LITMIR.BIZ

The book is a short primer on chemical reaction rates based on a six-lecture first-year undergraduate course taught by the author at the University of Oxford. The book explores the various factors that determine how fast or slowly a chemical reaction proceeds and describes a variety of experimental methods for measuring reaction rates. The link between the reaction rate and the sequence of steps that makes up the reaction mechanism is also investigated. Chemical reaction rates is a core topic in all undergraduate chemistry courses.

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There are more than 20 million chemicals in the literature, with new materials being synthesized each week. Most of these molecules are stable, and the 3-dimensional arrangement of the atoms in the molecules, in the various solids may be determined by routine x-ray crystallography. When this is done, it is found that this vast range of molecules, with varying sizes and shapes can be accommodated by only a handful of solid structures. This limited number of architectures for the packing of molecules of all shapes and sizes, to maximize attractive intermolecular forces and minimizing repulsive intermolecular forces, allows us to develop simple models of what holds the molecules together in the solid. In this volume we look at the origin of the molecular architecture of crystals; a topic that is becoming increasingly important and is often termed, crystal engineering. Such studies are a means of predicting crystal structures, and of designing crystals with particular properties by manipulating the structure and interaction of large molecules. That is, creating new crystal architectures with desired physical characteristics in which the molecules pack together in particular architectures; a subject of particular interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

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It is generally acknowledged that modeling and simulation are preferred alternatives to trial and error approaches to semiconductor fabrication in the present environment, where the cost of process runs and associated mask sets is increasing exponentially with successive technology nodes. Hence, accurate physical device simulation tools are essential to accurately predict device and circuit performance. Accurate thermal modelling and the design of microelectronic devices and thin film structures at the micro- and nanoscales poses a challenge to electrical engineers who are less familiar with the basic concepts and ideas in sub-continuum heat transport. This book aims to bridge that gap. Efficient heat removal methods are necessary to increase device performance and device reliability. The authors provide readers with a combination of nanoscale experimental techniques and accurate modelling methods that must be employed in order to determine a device's temperature profile.

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This book covers the technology of switching or modulating light in semiconductor optical waveguides. Currently a key function for optical communications systems is the conversion of data from an electrical signal to an optical signal for transmission in very low loss optical fibres and the converse process of optical to electrical conversion the O/E/O data conversion. This conversion between electronic and photonic signals imposes an energy consumption overhead on optical communication systems. So many research workers have been attracted to ultrafast all-optical switching of data in different formats. As a way of introduction to all-optical switching in semiconductor waveguides the book covers the electro-optic effect, electroabsorption and electrorefraction; effects that can be used in semiconductor optical modulation devices. But the book focuses on all-optical switching using second and third order optical nonlinearities in AlGaAs optical waveguides. It covers a variety of device configurations including integrated nonlinear couplers and Mach-Zehnder interferometers. Further, it provides design software in suit of Mathematica notebooks that can be used to explore the device design.

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In the 116 year history of the Nobel Prize in Physics, only two women have won the award; Marie Curie (1903) and Maria Mayer (1963). During the 60 years between those awards, several women did work of similar calibre. This book focuses on those women, providing biographies for each that discuss both how they made their discoveries and the gender-specific reception of those discoveries. It also discusses the Nobel process and how society and the scientific community's treatment of them were influenced by their gender.

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Physics and the Environment directly connects the physical world to environmental issues that the world is facing today and will face in the future. It shows how the first and second laws of thermodynamics limit the efficiencies of fossil fuel energy conversions to less than 100%, while also discussing how clever technologies can enhance overall performance. It also extensively discusses renewable forms of energy, their physical constraints and how we must use science and engineering as tools to solve problems instead of opinion and politics. Dr. Kyle Forinash takes you on a journey of understanding our mature and well developed technologies for using fossil fuel resources and how we are unlikely to see huge gains in their efficiency as well as why their role in climate change ought to be an argument for their replacement sooner rather than later. He also discusses the newest technologies in employing renewable resources and how it is important to understand their physical constrains in order to make a smooth transition to them. An entire chapter is dedicated to energy storage, a core question in renewable energy as well as another chapter on the technical issues of nuclear energy. The book ends with a discussion on how no environmental solution, no matter how clever from a technical aspect, will succeed if there are cheaper alternative, even if those alternatives have undesirable features associated with them.

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Recent important discoveries and developments in nanotechnology have had a remarkable and ever-increasing impact on many industries, especially materials science, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. Nanocarriers have been investigated for a wide variety of different medical applications. Some examples of these nanocarriers include polymersomes, liposomes, micelles and carbon-based nanomaterials. Within this book, the authors describe different features of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), survey the properties of both the multi-walled and single-walled varieties, and cover their applications in drug and gene delivery. In addition, the book explains the structure and properties of CNTs prepared by different method, and discussed their isolation and purification. The future of CNTs in the field of biomedical science will depend on minimizing their adverse effects by careful study of their structure and properties.

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How does it happen that billions of stars can cooperate to produce the beautiful spirals that characterize so many galaxies, including ours? This book reviews the history behind the discovery of spiral galaxies and the problems faced when trying to explain the existence of spiral structure within them. In the book, subjects such as galaxy morphology and structure are addressed as well as several models for spiral structure. The evidence in favor or against these models is discussed. The book ends by discussing how spiral structure can be used as a proxy for other properties of spiral galaxies, such as their dark matter content and their central supermassive black hole masses, and why this is important.

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The electric dipole moment (EDM) challenge measures a non-zero proton EDM value and this book suggests how the challenge can be met. Any measurably large proton EDM would violate the standard model. The method to be employed uses an intense beam of 'frozen spin' protons circulating for hour-long times in a storage ring 'trap'. The smallness of EDMs allows them to test existing theories, but also makes them hard to measure. Such EDM experiments are inexpensive, at least compared to building accelerators of ever-greater energy.

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The development of nuclear weapons by the Manhattan Project during World War II was one of the most dramatic scientific/technological episodes in human history. This book, prepared by a recognized expert on the Manhattan Project, offers a concise survey of the essential physics concepts underlying fission weapons. The text describes the energetics and timescales of fast-neutron chain reactions, why only certain isotopes of uranium and plutonium are suitable for use in fission weapons, how critical mass and bomb yield can be estimated, how the efficiency of nuclear weapons can be enhanced, how the fissile forms of uranium and plutonium were obtained, some of the design details of the 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' bombs, and some of the thermal, shock, and radiation effects of nuclear weapons. Calculation exercises are provided, and a Bibliography lists authoritative print and online sources of information for readers who wish to pursue more detailed study of this fascinating topic.

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