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The purpose of this thesis was to conduct preliminary research into the feasibility of using MCM-41 as a catalyst support material in the treatment of organochloride contaminated water. Specifically, the stability of MCM-41 in water and its efficiency as a Pd metal catalyst support in the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) was examined. MCM-41 is a mesoporous siliceous material that was developed by scientists with the Mobile Corporation in 1992. Since its development, MCM-41 has been the subject of a great deal of research into its potential application in catalytic sciences. The material possesses two especially notable characteristics. First, the diameter of its pores can be adjusted between 2 and 10 nm depending on the reagents and procedure used in its synthesis. Second, MCM-41 has an exceptionally high surface area, often in excess of 1 000 m2/g in well-formed samples. Other researchers have succeeded in grafting a variety of different catalytic materials to the surfaces and pores of MCM-41 and reported dehalogenation reactions proceeding in the presence of hydrogen. Thus, MCM-41 shows promise in treating a variety of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (cVOCs), such as chlorinated benzenes, trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE) and some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Preliminary stages of this research were devoted to synthesising a well-formed sample of MCM-41. The method of Mansour et al. (2002) was found to be a reliable and repeatable procedure, producing samples with characteristic hexagonal crystallinity and high surface areas. Crystallinity of all materials was characterized by small angle X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Samples of MCM-41 prepared for this research exhibited a minimum of three distinct peaks in their XRD traces. These peaks are labelled 100, 110, and 200 according to a hexagonal unit cell. The 100 peak indicates that the sample is mesoporous. The 100, 110, and 200 peaks together indicate a hexagonal arrangement of the mesopores. An additional peak, labelled 210, was also observed in materials prepared for this research, reflecting a high degree of crystallinity. The position of the 100 peak was used to calculate the unit cell parameter - ???a??? - of the samples according to Bragg???s Law. The value of the unit cell parameter corresponds to the centre to centre distance of the material???s pores and thus the relative diameter of the pores themselves. The unit cell parameter of samples prepared for this research ranged from 4.6 nm to 5.3 nm with an average value of 4.8 nm. Surface areas of prepared samples were determined by BET nitrogen adsorption analysis and ranged from 1 052 to 1 571 m2/g with an average value of 1 304 m2/g. Field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of a representative sample of MCM-41 revealed a particle morphology referred to as ???wormy MCM-41??? by other researchers. A sample of aluminum-substituted MCM-41 (Al-MCM-41) was also synthesized. The crystallinity of Al-MCM-41 was characterized by small angle XRD. The XRD trace of the material showed only one distinct peak centred at 2.1 degrees 2??. The 110 and 200 peaks seen in MCM-41 were replaced by a shoulder on the right hand side of the 100 peak. The shape of this trace is typical of Al-MCM-41 prepared by other researchers and is indicative of the lower structural quality of the material, i.e. a less-ordered atomic arrangement in Al-MCM-41 compared to that of regular MCM-41. The unit cell parameter of the Al-MCM-41 sample was 4.9 nm. The surface area of the sample was determined through BET nitrogen adsorption analysis and found to be 1 304 m2/g. Attempts were made to synthesize an MCM-41 sample with enlarged pores. Difficulties were encountered in the procedure, specifically with regards to maintaining high pressures during the crystallization stage. Higher temperatures used during these procedures caused failure of the O-ring used in sealing the autoclave, allowing water to be lost from the reaction gel. Samples generated in these attempts were amorphous in character and were subsequently discarded. A solubility study involving MCM-41 was undertaken to determine the stability of the material in water at ambient temperature and pressure. The experiment included several different solid/water ratios for the dissolution experiments: 1/200, 1/100, 1/75, 1/25. Results indicated that MCM-41 is metastable at ambient temperatures and more soluble than amorphous silica in water. The maximum silica concentration observed during the experiment was used to calculate a minimum Gibbs free energy of formation for MCM-41 of - 819.5 kJ/mol. The higher free energy value compared to quartz (- 856.288 kJ/mol) is indicative of the metastability of the material in water. Supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica was observed in samples prepared with relatively high concentrations of MCM-41. A subsequent decrease in dissolved silica concentration with time in these samples represented precipitation of amorphous silica, driving the concentration downward towards saturation with respect to this phase (120 ppm). The equilibrium concentration of 120 ppm recorded in these samples represented 4.8 mg out of 200, 400, 500, and 1 600 mg of initial MCM-41 dissolving into solution in the solid/liquid ratios of 1/200, 1/100, 175, and 1/25, respectively. Supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica