An elementary proof of the uniqueness of invariant product measures for some infinite dimensional processesUne preuve élémentaire de l'unicité des mesures invariantes produits pour certains processus en dimension infinie

Consider an infinite dimensional diffusion process with state space , where T is the circle, and defined by an infinitesimal generator L which acts on local functions f as . Suppose that the coefficients a_i and b_i are smooth, bounded, of finite range, have uniformly bounded second order partial derivatives, that a_i are uniformly bounded from below by some strictly positive constant, and that a_i is a function only of η_i. Suppose that there is a product measure ν which is invariant. Then if ν is the Lebesgue measure or if d=1,2, it is the unique invariant measure. Furthermore, if ν is translation invariant, it is the unique invariant, translation invariant measure. The proofs are elementary. Similar results can be proved in the context of an interacting particle system with state space , with uniformly positive bounded flip rates which are finite range. To cite this article: A.F. Ram??rez, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 334 (2002) 139–144     

Envelope expansion methods for speech enhancement

The last decade has seen increasing interest in techniques for the enhancement of digital speech signals. Significant gains have been made in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and quality, but few techniques have produced improvements in intelligibility. A method for speech enhancement based on nonlinear expansion of the spectral envelope is presented. The expansion is consistent with both the long-term spectrum of the speech and with the probability that speech is present in a given sample. Objective SNR measures are used to compare this algorithm with the well-known spectral subtraction method, with an alternative expansion scheme, and with limiting SNRs resulting from perfect recovery of the amplitude spectrum. For the purpose of intelligibility assessments, a simplified version of the algorithm has been implemented on a Texas Instruments TMS320-C25 system. Listening trials with this real-time system, conducted using a modified rhyme test, have produced small, but consistent, improvements in articulation scores.     

Nusselt number correlations for heat transfer to small spheres in thermal plasma flows

Seven different equations predicting heat transfer rates to small spheres in plasma flows are examined considering argon and nitrogan as plasma gases from 300 to 21,000 K at 1 atm. For argon there is a general consensus up to 9000 K, beyond which wide deviations in behavior occur. For nitrogen, the seven correlations are in good agreement up to 4000 K, but show substantial deviations beyond this value. Comparisons with the sparsely available experimental data are made for argon from 300 to 17,000 K and for nitrogen up to 5500 K. Disagreement between the various correlations and experiment can exceed one order of magnitude.     

Reduction of the concentration of slow insulator states in SiO2/InP-MIS structures

The well-known drift phenomena usually found in the InP-metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) devices can be explained by the assumption of a spatial and energetical distribution of slow states located within the insulator. The concentration of these states can be reduced by far more than one order of magnitude if a suitable technique of insulator deposition is applied. In this paper we will discuss the influence of the deposition temperature, the spatial separation of sample and plasma (“indirect plasma method”), and the addition of phosphorus into the reaction chamber during the initial period of insulator deposition on the properties of n-type and p-type InP-MIS capacitors. Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposited silicon dioxide is used as insulator. The samples were characterized by means of capacitance/voltage (C(V)) and deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements. Only minor hysteresis of the C(V) curves and concentrations of slow insulator states of only (1–2)×10¹¹ cm^-2 eV^-1 are measured for the best of our samples.     

High-throughput concept for tailoring switchable mirrors

The optical properties, the switching kinetics and the lifetime of hydrogen switchable mirrors based on Mg-Ni alloys are determined with particular regard to the composition of the optically active metal-hydride layer in combination with the thickness of the catalytic capping layer. For this, a high-throughput experiment is introduced. The switching kinetics and the reversibility of switchable mirrors are strongly thickness dependent, though the details hinge on the fine structure of the clustered capping layer. Therefore, the kinetics is correlated with the surface structures of Pd on Mg_yNi_1−y as investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy. The results are explained by the so-called strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) state, characterized by a complete encapsulation of the capping layer clusters by oxidized species originating from the support. The SMSI-effect is less important with increasing Pd-layer thickness, and is suppressed by a good wetting of the Pd-clusters on the optically active film. This explains the critical thickness for the catalyzed hydrogen uptake observed in many switchable mirror systems. Moreover, the degradation of the kinetics during cycling is found to depend on the Pd-layer thickness and on the gas environment. Only films, covered with at least 15 nm Pd, show small degradation caused by the SMSI-effect. The SMSI-effect is partly reversible: after changing the gas environment from hydrogen to oxygen, the oxide on the Pd-clusters can be partly removed.     

Polybenzimidazoles containing anthracene photodimer

Polybenzimidazoles that contained anthracene photodimer were prepared. The molecular weights of the polymers prepared by the photopolymerization of bis-anthrylbenzimidazoles were limited by the precipitation of the resulting polymers from the reaction organic solvents. Higher molecular weight polymers were obtained by the photopolymerization of bis-anthryl-Schiff's bases, followed by the oxidation of the resulting polymers. These polymers were soluble in acidic solvents such as formic and sulfuric acids but were insoluble in organic solvents.