Single Quality Factor for Enthalpy-Entropy Compensation,Isoequilibrium and Isokinetic Relationships

Enthalpy-entropy compensation (EEC) is very often encountered in chemistry, biology and physics. Its origin is widely discussed since it would allow, for example, a very accurate tuning of the thermodynamic properties as a function of the reactants. However, EEC is often discarded as a statistical artefact, especially when only a limited temperature range is considered. We show that the likeliness of a statistical origin of an EEC can be established with a compensation quality factor (CQF) that depends only on the measured enthalpies and entropies and the experimental temperature range. This is directly derived from a comparison of the CQF with threshold values obtained from a large number of simulations with randomly generated Van ‘t Hoff plots. The value of CQF is furthermore a direct measure of the existence of a genuine isoequilibrium or isokinetic relationship.     

Quark loop model of vector meson mixing and radiative meson decays

We consider the one quark loop contributions to ω-φ mixing and radiative meson decays. With three triplets of colored quarks, we obtain a number of relations (some old and some new) which are in excellent accord with experiment.     

Largeness of the set of finite products in a semigroup

We investigate when the set of finite products of distinct terms of a sequence 〈x _n 〉 _n=1^∞ in a semigroup (S,⋅) is large in any of several standard notions of largeness. These include piecewise syndetic, central, syndetic, central*, and IP*. In the case of a “nice” sequence in (S,⋅)=(ℕ,+) one has that FS(〈x _n 〉 _n=1^∞) has any or all of the first three properties if and only if {x _n+1−∑ _t=1 ⁿ x _t :n∈ℕ} is bounded from above. N. Hindman acknowledges support received from the National Science Foundation via Grant DMS-0554803.     

Flashlamp-pumped laser performance of LiCaAIF6:Cr3+

The results of flashlamp pumping of the LiCaAIF₆:Cr³⁺ (Cr:LiCAF) laser crystal are reported. We have so far obtained slope efficiencies as high as 1.55% in a close-coupled, diffusely reflecting cavity. Based on the measured insertion loss of the presently available material, we predict that an efficiency of about 4% will be obtained when low-loss material becomes available. This extrapolated efficiency is comparable with the performance of a high-quality alexandrite laser rod in the same apparatus.     

Mechanical properties of titania nanofiber mats fabricated by electrospinning of sol–gel precursor

Flexible mats of titania fibers are prepared by calcination of electrospun polyvinylpyrrolidone fibers containing titanium isopropoxide precursor. Structural investigation of the calcinated nanofibers by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron diffraction (ED) combined with the morphologies by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show the titania fibers, with an average diameter of 180 nm, were comprised of anatase and rutile crystals. The mechanical, chemical and thermal properties of the titania fiber mats are further investigated by the techniques of Instron mechanical tester, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The titania fiber mat prepared in this method exhibited a significant flexibility with 461 MPa Young’s modulus.     

Mechanical and optical characterization of an anelastic polymer at large strain rates and large strains

Two constitutive relations have been determined from test results that characterize, respectively, the uniaxial and photomechanical behavior of a polyester-styrene copolymer for strain rates from 10^?5 to 3×10³ in./in./s and strains up to 40 percent. The high-strain-rate data were obtained by means of a split-Hopkinson-bar apparatus. Intermediate-strain-rate tests, performed with the aid of a drop tower, were reported in an earlier paper. Quasi-static experiments were conducted on a standard testing machine. A nonlinear, four-parameter, elastic-viscoplastic model was constructed which describes the mechanical behavior. The parameters were determined by a least-mean-squares curve-fitting procedure. The viscoplastic parameters were found to obey a power law in strain rate. The photomechanical model was found to be linear with strain well into the plastic-deformation region, while the slope of the strain-birefringence curve for each strain rate also varied by strain rate to a power.