Eternal inflation with Liouville cosmology

We present a concrete holographic realization of the eternal inflation in (1+1)$(1+1)$-dimensional Liouville gravity by applying the philosophy of the FRW/CFT correspondence proposed by Freivogel, Sekino, Susskind and Yeh (FSSY). The dual boundary theory is nothing but the old matrix model describing the two-dimensional Liouville gravity coupled with minimal model matter fields. In Liouville gravity, the flat Minkowski space or even the AdS space will decay into the dS space, which is in stark contrast with higher-dimensional theories, but the spirit of the FSSY conjecture applies with only minimal modification. We investigate the classical geometry as well as some correlation functions to support our claim. We also study an analytic continuation to the time-like Liouville theory to discuss possible applications in (1+3)$(1+3)$-dimensional cosmology along with the original FSSY conjecture, where the boundary theory involves the time-like Liouville theory. We show that the decay rate in the (1+3)$(1+3)$ dimension is more suppressed due to the quantum gravity correction of the boundary theory.     

Catalytic effect of copper(II) oxide on oxidation of cellulosic biomass

The reuse and recycling of biomass materials can minimize the environmental impact of society, and can help create a sustainable community. Although cellulosic biomass from demolished buildings is a promising resource for recycling, contaminants, such as wood preservatives that likely contain metal oxides, are found in recycled wood dust. These oxides could act as catalysts for the oxidation of organic materials, resulting in spontaneous ignition of large piles of recycled wood dust. Copper(II) oxide (CuO) is major component in wood preservative and plays a catalytic role in the oxidation of cellulose, which could cause spontaneous ignition. The present study focused on the influence of CuO on oxidation of cellulose. The exothermal behavior and mass loss of cellulose/CuO mixtures were investigated. Changes in exothermal behavior and mass loss with an increasing amount of CuO were measured by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetry. In addition, kinetics and spectroanalysis were conducted to determine the catalytic effect of CuO on oxidation of cellulose and help determine the oxidation model of cellulose upon addition of CuO. Results revealed a change in exothermal behavior and increase in mass loss with increasing amounts of CuO. In addition, CuO had a catalytic effect on the oxidation of cellulose, which helped determine the oxidation model of cellulose upon addition of CuO.     

Synthesis of optically active tetrahydrozerumbone

Tetrahydrozerumbone 2, which has a powerful balmy fragrance, has a stereogenic carbon at C2 and can be easily prepared from zerumbone 1, which is one of the most important materials that displays an NMRDOS character. Reduction of 2 gave two diastereomers 3 and 4; their optically active (>99% ee) alcohols were obtained by lipase-catalyzed stereoselective transesterification of each racemic alcohol. The enantioselectivity of tetrahydrozerumbol does not entirely depend on the hydroxyl position but on the 2-methyl position. Compounds (R)-2 and (S)-2 were obtained by Dess–Martin oxidation of the corresponding alcohols. Interestingly, (R)-2 showed a strong balmy fragrance while (S)-2 had hardly any fragrance.     

Photoisomerization of 2′-deoxyribofuranosyl and ribofuranosyl 2-phenylazoimidazole

Novel photo responsive nucleosides, 1-N-(2′-deoxyribofuranosyl) 2-phenylazoimidazole and 1-N-ribofuranosyl 2-phenylazoimidazole have been designed and synthesized. trans-cis Photoisomerizations of the nucleosides with irradiation at a specific wavelength have been observed and the isomerizations are perfectly reversible.     

Quantum yield for hydrogen atom formation from H2O2 photolysis in the range 193–240 nm

Photodissociation processes of H₂O₂ in the range 193–240 nm have been studied by pulsed laser photolysis and laser‐induced fluorescence detection of H atom fragments at 121.56 nm. The quantum yield values for H atom formation at 295 ± 2 K have been determined to be 0.20 ± 0.03, 0.038 ± 0.008, 0.029 ± 0.003, 0.015 ± 0.006, 0.007 ± 0.002 at 193, 207, 210, 220, and 230 nm, respectively. At 240 nm, only the upper limit value of <0.002 has been obtained. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 37: 751–754, 2005     

Uniform rotation of smectic layers of a ferroelectric liquid crystal in an asymmetric electric field

An asymmetric ac electric field with amplitudeE=10 V/μm gives rise to a matched rotation of the normal to the smectic layers, while a sinusoidal fieldE=1 V/μm is used to study the rotation in the method of modulation total internal reflection ellipsometry, which makes it possible to probe the region of a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) next to the electrode (h≈0.7 μm). It is shown that the angle of rotation of the normal to the smectic layers near the surface of the electrode varies reversibly as a function of the polarity and number of electric pulses applied, just as in the interior region. The characteristic dynamic properties of thin layers of nematic liquid crystals, such as an anomalously long relaxation time and a high-frequency relaxation process, are observed in thin FLC layers.     

Precision Chain‐Walking Polymerization of trans‐4‐Octene Catalyzed by α‐Diimine Nickel(II) Catalysts Bearing ortho‐sec‐Phenethyl Groups

α‐Diimine nickel complexes bearing bulky ortho‐sec‐phenethyl groups (bis{[N,N′‐(4‐methyl‐2,6‐di‐sec‐phenethylphenyl)imino]‐1,2‐dimethylethane}dibromonickel ( 1 ), bis{[N,N′‐(4,6‐dimethyl‐2‐sec‐phenethylphenyl)imino]‐1,2‐dimethylethane}dibromonickel ( 2 ), bis{[N,N′‐(4‐methyl‐2‐sec‐phenethylphenyl)imino]‐1,2‐dimethylethane}dibromonickel ( 3 )) and {bis[N,N′‐(2,4,6‐trimethylphenyl)imino]‐1,2‐dimethylethane}dibromidonickel ( 4 ) are used as a precatalyst for the polymerization of trans‐4‐octene upon activation with modified methylaluminoxane. These catalysts conduct chain‐walking polymerization of trans‐4‐octene to give polymers possessing propyl and butyl branches with high molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution. The branching structure depends on the nickel complex as well as the polymerization temperature, and the ratio of propyl branch was increased with increasing the bulkiness of the ligand and decreasing the polymerization temperature. Consequently, the most bulky 1 among the complexes used is found to polymerize trans‐4‐octene with high 1,5‐regioselectivity at −20 °C to give poly(1‐propylpentan‐1,5‐diyl).

     

Laplace transform impedance analysis in the two-phase coexistence reaction of spinel Li1 + x Mn2O4 positive electrode

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - We demonstrate the Laplace transform (LT) impedance technique for measuring electrochemical lithiation and delithiation in the two-phase system of spinel...