Comparative study of the specific heat of superconducting and non-superconducting YBa2Cu3O7−x

We have measured the specific heat, the electrical resistance and the magnetic susceptibility of YBa₂Cu₃O_7–x in a superconducting (sc) and in a non-superconducting (nsc) version. The latter was obtained by inducing a small loss of oxygen. In the sc sample we find a jump of the specific heat with C=3.6 J mole^–1 K^–1. Below the maximum nearT _c the specific heat of the sc version drops too fast for an electronic effect alone: there is a cross-over from excess to deficiency already at 0.9T _c . The specific heat of the nsc version shows a change of slope in the temperature range between 70 and 80 K, which indicates the existence of a second specific heat anomaly, which apparently exists independently of that due to the onset of superconductivity and explains at least partially the premature crossover.Alexander von Humboldt fellow. On leave in absence from Centro Atomico Bariloche—CNEA Argentina     

Thermomagnetic properties of very heavy fermions suitable for adiabatic demagnetisation refrigeration at low temperature

ABSTRACT

With the aim to improve the performance of classical paramagnetic salts for adiabatic refrigeration processes at the sub-Kelvin range, relevant thermodynamic parameters of some new Yb-based intermetallic compounds are analysed and compared. Two main applications are considered: (i) those requiring temperature fixed-points to be reached applying magnetic fields of moderate intensity for satellite applications, and (ii) those which can be used for controlled thermal drifts in laboratory applications. Different thermomagnetic trajectories of the entropy are identified depending on respective specific heat behaviours and the constraints imposed by the Nernst postulate at the sub-Kelvin range. Some simple relationships are proposed to compare the diverse magnetocaloric characteristics of different systems. This procedure allows to include the classical Cerium-Magnesium-Nitride (CMN) salt in that comparison.     

Kinetic energy spectrum and polarization of neutrons from the reaction 12C(p,n)X at 590 MeV

Abstact: The kinetic energy spectrum and the polarization of the PSI neutron beam produced in the reaction ¹²C(p,n)X at 0° with 590 MeV polarized protons were investigated. A strong energy dependence of the neutron beam polarization is observed which was not expected at the time the neutron beam was built. Received: 3 April 1998     

Pathwidth of outerplanar graphs

We are interested in the relation between the pathwidth of a biconnected outerplanar graph and the pathwidth of its (geometric) dual. Bodlaender and Fomin [3], after having proved that the pathwidth of every biconnected outerplanar graph is always at most twice the pathwidth of its (geometric) dual plus two, conjectured that there exists a constant c such that the pathwidth of every biconnected outerplanar graph is at most c plus the pathwidth of its dual. They also conjectured that this was actually true with c being one for every biconnected planar graph. Fomin [10] proved that the second conjecture is true for all planar triangulations. First, we construct for each p ≥ 1, a biconnected outerplanar graph of pathwidth 2p + 1 whose (geometric) dual has pathwidth p + 1, thereby disproving both conjectures. Next, we also disprove two other conjectures (one of Bodlaender and Fomin [3], implied by one of Fomin [10]. Finally we prove, in an algorithmic way, that the pathwidth of every biconnected outerplanar graph is at most twice the pathwidth of its (geometric) dual minus one. A tight interval for the studied relation is therefore obtained, and we show that all cases in the interval happen. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 55: 27–41, 2007     

Improper choosability of graphs and maximum average degree

Improper choosability of planar graphs has been widely studied. In particular, ?krekovski investigated the smallest integer g_k such that every planar graph of girth at least g_k is k‐improper 2‐choosable. He proved [9] that 6 ≤ g₁ ≤ 9; 5 ≤ g₂ ≤ 7; 5 ≤ g₃ ≤ 6; and ? k ≥ 4, g_k = 5. In this article, we study the greatest real M(k, l) such that every graph of maximum average degree less than M(k, l) is k‐improper l‐choosable. We prove that if l ≥ 2 then . As a corollary, we deduce that g₁ ≤ 8 and g₂ ≤ 6, and we obtain new results for graphs of higher genus. We also provide an upper bound for M(k, l). This implies that for any fixed l, . © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 52: 181–199, 2006     

Two proofs of the Bermond-Thomassen conjecture for tournaments with bounded minimum in-degree

The Bermond-Thomassen conjecture states that, for any positive integer r, a digraph of minimum out-degree at least 2r−1 contains at least r vertex-disjoint directed cycles. Thomassen proved that it is true when r=2, and very recently the conjecture was proved for the case where r=3. It is still open for larger values of r, even when restricted to (regular) tournaments. In this paper, we present two proofs of this conjecture for tournaments with minimum in-degree at least 2r−1. In particular, this shows that the conjecture is true for (almost) regular tournaments. In the first proof, we prove auxiliary results about union of sets contained in another union of sets, that might be of independent interest. The second one uses a more graph-theoretical approach, by studying the properties of a maximum set of vertex-disjoint directed triangles.