Hydrogel composition based on carboxymethylcellulose and agar-agar

The results are given of a study of the rheological properties of concentrated solutions of CNC and agar-agar and the influence of their quantitative ratio on the anomalous flow behavior of their solutions. A hypothesis is put forward of the formation of intermolecular associates from CMC and agar-agar which leads to the formation of a stronger structural network of solutions of the initial polysaccharides.Institute of the Physics and Chemistry of Polymers, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (371) 1 44 26 61. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 357–361, May–June, 1998.     

Modeling of heat transfer in a melt in growing single crystals by the stockbarger method using the accelerated crucible rotation technique (ACRT)

In model experiments, the layer of melt bounded by the crystallization front and the heater for heating the diaphragm in a growing furnace is shown to determine crystal growth by the Stockbarger method under conditions of induced convection and also to control the crystallization process. The free volume of the melt exerts no effect on its hydrodynamic and thermal structures. Optimum values of the exposure time are estimated for constant maximum and minimum velocities of modulated rotation of the growing ampoule. Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 98–104, January–February, 1998.     

CONFLICT AND COOPERATION IN UTILIZING A COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE

Noncooperative games are used to demonstrate that, while free riding is always an option, the “tragedy of the commons” is not inevitable. When the decision to cooperate or free ride is considered in a dynamic setting, there is no intermediate case where some cooperate and others free ride. The game is only stabilized in either full cooperation or full defection. The important factor in obtaining a cooperative outcome is the critical number of players that decide to cooperate. The concept of commitment is used to demonstrate the necessary and sufficient conditions for full cooperation. Although the analysis is based on a shared water resource, it can be extended to other natural resources with common costs and private benefits, especially in the cases where there are no international authorities or treaties that internalize the externalities involved in privatizing the resource.     

Superconductivity and normal state resistivity of Ba0.6K0.4BiO3: an optical phonon approach

We discuss the nature of the pairing mechanism and the physical properties associated with the normal as well as the superconducting state of cubic perovskites Ba_0.6K_0.4BiO₃using the strong coupling theory. An interaction potential which includes the Coulomb, electron–optical phonon and electron–plasmon interactions is developed to elucidate the superconducting state. A model dielectric function is constructed with these interactions fulfilling thef-sum rule. The screening parameter (μ^* = 0.26) infers the poor screening of charge carriers. The electron–optical phonon strength (λ) estimated as 0.98 is consistent with an attractive electron–electron interaction and supports the moderate to strong coupling theory. The superconducting transition temperature of Ba_0.6K_0.4BiO₃is then estimated as 32 K. Ziman's formula of resistivity is employed to analyse and compare this with the temperature-dependent resistivity of a single crystal. The estimated contribution from the electron–optical phonon together with the residual resistivity clearly infers a difference when a comparison is made with experimental data. The subtracted data infer a quadratic temperature dependence in the temperature domain (30 ≤ T ≤ 200 K). The quadratic temperature dependence of ρ [ = ρ_exp − (ρ₀ + ρ_e–ph)] is understood in terms of 3D electron–electron inelastic scattering. The presence of these el–el and el–ph interactions allows a coherent interpretation of the physical properties. Analysis reveals that a moderate to strong coupling exists in the Ba_0.6K_0.4BiO₃system and the coupling of electrons with the high-energy optical phonons of the oxygen breathing mode will be a reason for superconductivity. The implications of the above analysis are discussed.     

Circulatory flow in the inter-jet zone of a system of free turbulent jets

Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, No. 4, pp. 97–99, July–August, 1993.     

Simulation of attenuation of millimeter radio waves in dry snowfalls

Attenuation of millimeter waves in dry snowfalls is numerically simulated with allowance for the actual shape of snowflakes. It is shown that for moderate-intensity snowfalls the values of attenuation cross-sections averaged over the snowflake orientations are well approximated by power-law function depending on the equivalent diameter of the snowflakes. This allows us to obtain an analytical expression for the attenuation coefficient of a plane electromagnetic wave by snowfall for size distributions of particles of the gamma-distribution type and its modifications. Radiophysical Research Institute, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 446–455, April, 1998.     

Chaotic synchronization as an information process

The chaotic synchronization phenomenon is studied from the information point of view. Synchronization of a chaos receiver by a chaos source is considered as copy recovery of the chaotic signal transmitted by the source. The main idea of this paper is to show that the necessary condition of chaotic synchronization is not the level of physical action of one system on another but the transmission of a certain volume of information on the chaotic process and, therefore, the capacity of the “communication channel” between the source and the receiver. This work was presented at the Summer Workshop “Dynamic Days” (Nizhny Novgorod, June 30–July 2, 1998). Institute of Radioengineering and Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 12, pp. 1497–1509, December, 1998.