did not occur in experiments with very low solid/water ratios. It also did not occur in higher solid/water experiments from which the SiO2 saturated supernatant was decanted and replaced with fresh deionized water after two weeks of reaction. The difference in dissolution behaviour is believed to result from deposition of a protective layer of amorphous silica from solution onto the MCM-41 surfaces, which reduces their dissolution rate. Thus, supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica is only manifested at early time and only when relatively large amounts of fresh MCM-41 are added to water. The solubility experiment was repeated using samples of Al-MCM-41 to determine the effect of Al substitution on the stability of the MCM-41. Dissolution curves for the Al-MCM-41 samples revealed behaviour that was analogous to that of the silica-based MCM-41 at similar solid/water ratios. Substitution of Al into the structure of MCM-41 appeared to have no positive or negative effects on the stability of the material in water. Solid MCM-41 material was recovered on days 28 and 79 of the solubility experiment and dried under vacuum. Solid material was also recovered from the Al-MCM-41 solubility experiment on day 79. These recovered samples were characterized by XRD and BET nitrogen adsorption analysis. An increase in background noise in the XRD plot of MCM-41 from the fresh to the 79 d sample indicated an increased proportion of an amorphous phase in the sample. The XRD plot of the 79 d sample of Al-MCM-41 also showed increased background noise corresponding to an increased proportion of an amorphous phase. The increased amorphous phase would have resulted from the continuous dissolution of the crystalline MCM-41 and reprecipitation as amorphous silica in the samples. BET surface area analysis of recovered MCM-41 compared to the freshly prepared material showed no significant change in surface area after 28 and 79 days in water. Analysis of the 79 d Al-MCM-41 indicated a 10% decrease in surface area relative to the as-prepared material. A set of SEM images were taken of the day 28 and 79 MCM-41 samples and compared to a sample of freshly prepared material. No substantial change in morphology was observed in the day 28 sample when compared to the fresh material. Some change was noted in the day 79 sample particle morphology, with worm-like structures appearing to be better developed than in the as-synthesized material. A series of palladized MCM-41 (Pd/MCM-41) samples with varying mass percent loadings of Pd was prepared to investigate the dehalogenation efficiency of Pd/MCM-41 in contact with TCE. TCE degradation was investigated in batch experiments. MCM-41 samples were prepared with calculated Pd loadings of 0.1, 1, and 5 mass %. The actual palladium content of the materials was determined using an EDAX-equipped SEM. The success of the loading technique was better at lower mass loadings of Pd, i.e. there was a greater deviation of actual Pd content from targeted or calculated contents at higher loadings of Pd. It was found that a procedure designed to yield 1% by mass Pd/MCM-41 produced an average loading of 0.95% Pd by mass. A procedure designed to produce a 5% Pd/MCM-41 sample resulted in an average loading of 2.6 mass %. These deviations were attributed to error inherent in the EDAX analysis and reduced effectiveness of the loading technique at higher Pd concentrations. All batch experiment reaction bottles were prepared with solid/liquid ratios of 1/800. The various Pd/MCM-41 samples induced rapid dehalogenation reactions, with the maximum extent of TCE degradation occurring before the first sample was taken at 7 to 12 min and within 35 min in the case of 0.1% Pd/MCM-41. The 0.1% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded 70% of total TCE in solution with an estimated degradation half-life of 14 min. The 1% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded 92% of total TCE in solution with an estimated half life of between 3 and 6 min. The 5% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded only 22% of total TCE in solution; degradation half-life could not be determined. The seemingly paradoxical result of lower degradation efficiency at higher Pd loadings is proposed to result from absorption of hydrogen from solution by Pd, which is unreactive relative to the dissolved hydrogen in solution. Production of reaction intermediates and daughter products was also lower in the 1% by mass Pd/MCM-41 experiment compared to the 0.1 and 5% by mass Pd/MCM-41. Analysis of degradation products results from the experiments indicated that TCE degrades to ethane in the presence of Pd/MCM-41 with relatively low concentrations of chlorinated daughter products resulting from a random desorption process. A batch experiment using pure silica MCM-41 was also conducted to determine if there was adsorption of TCE to the support material itself. A lack of change in TCE concentration between the control sample and the MCM-41 sample during the experiment indicated no significant adsorption of TCE onto MCM-41. The conclusion of this research is that although MCM-41 is relatively unstable in water, its high TCE degradation efficiency shows promise for its application in developing water treatment technologies. However, more research needs to be conducted to fully determine the potential use of MCM-41 in water treatment and to investigate ways to improve its long-term stability in water.

