Obituary Gilbert Grynberg (1948-2003)

We mourn the death of Professor Dr. Gilbert Grynberg, April 17, 1948 - January 27, 2003. We have lost an excellent and highly esteemed scientist, an outstanding character and a good friend. He has been a very active colleague in the merger of Zeitschrift für Physik and Journal de Physique in the early days. As one of the Co-Editors-in-Chief of The European Physical Journal D, from its start, he has formed the scienti.c standards of EPJ. Untiringly he has served our Journal with greatest dedication. We are grateful that he has been with us. The editorial board and o.ce of EPJ B Siegfried Grossmann, Denis Jérome, Antonio Paoletti     

Volcanic monitoring for radon and chemical species in the soil and in spring water samples

Soil radon has been monitored at two fixed stations in the northern flank of Popocatepetl Volcano, a high risk volcano located 60 km SE from Mexico City. Water samples from three springs were also studied for radon as well as major and trace elements. Radon in the soil was recorded using track detectors. Radon in the water samples was evaluated using the liquid scintillation method and an Alphaguard. The major elements were determined through conventional chemical methods and trace elements using an ICP-MS equipment. Soil radon levels were low, indicating a moderate diffuse degassing through the flanks of the volcano. Groundwater radon had almost no relation with the eruptive stages. Water chemistry was stable in the reported time (2000–2002).     

Phase formation and control of morphology in sputtered Cu-In alloy layers

The dependence of structural properties and surface morphology of Cu-In alloy layers on the composition and sputtering deposition sequence were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The properties of the co-sputtered alloy layers changed abruptly around the composition boundary when the Cu/In ratio reached 1/2. This can be explained by the effective heat of formation (EHF) model, which has been used to predict the sequence of phase formation for metal diffusion couples. The use of a co-sputtered alloy layer with a high In concentration was not suitable for fabricating solar cells, because the film had a very rough morphology due to large In islands formed on the CuIn₂ phase. However, it was possible to minimize this phase by In sputtering followed by co-sputtering with a Cu/In ratio of 1 (Cu-In/In/Glass). This permitted the fabrication of a homogeneous Cu-In alloy layer, which was not possible through the simple co-sputtering.     

On zeta-functions associated to certain cusp forms. I

In the paper the asymptotics for Dirichlet polynomials associated to certain cusp forms are obtained. Partially supported by Lithuanian Foundation of Studies and Science     

Differential Operator Rings for Which Homogeneous Functions are Linear

Let ε be the collection of those rings S such that, for every S-module V and every homogeneous function ?. V → V, ?(sv) = s?(v), s ∈ S, v ∈ V, ? is linear on V. In this paper we characterize those Stanley-Reisner rings, R, such that D(R) is in ε.     

Viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene interpenetrating polymer networks

The effects of the blend ratio and initiating system on the viscoelastic properties of nanostructured natural rubber/polystyrene‐based interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) were investigated in the temperature range of ?80 to 150 °C. The studies were carried out at different frequencies (100, 50, 10, 1, and 0.1 Hz), and their effects on the damping and storage and loss moduli were analyzed. In all cases, tan δ and the storage and loss moduli showed two distinct transitions corresponding to natural rubber and polystyrene phases, which indicated that the system was not miscible on the molecular level. However, a slight inward shift was observed in the IPNs, with respect to the glass‐transition temperatures (T_g's) of the virgin polymers, showing a certain degree of miscibility or intermixing between the two phases. When the frequency increased from 0.1 to 100 Hz, the T_g values showed a positive shift in all cases. In a comparison of the three initiating systems (dicumyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, and azobisisobutyronitrile), the dicumyl peroxide system showed the highest modulus. The morphology of the IPNs was analyzed with transmission electron microscopy. The micrographs indicated that the system was nanostructured. An attempt was made to relate the viscoelastic behavior to the morphology of the IPNs. Various models, such as the series, parallel, Halpin–Tsai, Kerner, Coran, Takayanagi, and Davies models, were used to model the viscoelastic data. The area under the linear loss modulus curve was larger than that obtained by group contribution analysis; this showed that the damping was influenced by the phase morphology, dual‐phase continuity, and crosslinking of the phases. Finally, the homogeneity of the system was further evaluated with Cole–Cole analysis. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1680–1696, 2003     

Epoxy based coatings on glass: strengthening mechanisms

Glass may be strengthened by epoxy coatings although the strengthening mechanisms remain unclear. Possible strengthening mechanisms are reviewed and are used to analyse strength data for both a solvent based and a water based coating system. The coatings either fill (solvent based coatings), or partially fill (water based coatings) surface cracks and it is shown that closure stresses arising from the thermal expansion mismatch of the coating within these cracks can account for the observed degrees of strengthening. It is also demonstrated that other suggested mechanisms such as flaw healing cannot fully account for the observed degree of strengthening.