The ALTO project at IPN-Orsay

The availability of both a tandem deuteron beam and a linac electron beam, the latter converted into Bremsstrahlung, at the new ALTO facility at IPN-Orsay offers a unique opportunity to compare the performance of a laser ion guide under different regimes. The ALTO accelerator has delivered its first electron beam at the end of 2005 and a design for a gas-cell prototype is being studied.     

Optimization technique based on learning automata

Optimization techniques are finding increasingly numerous applications in process design, in parallel to the increase of computer sophistication. The process synthesis problem can be stated as a largescale constrained optimization problem involving numerous local optima and presenting a nonlinear and nonconvex character. To solve this kind of problem, the classical optimization methods can lead to analytical and numerical difficulties. This paper describes the feasibility of an optimization technique based on learning systems which can take into consideration all the prior information concerning the process to be optimized and improve their behavior with time. This information generally occurs in a very complex analytical, empirical, or know-how form. Computer simulations related to chemical engineering problems (benzene chlorination, distillation sequence) and numerical examples are presented. The results illustrate both the performance and the implementation simplicity of this method.Nomenclature c _i penalty probability - cp precision parameter on constraints - D variation domain of the variablex - f(·) objective function - g(·) constraints - i,j indexes - k iteration number - N number of actions - P probability distribution vector - p _i ith component of the vectorP as iterationk - r number of reactors in the flowsheet - u(k) discrete value or action chosen by the algorithm at iterationk - u _i discrete value of the optimization variable in [u _min,u _max] - u _min lowest value of the optimization variable - u _max largest value of the optimization variable - Z random number - x variable for the criterion function - xp precision parameter on criterion function - W(k) performance index unit output at iterationk - ₀, ₁ reinforcement scheme parameters - _p sum of the probability distribution vector components     

Anticancer agent development: X-ray crystal structure and keto-enol tautomerism of dimethyl 1-hydroxy-6,7-methylenedioxy-4-(3′,4′,5′-trimethoxyphenyl-trans-3,4-dihydronaphthalene-2,3-dicarboxylate

Structural and conformational information obtained from the crystal structure and solution¹H nmr investigations of the title compound are compared. The 4-aryltetralone, C₂₄H₂₄O₁₀, crystallizes as a chloroform solvate in the monoclinic space group, P2₁/n, witha=12.519(4),b=17.938(6),c=12.534(9)Å,=111.90(5)°, and D_calc=1.51 g cm^–3 forZ=4. The data for this compound were collected at –150°C. Least-squares refinement of 2796 observed [F _o5(F _o)] reflections led to the final agreement index ofR=0.062. A threefold static disorder was observed for one of the carboxyl groups. The second carboxyl group participates in an intramolecular hydrogen bond and is thus ordered. The¹H nmr spectrum revealed the title compound to exist as a keto-enol tautomeric mixture in solution. Vicinal hydrogen coupling constant analysis proved reliable in ascertaining B-ring stereochemistry of 2,3-disubstituted-4-aryltetralones.     

Sur une conjecture de M. Kac

Summary We consider the following heat conduction problem. Let K be a compact set in Euclidean space ³. Suppose that K is held at the temperature 1, while the surrounding medium is at the temperature 0 at time 0. Following Spitzer we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of the integral E _K (t) which represents the total energy flow in time t from the set K to the surrounding medium ³–K. An asymptotic expansion is given for E _K (t) which refines a theorem due to Spitzer. This expansion also verifies and improves a formal calculation of Kac. Similar results are proved in higher dimensions. Up to the constant m(K), the quantity E _K (t) can be interpreted as the expected value of the volume of the Wiener sausage associated with K and a d-dimensional Brownian motion. This point of view both plays a major role in the proofs and leads to a probabilistic interpretation of the different terms of the expansion.     

Characteristics of π−,\bar p,and antinuclei frompp collisions

An investigation of inclusivepp→π^?+? in terms of the covariant Boltzmann factor (BF) including the chemical potential μ indicates a) that the temperatureT increases less rapidly than expected from Stefan's law, b) that a scaling property holds for the fibreball velocity of π^? secondaries, leading to a multiplicity law like ～E _cm ^1/2 at high energy, and c) that μ_π is related to the quark mass: μ_π=2m _q ?m _π the quark massm _q determined by \(T_{\pi ^ - } \) at \(\bar pp\) threshold beingm _q =3T_π?330 MeV. Because ofthreshold effects \(T_{\bar p}< T_{\pi ^ - } \) , whereas \({{\mu _p } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\mu _p } {\mu _{\pi ^ - } }}} \right. \kern-0em} {\mu _{\pi ^ - } }} \simeq {3 \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {3 2}} \right. \kern-0em} 2}\) as expected from the quark contents of \(\bar p\) and π. The antinuclei \(\bar d\) and \({{\bar t} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\bar t} {\overline {He^3 } }}} \right. \kern-0em} {\overline {He^3 } }}\) observed inpp events are formed by coalescence of \(\bar p\) and \(\bar n\) produced in thepp collision. Semi-empirical formulae are proposed to estimate multiplicities of π^?, \(\bar p\) and antinuclei.