Nucleon charge exchange on the deuteron: A critical review

The existing experimental data on the d(n, p)nn and d(p, n)pp cross-sections in the forward direction are reviewed in terms of the Dean sum rule. It is shown that the measurement of the ratio of the charge exchange on the deuteron to that on the proton might, if taken together with other experimental data, allow a direct construction of the np → np scattering amplitude in the backward direction with few ambiguities. Communicated by T. Hennino     

Speeds of sound and isothermal compressibility of ternary liquid systems: Application of Flory’s statistical theory and hard sphere models

Speeds of sound and densities of three ternary liquid systems namely, toluene + n-heptane + n-hexane (I), cyclohexane + n-heptane + n-hexane (II) and n-hexane + n-heptane + n-decane (III) have been measured as a function of the composition at 298.15 K at atmospheric pressure. The experimental isothermal compressibility has been evaluated from measured values of speeds of sound and density. The isothermal compressibility of these mixtures has also been computed theoretically using different models for hard sphere equations of state and Flory’s statistical theory. Computed values of isothermal compressibility have been compared with experimental findings. A satisfactory agreement has been observed. The superiority of Flory’s statistical theory has been established quite reasonably over hard sphere models.      

How should complexity scale with system size?

We study how statistical complexity depends on the system size and how the complexity of the whole system relates to the complexity of its subsystems. We study this size dependence for two well-known complexity measures, the excess entropy of Grassberger and the neural complexity introduced by Tononi, Sporns and Edelman. We compare these results to properties of complexity measures that one might wish to impose when seeking an axiomatic characterization. It turns out that those two measures do not satisfy all those requirements, but a renormalized version of the TSE-complexity behaves reasonably well.     

Clusters in weighted macroeconomic networks: the EU case. Introducing the overlapping index of GDP/capita fluctuation correlations

GDP/capita correlations are investigated in various time windows (TW), for the time interval 1990–2005. The target group of countries is the set of 25 EU members, 15 till 2004 plus the 10 countries which joined EU later on. The TW-means of the statistical correlation coefficients are taken as the weights (links) of a fully connected network having the countries as nodes. Thereafter we define and introduce the overlapping index of weighted network nodes. A cluster structure of EU countries is derived from the statistically relevant eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the adjacency matrix. This may be considered to yield some information about the structure, stability and evolution of the EU country clusters in a macroeconomic sense.     

Superiority of zoom lens coupling in designing a novel X-ray image detector

We design a novel X-ray image detector by lens coupling a Gd2O2S:Tb intensifying screen with a high performance low-light-level (L3,which often means luminescence less than 10-3 Lux) image intensifier.Different coupling effects on imaging performance between zoom lens and fix-focus lens are analyzed theoretically.In experiment,for designing a detector of 15-inch visual field,the system coupled by zoom lens is of 12.25-1p/cm resolution,while the one with fix-focus lens is 10 lp/cm.The superiority of zoom lens is validated.It is concluded that zoom lens preserves the image information better than fix-focus lens and improves the imaging system's performance in this design,which is referential to the design of other optical imaging systems.     

Terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer based tree-net architecture for all-optical conversion scheme from binary to its other 2n radix based form

To exploit the parallelism of optics in data processing,a suitable number system and an efficient encoding/decoding scheme for handling the data are very essential.In the field of optical computing and parallel information processing,several number systems like binary,quaternary,octal,hexadecimal,etc.have been used for different arithmetic and algebraic operations.Here,we have proposed an all-optical conversion scheme from its binary to its other 2n radix based form with the help of terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD) based tree-net architecture.     

Sequential estimation of velocity fields using episodic proper orthogonal decomposition

In this paper, the problem of approximating velocity fields at future and past times based on information available at the current time is addressed. A novel method called “episodic POD” is described and developed that enables us to achieve our objective. Application of episodic POD to an ensemble of flow data results in a set of spatio-temporal eigenfunctions and a set of coefficients associated with the eigenfunctions. From these eigenfunctions, we develop two models called the “forward model” and “inverse model” that enable us to approximate the velocity fields at future and past times, based on information provided at the current time. A second set of models, the forward and inverse sequential models are also developed that enable the dynamic update of approximated velocity fields when new information is made available, making these models more adept at on-line estimation. The various properties associated with these models are described in detail, and four different examples are used to validate the models and show the different properties associated with episodic POD. It is shown through numerical validation, that the episodic POD model has a form that is dynamically consistent with the original system. It is also shown that episodic POD outperforms linear Kalman filters in the presence of noise.     

Order preservation in a generalized version of Krause’s opinion dynamics model

Krause’s model of opinion dynamics has recently been the subject of several studies, partly because it is one of the simplest multi-agent systems involving position-dependent changing topologies. In this model, agents have an opinion represented by a real number and they update it by averaging those agent opinions distant from their opinion by less than a certain interaction radius. Some results obtained on this model rely on the fact that the opinion orders remain unchanged under iteration, a property that is consistent with the intuition in models with simultaneous updating on a fully connected communication topology.Several variations of this model have been proposed. We show that some natural variations are not order preserving and therefore cause potential problems with the theoretical analysis and the consistence with the intuition. We consider a generic version of Krause’s model parameterized by an “influence function” that encapsulates most of the variations proposed in the literature. We then derive a necessary and sufficient condition on this function for the opinion order to be preserved.     

Magneto-orientational properties of ionically stabilized aqueous dispersions of Ni(OH)2 nanoplatelets

Magnetic and orientational behavior of nickel hydroxide nanoplatelets ionically stabilized in a liquid matrix is studied. Under an applied field the platelets orient their faces normal to its direction. For characterization of the individual behavior of dispersed and non-interacting particles three techniques are used: SAXS, SQUID and magneto-optics. Analysis reveals that nickel hydroxide in a platelet phase is paramagnetic with a pronounced anisotropy of the intrinsic susceptibility, the major component of which (in the direction normal to platelet face) exceeds the minor one by about 25%.     

3H‐1,2‐Dithiole‐3‐thione derivatives as novel solvatochromic dyes

The UV–Vis spectrum of 5‐(1‐butylthio)‐3H‐1,2‐dithiole‐3‐thione (1a) and that of the chromium pentacarbonyl complex of 5‐methyl‐3H‐1,2‐dithiole‐3‐thione (3) present significant changes with the solvent polarity. The two absorption bands shown by the compounds in the region above 300 nm were identified by theoretical calculations. For Compound 1a these are n→π^* and →π^* transitions and for Compound 3 the longest wavelength absorption corresponds to a charge transfer band and shows a remarkably negative solvatochromism. Not only has the wavelength of maximum absorption changed with the solvent but also the ratio of the absorbances at the two wavelengths. The effect of solvents was correlated with solvatochromic parameters such as π^* and α. The spectrum of 5‐(1‐butylthio)‐3H‐1,2‐dithiole‐3‐one ( 2 ) was also measured in different solvents but in this case the changes observed are less significant than for the other two compounds. The spectra of 1a and 3 were also determined in the presence of anionic (SDS), cationic (CTAB), and neutral surfactants (Brig‐35) and it is shown that these compounds can be used as probes for the polarity of the binding sites of organized assemblies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.