On a fast direct elliptic solver by a modified Fourier method

We describe high order numerical algorithms for the solution of second order elliptic equations in rectangular domains. These algorithms are based on the Fourier method in combination with a subtraction procedure. The singularities at the corner points, arising due to non-smoothness of the boundaries, are treated explicitly using properly constructed singular corner functions. The present algorithm is a generalization of the Fast Poisson Solver developed in our previous paper. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

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.     

Weak antilocalization in a 2D electron gas with chiral splitting of the spectrum

Motivated by the recent observation of the metal-insulator transition in Si MOSFETs, a study is made of the quantum interference correction to the conductivity in the presence of the Bychkov-Rashba spin splitting. For a small splitting, a crossover from the localizing to antilocalizing regime is obtained. The antilocalization correction vanishes, however, in the limit of a large separation between the chiral branches. The relevance of the chiral splitting for the 2D electron gas in Si MOSFETs is discussed. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 2, 118–123 (25 January 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Strings at nonzero temperature

String theory at nonzero temperature is reviewed. A bosonic string at nonzero temperature is studied and the calculation of its free energy in both the one-loop approximation and the case of arbitrary genus (multiloop analysis) is discussed. A string at nonzero temperature is compared with a string compacted on a one-dimensional torus. The properties of modular invariance and dual symmetry are discussed at both the one-loop and multiloop levels. The thermodynamics of superstrings, including also superstrings compactified on a torus, is also studied. Possible cosmological applications are briefly considered. It is shown that many features of string thermodynamics (in particular, the existence of the Hagedorn temperature and dual symmetry) also occur in the theory of noncritical strings.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshykh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 3–49, December, 1991.     

Quonic realization of the deformed Heisenberg-Weyl algebra

A consistent realization of an operatorial deformed Heisenberg-Weyl (HW) algebra is given. The explicit construction of the deformation matrix is discussed. The corresponding generalized Fock-like space is analyzed.     

Total surface areas of Group IVA organometallic compounds: Predictors of toxicity to algae and bacteria

There is a high correlation between molecular surface area (TSA) of triorganotin and triorganolead compounds and their toxicity towards a bacterium (Escherichia coli) and an alga (Selenastrum capricornutum). Parallel attempts to correlate other Group IVA organometals incorporating silicon or germanium were unsuccessful. It was further demonstrated, however, that a high correlation was obtainable between certain series of compounds with the same organic substituent but different metal centers involving all Group IVA elements. In both instances, the inability to obtain a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) for all systems studied appears to be a function of the solubility of the compounds. While organotin TSA values have been found to correlate well with their toxicities toward various organisms, this study clearly suggests that this type of QSAR can be readily extended to include other organometal systems, provided that there is no solubility problem and the toxicity is a function of the hydrophobicity of the organometal compounds.     

Single-molecule single crystals

Various approaches to the preparation and verification of single-molecule single crystals are discussed for polyethylene and poly (oxyethylene). Analytic tools are electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry. The main difficulty in producing a single-molecule single crystal is to keep crystals from joining during growth.     

Estimation of the exchange constants in the Fe sublattice of the Y2Fe17 and Y2Fe17N3−δ compounds from the analysis of Mössbauer measurements

From the analysis of Mössbauer data for Y₂Fe₁₇ and Y₂Fe₁₇N_3−δ at various temperatures the hyperfine fields for 4f, 6g, 12j, 12k iron sites were estimated as a function of temperature. The reduced magnetizations calculated from the values of the hyperfine fields are fitted with a mean field model for four interacting sublattices using a computer program. The estimated exchange interaction from the fitting procedure between the 4f sites is found strongly negative (antiferromagnetic) in Y₂Fe₁₇ whereas in Y₂Fe₁₇N_3−δ it increases and becomes weak negative following a modified Slater-Néel curve. The rest of the exchange interactions are found positive or weak negative depending on the distances between the Fe atoms.     

Spontaneous photorefractive effect in Sr1−x CaxTiO3 (x=0.014)

The temperature dependence of the principal values of the refractive index in Sr_1−x Ca_xTiO₃ (x=0.014) has been measured in the 17–275 K range under various conditions of sample illumination with 1.96 eV photons. The spontaneous photorefractive contribution δn ^ph to the temperature-induced variation of the refractive index of Sr_1−x Ca_xTiO₃, which appears after illumination of the sample in the ferrophase (transition temperature T _c=32 K) and persists in the paraphase under heating up to 150 K, has been separated. The photoinduced polarization has been estimated. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 711–713 (April 1997)