Molecular dynamics and analytic theory results are presented for the reorientation dynamics of first hydration shell water molecules around fluoride and iodide anions. These ions represent the extremes of the (normal) halide series in terms of their size and conventional structure-making and -breaking categorizations. The simulated reorientation times are consistent with NMR and ultrafast IR experimental results. They are also in good agreement with the theoretical predictions of the analytic Extended Jump Model. Analysis through this model shows that while sudden, large amplitude jumps (in which the reorienting water exchanges hydrogen-bond partners) are the dominant reorientation pathway for the I(-) case, they are comparatively less important for the F(-) case. In particular, the diffusive reorientation of an intact F(-)···H(2)O hydrogen-bonded pair is found to be most important for the reorientation time, a feature related to the greater hydrogen-bond strength for the F(-)···H(2)O pair. The dominance of this effect for e.g. multiply charged ions is suggested.

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Predicting dynamo self-generation in liquid metal experiments has been an ongoing question for many years. In contrast to simple dynamical systems for which reliable techniques have been developed, the ability to predict the dynamo capacity of a flow and the estimate of the corresponding critical value of the magnetic Reynolds number (the control parameter of the instability) has been elusive, partly due to the high level of turbulent fluctuations of flows in such experiments (with kinetic Reynolds numbers in excess of 10(6)). We address these issues here, using the von Kármán sodium experiment and studying its response to an externally applied magnetic field. We first show that a dynamo threshold can be estimated from analysis related to critical slowing down and susceptibility divergence, in configurations for which dynamo action is indeed observed. These approaches are then applied to flow configurations that have failed to self-generate magnetic fields within operational limits, and we quantify the dynamo capacity of these configurations.