With the discovery of a particle consistent with the Standard Model (SM) Higgs at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in 2012, the final ingredient of the SM has been found. The SM provides us with a powerful description of the physics of fundamental particles, holding up at all energy scales we can probe with accelerator based experiments. However, astrophysics and cosmology show us that the SM is not the final answer, but e.g. fails to describe dark matter and massive neutrinos. Like any non-trivial quantum field theory, the SM must be subject to a so-called renormalization procedure in order to extrapolate the model between different energy scales. In this context, new problems of more theoretical nature arise, e.g. the famous hierarchy problem of the Higgs mass. Renormalization also leads to what is known as the metastability problem of the SM: assuming the particle found at the LHC is the SM Higgs boson, the potential develops a second minimum deeper than the electroweak one in which we live, at energy scales below the Planck scale. Absolute stability all the way up to the Planck scale is excluded at a confidence level of about 98 %. For the central experimental SM values the instability occurs at scales larger than ~ 10¹⁰ GeV. One can take two viewpoints regarding this instability: assuming validity of the SM all the way up to the Planck scale, the problem does not necessarily lead to an inconsistency of our existence. If we assume our universe to have ended up in the electroweak minimum after the Big Bang, the probability that it would have transitioned to its true minimum during the lifetime of the universe is spectacularly small.  If we on the other hand demand absolute stability, new physics must modify the SM at or below the instability scale of ~ 10¹⁰ GeV, and we can explore which hints the instability might provide us with on this new physics. In this work, the metastability problem of the SM and possible implications are revisited. We give an introduction to the technique of renormalization and apply this to the SM. We then discuss the stability of the SM potential and the hints this might provide us with on new physics at large scales. / Standardmodellen inom partikelfysik är vår bästa beskrivning av elementarpartiklarnas fysik. År 2012 hittades en ny skalär boson vid Large Hadron Collider (LHC) på CERN, som är kompatibel med att vara Higgs bosonen, den sista saknade delen av Standardmodellen. Men även om Standardmodellen ger oss en väldigt precis beskrivning av all fysik vi ser i partikelacceleratorer, vet vi från astropartikelfysik och kosmologi att den inte kan vara hela lösningen. T.ex. beskriver Standardmodellen ej mörk materia eller neutrinernas massa. Som alla kvantfältteorier måste man renormera Standardmodellen för att få en beskrivning som fungerar på olika energiskalor. När man renormerar Standardmodellen hittar man nya problem som är mer teoretiska, t.ex. det välkända hierarkiproblemet av Higgsmassan. Renormering leder också till vad som kallas för metastabilitetsproblemet, dvs att Higgspotentialen utvecklar ett minimum som är djupare än det elektrosvaga minimum vi lever i, på högre energiskalor. Om vi antar att partikeln som hittades på CERN är Standardmodellens Higgs boson, är absolut stabilitet exkluderad med 98 % konfidens. För centrala experimentiella mätningar av Standardmodells parametrar uppkommer instabiliteten på skalor över ~ 10¹⁰ GeV. Det finns två olika sätt att tolka stabilitetsproblemet: Om man antar att Standardmodellen är den rätta teorien ända upp till Planckskalan, kan vi faktiskt fortfarande existera. Om vi antar att universum hamnat i det elektrosvaga minimumet efter Big Bang är sannolikheten att det har gått över till sitt riktiga minimum under universums livstid praktiskt taget noll. Dvs att vi kan leva i ett metastabilt universum. Om vi å andra sidan kräver att potentialen måste vara absolut stabil, måste någon ny fysik modifiera Standardmodellen på eller under instabilitetsskalan ~10¹⁰ GeV. I så fall kan vi fundera på vilka antydningar stabilitetsproblemet kan ge oss om den nya fysiken. Den här uppsatsen beskriver Standardmodells metastabilitetsproblem. Vi ger en introduktion till renormering och använder tekniken till Standardmodellen. Sen diskuteras stabiliteten inom Standardmodellens potential och vilka antydningar problemet kan ge oss angående ny fysik.

