Unconventional antiferromagnetic correlations of the doped Haldane gapsystem Y 2 BaNi 1 - x Zn x O 5

We make a new proposal to describe the very low temperature susceptibility of the doped Haldane gap compound Y₂BaNi_1-xZn_xO₅. We propose a new mean field model relevant for this compound. The ground state of this mean field model is unconventional because antiferromagnetism coexists with random dimers. We present new susceptibility experiments at very low temperature. We obtain a Curie-Weiss susceptibility χ( T ) ∼ C /(Θ + T ) as expected for antiferromagnetic correlations but we do not obtain a direct signature of antiferromagnetic long range order. We explain how to obtain the “impurity” susceptibility ( T ) by subtracting the Haldane gap contribution to the total susceptibility. In the temperature range [1 K, 300 K] the experimental data are well fitted by T ( T ) = C _imp 1 + T _imp / T . In the temperature range [100 mK, 1 K] the experimental data are well fitted by T ( T ) = A ln( T / T _c ), where T _c increases with x. This fit suggests the existence of a finite Néel temperature which is however too small to be probed directly in our experiments. We also obtain a maximum in the temperature dependence of the ac-susceptibility ( T ) which suggests the existence of antiferromagnetic correlations at very low temperature. Received 17 July 2001     

Thermodynamic and surface properties of Sb-Sn and In-Sn liquid alloys

The thermodynamic properties of Sb-Sn and In-Sn liquid alloys have been studied using the quasi-chemical model for compound forming binary alloys and that for simple regular alloys. The concentration fluctuation S _cc(0) and the Warren-Cowley short-range order parameter (α ₁) were determined for the whole concentration range at a temperature of 770 K. The surface tensions of these liquid alloys were determined for the whole concentration range by using energetics determined from thermodynamic calculations. In all calculations, In-Sn manifested properties very close to alloys of ideal mixing, while Sb-Sn showed properties that are asymmetric about equiatomic composition. Our results suggest that a weak complex of the form SbSn₂ could be present in the Sb-Sn alloy at a temperature of about 770 K.     

Numerical simulation of critical dependences for symmetric two-layered Josephson junctions

Partial critical dependences of the form current-magnetic field in a two-layered symmetric Josephson junction are modeled. A numerical experiment shows that, for the zero interaction coefficient between the layers of the junction, jumps of the critical currents corresponding to different distributions of the magnetic fluxes in the layers may appear on the critical curves. This fact allows a mathematical interpretation of the results of some recent experimental results for two-layered junctions as a consequence of discontinuities of partial critical curves.     

Branched polymers in a wedge geometry in three dimensions

We investigate the statistical and dimensional properties of uniform star polymers attached by the branching vertex of degreef in a wedge geometry in three dimensions and described by the wedge angles and. We show that the growth constant is equal to ^f , where is the self-avoiding walk limit. Thef and (, ) dependences of the corresponding critical exponent _f (, ) are studied using Monte Carlo techniques. In the casef=1, our results are compared with existing predictions obtained from series expansion and renormalization group methods. We have also estimated the amplitudes for the mean square radius of gyration and the mean square end-to-end branch length. Our results for the ratio of the mean square radius of gyration of anf-star to that of a linear polymer of the same degree of polymerization attached in a similar wedge, and the analogous ratio for the mean square end-to-end branch length, are consistent with these ratios being lattice-independent quantities.     

Infinite-order phase transition in a classical spin system

For an exactly soluble classical spin model with long-range inhomogeneous coupling it is proved that in the absence of external magnetic field the free energy is aC function of the temperature at the critical point.     

An extended continuous Newton method

This paper describes a numerical realization of an extended continuous Newton method defined by Diener. It traces a connected set of locally one-dimensional trajectories which contains all critical points of a smooth functionf: ⁿ . The results show that the method is effectively applicable.The authors would like to thank L. C. W. Dixon for pointing out some errors in the original version of this paper and for several suggestions of improvements.     

Restoration of universality for the rod-to-coil transition scaling in the infinite-dimensionality limit: Exact results for directed walks

We derive scaling forms for the thermodynamic and correlation quantities for the turn-weighted fully and partially directed self-avoiding walks on the hypercubic lattices ind2. In the grand canonical (fixed fugacity per step) ensemble, the conformational rod-to-coil transition sets up in the regimew¯N=O(1), wherew is the weight of each 90° turn and¯N is the (fugacity-dependent) average number of steps. Contrary to the conventional critical phenomena wisdom, the scaling functions for the two different walk models, directed and partially directed, become universal only in the limitd.     

Pattern formation in diffusion-limited reactions

The conditions for macroscopic segregation ofA andB in a steady-stateA+B 0 reaction are studied in infinite systems. Segregation occurs in one and two dimensions and is marginal ford=3. We note the dependence of these results on the precise experimental conditions assumed in the theory. We also note the difference between these results and our earlier ones for finite systems where the critical dimension isd=2.     

An application of the modified Poisson- Boltzmann equation in studies of osmotic properties of micellar solutions

The spherical cell model of colloidal solutions is applied in calculations of the osmotic pressure of micellar systems. The predictions of the nonlinear Poisson-Boltzmann equation (MPB) and of the Modified Poisson-Boltzmann equation (MPB) containing the leading terms of the fluctuation potential and the exclusion volume corrections to the mean potential acting on simple ions are compared with the results of recent computer simulations. Both PB and MPB seem satisfactory for solutions with monovalent counterions while the MPB is preferable for studies of the solutions containing divalent countenons.On leave from the University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Yugoslavia     

Synthesis of Polyacrylaminothiourea Chelating Fiber and Properties of Concentration and Separation of Trace Noble Metal Ions from Samples

A novel polyacrylaminothiourea chelating fiber was synthesized simply and rapidly from nitrilon (an acrylonitrile-based synthetic fiber), which was applied to preconcentrate and separate of trace amount of Au(Ⅲ）,Pt(Ⅳ）,Pd(Ⅳ） and Ir (Ⅳ） ions from solution of samples.The analyzed ions can be quantitatively concentrated by the fiber up to a flow rate of 20.0mL/min at pH2, and can also be desorbed with 15 mL of 4mol/L HCl 3% thiourea from the fiber column with recoveries of 96.5%-100%.The chelating fiber can be reused for ten times,the recoveries of these ions are still over 92%,and hundred to thousand times of excess of Fe(Ⅲ）,Al（Ⅲ）,Ca(Ⅱ），Mg（Ⅱ）,Ni(Ⅱ）,Mn（Ⅱ),Cu(Ⅱ），Zn(Ⅱ），and Cd(Ⅱ） cause no interference on the determination of the analyzed ions by inductively-coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES).The static saturation adsorption capacities of the fiber for the analytes are in the range of 1.15-2.80mmol/g.The relative standard deviations for the determination of 20.0ng/mL each of Au(Ⅲ）,Pt(Ⅳ）,Pd(Ⅳ）and Ir(Ⅳ） are in the range of 0.7%-3.0%.The recoveries for test from standard additions to real solution samples are between 96% and 100%.The concentration of each ion in powder sample detected by the method is in good agreement with the certified value.