Homoclinic phenomena in the gravitational collapse

A class of Bianchi IX cosmological models is shown to have chaotic gravitational collapse, due to Poincaré's homoclinic phenomena. We can program such models so that for any given positive integer N (N=∞ included) the universe undergoes N non-periodic oscillations (each oscillation requiring a long time) before collapsing. For N=∞ the universe undergoes periodic oscillations.     

First-principles calculation of the single impurity surface Kondo resonance

We perform first-principles calculations of the surface and bulk wave functions of the Cu(111) surface and their hybridization energies to a Co adatom, including the potential scattering from the Co. By analyzing the calculated hybridization energies, we find the bulk states dominate the contribution to the Kondo temperature, in agreement with recent experiments. Furthermore, we also calculate the tunneling conductance of a scanning tunneling microscope and compare our results with recent experiments of Co impurities in the Cu(111) surface. Good quantitative agreement is found at short parallel impurity-tip distances (<6 A). Our results indicate the need for a new formulation of the problem at larger distances.     

Confirming the lattice contraction in CdSe nanocrystals grown in a glass matrix by Raman scattering

This work gives the evidence of the lattice contraction in CdSe nanocrystals (NCs) grown in a glass matrix. The CdSe NCs were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), optical absorption (OA), and Raman spectroscopy. The average size of CdSe NCs can be estimated by AFM images. Using the OA spectra and the effective‐mass approximation, it was also possible to estimate the average sizes of CdSe NCs, which agree very well with the AFM data. These results showed that the CdSe NCs grow with increasing time of heat treatment. The blue shift of the longitudinal optical (LO) modes and surface optical (SO) phonon modes with an increase in the average radius of the NCs, shown in the Raman spectra, was explained by the lattice contraction in CdSe NCs caused by thermodynamic interactions at the interface with the host glass matrix. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electro-oxidation of ethanol using PtSnRh/C electrocatalysts prepared by an alcohol-reduction process

PtRh/C (90:10), PtRh/C (50:50), PtSn/C (50:50), and PtSnRh/C (50:40:10) electrocatalysts were prepared by an alcohol-reduction process using ethylene glycol as solvent and reduction agent and Vulcan Carbon XC72 as supports. The electrocatalysts were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy. The electro-oxidation of ethanol was studied by cyclic voltammetry chronoamperometry at room temperature and on a single cell of a direct ethanol fuel cell at 100 °C. Cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry experiments showed that PtSnRh/C and PtSn/C electrocatalysts have similar performance for ethanol oxidation at room temperature, while the activity of PtRh/C electrocatalysts was very low. At 100 °C on a single cell, PtSnRh/C showed superior performance compared to PtSn/C and PtRh/C electrocatalysts.     

Dynamic region visit routing problem for vehicles with minimum turning radius

In this paper we address the problem of planning optimized routes among dynamically selected target regions for vehicles with a turning radius motion constraint, hereinafter called dynamic Dubins traveling salesman problem with neighborhoods (DDTSPN). Initially, we present a heuristic to solve a simpler version of this problem, called off-line step, where only previously given targets are concerned. We further extend this approach for the more complex case of dynamic scenarios, called on-line step, addressing the inclusion of new targets during the execution of the initial route, whilst minimizing the impact on the total traveled distance. Formal analyzes of our techniques are provided, presenting upper bounds for the total length of the final tour. Results with statistical investigation over a large number of trials in a simulated environment are also provided. Finally, to demonstrate the applicability of our technique in solving the DDTSPN at real-world scenarios, we also report on results of an experiment performed with a real car-like robot.     

A proximal method with separable Bregman distances for quasiconvex minimization over the nonnegative orthant

We present an interior proximal method with Bregman distance, for solving the minimization problem with quasiconvex objective function under nonnegative constraints. The Bregman function is considered separable and zone coercive, and the zone is the interior of the positive orthant. Under the assumption that the solution set is nonempty and the objective function is continuously differentiable, we establish the well definedness of the sequence generated by our algorithm and obtain two important convergence results, and show in the main one that the sequence converges to a solution point of the problem when the regularization parameters go to zero.     

Topological sensitivity analysis of a multi‐scale constitutive model considering a cracked microstructure

This paper deals with the sensitivity analysis of the macroscopic elasticity tensor to topological microstructural changes of the underlying material. In particular, the microstucture is topologicaly perturbed by the nucleation of a small circular inclusion. The derivation of the proposed sensitivity relies on the concept of topological derivative, applied within a variational multi‐scale constitutive framework where the macroscopic strain and stress at each point of the macroscopic continuum are defined as volume averages of their microscopic counterparts over a representative volume element (RVE) of material associated with that point. We consider that the RVE can contain a number of voids, inclusions and/or cracks. It is assumed that non‐penetration conditions are imposed at the crack faces, which do not allow the opposite crack faces to penetrate each other. The derived sensitivity leads to a symmetric fourth‐order tensor field over the unperturbed RVE domain, which measures how the macroscopic elasticity parameters estimated within the multi‐scale framework changes when a small circular inclusion is introduced at the micro‐scale level. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Inexact Steepest Descent Method for Multicriteria Optimization on Riemannian Manifolds

In this paper, we present an inexact version of the steepest descent method with Armijo’s rule for multicriteria optimization in the Riemannian context given in Bento et al. (J. Optim. Theory Appl., 154: 88–107, 2012). Under mild assumptions on the multicriteria function, we prove that each accumulation point (if any) satisfies first-order necessary conditions for Pareto optimality. Moreover, assuming that the multicriteria function is quasi-convex and the Riemannian manifold has nonnegative curvature, we show full convergence of any sequence generated by the method to a Pareto critical point.     

Raman spectroscopy of very small Cd1−xCoxS quantum dots grown by a novel protocol: direct observation of acoustic‐optical phonon coupling

Glass‐embedded Cd_1−xCo_xS quantum dots (QDs) with mean radius of R ≈ 1.70 nm were successfully synthesized by a novel protocol on the basis of the melting‐nucleation synthesis route and herein investigated by several experimental techniques. Incorporation of Co²⁺ ions into the QD lattice was evidenced by X‐ray diffraction and magnetic force microscopy results. Optical absorption features with irregular spacing in the ligand field region confirmed that the majority of the incorporated Co²⁺ ions are under influence of a low‐symmetry crystal field located near to the Cd_1−xCo_xS QD surface. Electron paramagnetic resonance data confirmed the presence of Co²⁺ ions in a highly inhomogeneous crystal field environment identified at the interface between the hosting glass matrix (amorphous) and the crystalline QD. The acoustic‐optical phonon coupling in the Cd_1−xCo_xS QDs (x ≠ 0.000) was directly observed by Raman measurements, which have shown a high‐frequency shoulder of the longitudinal optical phonon peak. This effect is tuned by the size‐dependent sp‐d exchange interaction due to the magnetic doping, causing variations in the coupling between electrons and longitudinal optical phonon. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.