Preparation of rhodium–phyllosilicate catalysts without leaching in liquid-phase 1-hexene hydrogenation

Rhodium catalysts have been prepared on palygorskite and montmorillonite (clay) supports by reduction with hydrogen (1 atmosphere) at room temperature of a cationic organometallic rhodium compound anchored to the support. The activity of these catalysts for the hydrogenation of liquid-phase 1-hexene remains constant with increase of prehydrogenation time and with re-use for several runs. No rhodium leaching is observed.     

An authentication case study: Antonio Palomino versus Vicente Guillo paintings in the vaulted ceiling of the Sant Joan del Mercat church (Valencia,Spain)

In 1695, the Valencian artist Vicente Guillo was engaged in painting the vault of the Sant Joan del Mercat church in Valencia, Spain. After preliminary work was carried out, his contract was cancelled. In 1697, Antonio Palomino, renowned for the publication of his technical treatise entitled El Museo Pictorio y Escala Optica, was finally selected as the painter in charge of decorating the vaulted ceiling of Sant Joan del Mercat. This paper reports an analytical study focused on the characterisation and discrimination of the palette and painting procedures used by Palomino and Guillo in the frescoes of Sant Joan del Mercat. For this purpose, Raman spectroscopy combined with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy–X‐ray microanalysis, voltammetry of microparticles, X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry has been employed. The use of gypsum as stucco material for the ground layers contrasts with the recommendations made by Palomino in his treatise about the convenience of using slaked lime‐sand mortars according to traditional fresco recipes. Although lead‐based pigments were not traditionally recommended for frescoes because of their empirically known alterations when subjected to strong alkaline fresco medium, both Guillo and Palomino used them. Palomino, probably supported by his personal experience as a painter, recommended and used Naples yellow, which has been found in a good state of preservation. In contrast, white lead areas found on Guillo's paintings have transformed into lead oxides. Other pigments found in the vaulted ceiling such as smalt, goethite, haematite, azurite and malachite have also undergone substantial changes because of the extreme temperature conditions to which they were subjected in the church. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Absence of phase transition for antiferromagnetic Potts models via the Dobrushin uniqueness theorem

We prove that theq-state Potts antiferromagnet on a lattice of maximum coordination numberr exhibits exponential decay of correlations uniformly at all temperatures (including zero temperature) wheneverq>2r. We also prove slightly better bounds for several two-dimensional lattices: square lattice (exponential decay forq7), triangular lattice (q11), hexagonal lattice (q4), and Kagomé lattice (q6). The proofs are based on the Dobrushin uniqueness theorem.     

Exact Potts Model Partition Functions for Strips of the Square Lattice

We present exact calculations of the Potts model partition function Z(G, q, v) for arbitrary q and temperature-like variable v on n-vertex square-lattice strip graphs G for a variety of transverse widths L _t and for arbitrarily great length L , with free longitudinal boundary conditions and free and periodic transverse boundary conditions. These have the form Z(G, q, v)= . We give general formulas for N _{Z, G, j} and its specialization to v=–1 for arbitrary L _t for both types of boundary conditions, as well as other general structural results on Z. The free energy is calculated exactly for the infinite-length limit of the graphs, and the thermodynamics is discussed. It is shown how the internal energy calculated for the case of cylindrical boundary conditions is connected with critical quantities for the Potts model on the infinite square lattice. Considering the full generalization to arbitrary complex q and v, we determine the singular locus , arising as the accumulation set of partition function zeros as L , in the q plane for fixed v and in the v plane for fixed q.     

Noise effect on Grover algorithm

The decoherence effect on Grover algorithm has been studied numerically through a noise modelled by a depolarizing channel. Two types of error are introduced characterizing the qubit time evolution and gate application, so the noise is directly related to the quantum network construction. The numerical simulation concludes an exponential damping law for the successive probability of the maxima as time increases. We have obtained an allowed-error law for the algorithm: the error threshold for the allowed noise behaves as ε_th(N) ∼1/N^1.1 (N being the size of the data set). As the power of N is almost one, we consider the Grover algorithm as robust to a certain extent against decoherence. This law also provides an absolute threshold: if the free evolution error is greater than 0.043, Grover algorithm does not work for any number of qubits affected by the present error model. The improvement in the probability of success, in the case of two qubits has been illustrated by using a fault-tolerant encoding of the initial state by means of the [[7,1,3]] quantum code.     

A new approach for modelling the damped Helmholtz oscillator:applications to plasma physics and electronic circuits

In this paper,a new approach is devoted to find novel analytical and approximate solutions to the damped quadratic nonlinear Helmholtz equation(HE)in terms of the Weiersrtrass elliptic function.The exact solution for undamped HE(integrable case)and approximate/semi-analytical solution to the damped HE(non-integrable case)are given for any arbitrary initial conditions.As a special case,the necessary and sufficient condition for the integrability of the damped HE using an elementary approach is reported.In general,a new ansatz is suggested to find a semi-analytical solution to the non-integrable case in the form of Weierstrass elliptic function.In addition,the relation between the Weierstrass and Jacobian elliptic functions solutions to the integrable case will be derived in details.Also,we will make a comparison between the semi-analytical solution and the approximate numerical solutions via using Runge-Kutta fourth-order method,finite difference method,and homotopy perturbation method for the first-two approximations.Furthermore,the maximum distance errors between the approximate/semi-analytical solution and the approximate numerical solutions will be estimated.As real applications,the obtained solutions will be devoted to describe the characteristics behavior of the oscillations in RLC series circuits and in various plasma models such as electronegative complex plasma model.     

Solvent and surfactant effect on the self-assembly and luminescence properties of ZrO2:Eu3+ nanoparticles

ZrO₂:Eu³⁺ nanocrystals ranging from 17 to 43 nm were prepared by the facile precipitation method with a hydrothermal process. The crystallite size was strongly influenced by the solvent composition and enhanced with the presence of surfactant. The use of ethanol combined with surfactant stabilizes 50 wt% of the monoclinic phase, while the use of water only results in 100 wt% tetragonal phase. 80% of nanobelts were obtained preparing the sample with ethanol and surfactant as a results of the self-assembly of nanoparticles. The photoluminescence emission peak centered at 606 nm dominates the emission band for nanobelts, while for nanoparticles it is dominated by a peak centered at 612 nm. Such differences were explained in terms of the site symmetry occupying Eu³⁺ in the host that in turn depends on the crystalline phase. Changes in the intensity ratio I(612 nm)/I(606 nm) is proposed as a tool to analyzing changes in the monoclinic/tetragonal phase composition. The calculated asymmetry ratio R=⁷F₂/⁷F₁～1.2 suggest a high degree of crystallinity of the prepared samples.     

Transfer Matrices and Partition-Function Zeros for Antiferromagnetic Potts Models. II. Extended Results for Square-Lattice Chromatic Polynomial

We study the chromatic polynomials for m×n square-lattice strips, of width 9m13 (with periodic boundary conditions) and arbitrary length n (with free boundary conditions). We have used a transfer matrix approach that allowed us also to extract the limiting curves when n. In this limit we have also obtained the isolated limiting points for these square-lattice strips and checked some conjectures related to the Beraha numbers.     

Rovibrational dynamics of the RbCs molecule in static electric fields. Classical study

We study the classical dynamics of the RbCs molecule in the presence of a static electric field. Under the Born–Oppenheimer approximation, we perform a rovibrational investigation which includes the interaction of the field with the molecular polarizability. The stability of the equilibrium points and the phase space structure of the system are explored in detail. We find that, for strong electric fields or for energies close to the dissociation threshold, the molecular polarizability causes relevant effects on the system dynamics.