The purpose of this thesis was to conduct preliminary research into the feasibility of using MCM-41 as a catalyst support material in the treatment of organochloride contaminated water. Specifically, the stability of MCM-41 in water and its efficiency as a Pd metal catalyst support in the degradation of trichloroethylene (TCE) was examined. MCM-41 is a mesoporous siliceous material that was developed by scientists with the Mobile Corporation in 1992. Since its development, MCM-41 has been the subject of a great deal of research into its potential application in catalytic sciences. The material possesses two especially notable characteristics. First, the diameter of its pores can be adjusted between 2 and 10 nm depending on the reagents and procedure used in its synthesis. Second, MCM-41 has an exceptionally high surface area, often in excess of 1 000 m2/g in well-formed samples. Other researchers have succeeded in grafting a variety of different catalytic materials to the surfaces and pores of MCM-41 and reported dehalogenation reactions proceeding in the presence of hydrogen. Thus, MCM-41 shows promise in treating a variety of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (cVOCs), such as chlorinated benzenes, trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (PCE) and some polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Preliminary stages of this research were devoted to synthesising a well-formed sample of MCM-41. The method of Mansour et al. (2002) was found to be a reliable and repeatable procedure, producing samples with characteristic hexagonal crystallinity and high surface areas. Crystallinity of all materials was characterized by small angle X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Samples of MCM-41 prepared for this research exhibited a minimum of three distinct peaks in their XRD traces. These peaks are labelled 100, 110, and 200 according to a hexagonal unit cell. The 100 peak indicates that the sample is mesoporous. The 100, 110, and 200 peaks together indicate a hexagonal arrangement of the mesopores. An additional peak, labelled 210, was also observed in materials prepared for this research, reflecting a high degree of crystallinity. The position of the 100 peak was used to calculate the unit cell parameter - “a” - of the samples according to Bragg’s Law. The value of the unit cell parameter corresponds to the centre to centre distance of the material’s pores and thus the relative diameter of the pores themselves. The unit cell parameter of samples prepared for this research ranged from 4.6 nm to 5.3 nm with an average value of 4.8 nm. Surface areas of prepared samples were determined by BET nitrogen adsorption analysis and ranged from 1 052 to 1 571 m2/g with an average value of 1 304 m2/g. Field emission scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of a representative sample of MCM-41 revealed a particle morphology referred to as ‘wormy MCM-41’ by other researchers. A sample of aluminum-substituted MCM-41 (Al-MCM-41) was also synthesized. The crystallinity of Al-MCM-41 was characterized by small angle XRD. The XRD trace of the material showed only one distinct peak centred at 2.1 degrees 2θ. The 110 and 200 peaks seen in MCM-41 were replaced by a shoulder on the right hand side of the 100 peak. The shape of this trace is typical of Al-MCM-41 prepared by other researchers and is indicative of the lower structural quality of the material, i.e. a less-ordered atomic arrangement in Al-MCM-41 compared to that of regular MCM-41. The unit cell parameter of the Al-MCM-41 sample was 4.9 nm. The surface area of the sample was determined through BET nitrogen adsorption analysis and found to be 1 304 m2/g. Attempts were made to synthesize an MCM-41 sample with enlarged pores. Difficulties were encountered in the procedure, specifically with regards to maintaining high pressures during the crystallization stage. Higher temperatures used during these procedures caused failure of the O-ring used in sealing the autoclave, allowing water to be lost from the reaction gel. Samples generated in these attempts were amorphous in character and were subsequently discarded. A solubility study involving MCM-41 was undertaken to determine the stability of the material in water at ambient temperature and pressure. The experiment included several different solid/water ratios for the dissolution experiments: 1/200, 1/100, 1/75, 1/25. Results indicated that MCM-41 is metastable at ambient temperatures and more