On the theory of vapor — Liquid — Crystal phase transitions

An approach is discussed which allows one to describe within the framework of the single model the aggregative states of a system of atoms obeying the Fermi statistics. A phase diagram is obtained containing both the critical point where the distinctions between the liquid and vapor vanish and the triple point where the liquid, vapor, and crystal are in equilibrium.     

Vehicle density and velocity estimation on highways for on-ramp metering control

A scheme for vehicle density and velocity estimation in a stretch of highway based on a modified cell transmission model [C. F. Daganzo, Transportation Research, Part B, 28B(4),269–287, 1994. Elsevier is presented. The scheme is intended for use with on-ramp metering control algorithms, providing local knowledge of densities and velocities that is helpful to improve on-ramp metering control performance. Estimation of density is obtained by nonlinear estimators, while velocity estimation is obtained by gradient algorithms. There is one density–velocity estimator for free traffic flow and other for congested traffic flow. Both estimator schemes work in parallel. The final estimation of density and velocity results from a convex combination of the predictions of the two estimators. This combination depends on occupancy or density measurements at the boundaries of the stretch and is produced by a fuzzy inference system. Stability and convergence of the density and velocity estimation scheme is proved by Lyapunov based techniques. Simulation results comparing measured and estimated traffic data are presented. They confirm good performance of the estimators. Research sponsored by grants UNAM PAPIIT IN110403 and CONACYT 47583.     

Phase Separation Driven by a Fluctuating Two-Dimensional Self-Affine Potential Field

We study phase separation in a system of hard-core particles driven by a fluctuating two-dimensional self-affine potential landscape which evolves through Kardar–Parisi–Zhang (KPZ) dynamics. We find that particles tend to cluster together on a length scale which grows in time. The final phase-separated steady state is characterized by an unusual cusp singularity in the scaled correlation function and a broad distribution for the order parameter. Unlike the one-dimensional case studied earlier, the cluster-size distribution is asymmetric between particles and holes, reflecting the broken reflection symmetry of the KPZ dynamics, and has a contribution from an infinite cluster in addition to a power law part. A study of the surface in terms of coarse-grained depth variables helps understand many of these features.     

Insight into chain dimensions in PEO/water solutions

Small‐Angle Neutron Scattering has been performed from poly(ethylene oxide) in deuterated water at temperature ranging from 10 to 80 °C. A simple fitting model was used to obtain a correlation length and a Porod exponent. The correlation length L characterizes the average distance between entanglements in the semidilute region and is proportional to the individual coil sizes in the dilute region. L was found to increase with temperature in the semidilute region but it decreases with temperature in the dilute region. This decrease is the precursor to the single‐chain collapse which applies to very dilute polymer solutions. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2196–2200, 2007     

Estimates from Below for the Spectral Function and for the Remainder in Local Weyl’s Law

We obtain asymptotic lower bounds for the spectral function of the Laplacian and for the remainder in local Weyl’s law on manifolds. In the negatively curved case, thermodynamic formalism is applied to improve the estimates. Key ingredients of the proof include the wave equation parametrix, a pretrace formula and the Dirichlet box principle. Our results develop and extend the unpublished thesis of A. Karnaukh [Ka]. The first author was supported by NSERC, FQRNT, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellowship and Dawson Fellowship. The second author was supported by NSERC and FQRNT. Received: April 2006 Revision: October 2006 Accepted: October 2006     

Phosphonate electrochemical recognition by molecularly imprinted deposited film

In this paper, thin films of titanium oxide imprinted with O,O-dimethyl-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetoxyl)(3′-nitrobenyl) methinephosphonate (Phi-NO₂) were prepared via liquid phase deposition (LPD) method on a glassy carbon electrode. The imprinted molecular in the films was removed by treatment with immersion in CH₂Cl₂. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical methods were introduced to show the evidence of the molecular imprinting phenomenon. It was also found that the recognition ability of the sensor depended on the substituents associated with tridimensional structures of the nitro-compounds. Under the optimized condition, the sensor showed better sensitivity, selectivity and reproducibility to the imprinted molecule and the linear relationship between the current and the concentration of analyte in the range of 0.1-50 μM was obtained. LPD proved to be a powerful method for imprinting titanium oxide thin sense films.     

Solvothermal synthesis of TiO2: anatase nanocrystals and rutile nanofibres from TiCl4 in acetone

This work reports a new synthetic approach for single‐phase TiO₂ nanomaterials by solvothermal treatment of titanium tetrachloride in acetone at 80–110 °C. Small, uniform, and yet size‐tunable (5–10 nm) anatase titania nanocrystallites were obtained using a low concentration of TiCl₄ in acetone (i.e., at molar ratios of TiCl₄/acetone ≤ 1:15) in the temperature range of 80–110 °C, while rutile nanofibers were synthesized using a high concentration of TiCl₄ (e.g., TiCl₄/acetone = 1:10) at 110 °C. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stability of the steady state for the Falk model system of shape memory alloys

In this article a stability result for the Falk model system is proven. The Falk model system describes the martensitic phase transitions in shape memory alloys. In our setting, the steady state is a nonlocal elliptic problem. We show the dynamical stability for the linearized stable critical point of the corresponding functional. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time dependent analysis of finite buffer fluid flows and risk models with a dividend barrier

Based on the matrix-analytic approach to fluid flows initiated by Ramaswami, we develop an efficient time dependent analysis for a general Markov modulated fluid flow model with a finite buffer and an arbitrary initial fluid level at time 0. We also apply this to an insurance risk model with a dividend barrier and a general Markovian arrival process of claims with possible dependencies in successive inter-claim intervals and in claim sizes. We demonstrate the implementability and accuracy of our algorithms through a set of numerical examples that could also serve as test cases for comparing other solution approaches.      

Mean curvature flow with a forcing term in minkowski space

We study the forced mean curvature flow of graphs in Minkowski space and prove longtime existence of solutions. When the forcing term is a constant, we prove convergence to either a constant mean curvature hypersurface or a translating soliton – depending on the boundary conditions at infinity. It is a pleasure to thank my PhD advisors Klaus Ecker and Gerhard Huisken for their assistance and encouragement. I also thank Maria Athanassenas, Oliver Schnürrer and Marty Ross for their interest and useful comments, and the Max Planck Gesellschaft for financial support.