Migration of seismic data

Prospecting for oil and gas resources poses the problem of determining the geological structure of the earth's crust from indirect measurements. Seismic migration is an acoustic image reconstruction technique based on the inversion of the scalar wave equation. Extensive computation is necessary before reliable information can be extracted from large sets of recorded data. In this paper a collection of industrial migration techniques, each giving rise to a data parallel algorithm, is outlined. Computer simulations on synthetic seismic data illustrate the problem and the approach.     

Cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals for ultraviolet and blue light blocking

Using cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystals, CsPb(Cl/Br)_3, as a light absorber, we report a highly effective UV and blue light blocking film. The CsPb(Cl/Br)_3 nanocrystals are well dispersed in the ethyl cellulose(EC) matrix to compose a UV and blue light shielding film, and the absorption edge of the film is tunable by adjusting Cl to Br ratio using anion exchange. The CsPbCl_2 Br-EC film exhibits a transmittance of 5% at 459 nm, 90% at 478 nm and 95% in the range of 500–800 nm, which makes it excellent for UV and blue light shielding. In addition, the as-prepared EC-CsPb(Cl/Br)_3 film shows excellent photostability under UV irradiation. Results demonstrate that this EC-CsPb(Cl/Br)_3 based materials with sharp absorbance edges, tunable blocking wavelength, and high photostability can be useful for the applications in UV and blue light blocking and optical filters     

PRIRODA-04: a quantum-chemical program suite. New possibilities in the study of molecular systems with the application of parallel computing

Main characteristics are described of the PRIRODA quantum-chemical program suite designed for the study of complex molecular systems by the density functional theory, at the MP2, MP3, and MP4 levels of multiparticle perturbation theory, and by the coupled-cluster single and double excitations method (CCSD) with the application of parallel computing. A number of examples of calculations are presented.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 3, pp. 804–810, March, 2005.     

A new method for the determination of mobile phase volume in normal and reversed-phase liquid chromatography

Summary A new method for the determination of the mobile phase volume (V _m) in liquid chromatography is presented based on the model regarding the retention of ionic solutes in the presence of eluent electrolytes. TheV _m value can be determined by measuring the retention volumes of two ions that have the same charge in two eluent electrolyte systems. Compared with the methods using isotopically labelled eluent components or inorganic salts asV _m markers, the method presented is proved to give more reasonableV _m values for both normal and reversed-phase liquid chromatography. As well as in binary mixed solvent systems, theV _m values in single solvent systems can be determined by this method.     

Faster GC analyses performed by flow programming in short capillary columns

The technique of programming the carrier gas flow rate in gas chromatography, especially in connection with the use of capillary columns shorter than 10 m can significantly accelerate GC analyses. Equations for calculation of the parameters of the exponential flow function and retention data are described. The effects of flow programming in a short capillary column are shown in a few chromatograms. Different programming rates are tested and compared with temperature programming.     

A parallel implementation of the COLUMBUS multireference configuration interaction program

Summary In this work a parallel implementation of the COLUMBUS MRSDCI program system is presented. A coarse grain parallelization approach using message passing via the portable toolkit TCGMSG is used. The program is very well portable and runs on shared memory machines like the Cray Y-MP, Alliant FX/2800 or Convex C2 and on distributed memory machines like the iPSC/860. Further implementations on a network of workstations and on the Intel Touchstone Delta are in progress. Overall, results are quite satisfactory considering the complexity and the prodigious requirements, especially the I/O bandwidth, of MRCI programs in general. For our largest test case we obtain a speedup of a factor of 7.2 on an eight processor Cray Y-MP for that section of the program (hamiltonian matrix times trial vector product) which has been parallelized. The speedup for one complete diagonalization iteration amounts to 5.9. An absolute speed close to 1 GFLOPS is found. Results for the iPSC/860 show that ordinary disk I/O is certainly not sufficient in order to guarantee a satisfactory performance. As a solution for that problem, the implementation of a fully asynchronous distributed-memory model for certain data files is in preparation. On leave from: Bereich Informatik, Universität Leipzig, Augustusplatz 10/11, O-7010 Leipzig, Germany     

Benchmark studies of the BCRLM reactive scattering code: Implications for accurate quantum calculations