soluble than amorphous silica in water. The maximum silica concentration observed during the experiment was used to calculate a minimum Gibbs free energy of formation for MCM-41 of - 819.5 kJ/mol. The higher free energy value compared to quartz (- 856.288 kJ/mol) is indicative of the metastability of the material in water. Supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica was observed in samples prepared with relatively high concentrations of MCM-41. A subsequent decrease in dissolved silica concentration with time in these samples represented precipitation of amorphous silica, driving the concentration downward towards saturation with respect to this phase (120 ppm). The equilibrium concentration of 120 ppm recorded in these samples represented 4.8 mg out of 200, 400, 500, and 1 600 mg of initial MCM-41 dissolving into solution in the solid/liquid ratios of 1/200, 1/100, 175, and 1/25, respectively. Supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica did not occur in experiments with very low solid/water ratios. It also did not occur in higher solid/water experiments from which the SiO2 saturated supernatant was decanted and replaced with fresh deionized water after two weeks of reaction. The difference in dissolution behaviour is believed to result from deposition of a protective layer of amorphous silica from solution onto the MCM-41 surfaces, which reduces their dissolution rate. Thus, supersaturation with respect to amorphous silica is only manifested at early time and only when relatively large amounts of fresh MCM-41 are added to water. The solubility experiment was repeated using samples of Al-MCM-41 to determine the effect of Al substitution on the stability of the MCM-41. Dissolution curves for the Al-MCM-41 samples revealed behaviour that was analogous to that of the silica-based MCM-41 at similar solid/water ratios. Substitution of Al into the structure of MCM-41 appeared to have no positive or negative effects on the stability of the material in water. Solid MCM-41 material was recovered on days 28 and 79 of the solubility experiment and dried under vacuum. Solid material was also recovered from the Al-MCM-41 solubility experiment on day 79. These recovered samples were characterized by XRD and BET nitrogen adsorption analysis. An increase in background noise in the XRD plot of MCM-41 from the fresh to the 79 d sample indicated an increased proportion of an amorphous phase in the sample. The XRD plot of the 79 d sample of Al-MCM-41 also showed increased background noise corresponding to an increased proportion of an amorphous phase. The increased amorphous phase would have resulted from the continuous dissolution of the crystalline MCM-41 and reprecipitation as amorphous silica in the samples. BET surface area analysis of recovered MCM-41 compared to the freshly prepared material showed no significant change in surface area after 28 and 79 days in water. Analysis of the 79 d Al-MCM-41 indicated a 10% decrease in surface area relative to the as-prepared material. A set of SEM images were taken of the day 28 and 79 MCM-41 samples and compared to a sample of freshly prepared material. No substantial change in morphology was observed in the day 28 sample when compared to the fresh material. Some change was noted in the day 79 sample particle morphology, with worm-like structures appearing to be better developed than in the as-synthesized material. A series of palladized MCM-41 (Pd/MCM-41) samples with varying mass percent loadings of Pd was prepared to investigate the dehalogenation efficiency of Pd/MCM-41 in contact with TCE. TCE degradation was investigated in batch experiments. MCM-41 samples were prepared with calculated Pd loadings of 0.1, 1, and 5 mass %. The actual palladium content of the materials was determined using an EDAX-equipped SEM. The success of the loading technique was better at lower mass loadings of Pd, i.e. there was a greater deviation of actual Pd content from targeted or calculated contents at higher loadings of Pd. It was found that a procedure designed to yield 1% by mass Pd/MCM-41 produced an average loading of 0.95% Pd by mass. A procedure designed to produce a 5% Pd/MCM-41 sample resulted in an average loading of 2.6 mass %. These deviations were attributed to error inherent in the EDAX analysis and reduced effectiveness of the loading technique at higher Pd concentrations. All batch experiment reaction bottles were prepared with solid/liquid ratios of 1/800. The various Pd/MCM-41 samples