The second R. A. Robinson Memorial Lecture. Electron, proton and related transfers

Past and current developments in electron and proton transfer and in related fields are described. Broad classes of reactions have been considered from a unified viewpoint which offers a variety of experimental predictions. This introductory lecture considers various aspects of this many-faceted field. A simple equation is given for a highly exothermic electron-transfer reaction

Potential-energy surfaces, unimolecular processes and spectroscopy

The present symposium brings together research in a number of fields: the quantum-chemical calculation of molecular potential-energy surfaces, rotational–vibrational spectroscopy, methods of calculating rotational–vibrational energy levels, unimolecular reactions and intramolecular dynamics. Several aspects of the work are discussed including some recent developments on rates and products' quantum state distributions for unimolecular dissociations having highly flexible transition states. The usefulness of having improved potential-energy surfaces, particularly the bonding and hindered rotational potentials in the dissociations, is noted. In various other studies in this symposium a better knowledge of the surfaces would be particularly helpful. New results on a semiclassical quantization method are also described

On the Theory of Intramolecular Energy Transfer

We consider the distinguishing features of two main types of classical anharmonic motion in molecules, their quantum parallels, and conditions that classical chaos also be sufficient for “quantum chaos”. Implications are considered for experimental reaction rates, R.R.K.M. theory, spectra and a possible type of system for intramolecular laser-selective chemistry. A theory of intramolecular energy transfer between two ligands of a heavy atom is described for a system which may contain many coordinates. It is partly statistical and, for the modes of each ligand which communicate through the heavy atom, dynamical

Interpretation methodology and analysis of in-flight lightning data

A methodology is presented whereby electromagnetic measurements of inflight lightning stroke data can be understood and extended to other aircraft. Recent measurements made on the NASA F106B aircraft indicate that sophisticated numerical techniques and new developments in corona modeling are required to fully understand the data. Thus the problem is nontrivial and successful interpretation can lead to a significant understanding of the lightning/aircraft interaction event. This is of particular importance because of the problem of lightning induced transient upset of new technology low level microcircuitry which is being used in increasing quantities in modern and future avionics. Inflight lightning data is analyzed and lightning environments incident upon the F106B are determined

STRUCTURE OF SOUTH CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Using a dual economic specification of a multiproduct technology, the structure of agricultural production was tested for five South Central states (Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana). A comprehensive set of output supplies and input demands comprised the estimation equations in each state. Evidence of nonjoint production in a subset of commodities was detected in four of the five states. Several commodities also satisfied sufficient conditions for consistent aggregations. However, the specific outputs satisfying each structural property varied by state. Sufficient conditions for consistent geographic aggregation across the states were not satisfied. These results provide empirical guidance and important cautions for legitimately simplifying state-level model specifications of southern agricultural production.Industrial Organization,

Linear and nonlinear interpretation of the direct strike lightning response of the NASA F106B thunderstorm research aircraft

The objective of the work reported here is to develop a methodology by which electromagnetic measurements of inflight lightning strike data can be understood and extended to other aircraft. A linear and time invariant approach based on a combination of Fourier transform and three dimensional finite difference techniques is demonstrated. This approach can obtain the lightning channel current in the absence of the aircraft for given channel characteristic impedance and resistive loading. The model is applied to several measurements from the NASA F106B lightning research program. A non-linear three dimensional finite difference code has also been developed to study the response of the F106B to a lightning leader attachment. This model includes three species air chemistry and fluid continuity equations and can incorporate an experimentally based streamer formulation. Calculated responses are presented for various attachment locations and leader parameters. The results are compared qualitatively with measured inflight data

Diverter Decision Aiding for In-Flight Diversions

It was determined that artificial intelligence technology can provide pilots with the help they need in making the complex decisions concerning en route changes in a flight plan. A diverter system should have the capability to take all of the available information and produce a recommendation to the pilot. Phase three illustrated that using Joshua to develop rules for an expert system and a Statice database provided additional flexibility by permitting the development of dynamic weighting of diversion relevant parameters. This increases the fidelity of the AI functions cited as useful in aiding the pilot to perform situational assessment, navigation rerouting, flight planning/replanning, and maneuver execution. Additionally, a prototype pilot-vehicle interface (PVI) was designed providing for the integration of both text and graphical based information. Advanced technologies were applied to PVI design, resulting in a hierarchical menu based architecture to increase the efficiency of information transfer while reducing expected workload. Additional efficiency was gained by integrating spatial and text displays into an integrated user interface

Vibrational state dependence of ionic rotational branching ratios in resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization of CH

We show that rapid evolution of a Rydberg orbital with internuclear distance in a resonance enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI) process can have a profound influence on the production of molecular ions in alternative rotational states. This is illustrated by calculations of ionic rotational branching ratios for (2+1′) REMPI via the O11 (20.5) branch of the E′ ^2Σ^+(3pσ) Rydberg state of CH. The rotational propensity rule for ionization changes from ΔN=odd (ΔN=N_+−N_i) at lower vibrational excitation, as expected from the ΔN+l=odd selection rule, to ΔN=even at higher vibrational levels. This effect is expected to be quite general and should be most readily observable in diatomic hydrides

Contextuality under weak assumptions

The presence of contextuality in quantum theory was first highlighted by Bell, Kochen and Specker, who discovered that for quantum systems of three or more dimensions, measurements could not be viewed as deterministically revealing pre-existing properties of the system. More precisely, no model can assign deterministic outcomes to the projectors of a quantum measurement in a way that depends only on the projector and not the context (the full set of projectors) in which it appeared, despite the fact that the Born rule probabilities associated with projectors are independent of the context. A more general, operational definition of contextuality introduced by Spekkens, which we will term "probabilistic contextuality", drops the assumption of determinism and allows for operations other than measurements to be considered contextual. Even two-dimensional quantum mechanics can be shown to be contextual under this generalised notion. Probabilistic noncontextuality represents the postulate that elements of an operational theory that cannot be distinguished from each other based on the statistics of arbitrarily many repeated experiments (they give rise to the same operational probabilities) are ontologically identical. In this paper, we introduce a framework that enables us to distinguish between different noncontextuality assumptions in terms of the relationships between the ontological representations of objects in the theory given a certain relation between their operational representations. This framework can be used to motivate and define a "possibilistic" analogue, encapsulating the idea that elements of an operational theory that cannot be unambiguously distinguished operationally can also not be unambiguously distinguished ontologically. We then prove that possibilistic noncontextuality is equivalent to an alternative notion of noncontextuality proposed by Hardy. Finally, we demonstrate that these weaker noncontextuality assumptions are sufficient to prove alternative versions of known "no-go" theorems that constrain ψ-epistemic models for quantum mechanics