Ergodic properties and thermodynamic behavior of elementary reversible cellular automata. I. Basic properties

This is the first part of a series devoted to the study of thermodynamic behavior of large dynamical systems with the use of a family of fully-discrete and conservative models named elementary reversible cellular automata (ERCAs). In this paper, basic properties such as conservation laws and phase space structure are investigated in preparation for the later studies. ERCAs are a family of one-dimensional reversible cellular automata having two Boolean variables on each site. Reflection and Boolean conjugation symmetries divide them into 88 equivalence classes. For each rule, additive conserved quantities written in a certain form are regarded as a kind of energy, if they exist. By the aid of the discreteness of the variables, every ERCA satisfies the Liouville theorem or the preservation of phase space volume. Thus, if an energy exists in the above sense, statistical mechanics of the model can formally be constructed. If a locally defined quantity is conserved, however, it prevents the realization of statistical mechanics. The existence of such a quantity is examined for each class and a number of rules which have at least one energy but no local conservation laws are selected as hopeful candidates for the realization of thermodynamic behavior. In addition, the phase space structure of ERCAs is analyzed by enumerating cycles exactly in the phase space for systems of comparatively small sizes. As a result, it is revealed that a finite ERCA is not ergodic, that is, a large number of orbits coexist on an energy surface. It is argued that this fact does not necessarily mean the failure of thermodynamic behavior on the basis of an analogy with the ergodic nature of infinite systems.     

Measurement of circular dichroism spectra of liquid/liquid interface by centrifugal liquid membrane method.

The direct measurement of the circular dichroism (CD) spectra of liquid/liquid interface has been achieved for the first time by the centrifugal liquid membrane (CLM) method combined with a conventional CD spectropolarimetry. In the sample chamber of the CD spectropolarimeter, a cylindrical glass cell containing small amounts of organic and aqueous phases was rotated at ca. 7000 rpm to generate a two-phase liquid membrane with a high specific interfacial area. The CD spectra of the J-aggregate of protonated 5,10,15,20-tetraphenylporphyrin formed at the toluene/sulfuric acid interface in the rotating cell have been measured. The results demonstrated the novelty and advantages of this method.     

Schottky metal library for ZNO-based UV photodiode fabricated by the combinatorial ion beam-assisted deposition

A binary alloy Schottky barrier diode on zinc oxide (ZnO) was developed using the combinatorial ion beam-assisted deposition system. The compositional fraction of the binary alloy was continuously varied using the composition-spread technique, to control the Schottky barrier height. After metal deposition, patterned Schottky diodes were fabricated on a ZnO single-crystal substrate. Pt-Ru alloy was selected from the work function viewpoint. Our experiments showed that the compositional fraction of the Schottky binary alloys changed continuously as designed and the Schottky barrier heights measured by current-voltage (I-V) measurements increased with increasing Pt content. Maximum barrier height difference for ZnO was 137 meV. Using ion beam deposition in parallel with the combinatorial system showed that the Schottky barrier heights for ZnO can be controlled by binary metal alloying.     

Calorimetric studies of glycolysis of E. coli under nongrowing condition

Initial reactions of the metabolic processes in bacterial cells have been investigated by measuring heat generation of $\text{E. coli}$ under nongrowing conditions with a titrimetric calorimeter. Three exothermic reactions with different rates of heat generation have been observed calorimetrically under aerobic condition when glucose solution was added to the cell suspension of nongrowing medium. It was estimated that the first exothermic peak obtained after adding glucose was due to uptaking of substrate molecules and following two peaks reflected to the reaction of phosphofructokinase and that of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase respectively. To clarify the process of glycolysis, measurements of heat evolution due to metabolisms of various sugars except glucose have also examined and compared with that of glucose.     

A novel transformation of a 1 : 1 : 1 racemic complex of 2,2'-dihydroxy-1,1'-binaphthyl, Me4N+ Cl- and MeOH into a conglomerate in the solid state by heating or contact with MeOH vapour

The title racemate-to-conglomerate transformation which occurs in the solid state on heating or contact with MeOH vapour has been studied by IR and DTA spectral measurements, microscopic observation, and by X-ray structural and X-ray powder diffraction analysis.