Summary The Bending Corrected Rotating Linear Model (BCRLM), developed by Hayes and Walker, is a simple approximation to the true multidimensional scattering problem for reactions of the type: A + BC AB + C. While the BCRLM method is simpler than methods designed to obtain accurate three-dimensional quantum scattering results, this turns out to be a major advantage in terms of our benchmarking studies. The computer code used to obtain BCRLM scattering results is written for the most part in standard FORTRAN and has been ported to several scalar, vector, and parallel architecture computers including the IBM 3090-600J, the Cray XMP and YMP, the Ardent Titan, IBM RISC System/6000, Convex C-1 and the MIPS 2000. Benchmark results will be reported for each of these machines with an emphasis on comparing the scalar, vector, and parallel performance for the standard code with minimum modifications. Detailed analysis of the mapping of the BCRLM approach onto both shared and distributed memory parallel architecture machines indicates the importance of introducing several key changes in the basic strategy and algorithms used to calculate scattering results. This analysis of the BCRLM approach provides some insights into optimal strategies for mapping three-dimensional quantum scattering methods, such as the Parker-Pack method, onto shared or distributed memory parallel computers.     

Enhancement of the solubilities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by weak hydrogen bonds with water

Summary The thermodynamics of mobile order is applied to predict the aqueous solubility of liquid and solid aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The solubility values are mainly determined by the magnitude of the hydrophobic effect. However, contrary to the solubilities of the alkanes, the solubilities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in water predicted in absence of solute-solvent hydrogen (H) bonds are systematically too low. This shows the contribution of weak specific interactions between the OH groups and the electrons of the aromatic substances. According to the theory, these interactions are characterized by a stability bility constant K_o which can be derived from solubility data. At 25°C, this constant amounts to 80 cm³/mol, the order of magnitude of which can be explained by the competition of these intermolecular bonds with the rather weak self-association bonds in the secondary chains of water.     

Numerical solution of minimax problems of optimal control,part 1

This paper contains general transformation techniques useful to convert minimax problems of optimal control into the Mayer-Bolza problem of the calculus of variations [Problem (P)]. We consider two types of minimax problems: minimax problems of Type (Q), in which the minimax function depends on the state and does not depend on the control; and minimax problems of Type (R), in which the minimax function depends on both the state and the control. Both Problem (Q) and Problem (R) can be reduced to Problem (P).For Problem (Q), we exploit the analogy with a bounded-state problem in combination with a transformation of the Jacobson type. This requires the proper augmentation of the state vectorx(t), the control vectoru(t), and the parameter vector , as well as the proper augmentation of the constraining relations. As a result of the transformation, the unknown minimax value of the performance index becomes a component of the parameter vector being optimized.For Problem (R), we exploit the analogy with a bounded-control problem in combination with a transformation of the Valentine type. This requires the proper augmentation of the control vectoru(t) and the parameter vector , as well as the proper augmentation of the constraining relations. As a result of the transformation, the unknown minimax value of the performance index becomes a component of the parameter vector being optimized.In a subsequent paper (Part 2), the transformation techniques presented here are employed in conjunction with the sequential gradient-restoration algorithm for solving optimal control problems on a digital computer; both the single-subarc approach and the multiple-subarc approach are discussed.This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant No. ENG-79-18667, and by Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Contract No. F33615-80-C3000. This paper is a condensation of the investigations reported in Refs. 1–7. The authors are indebted to E. M. Coker and E. M. Sims for analytical and computational assistance.     

Use of mobile phase 18-crown-6 to improve peak resolution between mono- and divalent metal and amine cations in ion chromatography

It is difficult to quantify NH4+ by ion chromatography in the presence of high concentrations of Na+ due to peak overlap. The Dionex IonPac CS15 column, which contains phosphonate, carboxylate, and 18-crown-6 functional groups, was originally developed to overcome this problem. We have found that the addition of 18-crown-6 to the eluent promotes improved peak resolution between Na+ and NH4+ even at concentrations as high as 60,000 to 1 using this column. Its use also improves the separation of alkali and alkaline earth metal and amine cations. Mobile phase 18-crown-6 increased the retention times of CH3NH3+, NH4+, and K+, and decreased the retention time of Sr2+. The retention times of Li+, Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, (CH3)2NH2+, and (CH3)3NH+ were not affected. This method makes possible the direct analysis of ammonia from nitrogenase, the enzyme responsible for biological nitrogen fixation. The resolution of the NH4+ peak from the Na+ and Mg2+ peaks improved from zero resolution to values of 6.19 and 5.65, respectively. This technique considerably reduces the analysis time of NH4+ in the presence of high concentrations of Mg2+ and Na+ over traditional indophenol measurements.