Letters to the Editor

The Mathematical Intelligencer encourages comments about the material in this issue. Letters to the editor should be sent to either of the editors-in-chief, Chandler Davis or Marjorie Senechal.     

Observation of spontaneous pattern with six-fold symmetry in disk-shaped ZnO complex microstructures

Using a simple vapor phase transport technique, we have fabricated unique complex disk-shaped ZnO microstructures comprising a small disk coaxially grown on a large one and observed spatially perfect six-fold symmetric patterns. The observed results can be explained based on the spontaneous nanoindentation (NI) effect under the geometric constraints and the explanation can be extended to fathom the growth mechanism of other highly symmetrical ZnO nanostructures. Our results indicate that NI not only can elucidate the mechanical properties of surfaces and thin films but also is an effective approach to fabricate ordered nanostructures with high precision on the location of the building blocks. PACS 81.16.Rf; 81.07.-b; 81.05.Dz     

Effect of nitrogen surface doping on the work function and field emission of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films

The effect of nitrogen surface doping on the electron field emission characteristics of hydrogenated amorphous carbon films was studied. It was found that the emission threshold electric field decreased after nitrogen surface doping which indicated the reduction of the emission barrier at the film surface. It was demonstrated that this improvement arose from the decrease of the effective work function due to the formation of a dipole layer induced by chemical termination and chemical structural change on the film surface. PACS 52.75.Xx; 73.30 +y; 73.61.Jc     

An improved synthesis of isonitrosoacetanilides

A novel two-step synthesis of isonitrosoacetanilides [2-(hydroxyimino)-N-phenylacetamides] has been developed, involving the initial acylation of aniline derivatives with 2,2-diacetoxyacetyl chloride, followed by reaction with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The method works equally well with a variety of different aniline derivatives, including those with poor aqueous solubility and those containing electron rich ortho-substituents, neither of which react well under traditional conditions.     

A novel specimen for investigating the mechanical behavior of elastomers under multiaxial loading conditions

In this paper we describe the design and manufacture of an axial-torsion test specimen, and provide relationships needed when conducting stress-strain characterization experiments with the specimen. The specimen is a short hollow cylinder of rubber bonded between two steel mounting rings, in which simultaneous axial and shear strains are produced via independently controlled axial and twist displacements. We present calculations for the strain-displacement and stress-load relationships, and strain energy density. These relationships have been established and validated via a combination of analytical and experimental techniques, and finite element analysis. We have investigated the extent and effects of strain and stress field non-uniformity in the test specimen. The specimen design is sufficiently simple that a closed-form expression for the strain-displacement relationship has been successfully developed.     

A dynamic finite volume scheme for large-eddy simulation on unstructured grids

In recent years there has been considerable progress in the application of large-eddy simulation (LES) to increasingly complex flow configurations. Nevertheless a lot of fundamental problems still need to be solved in order to apply LES in a reliable way to real engineering problems, where typically finite-volume codes on unstructured meshes are used. A self-adaptive discretisation scheme, in the context of an unstructured finite-volume flow solver, is investigated in the case of isotropic turbulence at infinite Reynolds number. The Smagorinsky and dynamic Smagorinsky sub-grid scale models are considered. A discrete interpolation filter is used for the dynamic model. It is one of the first applications of a filter based on the approach presented by Marsden et al. In this work, an original procedure to impose the filter shape through a specific selection process of the basic filters is also proposed. Satisfactory results are obtained using the self-adaptive scheme for implicit LES. When the scheme is coupled with the sub-grid scale models, the numerical dissipation is shown to be dominant over the sub-grid scale component. Nevertheless the effect of the sub-grid scale models appears to be important and beneficial, improving in particular the energy spectra. A test on fully developed channel flow at Re_τ = 395 is also performed, comparing the non-limited scheme with the self-adaptive scheme for implicit LES. Once again the introduction of the limiter proves to be beneficial.     

How many black holes fit on the head of a pin?

The Bekenstein–Hawking entropy of certain black holes can be computed microscopically in string theory by mapping the elusive problem of counting microstates of a strongly gravitating black hole to the tractable problem of counting microstates of a weakly coupled D-brane system, which has no event horizon, and indeed comfortably fits on the head of a pin. We show here that, contrary to widely held beliefs, the entropy of spherically symmetric black holes can easily be dwarfed by that of stationary multi-black-hole “molecules” of the same total charge and energy. Thus, the corresponding pin-sized D-brane systems do not even approximately count the microstates of a single black hole, but rather those of a zoo of entropically dominant multicentered configurations. Fourth Award in the 2007 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation.     

On the Zero-Energy-Limit Solution for the Modified Gross–Pitaevskii Equation

The modified Gross–Pitaevskii equation was derived and solved to obtain the 1D solution in the zero-energy limit. This stationary solution could account for the dominated contributions due to the kinetic effect as well as the chemical potential in inhomogeneous Bose gases.     

Faddeev-Noble Versus Sasakawa-Sawada Equations for the Nuclear Three-Body Coulomb Problem

We compare the efficiency of two Faddeev-type approaches for the nuclear three-body Coulomb problem. The first one is a modification of Noble’s approach, the second one is due to Sasakawa and Sawada. In an integral-equation formulation both of these methods rely on the same Green’s operators and driving terms. The differences lie in the treatment of the long-range Coulomb potentials. Numerical examples show that the modified Faddeev-Noble approach provides for faster convergence.