Improved tabu search algorithm for the handling of route duration constraints in vehicle routing problems with time windows

This note introduces a refinement to a previously proposed tabu search algorithm for vehicle routing problems with time windows. This refinement yields new best known solutions on a set of benchmark instances of the multi-depot, the periodic and the site-dependent vehicle routing problems with time windows.     

Maximin share and minimax envy in fair-division problems

For fair-division or cake-cutting problems with value functions which are normalized positive measures (i.e., the values are probability measures) maximin-share and minimax-envy inequalities are derived for both continuous and discrete measures. The tools used include classical and recent basic convexity results, as well as ad hoc constructions. Examples are given to show that the envy-minimizing criterion is not Pareto optimal, even if the values are mutually absolutely continuous. In the discrete measure case, sufficient conditions are obtained to guarantee the existence of envy-free partitions.     

Insights on some chiral smectic phases

Combining layered positional order as smectic order and chirality can generate complex architectures since twist parallel to the layers is not allowed. This paper will review some new experimental results on different phases resulting from the competition between smectic positional order and twist orientational order. It concerns the TGB_A and the NL^*, that is the liquid line phase as well as the SmQ phase. Chiral effects in the isotropic phase will also be discussed.     

CuPc molecules adsorbed on Au(1 1 0)-(1 × 2): growth morphology and evolution of valence band states

We present the growth morphology, the long-range ordering, and the evolution of the valence band electronic states of ultrathin films of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) deposited on the Au(1 1 0)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface, as a function of the organic molecule coverage. The low energy electron diffraction patterns present a (5 × 3) reconstruction from the early adsorption stages. High-resolution UV photoelectron spectroscopy data show the disappearance of the Au surface states related to the (1 × 2) reconstruction, and the presence of new electronic features related to the molecule-substrate interaction and to the CuPc molecular states. The CuPc highest occupied molecular orbital gradually emerges in the valence band, while the interface electronic states are quenched, upon increasing the coverage.     

Gamow Vectors in Exactly Solvable Models

Through two examples: the Friedrichs model and a particular case of central potential scattering, we illustrate the way of constructing Gamow vectors.     

Variety of LaSrMnO structures induced by growth conditions and laser irradiation

Crystallographic phase transitions in perovskite-like LaSrMnO metallic oxides are studied. The transitions are induced when internal stresses generated during film synthesis (at temperatures between 450 and 730°C) vary (decrease or increase) upon subsequent irradiation by a KrF laser emitting in the UV range. As the synthesis temperature T _s grows, the rhombohedral-to-orthorhombic phase transition occurs at 650–670°C. The resistivity is shown to be either temperature-independent, ρ(T)=const, at T<T _crit, or varies and reaches a maximum, ρ(T)=ρ_max, at the Curie temperature T _c. Optical transmission spectra taken at photon energies ℏω=0.5–2.5 eV exhibit both a high (0.8–0.9) and low (0.1–0.3) transmission coefficient t, depending on the synthesis temperature. As follows from X-ray diffraction data, the laser irradiation causes a phase transition only in LaSrMnO films grown at T _s<650°C. Phases of different size scales appear: the long-range-order orthorhombic matrix and mesoscopic-range-order rhombohedral clusters are observed in the films grown at T _s=450–550°C and the rhombohedral matrix with orthorhombic clusters, in the films grown at T _s=550–650°C.     

Novel acrylic macromonomer with amphiphilic character derived from Triton X‐100: Radical copolymerization with methyl methacrylate and thermal properties

This article explores the synthesis of a novel methacrylic macromonomer with an amphiphilic character derived from poly(ethylene glycol) tert‐octylphenyl ether (MT) and its respective homopolymer. To know their reactivity in radical copolymerization reactions with methyl methacrylate (MMA), a model monomer (MTm) was synthesized to determine the reactivity ratios and compare them with the low molar fractions of copolymers of MT with MMA because they were difficult to isolate. They were r_MTm = 0.97 and r_MMA = 0.95. The compositional diagrams when representing the weight fraction of MT and MTm in the feed and the copolymer suggested that a clear correlation exists between the experimental points of the model monomer MTm and the macromonomer MT ones, suggesting that the length of the side poly(ethylene oxide) chain does not affect the reactivity of the methacrylic double bond in the prepared monomers for this type of polymerization reaction. The reactivity ratios of the copolymers have a tendency for the formation of random or Bernoullian copolymers. The glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the prepared copolymers were determined by differential scanning calorimetry, deviated from the Fox equation, and discussed on the basis of treatments that consider the influence of the monomeric units along the copolymer chains, determining the T_g of the corresponding alternating dyads. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1641–1649, 2003     

Magnetic hysteresis of the magnetoresistance and the critical current density in polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7−δ–Ag superconductors

A systematic study of the magnetic hysteresis in transport properties of polycrystalline YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ–Ag compounds has been made based on two kinds of measurements at 77 K and under applied magnetic fields up to 30 mT: critical current density J_c(B_a) and magnetoresistance R(B_a). The R(B_a) curves show a minimum in their decreasing branch occurring at B=B_min which was found to be both the excitation current I_ex and the maximum applied magnetic field B_am dependent. In addition, for a certain value of B_am>5 mT, we have observed that B_min increases with increasing I_ex and reaches a saturation value. The J_c(B_a) curves show a maximum in decreasing applied magnetic fields occurring at B=B_max. We have also found that B_max increases with increasing B_am and reaches a saturation value. The minimum in the R(B_a) and the maximum in J_c(B_a) curves were found to be related to the trapped flux within the grains. All the experimental results are discussed within the context of the flux dynamics and transport mechanisms in these high-T_c materials.