Information in the operations research process

The article deals with information in the OR process. The value of an ‘optimal’ model solution which is not implemented is not very high. Many errors are due to a too narrow formulation of the problem, often a formulation which has focused on purely technical and economic aspects, or a formulation which has been adapted for a standard model. The concepts and models treated in the article take their point of departure in the actual problem. The models can be used as a frame of reference by various individuals and groups which are involved in OR work.     

Neutrino physics from precision cosmology

Cosmology provides an excellent laboratory for testing various aspects of neutrino physics. Here, I review the current status of cosmological searches for neutrino mass, as well as other properties of neutrinos. Future cosmological probes of neutrino properties are also discussed in detail.     

Luminescence Spectroscopy of Rhodamine Homodimer Dications in Vacuo Reveals Strong Dye-Dye Interactions

Being alone or together makes a difference for the photophysics of dyes but for ionic dyes it is difficult to quantify the interactions due to solvent screening and nearby counter ions. Gas-phase luminescence experiments are desirable and now possible based on recent developments in mass spectrometry. Here we present results on tailor-made rhodamine homodimers where two dye cations are separated by methylene linkers, (CH₂)_n. In solution the fluorescence is almost identical to that from the monomer whereas the emission from bare cation dimers redshifts with decreasing n. In the absence of screening, the electric field from the charge on one dye is strong enough to polarize the other dye, both in the ground state and in the excited state. An electrostatic model based on symmetric dye responses (equal induced-dipole moments in ground state) captures the underlying physics and demonstrates interaction even at large distances. Our results have possible implications for gas-phase Förster Resonance Energy Transfer.     

Submicron gold structures formed by atomic force microscopy lithography on thin films of poly(methyl methacrylate)

Thin films of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) (25 nm) deposited on gold coated glass substrates have been locally modified by exposure to biased atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips. Constant exposure currents in the range of 0.5–0.65 nA leads to removal of PMMA both by direct ablation and enhanced solubility in a developer solution. Possible mechanisms causing such modifications have been discussed. Submicron Au structures were formed by combining AFM lithography, involving localized removal of PMMA, with sputter deposition of gold and a lift-off process.     

Characterizations by Automorphism Groups of some Rank 3 Buildings – I. Some Properties of Half Strongly-Transitive Triangle Buildings

In a sequence of papers, we will show that the existence of a (half) strongly-transitive automorphism group acting on a locally finite triangle building forces to be one of the examples arising from PSL₃(K) for a locally finite local skewfield K. Furthermore, we introduce some Moufang-like conditions in affine buildings of rank 3, and characterize those examples arising from algebraic, classical or mixed type groups over a local field. In particular, we characterize the p-adic-like affine rank 3 buildings by a certain p-adic Moufang condition, and show that such a condition has zero probability to survive in hyperbolic rank 3 buildings. This shows that a construction of hyperbolic buildings as analogues of p-adic affine buildings is very unlikely to exist.     

On the Exciton Coupling between Two Chlorophyll Pigments in the Absence of a Protein Environment: Intrinsic Effects Revealed by Theory and Experiment

Exciton coupling between two or more chlorophyll (Chl) pigments is a key mechanism associated with the color tuning of photosynthetic proteins but it is difficult to disentangle this effect from shifts that are due to the protein microenvironment. Herein, we report the formation of the simplest coupled system, the Chl a dimer, tagged with a quaternary ammonium ion by electrospray ionization. Based on action spectroscopic studies in vacuo, the dimer complexes were found to absorb 50–70 meV to the red of the monomers under the same conditions. First‐principles calculations predict shifts that somewhat depend on the relative orientation of the two Chl units, namely 50 and 30 meV for structures where the Chl rings are stacked and unstacked, respectively. Our work demonstrates that Chl association alone can produce a large portion of the color shift observed in photosynthetic macromolecular assemblies.     

Electrostastic control of spontaneous curvature in catanionic reverse micelles

By means of small-angle neutron scattering and conductivity measurements, we study the microstructure of octylammoniumoctanoate/octane/water catanionic reverse microemulsions with an excess of anionic or cationic surfactant. Increasing the surface charge makes the microemulsion able to incorporate much more water than in the neutral case, up to 10 water molecules per surfactant. Even with charges in the surfactant film, wormlike micelles are present in the microemulsion domain. Along water dilution lines, the classical rod-to-sphere transition due to the minimization of the curvature energy of the rigid surfactant film is observed. When temperature is decreased, a re-entrant phase transition associated with the liquid-gas equilibrium of attractive cylinders is observed. Using the framework of the Tlusty-Safran theory, attraction could originate from junctions between wormlike reverse micelles. In any case, the spontaneous curvature of the catanionic surfactant film depends on both the temperature and the net charge, whatever the sign of the latter.     

Decohering a Charged Scalar Field in a Time-Machine Wormhole Background

Is time travel possible? While this paper doesnot answer the question, it does put forward a modelthat may one day answer it. The decoherent-historiesapproach to quantum mechanics is used in a nontrivial background provided by a wormhole whose mouthsreside in the same universe, but have a time differencebetween them. A charged scalar particle approaches thewormhole mouth in the present and is decohered spatially through the interaction with theCoulomb field of the wormhole mouth.