Microwave spectroscopic study of the SiF radical

The microwave spectrum of the SiF radical was observed in both ${}^2\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ and ${}^2\text{Π}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>3</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ of the ground vibronic state. The SiF radical was produced by a dc discharge either in a $\text{SiF}{}_4\text{SiH}{}_4$ mixture or in a transient molecule SiF₂ generated by the reaction of SiF₄ with heated solid silicon. The latter gave twice as intense a spectrum. A least-squares fit to the observed spectrum showed the rotational constant and the centrifugal distortion constant to be 17 350.2752(63) and 0.03188(13) MHz, respectively, with three standard errors in parentheses applying to the last digits of the constants. The lambda-doubling parameter p₀ was found to be negative, ?87.67 MHz, indicating that the ²Σ⁺ excited state contributions dominate over those of ²Σ^?. All four hyperfine coupling constants a, b, c, and d were determined and were employed to discuss the unpaired-electron spin and orbital distributions in the SiF radical.     

On K1 and K2 of Algebraic Surfaces

In this paper we study higher Chow groups of smooth, projective surfaces over a field k of characteristic zero, using some new Hodge theoretic methods which we develop for this purpose. In particular we investigate the subgroup of CH ^r+1 (X,r) with r = 1,2 consisting of cycles that are supported over a normal crossing divisor Z on X. In this case, the Hodge theory of the complement forms an interesting variation of mixed Hodge structures in any geometric deformation of the situation. Our main result is a structure theorem in the case where X is a very general hypersurface of degree d in projective 3-space for d sufficiently large and Z is a union of very general hypersurface sections of X. In this case we show that the subgroup of CH ^r+1 (X,r) we consider is generated by obvious cycles only arising from rational functions on X with poles along Z. This can be seen as a generalization of the Noether–Lefschetz theorem for r = 0. In the case r = 1 there is a similar generalization by Müller-Stach, but our result is more precise than it, since it is geometric and not only cohomological. The case r = 2 is entirely new and original in this paper. For small d, we construct some explicit examples for r = 1 and 2 where the corresponding higher Chow groups are indecomposable, i.e. not the image of certain products of lower order groups. In an appendix Alberto Collino constructs even more indecomposable examples in CH ³ (X,2) which move in a one-dimensional family on the surface X.Contribution to appendix.     

Uniform convexity of ψ-direct sums of Banach spaces

Let X and Y be Banach spaces and ψ a continuous convex function on the unit interval [0,1] satisfying certain conditions. Let X⊕_ψY be the direct sum of X and Y equipped with the associated norm with ψ. We show that X⊕_ψY is uniformly convex if and only if X,Y are uniformly convex and ψ is strictly convex. As a corollary we obtain that the ?_p,q-direct sum (not p=q=1 nor ∞), is uniformly convex if and only if X,Y are, where ?_p,q is the Lorentz sequence space. These results extend the well-known fact for the ?_p-sum . Some other examples are also presented.     

Transient behavior of heat removal from a cylindrical heat storage vessel packed with spherical porous particles

The transient heat transfer behavior in the case of heat removal from a cylindrical heat storage vessel packed with spherical particles was investigated experimentally for various factors (flow rate, diameter of spherical particles packed, temperature difference between flowing cold air and spherical particles accumulating heat, and physical properties of spherical particles). The experiments were covered in ranges of Reynolds number based on the mean diameter of spherical particles packed Re_d = 10.3–2200, porosity?=0.310 to 0.475, ratio of spherical particle diameter to cylinder diameterd/D = 0.0075–0.177 and ratio of length of the cylinder to cylinder diameterL/D=2.5–10. It was found that especially the flow rate and the dimension of spherical particles played an important role in estimating the transient local heat transfer characteristics near the wall of the cylindrical vessel in the present heat storage system. As flow rate and diameter of spherical particles were increased under a given diameter of the cylinder heat storage vessel, the mean heat transfer coefficient between the flow cold air and the hot spherical particles increased and the time period to finish removing heat from the vessel reduced. In addition, the useful experimental correlation equations of mean heat transfer coefficient between both phases and the time period to finish removing heat from the vessel were derived with the functional relationship of Nusselt numberNu _d=f [modified Prandtl numberPr ^* (d/D), Re_d) and Fourier numberFo = f(d/D, L/D, Pr^*, Re_d).     

