Violin frequency response - bridge mobility and bridge feet distance

Good violins have a broad hill in the 2-3 kHz range of their frequency response. This hill has previously been attributed to the first in-plane resonance of the violin bridge. Experiments prove, however, that the hill is the result of two forces acting in opposite directions at the bridge feet. The experiments reported here show that the hill can be “tuned” by altering the distance between the bridge feet. It can be tuned both in terms of frequency and level but the properties of the violin cannot be neglected.     

Two-phase titration of organic ammonium ions with lauryl sulphate and methyl yellow as indicator

Conditions for determination of quaternary ammonium compounds and amines by two-phase titration have been calculated on the basis of extraction constants for the ion-pairs between the titrant (lauryl sulphate), the indicator (Methyl Yellow) and the sample. Methods for determination of extraction constants are presented. The precision and selectivity of the method are demonstrated by titrations of ammonium ions with different structures and degrees of substitution. The results are in agreement with the theoretical calculations.     

Copper-mediated cross-coupling reactions of N-unsubstituted sulfoximines and aryl halides

[reaction: see text] Copper-mediated cross-coupling reactions of sulfoximines with aryl iodides and aryl bromides provide N-arylated sulfoximines in high yields. The method is complementary to the known palladium-catalyzed N-arylation and allows the preparation of N-arylated sulfoximines, which have previously been inaccessible.     

Preparation of La0.75Sr0.25MnO3 Nano-Phase Powders and Films from Alkoxide Precursors

The first purely alkoxide-based sol-gel route to nano-phase powders and thin films of perovskite La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ is described. The phase and microstructure evolution on heat treatment of free gel films to form the target nano-phase oxide were investigated by TGA, IR spectroscopy, powder XRD, SEM and TEM-EDS. The xerogel consisted of a hydrated oxo-carbonate, without remaining alkoxo groups or solvent. Heating at 5°C·min^–1 decomposed the carbonate groups and yielded the pure perovskite La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ at 760°C. The cell dimensions were virtually unchanged from the first observation of perovskite at 680°C, to 1000°C, 4 h. The monoclinic cell of La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ obtained at 1000°C, 4 h, had the dimensions a = 5.475(1), b = 5.504(2), c = 7.771(1) Å, = 90.50(2), fitting the literature data quite well. Crack-free, homogenous, 150 nm thick La_0.75Sr_0.25MnO₃ films were prepared by spin-coating Si/SiO₂/TiO₂/Pt and polycrystalline -Al₂O₃ substrates with a 0.6 M alkoxide solution, followed by heating at 5°C·min^–1 to 800°C, 30 min.     

Single-optical-element soft-x-ray interferometry with a laser-plasma x-ray source

We report on a compact interferometer for the water-window soft-x-ray range that is suitable for operation with laser-plasma sources. The interferometer consists of a single diffractive optical element that focuses impinging x rays to two focal spots. The light from these two secondary sources forms the interference pattern. The interferometer was operated with a liquid-nitrogen jet laser-plasma source at lambda=2.88 nm. Scalar wave-field propagation was used to simulate the interference pattern, showing good correspondence between theoretical and experimental results. The diffractive optical element can simultaneously be used as an imaging optic, and we demonstrate soft-x-ray microscopy with interferometric contrast enhancement of a phase object.     

Does confined water exhibit a fragile-to-strong transition?

The dynamics of supercooled confined water has recently been shown to have a pronounced, apparent fragile-to-strong transition (FST). Here we use broadband dielectric spectroscopy (10^-2–10⁹ Hz) to study the dynamics of water confined in silica matrices MCM-41 C10 and C18, with pore diameter of 21.4 and 36.1 ?, respectively. The local dynamics of water molecules and the dynamics of the hydroxyl groups on the inner wall of the pores are followed up to over 240 K. We argue that the reported FST for confined water is due to the vanishing of the cooperative α relaxation, which implies that it should not be interpreted as a true FST.     

A Rigorous Lower Bound for the Optimal Value of Convex Optimization Problems

In this paper, we consider the computation of a rigorous lower error bound for the optimal value of convex optimization problems. A discussion of large-scale problems, degenerate problems, and quadratic programming problems is included. It is allowed that parameters, whichdefine the convex constraints and the convex objective functions, may be uncertain and may vary between given lower and upper bounds. The error bound is verified for the family of convex optimization problems which correspond to these uncertainties. It can be used to perform a rigorous sensitivity analysis in convex programming, provided the width of the uncertainties is not too large. Branch and bound algorithms can be made reliable by using such rigorous lower bounds.     

The slow dielectric Debye relaxation of monoalcohols in confined geometries

Broadband dielectric relaxation measurements have been performed on monoalcohols confined in the quasi-two-dimensional space between clay platelets and the quasi-one-dimensional pores of approximately 10 A? diameter in a molecular sieve. Interestingly, the results show that the slow Debye-like process is present even in these severe confinements, proving that structural models that are based on two-dimensional or three-dimensional cluster formations as the structural origin of the Debye-like process can be excluded. Rather, the insensitivity of its time-scale to confinements suggests that it is of local character and in some way related to the lifetime or breaking and reformation of hydrogen bonds.     

Accuracy of the Tougaard method for quantitative surface analysis. Comparison of the Universal and REELS inelastic cross sections

Three tests have been performed to investigate whether cross sections determined experimentally from reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy (REELS) are more accurate than the Universal cross section for background correction of electron spectra. In the first test, the shape of background corrected spectra from a thin layer and from an infinitely thick layer of the same element were compared for the Ag3d, Au4d, and Yb4d peaks. It was found that the Universal cross section is more accurate than the experimentally determined REELS cross sections to determine consistently the peak shape of background corrected spectra. In the second test, the intensity ratio of the two components in the Au4d, Cu2p, Zn2p, and Yb4d doublets were compared to theoretical photoionization cross sections. For both the Universal and the REELS inelastic cross sections, the obtained intensity ratios agree well with theory. In the third test, we compare with theory the peak intensity ratios to Au4d of major peaks from Si, Cu, Ag, Yb, and Au obtained by using the Universal and the REELS cross sections for background correction. For the metals, the two cross sections give peak intensity ratios that are equally close to theory to within the expected uncertainties in the theoretical peak intensity ratios. However, for Ag with application of the Universal cross section the deviation from theory is slightly larger. For Si the REELS cross section is clearly most accurate.