On the Second Law of Thermodynamics and the Piston Problem

The piston problem is investigated in the case where the length of the cylinder is infinite (on both sides) and the ratio m/M is a very small parameter, where m is the mass of one particle of the gaz and M is the mass of the piston. Introducing initial conditions such that the stochastic motion of the piston remains in the average at the origin (no drift), it is shown that the time evolution of the fluids, analytically derived from Liouville equation in a previous work, agrees with the Second Law of thermodynamics. We thus have a non equilibrium microscopical model whose evolution can be explicitly shown to obey the two laws of thermodynamics.     

Interpretation of the polyelectrolyte and antipolyelectrolyte effects of poly(N‐vinylimidazole‐co‐sodium styrenesulfonate) hydrogels

Hydrogels of N‐vinylimidazole (VI) and sodium styrenesulfonate (SSS) were synthesized in aqueous solution by radical crosslinking copolymerization with N,N′‐methylene‐bis(acrylamide) as crosslinker. Swelling in several saline solutions was measured for hydrogel samples synthesized with different comonomer concentrations (C_T = 10, 25, or 40%) and with SSS mole fractions covering a broad range (f_SSS = 0–0.7), while the crosslinker ratio was 2 wt % in all cases. The degree of swelling in aqueous solution with a specific ionic strength (μ), plotted versus the SSS composition of the feed, shows a minimum for any set of samples synthesized with a fixed C_T. The dependence of swelling on μ shows both polyelectrolyte (f_SSS beyond the minimum) and antipolyelectrolyte behaviors (in the low f_SSS limit). It was found that the nonGaussian factor of the crosslinking density and the polymer‐solvent interaction parameter increase with f_SSS for any C_T. Moreover, in the low f_SSS limit, the osmotic swelling pressure is governed not only by the ionic contribution, but also by the polymer‐solvent mixing and, the concentration of mobile counterions inside the gel is not proportional to the net fixed charge but to the addition of cationic and anionic side groups, what discards the formation of ionic pairs. The antipolyelectrolyte effect is interpreted as due to the increasing protonation of VI as μ goes up. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 1683–1693, 2007     

Corner spontaneous magnetization

Details are given of a new method allowing an exact calculation of the spontaneous magnetization in the corner as well as along the edge at an arbitrary distance of the corner for a rectangular planar Ising ferromagnet.     

Rotational temperature and density measurements in a hypersonic flow by dual-line CARS

Rotational temperature and nitrogen number density are measured in the shock wave/boundary layer interaction region in the vicinity of a two-dimensional compression corner disposed in a low pressure, 55 K, Mach 10 hypersonic air flow. Spatially-resolved data are recorded using a nonlinear optical technique named dual-line coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (DLCARS). Averaged temperature and density profiles are compared with those predicted by a Navier-Stokes solver. Good agreement is found.     

Multiple-scattering-theory analysis of XANES spectra of SO2 adsorbed on Cu(100)

The sulphur K-edge x-ray absorption spectra of SO₂ multilayer and of SO₂ submonolayer adsorbed on Cu(100) are analysed. It is found that the dominant spectral features are of a molecular origin. The results support earlier findings that the SO₂ molecule stands perpendicular to the surface. Use of non-selfconsistent potentials does not lead to a good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment.     

Existence globale pour l'équation de Smoluchowski continue non homogène et comportement asymptotique des solutions

We prove global existence of solutions to the continuous nonhomogeneous Smoluchowski equation for coagulation rates satisfying a more general structure condition than the Galkin–Tupchiev monotony hypothesis considered in (Ph. Laurençot, S. Mischler, Arch. Rational Mech. Anal. 162 (1) (2002) 45–99). The Smoluchowski coagulation rate fulfils this condition as well as some rates which vanish on the diagonal. Under the condition of positivity of the coagulation rate outside of the diagonal we prove that solutions tend to 0 in the large time asymptotic. These results depend on a new estimate from below for the dissipation rate of the L^p-norm, p>1. To cite this article: S. Mischler, M. Rodriguez Ricard, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 336 (2003).     

Front roughening in three-dimensional imbibition

We investigate the structure and dynamics of the interface between two immiscible liquids in a three-dimensional disordered porous medium. We apply a phase-field model that includes explicitly disorder and discuss both spontaneous and forced imbibition. The structure of the interface is dominated by a length scale ξ_× which arises from liquid conservation. We further show that disorder in the capillary and permeability act on different length scales and give rise to different scalings and structures of the interface properties. We conclude with a range of applications.     

Recycling in telomerization of butadiene with D‐xylose: Pd(TPPTS)n‐KF/Al2O3 as an active catalyst

A palladium‐TPPTS catalyst heterogenized on KF/alumina has been shown to be effective and recyclable for the selective formation of monooctadienylxylopyranosides via the telomerization of butadiene with D ‐xylose. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.