Nonsymmetric interpolation macdonald polynomials and \mathfrak{g}\mathfrak{l}_n basic hypergeometric series

The Knop-Sahi interpolation Macdonald polynomials are inhomogeneous and nonsymmetric generalisations of the well-known Macdonald polynomials. In this paper we apply the interpolation Macdonald polynomials to study a new type of basic hypergeometric series of type . Our main results include a new q-binomial theorem, a new q-Gauss sum, and several transformation formulae for series. *Supported by the ANR project MARS (BLAN06-2 134516). **Supported by the NSF grant DMS-0401387. ***Supported by the Australian Research Council.     

Nonlinear fiber-optic strain sensor based on four-wave mixing in microstructured optical fiber

We demonstrate a nonlinear fiber-optic strain sensor, which uses the shifts of four-wave mixing Stokes and anti-Stokes peaks caused by the strain-induced changes in the structure and refractive index of a microstructured optical fiber. The sensor thus uses the inherent nonlinearity of the fiber and does not require any advanced postprocessing of the fiber. Strain sensitivity of -0.23 pm/με is achieved experimentally and numerical simulations reveal that for the present fiber the sensitivity can be increased to -4.46 pm/με by optimizing the pump wavelength and power.     

Atmospheric chemistry of CCl2FCH2CF3 (HCFC-234fb): Kinetics and mechanism of reactions with Cl atoms and OH radicals

The atmospheric chemistry of CCl₂FCH₂CF₃ (HFCF-234fb) was examined using FT-IR/relative-rate methods. Hydroxyl radical and chlorine atom rate coefficients of k(CCl₂FCH₂CF₃+OH)= (2.9 ± 0.8) × 10⁻¹⁵ cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1 and k(CCl₂FCH₂CF₃+Cl)= (2.3 ± 0.6) × 10⁻¹⁷ cm³ molecule^–1 s^–1 were determined at 297 ± 2 K. The OH rate coefficient determined here is two times higher than the previous literature value. The atmospheric lifetime for CCl₂FCH₂CF₃ with respect to reaction with OH radicals is approximately 21 years using the OH rate coefficient determined in this work, estimated Arrhenius parameters and scaling it to the atmospheric lifetime of CH₃CCl₃. The chlorine atom initiated oxidation of CCl₂FCH₂CF₃ gives C(O)F₂ and C(O)ClF as stable secondary products. The halogenated carbon balance is close to 80% in our system. The integrated IR absorption cross-section for CCl₂FCH₂CF₃ is 1.87 × 10⁻¹⁶ cm molecule⁻¹ (600–1600 cm⁻¹) and the radiative efficiency was calculated to 0.26 W m⁻² ppb¹. A 100-year Global Warming Potential (GWP) of 1460 was determined, accounting for an estimated stratospheric lifetime of 58 years and using a lifetime-corrected radiative efficiency estimation.