Coherent backscattering of light from saturated atoms

We survey recent progress achieved in understanding the impact of inelastic processes on coherent backscattering of light from cold atoms that are saturated by a powerful laser field.     

Colossal magnetoresistance manganites: A new approach

Manganites of the LA_1−x Ca _x MnO₃ family show a variety of new and poorly understood electronic, magnetic and structural effects. Here we outline a new approach recently proposed by us, where we argue that due to strong Jahn-Teller (JT) coupling with phonons the twofold degeneratee _g states at the Mn sites dynamically reorganize themselves into localised, JT polaronsl with exponentially small inter-site hopping, and band-like, nonpolaronic statesb, leading to anew 2-band model for manganites which includes strong Coulomb and Hund’s couplings. We also discuss some results from a dynamical mean-field theory treatment of the model which explains quantitatively a wide variety of experimental results, including insulator-metal transitions and CMR, in terms of the influence of physical conditions on the relative energies and occupation of thel andb states. We argue that this microscopic coexistence of the two types of electronic states, and their relative occupation and spatial correlation is the key to manganite physics. Dedicated to Professor C N R Rao on his 70th birthday     

Evaluation of the probability of bankruptcy for a model of insurance company

We study the problem of evaluation of the probability of ruin of an insurance company for infinitely many steps in the case where the company can invest its capital to bank deposits at any time. As a distribution of the amounts of claims to the insurance company, we use the gamma-distribution with the parameters n and α. __________ Translated from Ukrains’kyi Matematychnyi Zhurnal, Vol. 59, No. 4, pp. 447–457, April, 2007.     

Copolymers of acrylic acid with urea

Composition and rheological characteristics of aqueous solutions of acrylic acid/urea copolymers were studied, including the composition dependences of the equivalent conductivity and viscosity.     

A new mean field SA-SA' critical point in a symmetry breaking field

We consider a S_A-S_A' critical point in the presence of a symmetry-breaking external magnetic (electric) field with a positive magnetic (dielectric) anisotropy or a dislocation layer. Via a renormalization group analysis of the model hamiltonian, we show that the upper critical dimensions below which mean-field theory breaks down is d_c = 2·5. Thus the S_A-S_A' transition in three dimensions becomes mean-field like in the presence of a symmetry-breaking field. We estimate the reduced temperature region where we can expect to see the mean field S_A-S_A' critical point in the presence of a magnetic field or a dislocation layer.     

Counterion and solvent effects on the dilute solution viscosity of polystyrene ionomers

We present an analysis of data on the intrinsic viscosity [η] of sulfo-polystyrene ionomers in several solvents for a variety of sulfonation levels and counterions. For solvents of low dielectric constant, 2 < ε < 18, [η] decreases from the base polymer value [η]₀ with increasing substitution level. This behavior was attributed to intramolecular association of ionic dipoles. The ratio [η]/[η]₀ was found to depend on a single reduced variable α_Aα_Sx, where x is the fractional substitution, α_A depends only on the counterion, and α_S ∝ ε^?1 depends only on the solvent. For solvents of high dielectric constant, 36 < ε < 47, [η] increases approximately as x³, and counterion effects are small. This behavior was attributed to ionic dissociation, giving rise to a polyelectrolyte effect. Implications of the low ε results are discussed in relation to association-induced gelation behavior and possible generalizations of the reduced variables approach.     

Photoinitiated polymerization in bicontinuous microemulsions: Fluorescence monitoring

The photopolymerization of bicontinuous microemulsions was simultaneously monitored with differential scanning calorimetry and fluorescence. The kinetics and mechanism of the reaction were studied throughout the entire photopolymerization reaction. The role played by the surfactant in the kinetics and morphology was studied. The nature of the surfactant changed the autoacceleration process and final conversion. The behavior was explained as a result of the differences in the interfacial properties. Anionic cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) gave rise to a more flexible interfacial film than anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), resulting in competition between the intramolecular and intermolecular reactions in the former systems. As cyclization did not contribute to the increase in the degree of crosslinking, SDS photopolymerization gave solids with a more rigid microstructure. Fluorescence methodology was applied to monitor bicontinuous microemulsion polymerization and to reveal the microstructure and morphology development during photopolymerization. The microemulsion composition was designed to prepare nanoporous, crosslinked materials. Even though the nanostructure of the precursor microemulsions was not retained because of phase separation during polymerization, mesoporous solids were obtained. Their morphologies depended on the nature of the surfactant, and membranes with open cells were successfully prepared with CTAB, whereas more complex morphologies resulted with SDS. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 5291–5303, 2006     

Effect of reaction conditions on the molecular weight and polydispersity of linear poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s prepared from an AB monomer

A thorough study of the polymerization behavior of 4‐fluoro‐4′‐hydroxytriphenyl‐phosphine oxide, 2 , under nucleophilic aromatic substitution reactions has been carried out. The synthesis of 2 was achieved in excellent yields by the reaction of bis(4‐fluorophenyl)phenylphosphine oxide, 1 , with one equivalent of potassium hydroxide in DMSO/water. The structure and purity of 2 were confirmed via ¹H, ¹³C, and ³¹P NMR spectroscopy along with elemental analysis. Polymerization reactions of 2 in NMP or DMSO at 180 °C provided the corresponding linear poly(arylene ether phosphine oxide)s, PAEPOs, with number average molecular weights, M_n, ranging from 11,700 to 36,500 Da. All of the polymer samples were completely soluble in chloroform, tetrahydrofuran, DMSO, NMP, and DMAc. The polymerization reactions were accompanied by a competing intramolecular process that resulted in the formation of cyclic oligomeric species that were removed via a final precipitation from methanol. Analysis using ³¹P NMR spectroscopy and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) confirmed that the majority of the lower molecular weight cyclic species were removed via this process. The polymer samples formed tough films when chloroform solutions were slowly evaporated on a glass slide. The PAEPO samples prepared in this study exhibited excellent thermal stability with T_d (5%) values between 503 and 542 in air while the glass transition temperatures ranged from 223 to 237 °C. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2099–2106, 2006