induced rapid dehalogenation reactions, with the maximum extent of TCE degradation occurring before the first sample was taken at 7 to 12 min and within 35 min in the case of 0.1% Pd/MCM-41. The 0.1% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded 70% of total TCE in solution with an estimated degradation half-life of 14 min. The 1% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded 92% of total TCE in solution with an estimated half life of between 3 and 6 min. The 5% Pd/MCM-41 sample degraded only 22% of total TCE in solution; degradation half-life could not be determined. The seemingly paradoxical result of lower degradation efficiency at higher Pd loadings is proposed to result from absorption of hydrogen from solution by Pd, which is unreactive relative to the dissolved hydrogen in solution. Production of reaction intermediates and daughter products was also lower in the 1% by mass Pd/MCM-41 experiment compared to the 0.1 and 5% by mass Pd/MCM-41. Analysis of degradation products results from the experiments indicated that TCE degrades to ethane in the presence of Pd/MCM-41 with relatively low concentrations of chlorinated daughter products resulting from a random desorption process. A batch experiment using pure silica MCM-41 was also conducted to determine if there was adsorption of TCE to the support material itself. A lack of change in TCE concentration between the control sample and the MCM-41 sample during the experiment indicated no significant adsorption of TCE onto MCM-41. The conclusion of this research is that although MCM-41 is relatively unstable in water, its high TCE degradation efficiency shows promise for its application in developing water treatment technologies. However, more research needs to be conducted to fully determine the potential use of MCM-41 in water treatment and to investigate ways to improve its long-term stability in water.

Dans cette thèse on étudie le comportement métastable de la dynamique de Glauber pour le modèle d'Ising en dimension deux, dans le régime où la température est fixée à une valeur sous critique et le champ magnétique extérieur est très petit. En volume infini, ce modèle a été étudié par Schonmann et Shlosman qui montrent le lien existant entre le temps moyen de transition et la tension de surface intégrée de la forme de Wulff. Cependant, l'exponentialité du temps de transition, déjà en volume fini, reste un problème ouvert. Dans cette thèse on adresse cette question. On donne d'abord un cadre théorique pour traiter ces dynamiques markoviennes métastable pour lesquelles le support de la mesure métastable n'est pas réductible à une seule configuration. Nos techniques permettent d'obtenir la loi exponentielle du temps de transition ainsi que d'estimer sa moyenne et le temps de relaxation de la dynamique. Dans la deuxième partie de notre travail on s'adresse à la dynamique de Glauber métastable; on donne les bonnes définitions des ensemble métastable et stable et on estime les temps de relaxation des dynamiques restreintes à ces deux ensembles. Cela nous permet de mettre en œuvre les techniques étudiées dans la première partie du travail. Nos résultats sont vrais pour toute température sous critique et pour une grande classe de mesure de départ / In this thesis we study the metastable behavior of the Glauber dynamics for the two-dimensional Ising model in the regime where the temperature is kept fixed at some subcritical value and the external magnetic field is vanishing.In the infinite volume regime, this model has been studied by Schonmann and Shlosman who show the connection between the mean transition time and the integrated surface tension of the Wulff shape. However, the exponentiality of the transition time, already in the finite volume case, is still an open problem. In this thesis we address this question.First, we give a theoretical framework to deal with metastable markovian dynamics such that the support of the metastable measure is not reducible to a single configuration. Our techniques allow to get the exponential law of the transition time as well as to estimate its mean and the relaxation time of the dynamics. In the second part of the thesis we address the metastable Glauber dynamics; we give suitable definitions of the metastable and the stable sets and we estimate the relaxation time of the dynamics restricted to these two sets. In doing so, we are in good shape to exploit the techniques studied in the first part of our work. Our results hold true for any subcritical temperature and a wide class of starting measures

