Calorimetric and single crystal X-ray study of the phase transition of (PyH)2PdCl4

Polymorphic transition of pyridinium tetrachloropalladate(II) was investigated by heat capacity measurements and by single crystal X-ray structural analysis. A large λ-type anomaly was detected at 240 K in the temperature dependence of the heat capacity. The low-temperature phase (LTP) belongs to the triclinic space group with a=6.856(1), b=7.293(1), c=7.721(1) Å, α=75.180(2)°, β=71.081(2)°, γ=81.109(3)° at 100 K, and the high-temperature phase (HTP) to the same space group with a=7.217(2), b=7.470(2), c=7.880(2) Å, α=73.438(3)°, β=65.195(3)°, γ=82.727(4)° at 293 K. The pyridinium cations are ordered antiferroelectrically in LTP. In HTP, however, an orientational disorder of the cation was observed. The energy difference between potential wells for the reorientation of pyridinium ion in HTP is discussed referring to the results of the present single crystal X-ray and heat capacity as well as the previous ¹H NMR measurements. A five-site disorder model is shown to be consistent with both of the observations of ¹H NMR and X-ray study.     

Field suppression of the modulated phase of Ce2Pd2Sn

Low temperature magnetic (M) and thermal (C_P) properties of the intermetallic compound Ce₂Pd₂Sn have been investigated at zero and different magnetic fields. Two transitions were recognized at and , with latter nearly coinciding with the extrapolated Curie-Weiss temperature . The Curie factor evaluated from T≥T_M, is ≈2μ_B. The positive value of θ_P, the triangular coordination of the magnetic (Ce) atoms and the weak effect of applied magnetic field, reveal that T_M cannot be considered as a canonic antiferromagnetic transition like claimed in the literature. M(T) measurements under moderate magnetic fields () show T_C(B) increasing while T_M(B) is practically not affected. Both transition merge in a critical point at for , where the intermediate phase is suppressed. At , the cusp of a first order transition is observed in C_P(T). According to the proposed ferromagnetic ground state, it is followed by a C_P(T)∝T^3/2exp(-E_g/T) dependence, with a gap of anisotropy .     

The q-gamma and (q,q)-polygamma functions of Tsallis statistics

An axiomatic definition is given for the q-gamma function of Tsallis (non-extensive) statistical physics, the continuous analogue of the q-factorial of Suyari [H. Suyari, Physica A 368 (1) (2006) 63], and the q-analogue of the gamma function of Euler and Gauss. A working definition in closed form, based on the Hurwitz and Riemann zeta functions (including their analytic continuations), is shown to satisfy this definition. Several relations involving the q-gamma and other functions are obtained. The (q,q)-polygamma functions , defined by successive derivatives of , where ln_qa=(1−q)⁻¹(a^1−q−1),a>0 is the q-logarithmic function, are also reported. The new functions are used to calculate the inferred probabilities and multipliers for Tsallis systems with finite numbers of particles N?∞.     

KamLAND and T2K

KamLAND announced the first evidence of disappearance, followed by direct evidence for neutrino oscillation by observing distortion of the reactor energy spectrum, demonstrated almost two cycles of the periodic feature expected neutrino oscillation, and determined a precise value for the neutrino oscillation parameter and stringent constraints on θ₁₂. KamLAND also succeeded in detecting geoneutrinos produced by natural radioactivities in the Earth. This detection allows better estimation of the abundances and distributions of radioactive elements in the Earth and of the Earth’s overall heat generation. In the J-PARC neutrino facility, T2K is ready for operation. T2K is supposed to give critical information, which guides the future direction of the neutrino physics. The current status of T2K is shown.     

Gas phase electronic spectrum of propadienylidene C3H2

The rotationally resolved vibronic bands in the forbidden electronic transition of the cumulene carbene C₃H₂ have been observed in the gas phase by cavity ring down absorption spectroscopy through a supersonic planar plasma with allene as precursor. The band detected in the 16 223 cm⁻¹ region is a result of vibronic interaction and is assigned to a combination of a₁ and b₂ vibrations with a frequency around 2250 cm⁻¹. Another vibronic band near 15 810 cm⁻¹ has an unusual rotational structure because the K_a = 0-1 subband is absent. It is assigned to a combination of a₁ and b₁ vibrations, ∼1850 cm⁻¹, which borrow intensity from the near lying state due to a-type Coriolis coupling. A rotational analysis using a conventional Hamiltonian for an asymmetric top molecule yields molecular constants for the vibrational excited levels of the ùA₂ state, which were used for the determination of the geometry. The stronger transition of C₃H₂, measured in a neon matrix in the 16 161-24 802 cm⁻¹ range, was not detected. The reason for this is a short lifetime of the state, leading to line broadening.     

