X（1835）： A Possible Baryonium？

We point out that the large pp^- coupling of X（1835） and the suppression of the three-body strange final states strongly indicate that X（1835） may be a pp^- baryonium. We also point out that the branching ratio of X（1835） →ηππ should be bigger than that of X（1835） →η′ππ. We suggest BES search X（1835） in the ηππ channel Finally, X（1835） may be used a tetraquark generator if X（1835） is really established as a baryonium state.     

Have mirror planets been observed?

Over the last few years, several close orbiting (∼0.05 AU) large mass planets (M∼M_Jupiter) of nearby stars have been discovered. Their existence has been inferred from tiny doppler shifts in the light from the star. We suggest that these planets may be made of mirror matter. We also suggest that some stars such as our sun may also have a similar amount of mirror matter, which has escaped detection.     

Boundary effects in chiral polymer hexatics

Boundary effects in liquid-crystalline phases can be large due to long-ranged orientational correlations. We show that the chiral-hexatic phase can be locked into an apparent three-dimensional N+6 phase via such effects. Simple numerical estimates suggest that the recently discovered "polymer hexatic" may actually be this locked phase.     

New coupling scheme in the interacting boson-fermion model: O(6) spectra in odd-A nuclei

We suggest that a new coupling scheme, based on the O(6) boson symmetry, may be useful in describing the spectra of odd-A nuclei towards the end of major shells. We describe the main properties of this scheme and show one example of it.     

A new look at FRW cosmologies

The question of whether the material distribution in any cosmological model can be interpreted unambiguously is considered. We suggest that the answer is negative, and discuss problems in theoretical cosmology which may arise from this ambiguity of interpretation.     

Shear gradient dependence of the viscosity of critical mixtures

We present a theory of the nonlinear shear viscosity of fluids near the critical point, and suggest that the experimentally observed leveling off (cusplike behavior) of the excess viscosity may be due to shear gradient effects.     

U(6/4) supersymmetry in nuclei

We suggest that supergroups and superalgebras may be useful in classifying the spectra of certain even-even and even-odd nuclei. We show, in particular, that properties of many states in several nuclei, including excitation energies, electromagnetic transition rates and transfer reaction intensities, can be described by a U(6/4) supersymmetry. Our analysis provides the first evidence for the occurrence of supersymmetry in nature.     

Regularized supermembrane theory and static configurations of M-Theory

We suggest that the static configurations of M-theory may be described by the matrix regularization of the supermembrane theory in static regime. We compute the long-range interaction between a M2-brane and an anti-M2-brane in agreement with the 11-dimensional supergravity result. Received: 4 September 1998 / Published online: 15 April 1999     

Intriguing properties of kinks in a simple model with a two-component field

We present a summary of the topological and non-topological solitons of a two component field in 1+1 dimensions with application in field theory and in condensed matter physics. We note several intriguing analytical and numerical relationships between these solutions, which we believe to suggest that the relevant coupled nonlinear differential equations may be integrable exactly.     

Radiative corrections to the decay H^+ \to W^+ A^0

Full one-loop electroweak corrections to the on-shell decay are computed in the framework of models with two Higgs doublets (THDM). Such a decay may be dominant for over a wide range of parameter space relevant at present and future colliders. We show that the corrections may approach 40% and in particular are sensitive to , which parameterizes the discrete symmetry breaking term. We suggest that a measurement of the branching ratio of may offer a possibility of measuring the magnitude of . Received:17 July 2000 / Revised version: 28 February 2001 / Published online: 3 May 2001     

Repulsive Casimir forces

We discuss repulsive Casimir forces between dielectric materials with nontrivial magnetic susceptibility. It is shown that considerations based on the naive pairwise summation of van der Waals and Casimir-Polder forces may not only give an incorrect estimate of the magnitude of the total Casimir force but even the wrong sign of the force when materials with high dielectric and magnetic responses are involved. Indeed repulsive Casimir forces may be found in a large range of parameters, and we suggest that the effect may be realized in known materials. The phenomenon of repulsive Casimir forces may be of importance both for experimental study and for nanomachinery applications.     

Formation energies and electronic structures of native point defects in potassium dihydrogen phosphate

The formation energies and the equilibrium concentration of vacancies,interstitial H,K,P,O and antisite structural defects with P and K in KH 2 PO 4 (KDP) crystals are investigated by ab initio total-energy calculations.The formation energy of interstitial H is calculated to be about 2.06 eV and we suggest that it may be the dominant defect in KDP crystal.The formation energy of an O vacancy (5.25 eV) is much higher than that of interstitial O (0.60 eV).Optical absorption centres can be induced by defects of O vacancies,interstitial O and interstitial H.We suggest that these defects may be responsible for the lowering of the damage threshold of the KDP.A K vacancy defect may increase the ionic conductivity and therefore the laser-induced damage threshold decreases.     

Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations via dissociation of a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate

Recent experimental measurements of atomic intensity correlations through atom shot noise suggest that atomic quadrature phase correlations may soon be measured with a similar precision. We propose a test of local realism with mesoscopic numbers of massive particles based on such measurements. Using dissociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of diatomic molecules into bosonic atoms, we demonstrate that strongly entangled atomic beams may be produced which possess Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlations in field quadratures in direct analogy to the position and momentum correlations originally considered by EPR.     

Studying gluon properties experimentally

We argue in this paper the following. (i) A large part of what is observed in high-energy hadron reactions may be rather directly interpretable in terms of gluon interactions. Since gluons do not interact directly with leptons and photons this could be a valuable way to study them experimentally. Earlier work in this direction is briefly summarized. We suggest how several quantities can be reinterpreted in terms of gluon interactions; the rise in σ_tot, and the more rapid increase of multiplicity with energy at very high energies, are particularly fruitful to examine. The possibility of interpreting inclusive polarization data in terms of gluon spin properties is considered. Most importantly, we propose that if certain of our predictions on central region particle ratios are correct, then the gluon distribution as a function of x may be measurable at energies in the ISABELLE range. (ii) The structure of gluon jets in mass, multiplicity and momentum is discussed; we suggest that gluon jets will be quite different from quark jets, with more of the energy of the gluon jet going into mass, so hard gluon jets may not exist.     

Fluorescence polarization imaging for delineating nonmelanoma skin cancers

We present a method for detecting nonmelanoma skin cancers using exogenous fluorescence polarization. We built an automated system that permits exogenous fluorescence polarization imaging. It includes a tunable linearly polarized monochromatic light source and a CCD camera equipped with a rotating linear polarizer and a filter to reject excitation light. Two fluorophores that are retained in tumors, toluidine blue and methylene blue, are employed. We demonstrate that fluorescence polarization imaging can be used for accurate delineation of nonmelanoma cancers. The results suggest that this optical technique may be suitable for real-time noninvasive demarcation of epithelial cancers.     

First-principles prediction of a decagonal quasicrystal containing boron

We interpret experimentally known B-Mg-Ru crystals as quasicrystal approximants whose deterministic decoration of tiles by atoms can be extended quasiperiodically. Experimentally observed disorder corresponds to phason fluctuations. First-principles total energy calculations find many distinct tilings close to stability and suggest a phase transition from a crystalline state at low temperatures to a high temperature state characterized by tile fluctuations. We predict B38Mg17Ru45 forms a metastable decagonal quasicrystal that may be thermodynamically stable at high temperatures.     

A new method in the theory of phase transitions

We suggest a justification for a microscopic method to consider systems with inhomogeneous fluctuations. Phase probabilities are defined, and it is shown that they may be determined as phase concentrations. The behaviour of these probabilities and structures of state spaces allow us to obtain classifications of phase transitions.     

Orbitally induced Peierls state in spinels

We consider the superstructures, which can be formed in spinels containing on B sites the transition-metal ions with partially filled t(2g) levels. We show that, when such systems are close to the itinerant state (e.g., have an insulator-metal transition), there may appear in them an orbitally driven Peierls state. We explain by this mechanism the very unusual superstructures observed in CuIr2S4 (octamers) and MgTi2O4 (chiral superstructures) and suggest that a similar phenomenon should be observed in NaTiO2 and possibly in some other systems.     

Spontaneous emergence of modularity in a model of evolving individuals

We investigate the selective forces that promote the emergence of modularity in nature. We demonstrate the spontaneous emergence of modularity in a population of individuals that evolve in a changing environment. We show that the level of modularity correlates with the rapidity and severity of environmental change. The modularity arises as a synergistic response to the noise in the environment in the presence of horizontal gene transfer. We suggest that the hierarchical structure observed in the natural world may be a broken-symmetry state, which generically results from evolution in a changing environment.     

Focusing of evanescent vector waves

We study focusing of two and three-dimensional evanescent vector waves, with a particular emphasis on identifying suitable intensity structures for applications in optical data storage. For two-dimensional evanescent waves large transverse spatial wave vectors result in purely circularly polarized evanescent states. We suggest that these may have applications in all-optical data storage through the inverse Faraday effect. On the other hand, for three-dimensional evanescent waves longitudinally polarized modes are observed to give the most tightly focused spot, and this may be utilized to confine light behind a solid immersion lens.