Contractive projections and operator spaces

Parallel to the study of finite-dimensional Banach spaces, there is a growing interest in the corresponding local theory of operator spaces. We define a family of Hilbertian operator spaces , , generalizing the row and column Hilbert spaces and , and we show that an atomic subspace that is the range of a contractive projection on is isometrically completely contractive to an -sum of the and Cartan factors of types 1 to 4. In particular, for finite-dimensional , this answers a question posed by Oikhberg and Rosenthal. Explicit in the proof is a classification up to complete isometry of atomic w-closed -triples without an infinite-dimensional rank 1 w-closed ideal.

     

Modal decomposition method for modeling the interaction of Lamb waves with cracks

The interaction of the low-order antisymmetric (a0) and symmetric (s0) Lamb waves with vertical cracks in aluminum plates is studied. Two types of slots are considered: (a) internal crack symmetrical with respect to the middle plane of the plate and (b) opening crack. The modal decomposition method is used to predict the reflection and transmission coefficients and also the through-thickness displacement fields on both sides of slots of various heights. The model assumes strip plates and cracks, thus considering two-dimensional plane strain conditions. However, mode conversion (a0 into s0 and vice versa) that occurs for single opening cracks is considered. The energy balance is always calculated from the reflection and transmission coefficients, in order to check the validity of the results. These coefficients together with the through-thickness displacement fields are also compared to those predicted using a finite element code widely used in the past for modeling Lamb mode diffraction problems. Experiments are also made for measuring the reflection and transmission coefficients for incident a0 or s0 lamb modes on opening cracks, and compared to the numerical predictions.     

Lower bounds on the cluster size distribution

We rigorously prove that the probabilityP _n that the origin of ad-dimensional lattice belongs to a cluster of exactlyn sites satisfiesP _n > exp(–n ^(d–1)/d ) whenever percolation occurs. This holds for the usual (noninteracting) percolation models for any concentrationp > p _c , as well as for the equilibrium states of lattice spin systems with quite general interactions. Such a lower bound applies also if no percolation occurs, but if it appears in some other phase of the system.     

Linear spin-zero quantum fields in external gravitational and scalar fields

The quantum theory of both linear, and interacting fields on curved space-times is discussed. It is argued that generic curved space-time situations force the adoption of the algebraic approach to quantum field theory: and a suitable formalism is presented for handling an arbitrary quasi-free state in an arbitrary globally hyperbolic space-time.For the interacting case, these quasi-free states are taken as suitable starting points, in terms of which expectation values of field operator products may be calculated to arbitrary order in perturbation theory. The formal treatment of interacting fields in perturbation theory is reduced to a treatment of free quantum fields interacting with external sources.Central to the approach is the so-called two-current operator, which characterises the effect of external sources in terms of purely algebraic (i.e. representation free) properties of the source-free theory.The paper ends with a set of Feynman rules which seems particularly appropriate to curved space-times in that it takes care of those aspects of the problem which are specific to curved space-times (and independent of interaction). Heuristically, the scheme calculates in-in rather than in-out matrix elements. Renormalization problems are discussed but not treated.Work partly supported by the Schweizerische Nationalfonds     

Disentangling the Information in Species Interaction Networks

Shannon’s entropy measure is a popular means for quantifying ecological diversity. We explore how one can use information-theoretic measures (that are often called indices in ecology) on joint ensembles to study the diversity of species interaction networks. We leverage the little-known balance equation to decompose the network information into three components describing the species abundance, specificity, and redundancy. This balance reveals that there exists a fundamental trade-off between these components. The decomposition can be straightforwardly extended to analyse networks through time as well as space, leading to the corresponding notions for alpha, beta, and gamma diversity. Our work aims to provide an accessible introduction for ecologists. To this end, we illustrate the interpretation of the components on numerous real networks. The corresponding code is made available to the community in the specialised Julia package EcologicalNetworks.jl.     

Numerical solutions of the orbital equations for diatomic molecules

A basis of Hermite splines is used in conjunction with the collocation method to solve the orbital equations for diatomic molecules. Accurate solutions of the Hartree-Fock equations are obtained using iterative methods over most regions of space, while solving the equations by Gaussian elimination near the nuclear centres. In order to improve the speed and accuracy of our iterative scheme, a new self-adjoint form of the Hartree-Fock equation is derived. Using this new equation, our iterative subroutines solve the Hartree-Fock equations to one part in 10⁶. The Gaussian elimination routines are accurate to better than one part in 10⁸.     

X-ray study of the reentrant modulated phase of Bis-Propylammonium Tetrachlorocuprate(II) at high temperature

The modulated phase of (C₃H₇NH₃)CuCl₄ stable between 386 and 412 K has been analyzed by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The structure was solved in the frame of the superspace group approach. The modulation is characterized by a wavelike displacement of the CuCl₄ layer.     

Cyclic reduction and FACR methods for piecewise hermite bicubic orthogonal spline collocation

Cyclic reduction and Fourier analysis-cyclic reduction (FACR) methods are presented for the solution of the linear systems which arise when orthogonal spline collocation with piecewise Hermite bicubics is applied to boundary value problems for certain separable partial differential equations on a rectangle. On anN×N uniform partition, the cyclic reduction and Fourier analysis-cyclic reduction methods requireO(N ²log₂ N) andO(N ²log₂log₂ N) arithmetic operations, respectively.     

The Dunford-Pettis Property for some Function Algebras in Several Complex Variables

The Dunford-Pettis property is shown to hold for the uniformalgebra A() and its dual for some standard domains , includingstrongly pseudoconvex bounded domains in Cⁿ, pseudoconvex boundeddomains of finite type in C², and bounded domains in C. Previouslythe result was known for the unit ball and unit polydisc inCⁿ. Techniques used involve Bourgain algebras, Hankel operators,properties of the Bergman kernel, quasi-metrics on the boundary,and -theory.