Measurement of Fluorescence Quantum Yield of Ultraviolet-Absorbing Substance Extracted from Red Alga: Porphyra yezoensis and its Photothermal Spectroscopy

Optical properties of an ultraviolet-absorbing substance (UVAS) extracted from the marine red alga, Porphyra yezoensis, have been investigated. The substance is excited by UV light, and the emitted fluorescence is detected using an intelligent fluorescence detector. The fluorescence of UVAS is weaker by four orders of magnitude than the fluorescence intensity emitted by anthracene in the same optical system. The absorbed energy is apparently not transferred to the photosynthesis process and is believed to be consumed as heat. Using photothermal spectroscopy, a signal is observed indicating that the absorbed photon energy has transferred to the heat. The waveform of the photothermal signal of UVAS is similar to that of quinoxaline, whose fluorescence quantum yield is known to be zero. It is determined that the fluorescence quantum yield and the energy of the triplet state of UVAS are 1.7 ± 0.7 ± 10⁻⁴ and 21000 ± 1000 cm ⁻¹, respectively. The conclusion is that the excited molecules of UVAS decay by passing through the triplet state and dissipate all absorbed energy as heat.     

Performance evaluation of PVdF gel polymer electrolytes

A series of gel polymer electrolytes containing PVdF as homo polymer, a mixture of 1:1 Ethylene Carbonate (EC) : Propylene Carbonate (PC) as plasticizer and lithium-bistrifluoromethane sulphone imide [imide — LiN (CF₃SO₂)₂] has been developed. Amounts of polymer (PVdF), plasticizer and the imide lithium salt have been varied as a function of their weight ratio composition in this regard. Dimensionally stable films possessing appreciable room temperature conductivity values have been obtained with respect to certain weight ratio compositions. However, conductivity data have been recorded at different possible temperatures, i.e., from 20 °C to 65 °C. XRD and DSC studies were carried out to characterize the polymer films for better amorphicity and reduced glass transition temperature, respectively. The electrochemical interface stability of the PVdF based gel polymer electrolytes over a range of storage period (24 h – 10 days) have been investigated using A.C. impedance studies. Test cells containing Li/gel polymer electrolyte (GPE)/Li have been subjected to undergo 50 charge-discharge cycles in order to understand the electrochemical performance behaviour of the dimensionally stable films of superior conductivity. The observed capacity fade of less than 20% even after 50 cycles is in favour of the electrochemical stability of the gel polymer electrolyte containing 27.5% PVdF −67.5 % EC+PC −5% imide salt. Cyclic voltammetry studies establish the possibility of a reversible intercalation — deintercalation process involving Li⁺ ions through the gel polymer electrolyte.     

Doppler-limited dye laser excitation spectroscopy of the HSO radical

The cw dye laser excitation spectrum of the vibronic transition of the HSO radical was observed between 16 420 and 16 520 cm⁻¹ with Doppler-limited resolution, 0.03 cm⁻¹. The HSO radical was produced by reaction of discharged oxygen with H₂S or CH₃SH. The observed spectra were assigned to 751 transitions of the K′_a ← K″_a = 2 ← 3, 1 ← 2, 0 ← 1, 1 ← 0, 2 ← 1, and 3 ← 2 subbands, and were analyzed to determine rotational constants, centrifugal distortion constants, and spin-rotation interaction constants with good precision. The signs of the spin-rotation interaction constants were determined for both the upper and the lower state from the observed spectra. The band origin obtained is 16 483.0252 (2.5σ = 0.0013) cm⁻¹. The molecular constants which were determined reproduce the observed transitions with an average deviation of 0.0045 cm⁻¹.