Center flux correlation in SU(2) Yang-Mills theory

By using the method of center projection, the center vortex part of the gauge field is isolated and its propagator is evaluated in the center Landau gauge, which minimizes the open 3-dimensional Dirac volumes of nontrivial center links bounded by the closed 2-dimensional center vortex surfaces. The center field propagator is found to dominate the gluon propagator (in the Landau gauge) in the low momentum regime and to give rise to a power-law correction proportional to p(-2.9(1)) at high momentum. The screening mass of the center vortex field vanishes above the critical temperature of the deconfinement phase transition, which naturally explains the second order nature of this transition consistent with the vortex picture. Finally, the ghost propagator of the maximal center gauge is found to be infrared finite and, thus, shows that the coset fields play no role for confinement.     

Failure of Russell-Saunders coupling in the 5f states of plutonium

Using high energy-electron energy loss spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and synchrotron-radiation-based x-ray absorption spectroscopy, we provide the first experimental evidence that Russell-Saunders (LS) coupling fails for the 5f states of Pu. These results support the assumption that only the use of jj or intermediate coupling is appropriate for the 5f states of Pu. High energy-electron energy loss spectroscopy experiments were performed by use of a transmission electron microscope and are coupled with image and diffraction data; therefore, the measurements are completely phase specific.     

Simple diastereoselectivity on addition of alpha-haloalkyl Grignard reagents to benzaldehyde

The addition of alpha-haloalkyl Grignard reagents to benzaldehyde occurs with simple diastereoselectivity substantially higher than that of the corresponding lithium reagents. Reaction in the presence of dimethyl-aluminum chloride suppresses subsequent Oppenauer oxidation of the resulting Mg-alkoxides by excess benzaldehyde.     

Exponential time integration using Krylov subspaces

The application of exponential integrators based on Krylov techniques to large‐scale simulations of complex fluid flows with multiple time‐scales demonstrates the efficiency of these schemes in reducing the associated time‐step restrictions due to numerical stiffness. Savings of approximately 50% can be achieved for simulations of the three‐dimensional compressible Navier–Stokes equations while still maintaining a truncation error typical of explicit time‐stepping schemes. Exponential time integration techniques of this type are particularly advantageous for fluid flows with a wide range of temporal scales such as low‐Mach number, reactive or acoustically dominated flows. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.