Nanostructures in calcia stabilized hafnia thin films observed by PAC as a function of temperature

The hyperfine quadrupole interaction at Hf sites in films and powders of 14 mol% CaO–HfO₂ and 20 mol% CaO–HfO₂ has been determined as a function of temperature. Results indicate the formation of a cubic solid solution and other microstructures assigned to the ?₁ (CaHf₄O₉) and ?₂ (Ca₆Hf₁₉O₄₄) phases. Dynamical effects on the electric field gradient reveal the existence of oxygen vacancies movements in the solid solution. The thermal behavior of the relaxation constant observed in films allowed the determination of activation energies of 0.54 eV and 0.70 eV for the 14 mol% and 20 mol% CaO doped hafnias, respectively. The influence of the microdomains and the stability of the cubic solid solution are discussed.     

Integrable semiclassical deformations of general algebraic curves and associated conservation laws

Based on the Lenard relations, we completely classify integrable deformations of general algebraic curves. We construct the general solution of the Lenard relation from the invariance condition with respect to an element of the Galois group of the curve. We give some examples and also some associated conservation laws. __________ Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 151, No. 3, pp. 458–469, June, 2007.     

Confidence regions in a multivariate regression model with constraints II

The multivariate model, where not only parameters of the mean value of the observation matrix, but also some other parameters occur in constraints, is considered in the paper. Some basic inference is presented under the condition that the covariance matrix is either unknown, or partially unknown, or known. Supported by the grant of the Council of Czech Republic MSM 6 198 959 214.     

Interpretation of the polyelectrolyte and antipolyelectrolyte effects of poly(N‐vinylimidazole‐co‐sodium styrenesulfonate) hydrogels

Hydrogels of N‐vinylimidazole (VI) and sodium styrenesulfonate (SSS) were synthesized in aqueous solution by radical crosslinking copolymerization with N,N′‐methylene‐bis(acrylamide) as crosslinker. Swelling in several saline solutions was measured for hydrogel samples synthesized with different comonomer concentrations (C_T = 10, 25, or 40%) and with SSS mole fractions covering a broad range (f_SSS = 0–0.7), while the crosslinker ratio was 2 wt % in all cases. The degree of swelling in aqueous solution with a specific ionic strength (μ), plotted versus the SSS composition of the feed, shows a minimum for any set of samples synthesized with a fixed C_T. The dependence of swelling on μ shows both polyelectrolyte (f_SSS beyond the minimum) and antipolyelectrolyte behaviors (in the low f_SSS limit). It was found that the nonGaussian factor of the crosslinking density and the polymer‐solvent interaction parameter increase with f_SSS for any C_T. Moreover, in the low f_SSS limit, the osmotic swelling pressure is governed not only by the ionic contribution, but also by the polymer‐solvent mixing and, the concentration of mobile counterions inside the gel is not proportional to the net fixed charge but to the addition of cationic and anionic side groups, what discards the formation of ionic pairs. The antipolyelectrolyte effect is interpreted as due to the increasing protonation of VI as μ goes up. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1683–1693, 2007     

CAS based approach for discussing subset construction

This paper continues the discussion of teaching nondeterminism (see [6]) where we presented a didactic approach introducing the notion of nondeterministic automata. Although in this paper we use the same methodology we have to face up to new didactic challenges. Namely, teaching the subset construction requires answers to the question how can CAS be used in teaching the different phases of mathematical problem solving so that we can reach higher cognitive efficiency.     

A Self-Similar Dynamics in Viscous Spheres

We study the evolution of radiating and viscous fluid spheres assuming an additional homothetic symmetry on the spherically symmetric space-time. We match a very simple solution to the symmetry equations with the exterior one (Vaidya). We then obtain a system of two ordinary differential equations which rule the dynamics, and find a self-similar collapse which is shear-free and with a barotropic equation of state. Considering a huge set of initial self-similar dynamics states, we work out a model with an acceptable physical behavior.     

Compact coaxial driver for small-size Z-pinch

The presented one-capacitor pinch driver, designed as a compact coaxial structure (including spark-gap and discharge section) consistent with the capacitor output, generates a current of 200 kA with 700 ns quarter-period, suitable for studying the optimization of Z-pinch radiative characteristics. The driver is described, measurements of its parameters summarized, and relations to our previous and future activities briefly reviewed.This work was supported in part by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic under contract No. 202/93/1023.     

X-ray diffraction study of some mesogenic copper, nickel and vanadyl complexes

We present a comparative study of various metallomesogenic complexes, using X-ray diffraction methods. For a given ligand linked to different metal atoms (Cu, Ni, VO), the nature of this central atom influences mainly the magnetic susceptibilities of the mesophases. With different ligands, which keep the close neighbourhood of the metal atom unchanged, the apparent length of the mesogenic unit is longer for short ligands than for longer ones. This unexpected behaviour is qualitatively well explained by taking into account the global shape of the different complexes.     

A supraconvergent scheme for the Korteweg-de Vries equation

Summary A finite-difference method for the integration of the Korteweg-de Vries equation on irregular grids is analyzed. Under periodic boundary conditions, the method is shown to be supraconvergent in the sense that, though being inconsistent, it is second order convergent. However, such a convergence only takes place on grids with an odd number of points per period. When a grid with an even number of points is used, the inconsistency of the method leads to divergence. Numerical results backing the analysis are presented.