Invariant ideals of twisted crossed products

We will prove a result concerning the inclusion of non-trivial invariant ideals inside non-trivial ideals of a twisted crossed product. We will also give results concerning the primeness and simplicity of crossed products of twisted actions of locally compact groups on -algebras. Received: 25 January 2002; in final form: 22 May 2002/Published online: 2 December 2002 This work is partially supported by Hong Kong RGC Direct Grant.     

Influence of the sample orientation in Sn<Subscript>2</Subscript>P<Subscript>2</Subscript>S<Subscript>6</Subscript> crystals on the hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficients

The influence of the sample orientation on the effective value of the hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficients d _h ⁽ⁱ⁾ of Sn₂P₂S₆ crystals has been studied. The hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficients d _h ⁽¹⁾ and d′ _h ⁽³⁾ , were measured, d _h ⁽¹⁾ =(244±3) pC/N and d′ _h ⁽³⁾ =(92±1) pC/N. The hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient d _h ⁽³⁾ for orthogonal axis system was calculated to be d _h ⁽³⁾ =(87±2) pC/N. The, optimal orientation of the sample has been found as (Xy l)−20°-cut. Maximal value of the effective hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient d _h ⁽¹⁾ equals 260 pC/N. Double rotated samples were also studied. The orientation of the samples insensitive to the pressure has been found. The theoretical mean value of hydrostatic piezoelectric coefficient (d _h ) _mean corresponding to randomly oriented Sn₂P₂S₆ grains in a poled composite has been calculated to be (d _h ) _mean =136 pC/N.     

Homology of Lagrangian submanifolds in cotangent bundles

In this paper we find homological restrictions on Lagrangians in cotangent bundles of spheres and Lens spaces. This research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grand No. 205/02).     

Multi-Item Scheduling by Benders' Decomposition

Scheduling the production of several items requires the determination of production quantities in different periods in the presence of resource constraints. Several approximate and heuristic algorithms have been proposed to solve this problem. However, no method for finding an optimal solution has as yet been developed. It is shown that the problem may be solved advantageously using Benders' decomposition. The subproblem in Benders' decomposition is shown to be a transportation problem, and some strategies for solving the master problem are indicated. The paper concludes with a sample problem demonstrating the application of the method.     

On the group extension of the transformation associated to non-archimedean continued fractions

Summary Let F_q be a finite field with q elements. We consider formal Laurent series of F_q -coefficients with their continued fraction expansions by F_q -polynomials. We prove some arithmetic properties for almost every formal Laurent series with respect to the Haar measure. We construct a group extension of the non-archimedean continued fraction transformation and show its ergodicity. Then we get some results as an application of the individual ergodic theorem. We also discuss the convergence rate for limit behaviors.     

Neon scattering off Sodium clusters at finite temperatures

We present findings from computer simulations of collisions of neon atomic beams with Na20 atomic clusters at different internal temperatures. A functional form for the double differential cross section is determined, and no simple signature of a phase transition is seen, even though the clusters undergo a melting phase transition in the temperature range investigated (100 K–400 K). However, such experiments can be used effectively to measure the internal cluster temperature.     

Decomposition Methods for Differentiable Optimization Problems over Cartesian Product Sets

This paper presents a unified analysis of decomposition algorithms for continuously differentiable optimization problems defined on Cartesian products of convex feasible sets. The decomposition algorithms are analyzed using the framework of cost approx imation algorithms. A convergence analysis is made for three decomposition algorithms: a sequential algorithm which extends the classical Gauss-Seidel scheme, a synchronized parallel algorithm which extends the Jacobi method, and a partially asynchronous parallel algorithm. The analysis validates inexact computations in both the subproblem and line search phases, and includes convergence rate results. The range of feasible step lengths within each algorithm is shown to have a direct correspondence to the increasing degree of parallelism and asynchronism, and the resulting usage of more outdated information in the algorithms.     

Partial structure elucidation of the most abundant octa and nonachlorotoxaphene congeners in marine mammals by using conventional electron ionization mass spectrometry and mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry

Summary Conventional electron ionization (EI) mass spectrometry (MS) and MS/MS techniques were applied to the analysis of two abundant octa and nonachlorobornanes isolated from seals of the Baltic sea and originating from technical toxaphene. The exact sterical structures of the two compounds were previously determined using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy by two independent research groups. The MS and MS/MS data generated in this study allowed partial structure elucidation of these polychlorobornanes, in particular revealing the distribution of the Cl substituents between the six-membered carbon ring, the bridge and the bridgehead in the parent bornane structure. Fragmentation of the six-membered carbon ring and the bridge by retro-Diels-Alder (RDA) and related mechanisms was discovered by studying specific parent/daughter ion transitions. The detailed fragmentation pathways formulated may be applicable to the structure elucidation of other toxaphene congeners and the monitoring of strategic transitions is highly selective for the detection of these compounds in technical toxaphene and in environmental samples.     

Vector potential theory on nonsmooth domains in R<Superscript>3</Superscript> and applications to electromagnetic scattering

We study boundary value problems for the time-harmonic form of the Maxwell equations, as well as for other related systems of equations, on arbitrary Lipschitz domains in the three-dimensional Euclidean space. The main goal is to develop the corresponding theory for L^p-integrable bounday data for optimal values of p's. We also discuss a number of relevant applications in electromagnetic scattering.