Time-resolved infrared diode laser spectroscopy of the ν1 (C-O stretch) band of the CoCO radical

Infrared spectrum of the cobalt carbonyl radical CoCO produced by the 193 nm excimer laser photolysis of cobalt tricarbonyl nitrosyl Co(CO)₃NO was observed by time-resolved diode laser spectroscopy. More than 600 lines were identified as belonging to the ν₁ (C-O stretch) fundamental band, consisting of the Ω=5/2 and 3/2 subbands, and the associated hot bands , , , and . The ²Δ_i electronic ground state of CoCO was experimentally confirmed. The ν₁ band origins are 1974.172582(93) cm⁻¹ and 1973.53178(14) cm⁻¹ for the Ω=5/2 and 3/2 subbands, respectively. The rotational constant in the ground state was determined as B₀=4427.146(50) MHz. The centrifugal distortion constant D₀=1.1243(68) kHz was obtained for the Ω=5/2 substate of the ground state. The equilibrium rotational constant B_e=4435.44(14) MHz was derived, together with the vibration-rotation interaction constants.     

Observation of non-exponential orbital electron capture decays of hydrogen-like Pr and Pm ions

We report on time-modulated two-body weak decays observed in the orbital electron capture of hydrogen-like ¹⁴⁰Pr⁵⁹⁺ and ¹⁴²Pm⁶⁰⁺ ions coasting in an ion storage ring. Using non-destructive single ion, time-resolved Schottky mass spectrometry we found that the expected exponential decay is modulated in time with a modulation period of about 7 seconds for both systems. Tentatively this observation is attributed to the coherent superposition of finite mass eigenstates of the electron neutrinos from the weak decay into a two-body final state.     

Neutrino masses, dark matter and the mysterious early quasars

The lightest right-handed or sterile neutrino, that is embedded in a renormalizable seesaw-like extension of the standard model, with a mass and a tiny mixing θ∼10^−6.5 to one of the left-handed active neutrinos, is an attractive quasi-stable dark matter particle candidate. This sterile neutrino is produced in the early universe with the dark matter abundance required by WMAP. It is quasi-stable, decaying in about 10¹⁹ years into two neutrinos and an antineutrino, and it may be observed directly through its subdominant radiative decay into an active neutrino and a photon in about 10²¹ years. In contrast to the galaxies, that are known to form hierarchically, the supermassive black holes are formed anti-hierarchically, i.e. the most massive quasars first, and the least massive active galactic nuclei last. Here we argue that the anti-hierarchical formation of the supermassive black holes may be due to the possibility that both, the quasars and active galactic nuclei, may originate from supermassive degenerate neutrino balls that are swallowed up by stellar-mass black holes, produced by supernova explosions of massive stars at the centers of the neutrino balls.     

The 2ν4 overtone bands of FClO3

The high resolution infrared spectrum of the mono-isotopic species F³⁵Cl¹⁶O₃ has been studied in the region of the 2ν₄ overtone, from 2560 to 2680 cm⁻¹. The perpendicular component is strong and clearly observed while the parallel component is very weak and almost completely hidden by the perpendicular one. Their origins differ by 12.6 cm⁻¹, the being located at higher wavenumbers. The band is perturbed by the anharmonic interaction between the v₄ = 2, l₄ = ?2 and v₂ = v₄ = v₅ = 1, l₄ = l₅ = ±1 excited states, both of E symmetry. In total 3157 transitions have been assigned, 83% of these to , 12% to , and 5% to . The three bands have been analyzed simultaneously, taking into account the Fermi resonance effective between the excited states of E symmetry. The ro-vibration parameters of the excited states have been obtained, including the deperturbed band origins of and , at 2628.5890(4) and 2619.3342(5) cm⁻¹, respectively. The W₂₄₅ anharmonic constant is equal to 4.0161(4) cm⁻¹. The x₄₄+g₄₄ and x₂₄+x₄₅+g₄₅ anharmonicity constants have been derived from the obtained band origins and those of ν₄ and ν₂ + ν₅.     

Magnetic study of Mg0.95Mn0.05Fe2O4 ferrite nanoparticles

The magnetic properties of Mg_0.95Mn_0.05Fe₂O₄ ferrite samples with an average particle size of ∼6.0±0.6 nm have been studied using X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, dc magnetization and frequency dependent real χ^′(T) and imaginary χ^″(T) parts of ac susceptibility measurements. A magnetic transition to an ordered state is observed at about 195 K from Mössbauer measurements. The zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) magnetization have been recorded at low field and show the typical behavior of a small particle system. The ZFC curve displays a broad maximum at , a temperature which depends upon the distribution of particle volumes in the sample. The FC curve was nearly flat below , as compared with monotonically increasing characteristics of non-interacting superparamagnetic systems indicating the existence of strong interactions among the nanoparticles. A frequency-dependent peak observed in χ^′(T) is well described by Vogel-Fulcher law, yielding a relaxation time and an interaction parameter . Such values show the strong interactions and rule out the possibility of spin-glass (SG) features among the nanoparticle system. On the other hand fitting with the Néel-Brown model and the power law yields an unphysical large value of τ₀ (∼6×10⁻⁶⁹ and 1.2×10⁻²² s respectively).