Electrochemical characterization and stress corrosion cracking behavior of α-brass in molybdate-containing electrolytes

One of the major challenges in material design is the achievement of reasonable operational efficiency through understanding the factors affecting the material’s performance particularly strength and service lifetime characteristics. In this work, the electrochemical behavior of 72Cu–28Zn α-brass alloy in Na₂MoO₄-containing electrolytes was investigated using potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical frequency modulation techniques complemented with scanning electron microscopy. Also, stress corrosion cracking behavior of the alloy under both open-circuit potential and anodic applied potentials, using the slow strain rate technique, was evaluated. The results drawn from the different techniques are comparable.     

Coulomb forces in the three-body problem with application to direct nuclear reactions

Faddeev equations are considered in the case of three charged particles interacting with both separable nuclear two-body interactions and also including Coulomb forces. Modified Faddeev equations with Coulomb Green's functions are introduced. The three-body amplitudes are given into pure Coulomb and distorted-Coulomb amplitudes. Introducing a decomposition in the angular momentum states, a set of three-body integral equations is obtained. The effect of pure coulomb amplitudes is studied in direct nuclear reactions and found to give a large contribution to the cross sections. The three-body integral equations obtained are applied for direct nuclear reactions. The angular distributions for¹²C(⁶Li,d)¹⁶O,¹⁶O(⁶Li,d)²⁰Ne, and¹²C(⁶Li,α)¹⁴N transfer reactions are calculated as well as for the⁶Li elastic scattering on¹²C. From the good agreement between the theoretically calculated and experimental data, better spectroscopic factors are extracted. The effect of including Coulomb forces in the three-body problem is found to improve the results by about 16.26%.     

The Sample Average Approximation Method Applied to Stochastic Routing Problems: A Computational Study

The sample average approximation (SAA) method is an approach for solving stochastic optimization problems by using Monte Carlo simulation. In this technique the expected objective function of the stochastic problem is approximated by a sample average estimate derived from a random sample. The resulting sample average approximating problem is then solved by deterministic optimization techniques. The process is repeated with different samples to obtain candidate solutions along with statistical estimates of their optimality gaps.We present a detailed computational study of the application of the SAA method to solve three classes of stochastic routing problems. These stochastic problems involve an extremely large number of scenarios and first-stage integer variables. For each of the three problem classes, we use decomposition and branch-and-cut to solve the approximating problem within the SAA scheme. Our computational results indicate that the proposed method is successful in solving problems with up to 2¹⁶⁹⁴ scenarios to within an estimated 1.0% of optimality. Furthermore, a surprising observation is that the number of optimality cuts required to solve the approximating problem to optimality does not significantly increase with the size of the sample. Therefore, the observed computation times needed to find optimal solutions to the approximating problems grow only linearly with the sample size. As a result, we are able to find provably near-optimal solutions to these difficult stochastic programs using only a moderate amount of computation time.     

A Chebotarev Theorem for finite homogeneous extensions of shifts

We derive a Chebotarev Theorem for finite homogeneous extensions of shifts of finite type. These extensions are of the form :X×G/H→X×G/H where (x,gH)=(σx, α(x)gH), for some finite groupG and subgroupH. Given a σ-closed orbit τ, the periods of the -closed orbits covering τ define a partition of the integer |G/H|. The theorem then gives us an asymptotic formula for the number of closed orbits with respect to the various partitions of the integer |G/H|. We apply our theorem to the case of a finite extension and of an automorphism extension of shifts of finite type. We also give a further application to ‘automorphism extensions’ of hyperbolic toral automorphisms. Financially supported by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia     

10-GHz Optical Comb in L-Band Region With Brillouin/Erbium-Doped Fibre Laser

A multiwavelength Brillouin/erbium fibre laser (BEFL) which operates in the long wavelength (L-band) region is demonstrated for potential applications in an L-band wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) communication system. The laser configuration consists of a long erbium-doped fibre to enable L-band amplification where two 3-dB couplers take a portion of the generated BEFL signal and re-inject it into the single mode fibre to seed a cascaded BEFL line in the same direction as the first BEFL line. A stable and strong laser comb of up to five lines with 10-GHz spacing has been obtained with a Brillouin pump (BP) of 9.2 mW and a 980 nm pump of 92 mW. The BEFL has shown a broad tuning range with a tuning characteristic for line #1 which is flat over a range greater than 9.9 nm.     

