Positrons in metals with voids,vacancies and surfaces

The behaviour of positrons near monovacancies and voids in a metal is discussed in terms of three contributions to the positron work function for the metal, namely the positron zero-point energy, the positron-electron correlation energy and the surface dipole barrier. The image potential when a positron comes near to a metal surface leads to a deep potential ‘trough’ just outside an exterior metal surface or just inside a void surface. Calculations indicate positron bound states localized at metal surfaces for most metals which should be manifested in a long lived positron lifetime component. The behaviour of positronium near metal surfaces is also discussed.     

Behavior of thin films of poly(oxyethylene)-poly(oxybutylene) copolymers studied by brewster angle microscopy and atomic force microscopy

Surface films of two copolymers of ethylene oxide (E) and butylene oxide (B), namely E23B8 and E87B18, have been examined by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Isotherms taken on unsupported films of these copolymers at the air-water interface showed a clear gas to liquid phase transition for E57B18 and a barely discernible phase transition for E23B8. The BAM studies showed a gradual brightening of the films as the surface pressure was increased, which was associated with a film thickening and/or a film densification. Several bright spots were also observed within the films, with the number of spots increasing gradually as the film surface pressure was increased. AFM studies of these films did not show any localized ordering, which fits in with the results from our previous X-ray study of these copolymers [Hodges, C. S.; Neville, F.; Konovalov, O.; Gidalevitz, D.; Hamley, I. W.; Langmuir 2006, 22 (21), 8821-8825], where no long-range ordering was observed. AFM imaging showed two sizes of particulates that were irregularly spaced across the film. The larger particulates were associated with silica contaminants from the copolymer synthesis, whereas the smaller particulates were assumed to be aggregated copolymer. An analysis of the semidilute region of the isotherm showed that while both copolymers had intermixed ethylene oxide and butylene oxide units, the lower molecular weight E23B8 copolymer manifested significantly more intermixing than E87B18.     

Mechanical properties of anodized coatings over molten aluminum alloy

A method to measure interfacial mechanical properties at high temperatures and in a controlled atmosphere has been developed to study anodized aluminum surface coatings at temperatures where the interior aluminum alloy is molten. This is the first time that the coating strength has been studied under these conditions. We have investigated the effects of ambient atmosphere, temperature, and surface finish on coating strength for samples of aluminum alloy 7075. Surprisingly, the effective Young's modulus or strength of the coating when tested in air was twice as high as when samples were tested in an inert nitrogen or argon atmosphere. Additionally, the effective Young's modulus of the anodized coating increased with temperature in an air atmosphere but was independent of temperature in an inert atmosphere. The effect of surface finish was also examined. Sandblasting the surface prior to anodization was found to increase the strength of the anodized coating with the greatest enhancement noted for a nitrogen atmosphere. Machining marks were not found to significantly affect the strength.     

Fidelity enhancement by logical qubit encoding

We demonstrate coherent control of two logical qubits encoded in a decoherence free subspace (DFS) of four dipolar-coupled protons in an NMR quantum information processor. A pseudopure fiducial state is created in the DFS, and a unitary logical qubit entangling operator evolves the system to a logical Bell state. The four-spin molecule is partially aligned by a liquid crystal solvent, which introduces strong dipolar couplings among the spins. Although the system Hamiltonian is never fully specified, we demonstrate high fidelity control over the logical degrees of freedom. In fact, the DFS encoding leads to higher fidelity control than is available in the full four-spin Hilbert space.     

Sequential Anion and Cation Exchange Reactions for Complete Material Transformations of Nanoparticles with Morphological Retention

Ion exchange reactions of colloidal nanocrystals provide access to complex products that are synthetically challenging using traditional hot‐injection methods. However, such reactions typically achieve only partial material transformations by employing either cation or anion exchange processes. It is now shown that anion and cation exchange reactions can be coupled together and applied sequentially in one integrated pathway that leads to complete material transformations of nanocrystal templates. Although the product nanocrystals do not contain any of the original constituent elements, the original morphology is retained, thereby fully decoupling morphology and composition control. The sequential anion/cation exchange process was applied to pseudo‐spherical CdO nanocrystals and ZnO tetrapods, producing fully transformed and shape‐controlled nanocrystals of copper and silver sulfides and selenides. Furthermore, hollow core–shell tetrapod ZnS@CdS heterostructures were readily accessible.     

Frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectroscopy measurements of carbon dioxide isotopic ratios

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) isotopic ratios on samples of pure CO₂ were measured in the 1.6 μm wavelength region using the frequency-stabilized cavity ring-down spectroscopy (FS-CRDS) technique. We present CO₂ absorption spectra with peak signal-to-noise ratios as high as 28,000:1. Measured single-spectrum signal-to-noise ratios were as high as 8900:1, 10,000:1, and 1700:1 for ¹³C/¹²C, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, and ¹⁷O/¹⁶O, respectively. In addition, we demonstrate the importance of utilizing the Galatry line profile in the spectrum analysis. The use of the Voigt line profile, which neglects the observed collisional narrowing, leads to large systematic errors which are transition-dependent and vary with temperature and pressure. While the relatively low intensities of CO₂ transitions near λ=1.6 μm make this spectral region non-optimal, the sensitivity and stability of FS-CRDS enabled measurement precision of pure CO₂ samples which are comparable to those of other optical techniques which operate at far more propitious wavelengths. These results indicate that a FS-CRDS spectrometer designed to probe CO₂ bands near wavelengths of 2.0 μm or 4.3 μm could achieve significantly improved precision over the present instrument and likely be competitive with mass spectrometric methods.     

Nonlinear aeroelasticity of high-aspect-ratio wings excited by time-dependent thrust

Effects of engine placement on flutter characteristics of a very flexible high-aspect-ratio wing are investigated using the code NATASHA (Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim And Stability of HALE Aircraft). Gravity for this class of wings plays an important role in flutter characteristics. In the absence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces and without an engine, the kinetic energy of the first two modes are calculated. Maximum and minimum flutter speed locations coincide with the area of minimum and maximum kinetic energy of the second bending and torsion modes. Time-dependent dynamic behavior of a turboshaft engine (JetCat SP5) is simulated with a transient engine model and the nonlinear aeroelastic response of the wing to the engine’s time-dependent thrust and dynamic excitation is presented. Below the flutter speed, at the wing tip and behind the elastic axis, the impulse engine excitation leads to a stable limit cycle oscillation; and for the ramp kind of excitation, beyond the flutter speed, at 75 % span, behind the elastic axis, it produces chaotic oscillation in the wing. Both the excitations above the flutter speed are stabilized, inboard of the wing.     

Structured Markov Chain Monte Carlo

Abstract

This article introduces a general method for Bayesian computing in richly parameterized models, structured Markov chain Monte Carlo (SMCMC), that is based on a blocked hybrid of the Gibbs sampling and Metropolis—Hastings algorithms. SMCMC speeds algorithm convergence by using the structure that is present in the problem to suggest an appropriate Metropolis—Hastings candidate distribution. Although the approach is easiest to describe for hierarchical normal linear models, we show that its extension to both nonnormal and nonlinear cases is straightforward. After describing the method in detail we compare its performance (in terms of run time and autocorrelation in the samples) to other existing methods, including the single-site updating Gibbs sampler available in the popular BUGS software package. Our results suggest significant improvements in convergence for many problems using SMCMC, as well as broad applicability of the method, including previously intractable hierarchical nonlinear model settings.