A PLS model based on dominant factor for coal analysis using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Thirty-three bituminous coal samples were utilized to test the application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy technique for coal elemental concentration measurement in the air. The heterogeneity of the samples and the pyrolysis or combustion of coal during the laser–sample interaction processes were analyzed to be the main reason for large fluctuation of detected spectra and low calibration quality. Compared with the generally applied normalization with the whole spectral area, normalization with segmental spectral area was found to largely improve the measurement precision and accuracy. The concentrations of major element C in coal were determined by a novel partial least squares (PLS) model based on dominant factor. Dominant C concentration information was taken from the carbon characteristic line intensity since it contains the most-related information, even if not accurately. This dominant factor model was further improved by inducting non-linear relation by partially modeling the inter-element interference effect. The residuals were further corrected by PLS with the full spectrum information. With the physical-principle-based dominant factor to calculate the main quantitative information and to partially explicitly include the non-linear relation, the proposed PLS model avoids the overuse of unrelated noise to some extent and becomes more robust over a wider C concentration range. Results show that RMSEP in the proposed PLS model decreased to 4.47% from 5.52% for the conventional PLS with full spectrum input, while R ² remained as high as 0.999, and RMSEC&P was reduced from 3.60% to 2.92%, showing the overall improvement of the proposed PLS model.     

MICROSTRUCTURE AND FRACTAL FORMATION OF ANNEALED Ge-Au FILM AND Ge-Au/Au BILAYER FILMS

The as-deposited and annealed Ge-Au film and Ge-Au/Au bilayer films have been observed by transmission electron microscopy. The bilayer with a composition of Ge-5at%Au film is amorphous, while the Ge-22at%Au film is polycrystalline. Higher concentration of Au raises the structural heterogeneity and instability. Fractals can be observed in the Ge-5at%Au/Au bilayer samples annealed at 60-100℃. The difference of the fractal patterns generated from Ge-Au/An and a-Ge/Au films call be attributed to the higher heterogeneity and instability in Ge-Au/An bilayers.     

Improved Lower Bounds for the Critical Probability of Oriented Bond Percolation in Two Dimensions

We present a coupled decreasing sequence of random walks on Z that dominate the edge process of oriented bond percolation in two dimensions. Using the concept of random walk in a strip, we describe an algorithm that generates an increasing sequence of lower bounds that converges to the critical probability of oriented percolation p_c. From the 7th term on, these lower bounds improve upon 0.6298, the best rigorous lower bound at present, establishing 0.63328 as a rigorous lower bound for p_c. Finally, a Monte Carlo simulation technique is presented; the use thereof establishes 0.64450 as a non-rigorous five-digit-precision (lower) estimate for p_c. Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 60K35 Supported by CNPq (grant N.301637/91-1). Supported by a grant from CNPq.     

The generalized Füredi conjecture holds for finite linear lattices

We say that a rank-unimodal poset P has rapidly decreasing rank numbers, or the RDR property, if above (resp. below) the largest ranks of P, the size of each level is at most half of the previous (resp. next) one. We show that a finite rank-unimodal, rank-symmetric, normalized matching, RDR poset of width w has a partition into w chains such that the sizes of the chains are one of two consecutive integers. In particular, there exists a partition of the linear lattices L_n(q) (subspaces of an n-dimensional vector space over a finite field, ordered by inclusion) into chains such that the number of chains is the width of L_n(q) and the sizes of the chains are one of two consecutive integers.     

A plasma resonance study of valley transfer in (001) Si inversion layers

We observed the two-dimensional plasmons of the two-component electron plasma in the (001) Si-inversion layer resulting from simultaneous population of the [001] valley, E₀, and the [010] valley, E₀′, subbands under a compressional uniaxial stress along [010]. Our data show an onset of electron transfer from E₀ to E₀′ at X = (1.4 ± 0.1) kbar for n = 1.67 × 10¹² cm^?2 and X = (1.2 ± 0.2) kbar for n = 2.60 × 10¹² cm^?2, consistent with the theory of Takada and Ando that includes the electron-electron correlation effects.     

Light charged particle emission and fission in238U+238U collisions at 1,740 MeV

Inclusive⁴He and⁴H energy spectra and heavy fragment coincidence correlations have been measured for reactions of 7.31 MeV/u²³⁸U with²³⁸U and^?197Au targets. The H/He production cross sections are in the range 15–26 mb, and their emission spectra are very similar for the two systems. The observed strong kinematic shifts with angle are reproduced in shape and magnitude by Monte Carlo simulations of particle evaporation from projectile-like and target-like fragments, indicating competition between charged particle emission and sequential fission. No evidence is found for high energy charged particle emission associated with ultra-highZ composite systems. Heavy fragment measurements indicate an abundance of quasielastic and deeply inelastic reaction fragments, as well as sequential fission of target and projectile nuclei. For²³⁸U nuclei, the fission occurs predominantly in an asymmetric mode, reminiscent of fission at low excitation energy. For²³⁸+²³⁸U reactions in the vicinity of the grazing angle, the frequency of single sequential fission (with survival of the partner fragment) is twice as large as double sequential fission in which both the target and projectile undergo fission. In²³⁸U+¹⁹⁷Au reactions, the survival probability of the heavy fragments is even greater. The surprisingly high survival probabilities of high-Z fragments imply a preponderance of very soft collisions in these very-heavy-ion reactions, at least at energies not very far over the Coulomb barrier.     

X-Ray Bremsstrahlung Measurements of an Intense Relativistic Electron Beam Propagating in a Plasma

Information on the peak electron energy, angular spread, and current density of a relativistic electron beam propagating in a plasma column is obtained from measurements of two-absorber transmission ratios, anistropy, and intensity, respectively, of x-ray bremsstrahlung from thin target foils in the plasma. Measurements indicate a 10% loss in peak electron energy and a factor of two loss in peak beam intensity over the distance of the plasma column, and show a large angular spread in the beam.     

Far infrared emission from plasma oscillations of Si inversion layers

We observed narrow-band far infrared emission from Si-MOSFETs with metallic gratings fabricated on the optically semitransparent gate. The gate voltage dependence of the emission frequency, analyzed by a magnetic field tuned detector, shows that it results from radiative decay of the two-dimensional metallic grating.     

Internal bremsstrahlung in the electron capture decay of 145Sm

Internal bremsstrahlung (IB) emitted in the non-unique first-forbidden electron capture decay of the $\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ ground state of ¹⁴⁵Sm to the $\text{7}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{61}\text{keV}$ first excited level of ¹⁴⁵Pm has been studied. The total IB spectrum and the IB spectrum for captures proceeding via the 1s shell were measured for photons in the energy range of 100–580 keV and the spectra were normalized to the non-radiative capture rate. The experimental data agree with theoretical predictions.