Operations in A-theory

A construction for Segal operations for K-theory of categories with cofibrations, weak equivalences and a biexact pairing is given and coherence properties of the operations are studied. The model for K-theory, which is used, allows coherence to be studied by means of (symmetric) monoidal functors. In the case of Waldhausen A-theory it is shown how to recover the operations used in Waldhausen (Lecture Notes in Mathematics, Vol. 967, Springer, Berlin, 1982, pp. 390-409) for the A-theory Kahn-Priddy theorem. The total Segal operation for A-theory, which assembles exterior power operations, is shown to carry a natural infinite loop map structure. The basic input is the un-delooped model for K-theory, which has been developed from a construction by Grayson and Gillet for exact categories in Gunnarsson et al. (J. Pure Appl. Algebra 79 (1992) 255), and Grayson's setup for operations in Grayson (K-theory (1989) 247). The relevant material from these sources is recollected followed by observations on equivariant objects and pairings. Grayson's conditions are then translated to the context of categories with cofibrations and weak equivalences. The power operations are shown to be well behaved w.r.t. suspension and are extended to algebraic K-theory of spaces. Staying close with the philosophy of Waldhausen (1982) Waldhausen's maps are found. The Kahn-Priddy theorem follows from splitting the “free part” off the equivariant theory. The treatment of coherence of the total operation in A-theory involves results from Laplaza (Lecture Notes in Mathematics, Vol. 281, Springer, Berlin, 1972, pp. 29-65) and restriction to spherical objects in the source of the operation.     

The Third-Order Singular-Perturbation Expansion of the Planar Cold-Fluid Magnetron Equations

The singular-perturbation expansion of the plasma cold-fluid equations for crossed fields in a planar geometry is presented. The general expansion is carried out to third order. Various instabilities that occur in the first, second, and third orders are discussed.     

On the analysis of a dynamic evolutionary algorithm

Evolutionary algorithms are applied as problem-independent optimization algorithms. They are quite efficient in many situations. However, it is difficult to analyze even the behavior of simple variants of evolutionary algorithms like the (1+1) EA on rather simple functions. Nevertheless, only the analysis of the expected run time and the success probability within a given number of steps can guide the choice of the free parameters of the algorithms. Here static (1+1) EAs with a fixed mutation probability are compared with dynamic (1+1) EAs with a simple schedule for the variation of the mutation probability. The dynamic variant is first analyzed for functions typically chosen as example-functions for evolutionary algorithms. Afterwards, it is shown that it can be essential to choose the suitable variant of the (1+1) EA. More precisely, functions are presented where each static (1+1) EA has exponential expected run time while the dynamic variant has polynomial expected run time. For other functions it is shown that the dynamic (1+1) EA has exponential expected run time while a static (1+1) EA with a good choice of the mutation probability has polynomial run time with overwhelming probability.     

Simple, expedient methods for the determination of water and electrolyte contents of cellulose solvent systems

The concentrations of water, W, and electrolytes present in solutions of LiCl in N,N-dimethylacetamide, LiCl/DMAc, and of tetrabutylammonium fluoride. x-hydrate in DMSO, TBAF.xW/DMSO can be accurately and expediently determined by three independent methods, UV–vis, FTIR and EMF measurement. The first relies on the use of solvatochromic probes whose spectra are sensitive to solution composition. It is applicable to W/LiCl/DMAc solutions but not to TBAF.xW/DMSO, because the charge-transfer complex bands of the probes are suppressed by strong interactions with the latter electrolyte. Integration of ν_OH band of water may be employed in order to determine [W], hence [electrolyte] by weight difference. EMF measurement uses ion-selective electrodes in order to determine [electrolyte], hence [W] by weight difference. Results of the latter method were in excellent agreement with those of FTIR. The reason for the failure of Karl Fischer titration is addressed, and the relevance of the results obtained to functionalization of cellulose under homogenous solution conditions is briefly commented on.     

Characterization and Computation of Canonical Tight Windows for Gabor Frames

Let (\gnm)_{n,m ? \Zst}(\gnm)_{n,m\in\Zst} be a Gabor frame for \LtR\LtR for given window gg. We show that the window \ho = \SQI g\ho=\SQI g that generates the canonically associated tight Gabor frame minimizes ||g-h||\|g-h\| among all windows hh generating a normalized tight Gabor frame. We present and prove versions of this result in the time domain, the frequency domain, the time-frequency domain, and the Zak transform domain, where in each domain the canonical \ho\ho is expressed using functional calculus for Gabor frame operators. Furthermore, we derive a Wiener--Levy type theorem for rationally oversampled Gabor frames. Finally, a Newton-type method for a fast numerical calculation of \ho\ho is presented. We analyze the convergence behavior of this method and demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed algorithm by some numerical examples.     

A solvent-free synthesis of coumarins using a Wells-Dawson heteropolyacid as catalyst

Substituted coumarins are synthesized from phenols and β-ketoesters by the Pechmann reaction, using a Wells-Dawson heteropolyacid (H₆P₂W₁₈O₆₂·24H₂O) as catalyst by a solvent-free procedure. This one requires low reaction times, 130 °C temperature and as little as 1 mol % of Wells-Dawson acid, obtaining good to excellent yields of coumarins. The catalyst showed to be reusable with no differences in the yields. The results are compared with those of the reactions performed in toluene solution. The presented synthetic procedure is a convenient, clean and fast alternative for synthesizing 4-substituted coumarins (17 examples).     

Structure and electrochemical behaviour of 4,7-diazaheptyl-trimethoxy-silane and vinyl-trialkoxy-silane adsorbed at silver surface

Novel self-assembled monolayers were obtained on silver using 4,7-diazaheptyl-trimethoxy-silane (SiN) and vinyl-trialkoxy-silane (SiVA, where the alkyl group is 3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45,48,51,54,57,60-eicozaoxa- hexaheptaconan). It was shown that thus modified metal surface was protected against electrooxidation. A densely packed monolayer remained stable and did not desorb from the Ag electrode on the potential cycling. The structure of SiN and SiVA as well as their complexes with Li⁺ cations were calculated and visualised by the AM1d and PM5 semi-empirical methods.     

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