An Integrated Two Phases Approach to Zn2+ Ions Electroreduction on Hg

The following two numerical models have been applied to zinc cations electroreduction in 1 M NaClO₄ water solution: a classical EE model describing the concentration of involved species in solution (semi infinitive diffusion region), an extended EE model describing both: the concentration of involved species in solution and the concentration of metallic zinc inside mercury drop (in limited area of diffusion). In the latter model the inner part of mercury drop and surrounding solution were treated as dynamic interrelated system. Both models were applied to experimental cyclic voltammetric CV data in 1 M NaClO₄, the results compared and discussed. The concentration profiles of all species including metallic zinc inside mercury drop were performed. The presented integrated model is essential for theoretical and analytical aspects of the electrochemistry of mercury soluble metal cations and amalgams.     

Method of lines with boundary elements for 1‐D transient diffusion‐reaction problems

Time‐dependent differential equations can be solved using the concept of method of lines (MOL) together with the boundary element (BE) representation for the spatial linear part of the equation. The BE method alleviates the need for spatial discretization and casts the problem in an integral format. Hence errors associated with the numerical approximation of the spatial derivatives are totally eliminated. An element level local cubic approximation is used for the variable at each time step to facilitate the time marching and the nonlinear terms are represented in a semi‐implicit manner by a local linearization at each time step. The accuracy of the method has been illustrated on a number of test problems of engineering significance. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2006     

Diffusion from sessile droplets through membranes

We analyze diffusion from a periodic array of hemispherical droplets through a membrane. We find that the multiple sources do not interact strongly, even when the droplets are closely spaced, so that the flux through the membrane appears nearly additive.     

The Linear Fokker-Planck Equation for the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process as an (Almost) Nonlinear Kinetic Equation for an Isolated N-Particle System

It is long known that the Fokker-Planck equation with prescribed constant coefficients of diffusion and linear friction describes the ensemble average of the stochastic evolutions in velocity space of a Brownian test particle immersed in a heat bath of fixed temperature. Apparently, it is not so well known that the same partial differential equation, but now with constant coefficients which are functionals of the solution itself rather than being prescribed, describes the kinetic evolution (in the N→∞ limit) of an isolated N-particle system with certain stochastic interactions. Here we discuss in detail this recently discovered interpretation. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Cosmic dust and our origins

The small solid particles in the space between the stars provide the surfaces for the production of many simple and complex molecules. Processes involving the effects of ultraviolet irradiation of the thin (hundredth micron) mantles are shown to produce a wide range of molecules and ions also seen in comets. Some of the more complex ones inferred from laboratory experiments are expected to play an important role in the origin of life. An outline of the chemical evolution of interstellar dust as observed and as studied in the laboratory is presented. Observations of comets are shown to provide substantial evidence for their being fluffy aggregates of interstellar dust as it was in the protosolar nebula, i.e. the interstellar cloud which collapsed to form the solar system. The theory that comets may have brought the progenitors of life to the earth is summarized.     

Numerical solution of the three‐dimensional parabolic equation with an integral condition

Developement of numerical methods for obtaining approximate solutions to the three dimensional diffusion equation with an integral condition will be carried out. The numerical techniques discussed are based on the fully explicit (1,7) finite difference technique and the fully implicit (7,1) finite difference method and the (7,7) Crank‐Nicolson type finite difference formula. The new developed methods are tested on a problem. Truncation error analysis and numerical examples are used to illustrate the accuracy of the new algorithms. The results of numerical testing show that the numerical methods based on the finite difference techniques discussed in the present article produce good results. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 18: 193–202, 2002; DOI 10.1002/num.1040     

Co-Segregation Effects on Boundary Migration

We analyze the effect of co-segregation on the mobility of grain boundaries within the framework of the impurity drag theory originally proposed by Cahn and Lücke and Stüwe for an ideal solution. The new derivation extends this model to the case where there are two types of impurities (or three components in the alloy). Since the resultant expression for the boundary mobility is complicated, numerical solutions were obtained for several cases to show how co-segregation affects the boundary mobility. Depending on the relative diffusivities of the two impurities which are both attracted to the boundary, the mobility may either increase or decrease with increasing concentration of one of the impurities. When one of the impurities is attracted to the boundary and the other repelled from the boundary, increasing the concentration of the attractive impurity can lead to a sharp decrease in the boundary mobility.     

Likelihood Ratio Processes for Markovian Particle Systems with Killing and Jumps

We consider Markov processes built from pasting together pieces of strong Markov processes which are killed at a position dependent rate and connected via a transition kernel. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for local absolute continuity of probability laws for such processes on a suitable path space and derive an explicit formula for the corresponding likelihood ratio process. The main tool is the consideration of the process between successive jumps – what we call ‘elementary experiments’ – and criteria for absolute continuity of laws of the process there. We apply our results to systems of branching diffusions with interactions and immigrations. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Absorbing boundary conditions for reaction-diffusion equations

We treat here of the question of absorbing boundary conditionsfor nonlinear diffusion equations. We use the conditions designedfor the linear equation, we prove them to be well posed forthe nonlinear problem, and through numerical experiments thatthey are well suited for reaction–diffusion equations.     

What Oxidation State of Iron Determines the Amethyst Colour?

A colourless quartz crystal doped with ⁵⁷Fe³⁺ was obtained by hydrothermal synthesis in an NH₄F solution. The crystal was transformed into violet amethyst by gamma-irradiation. The change in colour was accompanied by changes in the Mössbauer spectrum that can be interpreted as the conversion of trivalent iron into the tetravalent state: Fe³⁺→Fe⁴⁺.