Rotational bands in 181Ta

High-spin states in ¹⁸¹Ta have been studied via the ¹⁷⁶Yb(¹¹B,α2n) reaction at 52 MeV using the PEX array and at 57 MeV using the NORDBALL array, with α-particle detection. The previously known, K^π=(7/2)⁺ ground state band and K^π=(9/2)⁻ band have been extended to spins (29/2)⁺ and (31/2)⁻, respectively. Two new one-quasiparticle bands, the K^π=(5/2)⁺ band built on the known (5/2)⁺ isomer and a K^π=((1/2)⁻) band have been observed. Two other rotational bands with three-quasiparticle structure, K^π=(15/2)⁻ and ((19/2)⁺ with π(7/2)[404]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] and π(9/2)[514]ν²(1/2)[510](9/2)[624] configurations, respectively, have been newly observed. The half-life of the K^π=((19/2)⁺) bandhead which decays to the head of the (15/2)⁻ band has been measured to be 140(36) ns. However, transitions from the ((19/2)⁺) state to the (15/2)⁻ band have not been observed. Received: 26 August 1998     

Computational experience with general equilibrium problems

We report on computational experience with an implementation of three algorithms for the general economic equilibrium problem. As a result we get that the projection algorithm for variational inequalities increases the size of solvable models by a factor of 5–10 in comparison with the classical homotopy method. As a third approach we implemented a simulated annealing heuristic which might be suitable to estimate equilibria for very large models.Supported by the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, SFB 303).     

Size dependence of self-diffusion in the hard-square lattice gas

A striking size dependence of the mean-square displacement of diffusing particles in the two-dimensional lattice gas of hard squares has been observed by Monte Carlo simulation. It is shown that the size effect is due to the formation of a stable cage structure in small lattices when the particle concentration is high. The formation of cages is governed by a new type of percolation problem related to bootstrap percolation.     

The Random Average Process and Random Walk in a Space-Time Random Environment in One Dimension

We study space-time fluctuations around a characteristic line for a one-dimensional interacting system known as the random average process. The state of this system is a real-valued function on the integers. New values of the function are created by averaging previous values with random weights. The fluctuations analyzed occur on the scale n ^1/4, where n is the ratio of macroscopic and microscopic scales in the system. The limits of the fluctuations are described by a family of Gaussian processes. In cases of known product-form invariant distributions, this limit is a two-parameter process whose time marginals are fractional Brownian motions with Hurst parameter 1/4. Along the way we study the limits of quenched mean processes for a random walk in a space-time random environment. These limits also happen at scale n ^1/4 and are described by certain Gaussian processes that we identify. In particular, when we look at a backward quenched mean process, the limit process is the solution of a stochastic heat equation.     

Establishment of hybrid-derived offspring populations in the Ohomopterus ground beetles through unidirectional hybridization

An approach to deduce the mechanism of stabilization of the hybrid-derived populations in the Ohomopterus ground beetles has been made by comparative studies on the phylogenetic trees of the mitochondrial and nuclear DNA. A phylogenetic tree based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal gene roughly reflects the relations of morphological species group, while mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase subunit 5 (ND5) gene shows a considerable different topology on the tree; there exist several geographically-linked lineages, most of which consist of more than one species. These results suggest that the replacement of mitochondria has occurred widely in the Ohomopterus species. In most cases, hybridization is unidirectional, i.e., the species A (♂) hybridized with another species B (♀) and not vice versa, with accompanied replacement of mitochondria of A by those of B. The results also suggest that partial or complete occupation of the distribution territory by a hybrid-derived morphological species. The morphological appearance of the resultant hybrid-derivatives are recognized as that of the original species A. Emergence of a morphological new species from a hybrid-derived population has been exemplified.     

In situ preparation of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting films by laser sputtering

Superconducting films of Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O on (100) MgO substrates have been fabricated by XeCl-excimer-laser sputtering from ceramic targets of Bi_2.5Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O_y in O₂ atmosphere. The films were polycrystalline with the c-axis (30.80±0.02Å) preferably oriented normal to the substrate surface. Without post-annealing the films showed metallic resistance behavior with zero resistance temperatures of up to T_c(0) }- 79 K. The critical current density of the films had values of up to j_c(50K)}- 10⁴ A/cm².     

Modelling of composting of food waste in a column reactor

The composting of organic solid waste, the mixture of fruit and vegetable leftovers enriched with night soil, was investigated in a closed thermally insulated reactor. It was found that 80.9 % of the original substrate biodegraded after 14 days. A mathematical model of the column reactor was proposed where the biodegradation rate of the organic solid waste was described using simple n-thorder kinetics. A good prediction of process performance was obtained using the proposed kinetics and experimentally obtained reaction heat. Presented at the 33rd International Conference of the Slovak Society of Chemical Engineering, Tatranské Matliare, 22–26 May 2006.     

Trace Equivalence in SU(2, 1)

In this paper it is shown that one can choose an arbitrarily large number of inconjugate elements of the group Z/2Z*Z/2Z*Z/2Z which have the property that, under all representations of the group in SU(2,1) as a discrete complex hyperbolic ideal triangle group, the elements are hyperbolic and correspond to closed geodesics of equal length on the associated complex hyperbolic surface. This is an analogue of the geometric fact that the multiplicity of the length spectrum of a Riemann surface is never bounded or the equivalent algebraic phenomenon that an arbitrarily large number of conjugacy classes in a free group can have the same trace under all representations in SL(2,R ).