Curvature vs. Thickness in quantum waveguides

It is known that there is at least one bound state in a curved quantum waveguide provided it is sufficiently thin. In this paper we investigate the critical thickness of two-dimensional waveguides above which the discrete spectrum becomes void. We have found an expression for it in the case of a small bending angle. In the general case, its asymptotic behaviour with respect to the bending angle is shown to be governed by local smoothness properties of the boundary. Uniqueness of the critical thickness is also discussed.Dedicated to the memory of M. Gmitro.One of the authors (P.E.) is grateful for the hospitality extended to him at the University of Toulon and C.N.R.S. Marseille where the most part of this work was done. A partial support by Czechoslovak Grant Agency under Contract No. 14814 is acknowledged.     

Collocation Methods for Weakly Singular Second-kind Volterra Integral Equations with Non-smooth Solution

Collocation type methods are studied for the numerical solutionof the weakly singular Volterra integral equation of the secondkind: where the solution (t) is assumedto have the form f(t) = x(t)+r^?(t), x and being sufficientlysmooth. The solution is approximated near zero by a linear combinationof powers of t?, and away from zero by the usual polynomialrepresentation. Convergence is proved and many numerical experimentsare carried out with examples from the literature. A comparisonis made with a method of Brunner & Norsett (1981), originallydeveloped for (1) with a smooth solution. Special attentionis paid to the numerical approximation of the so-called momentintegrals which emerge in the collocation scheme.     

Highest-weight representations ofsl(2, ℂ) andsl(3, ℂ) via canonical realizations

The infinite-dimensional representations of thesl(n+1, ) Lie algebras (maximal representations) constructed in our previous paper are studied on the two simplest examplesn = 1,2. The sufficient condition for irreducibility of the maximal representations is proved to be also necessary in these cases. It is further shown, that our method allows us to construct other set of infinite-dimensional highest-weight representations ofsl(3, ), so calledmixed representations which are irreducible in some cases when the maximal as well as the standard highest-weight representations (Verma modules) are reducible.Dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.The authors are grateful to Prof. A. A. Kirillov, Dr. A. U. Klimyk, Dr. W. Lassner and Prof. D. P. Zhelobenko for stimulating discussions.     

Canonical realizations of classical lie algebras

We construct sets of canonical realizations for all classical Lie algebras (A _n ,B _n ,C _n ,D _n ). These realizations depend ond parameters,d=1, 2, 3,...,n; all Casimir operators are realized by multiples of identity. For most of the real forms of these algebras we give sets of realizations which are, moreover, in well-defined sense skew-Hermitian. Further we study extremal cases of the presented realizations. The realizations with minimal numbers of canonical pairs are discussed from the point of view of general results concerning minimal realizations. On the other hand, a connection is found between our maximal realizations ofA _n and the Gel'fand-Kirillov Conjecture.The authors would like to thank Prof. A.Uhlmann for his kind interest in this work. They are very grateful to Prof. A. A.Kirillov and Prof. D. P.Zhelobenko for helpful discussions and to Prof. J.Dixmier for his informative letter concerning the problem mentioned in Sect. 5.One of the authors (W. L.) thanks Prof. I.Úlehla for the hospitality at the Nuclear Center of the Charles University, Praha.     

Small changes—Huge influences: NMR chemical shifts of Ni(II) complexes with polar substrates

Neutral Ni(II) complexes have been shown to be highly valuable as robust and versatile catalysts in olefin polymerization. But they show reduced reactivity when the polar monomers methyl acrylate and vinyl acetate are incorporated. To get further insight into this behavior, NMR chemical shift calculations were performed on the system [(N,O) Ni (H) (PMe3)] 1 (N,O = ‐N,O‐{2,6‐(3,5‐(F3C)2C6H3)2C6H3) NC(H)‐3,5‐I2‐2‐O‐C6H2}). The chemical shifts show reasonable agreement with experiment but are also extremely influenced by geometrical features of the complex as well as the inserted substrate. The first prominent feature, the low‐field shift of the C_carbonyl in the incorporated monomer, can only be reproduced when it is in close proximity to the Ni and in this way hinders the attack of a new monomer. Second, the almost 100 ppm difference in the chemical shift of the carbon of the two substrates directly bound to Ni can be reasoned by the different directionality of polarization as disclosed by natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Circumventing the OCl versus OOH scaling relation in the chlorine evolution reaction: Beyond dimensionally stable anodes

The development of selective electrocatalysts for the chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is majorly restrained by a scaling relation between the OCl and OOH adsorbates, rendering that active CER catalysts are also reasonably active in the competing oxygen evolution reaction (OER). While theory predicts that the OCl versus OOH scaling relation can be circumvented as soon as the elementary reaction steps in the CER comprise the Cl rather than the OCl adsorbate, it was demonstrated recently that PtN₄ sites embedded in a carbon nanotube follow this theoretical prediction. Advanced experimental analyses illustrate that the PtN₄ sites also reveal a different reaction kinetics compared to the industrial benchmark of dimensionally stable anodes (DSA). A reverse Volmer–Heyrovsky mechanism was identified, in which the rate-determining Volmer step for small overpotentials is followed by the kinetically limiting Heyrovsky step for larger overpotentials. Since the PtN₄ sites excel DSA in terms of activity and chlorine selectivity, we suggest the Cl intermediate as well as the reverse Volmer–Heyrovsky mechanism as the design criteria for the development of next-generation electrode materials beyond DSA.     

Absolute Continuity in Periodic Thin Tubes and Strongly Coupled Leaky Wires

Using a perturbative argument, we show that in any finite region containing the lowest transverse eigenmode, the spectrum of a periodically curved smooth Dirichlet tube in two or three dimensions is absolutely continuous provided the tube is sufficiently thin. In a similar way we demonstrate absolute continuity at the bottom of the spectrum for generalized Schrödinger operators with a sufficiently strongly attractive interaction supported by a periodic curve in R^d = 2, 3.     

Two-component interference effect: model of a spin-polarized transport

The effect of spin-involved interaction on the transport properties of disordered two-dimensional electron systems with ferromagnetic contacts is described using a two-component model. Components representing spin-up and spin-down states are supposed to be coupled at a discrete set of points. We have found that due to the additional interference arising in two-component systems the difference between conductances for the parallel and antiparallel orientations of the contact magnetization changes its sign as a function of the length of the conducting channel.