric matrices is addressed. It is shown that the symmetric (EiCP) is equivalent to finding an equilibrium solution of a differentiable optimization problem in a compact set. A necessary and sufficient condition for solvability is obtained which, when verified, gives a convenient starting point for any gradient-ascent local optimization method to converge to a solution of the (EiCP). It is further shown that similar results apply to the Symmetric Generalized Eigenvalue Complementarity Problem (GEiCP). Computational tests show that these reformulations improve the speed and robustness of the solution methods.

     

Heteroclinic orbits between rotating waves of semilinear parabolic equations on the circle

We investigate heteroclinic orbits between equilibria and rotating waves for scalar semilinear parabolic reaction-advection-diffusion equations with periodic boundary conditions. Using zero number properties of the solutions and the phase shift equivariance of the equation, we establish a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a heteroclinic connection between any pair of hyperbolic equilibria or rotating waves.