M.A.University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities (Fine Arts), 2012 / The ‘Bath Series’ (1983-1988) of Jasper Johns shows the artist’s meditation on his oeuvre of the past thirty years, and the examples of his previous works demonstrate his interest in instabilities of visual perception. The latter are activated when the viewer’s expectation to see conventional representational strategies are destabilized, and figure/ground pictorial space, particularly, becomes ambiguous. This first recorded academic study focusing exclusively on the series as a unit, discovers that figure/ground switching, an ‘Ur-Gestalt’ (Gandelman 1989: 209), appears to be a core energy motivating ambiguous pictorial space in Johns’ art, and constitutes the theoretical component of the research. The practical component is a site specific installation which shows some visual and verbal processes and meditates on the perpetual interaction between the eye and the mind, which is a fundamental concern of Johns (Varnedoe 1996b: 245, 257), as well as of myself. The work invites viewers to experience destabilized conventional visual perceptions and to explore, as Johns said, ‘something new’ (Varnedoe 1996a: 17).

<p>All large-scale digital Integrated Circuits need an appropriate strategy for clocking and synchronization. In large-scale and high-speed System-on-Chips (SoC), the traditional"Globally Synchronous"(GS) approach is not longer viable, due to severe wire delays. Instead new solutions as"Globally Synchronous, Locally Asynchronous"(GALS) approaches have been proposed. We propose to replace the GALS approach with a mesochronous clocking principle. In this work, such an approach together with a circuit solution in 0.18mm CMOS process has been presented. This solution allows clocking frequencies up to 4 GHz.</p>

<p>Comparator is the main building block in an ADC architecture. Main purpose of the comparator is to compare a signal with a reference signal and produce an output depending on whether the input signal is greater or smaller than reference. Many architectures for comparators exist for various purposes. In this thesis, Latched comparator architecture is used for sigma delta modulator. This particular design has two main characteristics that are very important for sigma delta application. First characteristic is the cancellation of memory effect which increases the speed and reliability of the system and the second is, with this architecture, high sensitivity can be achieved.</p><p>The design and implementation of lathed comparator for sigma delta modulator is presented in this thesis work. Various non-linearities and performance parameters are discussed in detail. Practical implementation and circuit design issues are highlighted to achieve maximum sensitivity along with reasonable speed and accuracy.</p>

All large-scale digital Integrated Circuits need an appropriate strategy for clocking and synchronization. In large-scale and high-speed System-on-Chips (SoC), the traditional"Globally Synchronous"(GS) approach is not longer viable, due to severe wire delays. Instead new solutions as"Globally Synchronous, Locally Asynchronous"(GALS) approaches have been proposed. We propose to replace the GALS approach with a mesochronous clocking principle. In this work, such an approach together with a circuit solution in 0.18mm CMOS process has been presented. This solution allows clocking frequencies up to 4 GHz.

Comparator is the main building block in an ADC architecture. Main purpose of the comparator is to compare a signal with a reference signal and produce an output depending on whether the input signal is greater or smaller than reference. Many architectures for comparators exist for various purposes. In this thesis, Latched comparator architecture is used for sigma delta modulator. This particular design has two main characteristics that are very important for sigma delta application. First characteristic is the cancellation of memory effect which increases the speed and reliability of the system and the second is, with this architecture, high sensitivity can be achieved. The design and implementation of lathed comparator for sigma delta modulator is presented in this thesis work. Various non-linearities and performance parameters are discussed in detail. Practical implementation and circuit design issues are highlighted to achieve maximum sensitivity along with reasonable speed and accuracy.