Charge ordering modulations in a Bi_0.4Ca_0.6MnO₃ film with a thickness of 110 nm

The low temperature sample stage in a transmission electron microscope is used to investigate the charge ordering behaviours in a Bi 0.4 Ca 0.6 MnO 3 film with a thickness of 110 nm at 103 K.Six different types of superlattice structures are observed using the selected-area electron diffraction(SAED) technique,while three of them match well with the modulation stripes in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM) images.It is found that the modulation periodicity and direction are completely different in the region close to the Bi 0.4 Ca 0.6 MnO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface from those in the region a little further from the Bi 0.4 Ca 0.6 MnO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface,and the possible reasons for this are discussed.Based on the experimental results,structural models are proposed for these localized modulated structures.     

Microstructures and soft magnetic properties of Fe80P20-xSix (x = 4.5–6.5) amorphous ribbons

Fe-based amorphous ribbons with excellent soft magnetic properties and mechanical properties were prepared in the Fe–Si–P ternary system. Enhanced soft magnetic properties could be achieved through annealing treatment of the ribbons for 1 h at 325 °C, which is far below the glass transition temperatures (462–474 °C). Icosahedral medium-range ordering with a size range of around 2 nm occurred throughout the amorphous matrix during the low-temperature annealing treatment. The annealed ribbons exhibited improved magnetic saturation of over 185 emu/g while maintaining good mechanical flexibility. During icosahedral ordering, the distance between the Fe atoms and the coordination number within the amorphous ribbon can be optimised for achieving high magnetic saturation. However, nanocrystallisation of the SiP and Fe₂P transition phases embedded within the amorphous matrix occurred after the annealing treatment for 1 h at 385 °C, which caused deterioration of the soft magnetic properties and mechanical flexibility of the ribbons. Therefore, the combination of high magnetic saturation and mechanical flexibility of the amorphous ribbons could be optimised through low-temperature annealing treatment without any nanocrystallisation.     

An inexact bundle variant suited to column generation

We give a bundle method for constrained convex optimization. Instead of using penalty functions, it shifts iterates towards feasibility, by way of a Slater point, assumed to be known. Besides, the method accepts an oracle delivering function and subgradient values with unknown accuracy. Our approach is motivated by a number of applications in column generation, in which constraints are positively homogeneous—so that zero is a natural Slater point—and an exact oracle may be time consuming. Finally, our convergence analysis employs arguments which have been little used so far in the bundle community. The method is illustrated on a number of cutting-stock problems. Research supported by INRIA New Investigation Grant “Convex Optimization and Dantzig–Wolfe Decomposition”.     

Mössbauer studies of ɛ-Fe3−x Ni x N and γ′-Fe4−y Ni y N nanoparticles

Nanocrystalline ?-Fe_3?x Ni _x N (0.0?≤?×?≤?0.8) particles are synthesized by precursor technique and nitridation of decomposed products in NH₃ (g) in the temperature range 673 K-823 K. For x?=?0.1–0.4 compositions, single phase ?-Fe_3?x Ni _x N hexagonal structure with space group P6₃/mmc is formed, while for x?=?0.5–0.8, fcc γ′-Fe_4?y Ni _y N phase is also precipitated. The room temperature Mössbauer spectrum for all the compositions shows the presence of superparamagnetic doublet, which is attributed to ?-Fe_3?x Ni _x N phase. For x?=?0.5–0.8 compositions, two additional sextets are observed corresponding to two different iron sites, the corner position (Fe^c) and the fcc position (Fe^f), in γ′-Fe_4?y Ni _y N. The added Ni atoms preferentially substitute the corner Fe^c positions. The isomer shift, quadrupole splitting and hyperfine field values are found to change with the Ni content.     

拟树图按第二大无符号拉普拉斯特征值排序

A connected graph G=(V,E) is called a quasi-tree graph if there exists a vertex v_0∈V(G) such that G-v_0 is a tree.In this paper,we determine all quasi-tree graphs of order n with the second largest signless Laplacian eigenvalue greater than or equal to n-3.As an application,we determine all quasi-tree graphs of order n with the sum of the two largest signless Laplacian eigenvalues greater than to 2 n-5/4.     

Bounds and inequalities for single server loss systems

We consider a single server loss system in which arrivals occur according to a doubly stochastic Poisson process with a stationary ergodic intensity functionλ _t . The service times are independent, exponentially distributed r.v.'s with meanμ ⁻¹, and are independent of arrivals. We obtain monotonicity results for loss probabilities under time scaling as well as under amplitude scaling ofλ _t . Moreover, using these results we obtain both lower and upper bounds for the loss probability.     

A production system with two job classes,changeover times and revisitation

This paper, motivated by the need to predict performance of production systems with random arrivals, setup times and revisitation, presents an imbedded Markov chain analysis of the underlyingM/G/1 queue with two customer classes, changeover times and instantaneous Bernoulli feedback. It is assumed that jobs are scheduled according to the exhaustive alternative priority queue discipline. Expressions for the mean waiting time and the nonsaturation condition are derived under two different priority assignments to the repeat customers. Sojourn times under these priority assignments are shown to possess a convex ordering. Results of the study are also applicable to data communication networks that operate under cyclic switching mechanisms. Research supported in part by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.     

On the projected subgradient method for nonsmooth convex optimization in a Hilbert space

We consider the method for constrained convex optimization in a Hilbert space, consisting of a step in the direction opposite to an _k -subgradient of the objective at a current iterate, followed by an orthogonal projection onto the feasible set. The normalized stepsizes _k are exogenously given, satisfying _{k=0 k} = , _{k=0 k} ² < , and _k is chosen so that _{k k} for some > 0. We prove that the sequence generated in this way is weakly convergent to a minimizer if the problem has solutions, and is unbounded otherwise. Among the features of our convergence analysis, we mention that it covers the nonsmooth case, in the sense that we make no assumption of differentiability off, and much less of Lipschitz continuity of its gradient. Also, we prove weak convergence of the whole sequence, rather than just boundedness of the sequence and optimality of its weak accumulation points, thus improving over all previously known convergence results. We present also convergence rate results. © 1998 The Mathematical Programming Society, Inc. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.Research of this author was partially supported by CNPq grant nos. 301280/86 and 300734/95-6.