Investigations of the interlayer coupling in high-<Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis></Subscript> cuprates

Low-field magnetizationM(H) measurements can be used to probe the nature of the screening currents and the interlayer coupling in high-T _c cuprates. Here we compare theM(H) behaviour of single crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈ and fully oxygenated and oxygen reduced YBa₂Cu₃O_7??. In YBa₂Cu₃O₇, theM(H) behaviour is consistent with anisotropic 3D superconductivity whilst in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈, the surface screening currents are strongly affected by the presence of vortices, implying that the CuO₂ planes are coupled via a weak Josephson interaction. In oxygen-deficient YBa₂Cu₃O_6.7 (T _c =63K), theM(H) behaviour at low temperatures is similar to that found for Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈, implying that the removal of oxygen from the chains has resulted in a dimensional crossover of the superconducting state in YBa₂Cu₃O_7??. As the temperature approachesT _c , the 3D behaviour is eventually restored as thec-axis coherence length ξ _c becomes comparable with the interlayer spacingd.     

Transport studies in boron-ion implanted type II<Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> diamond

We have investigated low-temperature electrical transport mechanisms in the surface layer of a type IIa diamond which has been heavily implanted with boron-ions at low temperatures and then annealed at high temperatures. The boron atoms occupy substitutional sites giving rise to a heavily doped wide-bandgap semiconductor. The dc-conductivity results suggest that for the maximum boron doping that has been achieved, the diamond sample is close to the insulator-metal transition. A model to account for the observed increase in activated boron centres with ion dose is presented. On the insulating side of the transition, the data are interpreted in terms of variable-range hopping laws.     

Magnetic structure of graphite ribbon

Anoble mechanism of spin polarization is proposed for finite graphite sheet with edge. For graphite ribbon with zigzag edge, there appear peculiar ‘edge states’. These localized states comprise nearly flat band at the Fermi level, which easily causes magnetic instability. Magnetic structure is suggested from Hartree-Fock analysis of the Hubbard model, where huge magnetic moments are induced at around both of edges by weak HubbardU and are coupled antiferromagnetically with each other.     

Solutions of logarithmic type for elliptic and hypoelliptic equations

LetK be an algebraically closed field withp:=char (K)>0 andX a bielliptic curve over Spec(K) with genus≥6 and such that the canonical model ofX is ordinary. In this paper we determine all the possible gap sequences of Weierstrass points on such curves.     

Λ-Shaped Policies to Schedule Deteriorating Jobs

We study a problem of scheduling deteriorating jobs, i.e. jobs whose processing times are an increasing function of their starting times. We consider the case of a single machine and linear job-independent deterioration. The objective is to minimize the sum of weighted completion times, with weights proportional to the basic processing times. The optimal schedule is shown to be Λ-shaped, i.e. the sequence of the basic processing times has a single local maximum. Moreover, we show that the problem is solved in O(N log N) time. In the last section we test heuristics for the case of general weights.     

Synthesis, Structural Characterization, and Oxidation-Reduction Behavior of the gamma-Isomer of the Dodecatungstosilicate Anion

The reaction of tungstate ions with the gamma-10-tungstosilicate in mixed water-ethanol (v/v) yields the corresponding isomer of the 12-tungstosilicate isolated as its tetrabutylammonium salt. It was characterized by means of (183)W NMR, infrared, Raman, and UV spectroscopies and was identified with the isomer resulting from the Keggin structure (alpha-isomer) by rotation of two tritungstic groups by pi/3. Cyclic voltammetry shows that the reducibility increases in the sequence alpha-beta-gamma as the number of rotated tritungstic groups. Whereas the gamma-12-tungstosilicate anion is unstable in pure aqueous solution whatever the pH value, it is stable in mixed aqueous-organic or pure organic solvents, even at boiling temperatures. In contrast, the two- and four-electron-reduced blue species are stable in aqueous media but not the one-electron-reduced blue. Study of the (183)W NMR spectrum of the two-electron-reduced species showed that the two spin-paired electrons are delocalized on all the W atoms on the NMR time scale but have a larger residency time on one group of four atoms.     

Analysis of Open Discrete Time Queueing Networks: A Refined Decomposition Approach

This paper deals with approximate analysis methods for open queueing networks. External and internal flows from and to the nodes are characterized by renewal processes with discrete time distributions of their interarrival times. Stationary distributions of the waiting time, the queue size and the interdeparture times are obtained using efficient discrete time algorithms for single server (GI/G/1) and multi-server (GI/D/c) nodes with deterministic service. The network analysis is extended to semi-Markovian representations of each flow among the nodes, which include parameters of the autocorrelation function.     

Project Management Duration/Resource Tradeoff Analysis: an Application of the Cut Search Approach

The paper presents an application oriented procedure for solving the project management duration/resource tradeoff problem. A procedure is presented for reducing a project from a normal to a crash duration state at a minimum amount of additional resource expenditure assuming a linear utilization functions. The procedure is network based using a graphical Cut Search Approach to locate the minimal resource level at each reduction in total project duration. Activity-on-arc networks and flow networks are utilized. The paper is presented for practical application and for conceptual development as compared to a theoretical treatment.     

Electroweak tests with τ leptons at LEP

We report on two sensitive tests of lepton universality carried out by the 4 LEP experiments at the Z⁰ pole. From measurements of the τ polarization in e⁺ e^?→τ ⁺ τ ^?, the ratios of the vector and axial vector coupling constants of the electron and the tau lepton to the weak neutral current are obtained to beg _{v e} /g _{a e} =0.066±0.015 andg _{V τ} /g _{A τ} =0.070±0.009 respectively. From measurement of the τ lifetime and the τ leptonic branching ratios, the ratio of the coupling constants describing weak leptonic decays of the τ and the μ is measured to beG _τ /G _μ =0.996±0.008.