Ground state of a spin-phonon system. I. Variational estimates

A study is made of the ground-state energy of a spin-one-half particle in a fieldB and interacting with a phonon bath. The infrared-sensitive case of acoustic phonons with point coupling in three dimensions is characterized by two parameters, a coupling constant andB. Units are used where the high-momentum phonon cutoff is unity. There is a curve (B) separating a symmetry-breaking region with a long-range phonon field from a normal region. Two simple, well-known, approximations are compared. The source theory yields discontinuities in the first derivatives of the energy with respect toB and whenB>e ^–1 and an infinite-order transition whenB<e ^–1, but is trivial in the large- region. The classical theory yields discontinuities in the second derivatives but is trivial in the small- region. An improved variationally fixed ground-state wave function is analyzed. It gives a new (B) curve with an infinite-order transition with continuous energy derivatives whenB<e/(e ²–1/4) and with discontinuous derivatives whenB is larger than this value. It is nontrivial in the entire (B) plane. The crossover to classical behavior occurs near =1/2 forB1. But the wave function does not describe quantum fluctuations in the large- phase. A second way of combining source and classical effects is described. It yields a second-order transition (near =1/2 forB1) everywhere. These theories are special cases of a symmetry-breaking transformation together with a one-mode treatment of quantum fluctuations. The transition is viewed in terms of a single mode with a variable length, coupled dynamically to the spin.     

Comparison of yellow poplar pretreatment between NREL digester and sunds hydrolyzer

Single-stage cocurrent dilute acid pretreatments were carried out on yellow poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) sawdust using an as-installed and short residence time modified pilot-scale Sunds hydrolyzer and a 4-L bench-scale NREL digester (steam explosion reactor). Pretreatment conditions for the Sunds hydrolyzer, installed in the NREL process development unit (PDU), which operates at 1 t/d (bone-dry t) feed rate, spanned the temperature range of 160 – 210°C, 0.1 – 1.0% (w/w) sulfuric acid, and 4-10-min residence times. The batch pretreatments of yellow poplar sawdust in the bench-scale digester were carried out at 210 and 230°C, 0.26% (w/w) sulfuric acid, and 1-, 3-, and 4-min residence times. The dilute acid prehydrolysis solubilized more than 90% of the hemicellulose, and increased the enzymatic digestibility of the cellulose that remained in the solids. Compositional analysis of the pretreated solids and liquors and mass balance data show that the two pretreatment devices had similar pretreatment performance.     

Evaluation of Orbital- and Ground State Energies of Some Open- and Closed-Shell Atoms over Integer and Noninteger Slater Type Orbitals

Ab initio calculations of the orbital and the ground state energies of some open- and closed-shell atoms over Slater type orbitals with quantum numbers integer and Slater type orbitals with quantum numbers noninteger have been performed. In order to increase the efficiency of these calculations the atomic two-electron integrals were expressed in terms of incomplete beta function. Results were observed to be in good agreement with the literature.     

Coordinating California’s efforts to promote waste to alcohol production

Alcohol fuels produced from biomass can improve air quality, enhance energy security, create employment opportunities, and reduce waste disposal problems. Opportunities in California exist to produce alcohols from waste streams from various sectors of the economy. Government agencies have promoted waste-to-alcohol activities, but efforts have been inconsistent and intermittent. Often these efforts have been hindered by contradictory but mandate-driven policies. A prudent approach to coordinate statewide efforts includes the development of an integrated statewide policy to examine barriers that impede private sector business efforts to produce alcohols from biomass. A multi-agency task force to promote research, development, commercialization, and marketing efforts for biomass-produced alcohols is desirable. The views and opinions contained in this document do not necessarily reflect those of the California Energy Commission, its staff, management, or the State of California.     

Overwhelming electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction of zinc-nitrogen-carbon from biomass resource chitosan via a facile carbon bath method

Developing high efficiency and low cost electrocatalysts is critical for the enhancement of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which is the fundamental for the development and commercialization of renewable energy conversion technology. Herein, zinc-nitrogen-carbon (Zn-N-C) was prepared by using biomass resource chitosan via a facile carbon bath method. The obtained Zn-N-C delivered a high specific surface area (794.7 cm²/g) together with pore volume (0.49 cm³/g). During the electrochemical evaluation of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), Zn-N-C displayed high activity for ORR with an onset potential E₀ = 0.96 V_RHE and a half wave potential E_1/2 = 0.86 V_RHE, which were more positive than those of the commercial 20 wt% Pt/C benchmark catalyst (E₀ = 0.96 V_RHE and E_1/2 = 0.81 V_RHE). In addition, the Zn-N-C catalyst also had a better stability and methanol tolerance than those of the Pt/C catalyst.     

