Little-Preemptive Scheduling on Unrelated Processors

We consider the preemptive scheduling of n independent jobs on m unrelated machines to minimize the makespan. Preemptive schedules with at most 2m–3 preemptions are built, which are optimal when the maximal job processing time is no more than the optimal schedule makespan. We further restrict the maximal job processing time and obtain optimal schedules with at most m–1 preemptions. This is better than the earlier known best bound of 4m ²–5m+2 on the total number of preemptions. Without the restriction on the maximal job processing time, our (2m–3)-preemptive schedules have a makespan which is no more than either of the following two magnitudes: (a) the maximum between the longest job processing time and the optimal preemptive makespan, and (b) the optimal nonpreemptive makespan. Our (m–1)-preemptive schedules might be at most twice worse than an optimal one.     

Upper semicontinuity of automorphism groups

The second author was partially supported by NSF#DMS-9101826     

Crystal Structures of Hydrazinium(II) Salts of [SbF6]– and [Sb2F11]–

N₂H₆(Sb₂F₁₁)₂ was synthesized by the reaction of N₂H₆F₂ with excess of SbF₅ in anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (aHF). It crystallizes in the triclinic space group P$\bar{1}$ (No. 2) with a = 6.6467(3) Å, b = 8.3039(4) Å, c = 8.3600(5) Å, α = 76.394(5) ^o, β = 70.161(5) ^o, γ = 70.797(5) ^o, V = 405.90(4) ų at 150 K, Z = 2. When it is redissolved in aHF, it solvolysis with the release of SbF₅ yielding N₂H₆(SbF₆)₂ which crystallizes in the monoclinic C2/c space group (No. 15) with a = 7.3805(3) Å, b = 12.3248(5) Å, c = 10.4992(4) Å, β = 92.218(4) ^o, V = 954.33(7) ų at 150 K, and Z = 8. No other phases were observed in crystallization products when different molar ratios of N₂H₆F₂/SbF₅ (1:1,2:3,1:3) in aHF were used as starting materials.     

Non-Pincer-Type Manganese Complexes as Efficient Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of Esters

Catalytic hydrogenation of carboxylic acid esters is essential for the green production of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, and fine chemicals. Herein, we report the efficient hydrogenation of esters with manganese catalysts based on simple bidentate aminophosphine ligands. Monoligated Mn PN complexes are particularly active for the conversion of esters into the corresponding alcohols at Mn concentrations as low as 0.2 mol % in the presence of sub-stoichiometric amounts of KO^tBu base.     

Uniqueness in potential scattering with reduced data

We consider inverse potential scattering problems where the source of the incident waves is located on a smooth closed surface outside of the inhomogeneity of the media. The scattered waves are measured on the same surface at a fixed value of the energy. We show that these data determine the bounded potential uniquely.     

Vertices of FFLV polytopes

FFLV polytopes describe monomial bases in irreducible representations of \(\mathfrak {sl}_n\) and \(\mathfrak {sp}_{2n}\). We study various sets of vertices of FFLV polytopes. First, we consider the special linear case. We prove the locality of the set of vertices with respect to the type A Dynkin diagram. Then we describe all the permutation vertices and after that we describe all the simple vertices and prove that their number is equal to the large Schröder number. Finally, we derive analogous results for symplectic Lie algebras.     

Understanding the Anomalous Alkane Selectivity of ZIF-7 in the Separation of Light Alkane/Alkene Mixtures

C2 and C3 alkanes are selectively adsorbed from mixtures over the corresponding alkenes on the zeolite imidazolate framework ZIF-7 through a gate-opening mechanism. As a result, the direct production of the pure alkene upon adsorption and the pure alkane upon desorption in packed columns is possible. Herein, a detailed investigation of the step-wise adsorption and separation of alkanes and alkenes is presented, together with a rigorous performance assessment. A molecular picture of the gate-opening mechanism underlying the unprecedented selectivity towards alkane adsorption is proposed based on DFT calculations and a thermodynamic analysis of the adsorption-desorption isotherms.