Optimization and characterization of a sulfate based electrodeposition method for alpha-spectrometry of neptunium and curium

The parameters for a sulfate based electrodeposition method were optimized for the preparation of Cm and Np alpha-spectrometry sources. Alpha-spectrometry requires the preparation of essentially massless sources to eliminate self-absorption of alpha-particles, which can cause degraded alpha-spectra. A variety of methods for the electrodeposition of actinides have been reported in the literature, many of which require long deposition times and lack reproducibility. A previously reported sulfate based method has been evaluated for the preparation of Np and Cm sources. High yields were achieved and source preparation took 90 minutes or less. The effects of electrodeposition time and pH of the depositing solution were evaluated for each element. Typical resolution (FWHM) for sources prepared by this method is 50 keV or less with recoveries approaching 100%.     

Blow up,decay bounds and continuous dependence inequalities for a class of quasilinear parabolic problems

This paper deals with a class of semilinear parabolic problems. In particular, we establish conditions on the data sufficient to guarantee blow up of solution at some finite time, as well as conditions which will insure that the solution exists for all time with exponential decay of the solution and its spatial derivatives. In the case of global existence, we also investigate the continuous dependence of the solution with respect to some data of the problem. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An FDTD method for the simulation of dispersive metallic structures

In this paper, we present a formulation of the finite-difference time-domain method for the simulation of metallic structures. The frequency dependent dielectric function of metals is approximated by a combined Drude–Lorentzian multi-pole expansion and fitting errors of only a few percent are obtained. An auxiliary differential equation technique is used to extend the standard FDTD algorithm with the dispersive material equations. The algorithm is validated by calculating reflection and transmission coefficients for thin metal layers, elliptical nano-particles and by simulating a surface plasmon resonance device. Excellent agreement between the FDTD simulations and exact theoretical results are obtained.     

On closed boundary value problems for equations of mixed elliptic‐hyperbolic type

For partial differential equations of mixed elliptic‐hyperbolic type we prove results on existence and existence with uniqueness of weak solutions for closed boundary value problems of Dirichlet and mixed Dirichlet‐conormal types. Such problems are of interest for applications to transonic flow and are overdetermined for solutions with classical regularity. The method employed consists in variants of the a ? b ? c integral method of Friedrichs in Sobolev spaces with suitable weights. Particular attention is paid to the problem of attaining results with a minimum of restrictions on the boundary geometry and the form of the type change function. In addition, interior regularity results are also given in the important special case of the Tricomi equation. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Finite element analysis of incompressible laminar boundary layer flows

A numerical procedure was developed to solve the two-dimensional and axisymmetric incompressible laminar boundary layer equations using the semi-discrete Galerkin finite element method. Linear Lagrangian, quadratic Lagrangian, and cubic Hermite interpolating polynomials were used for the finite element discretization; the first-order, the second-order backward difference approximation, and the Crank-Nicolson method were used for the system of non-linear ordinary differential equations; the Picard iteration and the Newton-Raphson technique were used to solve the resulting non-linear algebraic system of equations. Conservation of mass is treated as a constraint condition in the procedure; hence, it is integrated numerically along the solution line while marching along the time-like co-ordinate. Among the numerical schemes tested, the Picard iteration technique used with the quadratic Lagrangian polynomials and the second-order backward difference approximation case turned out to be the most efficient to achieve the same accuracy. The advantages of the method developed lie in its coarse grid accuracy, global computational efficiency, and wide applicability to most situations that may arise in incompressible laminar boundary layer flows.     

Asymptotic analysis of differential-delay equations and nonuniqueness of periodic solutions

We study the differential-delay equation x′(t) = ?αf(x(t–1)), where α is a positive parameter and f is an odd function which decays like x^?r at infinity. In particular, we consider the case r ? 2, and prove the existence of periodic solutions with special symmetries which are different from previously known periodic solutions of minimal period 4. For r = 2 we prove sharp asymptotic estimates for the minimal periods of these solutions. Our results disprove a conjecture of R. D. Nussbaum.     

Qualitative properties of the boundary derivative of the capacity potential for special classes of annular domains

Let U(p) denote the capacity potential in an annular domain Ω (bounded by Jordan curves). We describe the qualitative behavior of ∥Δ∥ on the line segments of ?Ω which are arbitrary, radial, or ν-directional (for some vector ν ≠ 0) in the respective cases where Ω is a convex, starlike, or ≠-convex annular domain. We apply these results to some free-boundary extremal problems in which the capacity plus weighted area functional is minimized in restricted classes of annular domains Ω.