Elektronenlokalisierung im Grundzustand und in angeregten Zuständen Pars-Orbital-Methode, 12. Mitt

UsingGleason's theorem the pars orbital concept is developed for excited states of conjugated systems described by CI-methods. A significance index is introduced to evaluate different patterns of fragmentation. The usefulness of this approach is illustrated for butadiene, biphenyl, naphthalene, and azulene.

11. Mitt.:H. Karpf, O. E. Polansky undM. Zander, Tetrahedron Lett.1978, 2069.     

生物质裂解产物的制备及HPLC检测其成分的虚拟仿真实验开发

In order to improve university laboratory teaching and practical education under the background of information technology, as well as overcome the difficulty for practical training, develop a virtual simulation experiment platform for rapid pyrolysis of natal materials and high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) detection of its components. The experiment integrates the actual operation process of the plant to produce cleaved products by rapid pyrolysis of biomass with HPLC detection. The virtual experiment is divided into biomass sample pretreatment, rapid biomass pyrolysis, bio-oil extraction, and HPLC determination of complex components, making the biomass cleavage workshop "real" through simulation. This virtual simulation experiment fully integrates the utilization of biomass resources and basic chemistry courses (such as organic chemistry, instrumental analysis, chemical engineering principles, etc.), which are widely involved in agricultural and forestry majors with advantageous characteristics value.     

Improved third-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory

Based on a partitioning of the total correlation energy into contributions from parallel‐ and antiparallel‐spin pairs of electrons, a modified third‐order Møller–Plesset (MP) perturbation theory is developed. The method, termed SCS–MP3 (SCS for spin‐component‐scaled) continues previous work on an improved version of MP2 (S. Grimme, J Chem Phys 2003, 118, 9095). A benchmark set of 32 isogyric reaction energies, 11 atomization energies, and 11 stretched geometries is used to assess to performance of the model in comparison to the standard quantum chemical approaches MP2, MP3, and QCISD(T). It is found, that the new method performs significantly better than usual MP2/MP3 and even outperforms the more costly QCISD method. Opposite to the usual MP series, the SCS third‐order correction uniformly improves the results. Dramatic enhancements are especially observed for the more difficult atomization energies, some of the stretched geometries, and reaction and ionization energies involving transition metal compounds where the method seems to be competitive or even superior to the widely used density functional approaches. Further tests performed for other complex systems (biradicals, C₂₀ isomers, transition states) demonstrate that the SCS–MP3 model yields often results of QCISD(T) accuracy. The uniformity with which the new approach improves for very different correlation problems indicates significant robustness, and suggests it as a valuable quantum chemical method of general use. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 24: 1529–1537, 2003     

Ground-state energy of a quantum chain with competing interactions

We show rigorously that the ground state of a quantum chain with competing ferromagnetic nearest and antiferromagnetic next nearest interactions undergoes a transition from ferromagnetic to helical type, in the isotropic case, for a certain value of the relevant ratio of coupling constants. Boundaries of the phase diagram are also determined in the anisotropic case. The stability of a special quantum state (corresponding to a classical modulated phase of =/3) is analyzed by an extension of Holstein-Primakoff arguments, along a line of constant ratio of couplings, showing in particular a sequence of (instability) gaps. Finally, a natural adaptation of a variational wave function due to Huse and Elser is used to study several portions of the phase diagram, with very good agreement with previous theoretical results.     

Disordered ground states for classical discrete-state problems in one dimension

It is known that one-dimensional lattice problems with a discrete, finite set of states per site generically have periodic ground states (GSs). We consider slightly less generic cases, in which the Hamiltonian is constrained by either spin (S) or spatial (I) inversion symmetry (or both). We show that such constraints give rise to the possibility ofdisordered GSs over a finite fraction of the coupling-parameter space—that is, without invoking any nongeneric fine tuning of coupling constants, beyond that arising from symmetry. We find that such disordered GSs can arise for many values of the number of statesk at each site and the ranger of the interaction. The Ising (k=2) case is the least prone to disorder:I symmetry allows for disordered GSs (without fine tuning) only forr5, whileS symmetry never gives rise to disordered GSs.