The semigroup generated by the idempotents of a partition monoid

AbstractWe study the idempotent generated subsemigroup of the partition monoid. In the finite case this subsemigroup consists of the identity and all the singular partitions. In the infinite case, the subsemigroup is described in terms of certain parameters that measure how far a partition is from being a permutation. As one of several corollaries, we deduce Howieʼs description from 1966 of the semigroup generated by the idempotents of a full transformation semigroup

ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS OF DISCONTINUING THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS BOLL WEEVIL SUPPRESSION PROGRAM

Crop Production/Industries,

Crack path and fracture analysis in FSW of small diameter 6082-T6 aluminium tubes under tension-torsion loading

This paper reports part of the work done in a research project aimed at developing an optimised process to join 38. mm diameter tubes of 6082-T6 aluminium alloy using friction stir welding (FSW), and then to determine the fatigue performance under tension, torsion and tension-torsion loading conditions. The final outcome of the project is intended to be guidance for fatigue design of small diameter aluminium tubes joined by FSW, and this paper presents information on crack path and defects under the various loading conditions. Crack path analysis was performed using both low magnification stereo microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, in order to identify crack initiation sites, the direction of crack propagation and the interrelated influence of microstructure and weld geometry on the crack initiation path

Collective vs local measurements in qubit mixed state estimation

We discuss the problem of estimating a general (mixed) qubit state. We give the optimal guess that can be inferred from any given set of measurements. For collective measurements and for a large number $N$ of copies, we show that the error in the estimation goes as 1/N. For local measurements we focus on the simpler case of states lying on the equatorial plane of the Bloch sphere. We show that standard tomographic techniques lead to an error proportional to $1/N^{1/4}$, while with our optimal data processing it is proportional to $1/N^{3/4}$.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, minor style changes, refs. adde

Reheating Temperature and Gauge Mediation Models of Supersymmetry Breaking

For supersymmetric theories with gravitino dark matter, the maximal reheating temperature consistent with big bang nucleosynthesis bounds arises when the physical gaugino masses are degenerate. We consider the cases of a stau or sneutrino next-to-lightest superpartner, which have relatively less constraint from big bang nucleosynthesis. The resulting parameter space is consistent with leptogenesis requirements, and can be reached in generalized gauge mediation models. Such models illustrate a class of theories that overcome the well-known tension between big bang nucleosynthesis and leptogenesis.Comment: 30 pages, 4 figures; v2: refs adde

Multiaxial fatigue of aluminium friction stir welded joints: Preliminary results

The aim of the present research is to check the accuracy of the Modified Wöhler Curve Method (MWCM) in estimating the fatigue strength of friction stir (FS) welded tubular joints of Al 6082-T6 subjected to in-phase and out-of-phase multiaxial fatigue loading. The welded samples being investigated were manufactured by equipping an MTS I-STIR process development system with a retracting tool that was specifically designed and optimised for this purpose. These specimens were tested under proportional and non-proportional tension and torsion, the effect of non-zero mean stresses being also investigated. The validation exercise carried out by using the generated experimental results allowed us to prove that the MWCM (applied in terms of nominal stresses) is highly accurate in predicting the fatigue strength of the tested FS welded joints, its usage resulting in estimates falling with the uniaxial and torsional calibration scatter bands

Fatigue behaviour of Al 6082-T6 friction stir welded tubular joints under torsional loading

The aim of the present research is to investigate the fatigue behaviour of friction stir (FS) welded tubular joints in aluminium alloy subjected to torsional fatigue loading. To manufacture the samples which were tested, an MTS I-STIR process development system was equipped with a retracting tool specifically designed for these tubular welds. Al 6082-T6 FS welded samples were tested under cyclic torsion with a nominal shear stress ratio equal to-1 and 0. The test data show that, strictly speaking, the presence of non-zero mean shear stresses has a detrimental effect on the overall torsional fatigue strength of the FS welded joints. However, the reanalysis discussed in the present paper suggests that, from a statistical point of view, any detrimental effect is small. This means that fatigue assessment under torsional fatigue loading of these FS welded tubular connections can be performed with little loss of accuracy by neglecting the presence of non-zero mean shear stresses

A pressure swing approach to selective CO2 sequestration using functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers

Functionalized hypercrosslinked polymers (HCPs) with surface areas between 213 and 1124 m2/g based on a range of monomers containing different chemical moieties were evaluated for CO2 capture using a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) methodology under humid conditions and elevated temperatures. The networks demonstrated rapid CO2 uptake reaching maximum uptakes in under 60 s. The most promising networks demonstrating the best selectivity and highest uptakes were applied to a pressure swing setup using simulated flue gas streams. The carbazole, triphenylmethanol and triphenylamine networks were found to be capable of converting a dilute CO2 stream (>20%) into a concentrated stream (>85%) after only two pressure swing cycles from 20 bar (adsorption) to 1 bar (desorption). This work demonstrates the ease with which readily synthesized functional porous materials can be successfully applied to a pressure swing methodology and used to separate CO2 from N2 from industrially applicable simulated gas streams under more realistic conditions

Braneworld Cosmology in (Anti)--de Sitter Einstein--Gauss--Bonnet--Maxwell Gravity

Braneworld cosmology for a domain wall embedded in the charged (Anti)-de Sitter-Schwarzschildblack hole of the five--dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet-Maxwell theory is considered. The effective Friedmann equation for the brane is derived by introducing the necessary surface counterterms required for a well-defined variational principlein the Gauss--Bonnet theory and for the finiteness of the bulk space. The asymptotic dynamics of the brane cosmology is determined and it is found that solutions with vanishingly small spatial volume are unphysical. The finiteness of the bulk action is related to the vanishing of the effective cosmological constant on the brane. An analogy between the Friedmann equation and a generalized Cardy--Verlinde formula is drawn.Comment: LaTex file 28 pages, typos corrected, one reference is adde