Fermi, Majorana and the Statistical Model of Atoms

We give an account of the appearance and first developments of the statistical model of atoms proposed by Thomas and Fermi, focusing on the main results achieved by Fermi and his group in Rome. Particular attention is addressed to the unknown contribution to this subject by Majorana, anticipating some important results reached later by leading physicists.     

Effects of tributyltin(IV) chloride on the gametes and fertilization of Ascidia malaca (Ascidiacea: Tunicata)

Ascidia malaca gametes before fertilization incubated in 10^?5 or 10^?7 M solutions of tributyltin(IV) chloride, TBTCl, for 3 h appear highly damaged under transmission electron microscopy observation. Also, the fertilization process is affected by the compound: the damaged spermatozoa are present in the vitelline coat and the egg does not cleave. An increase of microbodies, structurally similar to peroxisomes, have been detected in the egg peripheral cytoplasm, probably in relation to their role in alleviating damage to some cellular components. The results have shown that the reproduction of ascidians under unfavourable environmental conditions is prevented. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and Fabrication of Composite Smart Structures with High Electric and Mechanical Performances for Future Mobile Communication

In this paper, we have developed a load-bearing outer skin for antennas, which is termed a composite smart structure (CSS). The CSS is a multilayer composite sandwich structure in which antenna layers are inserted. A direct-feed stacked patch antenna is considered. A design procedure including the structure design, material selection, and design of antenna elements in order to obtain high electric and mechanical performances is presented. An optimized honeycomb thickness is selected for efficient radiation and impedance characteristics. High gain conditions can be obtained by placing the outer facesheet in the resonance position, which is at about a half wavelength distance from the ground plane. The measured electrical performances show that the CSS has a great bandwidth (over 10%) and a higher gain than an antenna without a facesheet and has excellent mechanical performances, owing to the composite laminates and honeycomb cores. The CSS concept can be extended to give a useful guide for manufacturers of structural body panels and for antenna designers.     

Approximate symmetries and conservation laws for Itô and Stratonovich dynamical systems

A new definition for the approximate symmetries of Itô dynamical system is given. Determining systems of approximate symmetries for Itô and Stratonovich dynamical systems have been obtained. It has been shown that approximate conservation laws can be found from the approximate symmetries of stochastic dynamical systems which do not arise from a Hamiltonian. The results have been applied to an example.     

Effects of Polymer Bridging and Electrostatics on the Rheological Behavior of Aqueous Colloidal Dispersions†

Effects of a low molecular weight physically adsorbed polyethylene oxide (PEO) and the range of the electrostatic repulsion on the rheological behavior of silica dispersions (as a model system) has been investigated. Particular attention is given to the evolution of the rheological behavior with increasing the polymer concentration in the system and also effectiveness of the polymer as a dispersant under extreme conditions (high ionic strength). Results indicate that at small separation distances and low polymer coverage, the polymer chains are long enough to adsorb on the surface of two particles simultaneously causing bridging flocculation in the system and hence increasing the viscosity and linear viscoelastic functions of the dispersion. A significant increase was observed in the viscosity of the dispersion at salt concentrations high enough to eliminate electrostatics between the particles. Under these conditions,the viscosity of the system increased significantly when PEO was added to the dispersion showing that at high electrolyte concentrations, a neutral polymer such as PEO is not able to stabilize the system.     

Mathematical topographical correction of XPS images using multivariate statistical methods

For rough heterogeneous samples, the contrast observed in XPS images may result from both changes in elemental or chemical composition and sample topography. Background image acquisition and subtraction are frequently utilized to minimize topographical effects so that images represent concentration variations in the sample. This procedure may significantly increase the data acquisition time. Multivariate statistical methods can assist in resolving topographical and chemical information from multispectral XPS images. Principal component analysis (PCA) is one method for identification of the highest correlation/variation between the images. Topography, which is common to all of the images, will be resolved in the first most significant component. The score of this component contains spatial information about the topography of the surface, whereas the loading is a quantitative representation of the topography contribution to each elemental/chemical image. The simple‐to‐use self‐modelling mixture analysis (Simplisma) method is a pure variable method that searches for the source of most differences in the data and therefore has the potential to distinguish between chemical and topographical phases in images. The mathematical background correction scheme is developed and validated by comparing results to the experimental background correction for samples with differing degrees of topography. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A two-stage parallel branch and bound algorithm for mixed integer programs

Mixed integer programming (MIP) models are extensively usedto aid strategic and tactical decision making in many businesssectors. Solving MIP models is a computationally intensive processand there is a need to develop solution approaches that enablelarger models to be solved within acceptable timeframes. Inthis paper, we describe the implementation of a two-stage parallelbranch and bound (PB & B) algorithm for MIP. In stage 1of the algorithm, a multiple heuristic search is implementedin which a number of alternative search trees are investigatedusing a forest search in the hope of finding a good solutionquickly. In stage 2, the search is reorganized so that the branchesof a chosen tree are investigated in parallel. A new heuristicis introduced, based on a best projection criterion, which evaluatesalternative B & B trees in order to choose one for investigationin stage 2 of the algorithm. The heuristic also serves as away of implementing a quality load balancing scheme for stage2 of the algorithm. The results of experimental investigationsare reported for a range of models taken from the MIPLIB libraryof benchmark problems.     

Partially Classical States of a Boson Field

Employing positive-definiteness arguments we analyse Boson field states, which combine classical and quantum mechanical features (signal and noise), in a constructive manner. Mathematically, they constitute Bauer simplexes within the convex, weak-*-compact state space of the C*-Weyl algebra, defined by a presymplectic test function space (smooth one-Boson wave functions) and are affinely homeomorphic to a state space of a classical field. The regular elements are expressed in terms of weak distributions (probability premeasures) on the dual test function space. The Bauer simplex arising from the bare vacuum is shown to generalize the quantum optical photon field states with positive P-functions.     

Three methods for analyzing forced vibration of a fluid-filled cylindrical shell

The forced vibration of an infinite elastic circular cylindrical shell filled with fluid is studied. Three methods are employed to analyze the forced vibration problem of this shell-fluid coupled system, that is, wave propagation approach (wave mode superposition), theorem of residues and a numerical integral method. In order to explain these methods more explicitly, before being used to investigate the vibration of an infinite fluid-filled elastic circular cylindrical shell, all these three methods are employed firstly to analyze the forced vibration problem of an infinite beam and an infinite elastic circular cylindrical shell in vacuo. Advantage and disadvantage of these three methods are discussed and their interesting relationship is revealed. That is, to any circumferential wavenumber and frequency of the external force, there is an unchangeable relationship between the general coordinates of various waves in the wave propagation approach and the residuals in the theorem of residues.     

利用模式的对称性研究光子晶体光纤的色散

由光子晶体光纤的对称性可以得到模式分布的对称性，根据模式的对称性选择适当的展开函数，可以使计算量大大减少。计算了六角结构光子晶体光纤的色散特性，得到了波长在1．55pm处色散为零时，光子晶体光纤的结构参量所满足的方程。