Polarization-selective grating mirrors used in the generation of radial polarization

Two novel methods to control the polarization of laser radiation are presented. The discrimination between different polarization distributions isperformed with a corrugation grating in the top high-index layer of a multilayer mirror, which couples the undesired polarization into a lossy waveguidemode of the multilayer. The generation of radially polarized radiation in a laser resonator is presented as a practical verification of the principle.This revised version was published online in May 2005. The Article Category was removed.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Efficient terahertz coupling lens based on planar photonic crystals on silicon on insulator

We present a promising coupling device, namely, a terahertz (THz) planar photonic crystal (PhC) lens based on the effective refractive-index contrast between the PhC and the surrounding unpatterned area. Three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain calculations show a 90% power transfer from a 100-microm silicon waveguide to a 10-microm waveguide, and 45% coupling efficiency is confirmed experimentally. These results demonstrate the utility of the PhC lens as an effective approach to coupling into PhC THz circuits.     

The Two-Nucleon Stripping Process with Skyrme Type Potential

Theory of two-nucleon stripping reactions is reconsidered. The nucleon-nucleon interactions are taken as Skyrme type potentials. Differential cross-sections for two-nucleon stripping reactions are calculated using DWBA approximation with different Skyrme type potentials of different parameters. The angular distributions for different two-nucleon stripping reactions (t, p) with incident triton on the different targets of ³¹P, ⁴⁰Ca, ⁹⁶Zr, ¹¹⁸Sn and ²⁰⁶Pb are calculated giving good agreement with the experimental data. Better values are extracted for the spectroscopic factors.     

Effect of layer sliding on the interfacial electronic properties of intercalated silicene/indium selenide van der Waals heterostructure

Methods capable of tuning the properties of van der Waals (vdW) layered materials in a controlled and reversible manner are highly desirable. Interfacial electronic properties of two-dimensional vdW heterostructure consisting of silicene and indium selenide (InSe) have been calculated using density functional theory-based computational code. Furthermore, in order to vary the aforementioned properties, silicene is slid over a InSe layer in the presence of Li intercalation. On intercalation of the heterostructure, the buckling parameter associated with the corrugation of silicene decreases from 0.44 Å to 0.36 Å, whereas the InSe structure remains unaffected. Potential energy scans reveal a significant increase in the sliding energy barrier for the case of intercalated heterostructure as compared with the unintercalated heterostructure. The sliding of the silicene encounters the maximum energy barrier of 0.14 eV. Anisotropic analysis shows the noteworthy differences between calculated in-plane and out-of-plane part of dielectric function. A variation of the planar average charge density difference, dipole charge transfer and dipole moment have been discussed to elucidate the usability spectrum of the heterostructure. The employed approach based on intercalation and layer sliding can be effectively utilized for obtaining next-generation multifunctional devices.     

Generating Multidirectional Variable Hidden Attractors via Newly Commensurate and Incommensurate Non-Equilibrium Fractional-Order Chaotic Systems

This article investigates a non-equilibrium chaotic system in view of commensurate and incommensurate fractional orders and with only one signum function. By varying some values of the fractional-order derivative together with some parameter values of the proposed system, different dynamical behaviors of the system are explored and discussed via several numerical simulations. This system displays complex hidden dynamics such as inversion property, chaotic bursting oscillation, multistabilty, and coexisting attractors. Besides, by means of adapting certain controlled constants, it is shown that this system possesses a three-variable offset boosting system. In conformity with the performed simulations, it also turns out that the resultant hidden attractors can be distributively ordered in a grid of three dimensions, a lattice of two dimensions, a line of one dimension, and even arbitrariness in the phase space. Through considering the Caputo fractional-order operator in all performed simulations, phase portraits in two- and three-dimensional projections, Lyapunov exponents, and the bifurcation diagrams are numerically reported in this work as beneficial exit results.