Post-scission dynamics in fission

A dynamical model for fission from the classical turning point to scission and beyond is presented. We consider the fissioning nucleus as well as the fission fragments as incompressible irrotational deformable charged liquid drops. We focus on the post-scission time evolution of the neck, stretching of the fragments, kinetic energy and excitation energy.     

Photoionization and photoelectron angular distribution for H2

Photoionization of H₂(¹Σ_g⁺) in a vibrational υ″ and rotational N″ state into H₂⁺(²Σ_g⁺) in a vibrational υ′ and rotational N′ state is studied theoretically. The differential cross section, after summing over the final states, is expressed in the well-known simple form of $\text{(}\text{σ}{}_{\mathrm{T}}\text{4π}\text{)[1 + βP}{}_2\text{(}\text{cos}\text{θ)]}$. Parallel expressions are obtained for H₂⁺ in a specific υ′ state (in terms of σ(υ′) and β(υ′)) and for H₂⁺ in a rotational fine level υ′N′ (in terms of σ(υ′N′) and β(υ′N′)). Asymmetry parameters β, β(υ′) and β υ′N′), which are expressed in terms of Racah and Clebsch-Gordan coefficients and electronic transition moments, can be reduced approximately to 2 lineary polarized light and to -1 for unpolarized light. Using single-center electronic wave functions and including partial eaves l = 1, 3, and 5, σ(υ′) and β(υ′) are computed as a function of υ′ at 584 Å. The computed σ(υ′) divided by the Frank-Condon overlap, in agreement with experimental results, increases monotonically with υ′; σ_T and β are computed in the incident photon energy range of 600–4000 Å and the results compare favorably with previous calculations.     

Theoretical investigation of the influence of ligands on structural and electronic properties of indium phosphide clusters

Results of a theoretical study of the effects of including ligands on stoichiometric In(n)P(n) clusters are presented. We apply a parametrized density-functional method and consider clusters with n up to above 70. As ligands we consider H atoms and CH3 groups, and the results are compared with our earlier ones for the naked clusters. We find that the ligands lead to only smaller structural changes but that an enhanced In-to-P electron transfer in the outermost parts of the clusters, which we observed for the naked clusters, is largely suppressed, so that there is a more homogeneous In-to-P transfer throughout the whole cluster. Adding the ligands leads, in most cases, to an increase in the HOMO-LUMO gap and, therefore, also to an increase in the stability of the clusters. However, we find also that the HOMO-LUMO gap depends critically on the type, sites, and number of ligands that are added.     

Dynamical model for neck formation in the entrance channel of a heavy ion collision

The formation of the neck in the entrance channel is studied using a classical dynamical model. The dependence of neck radius on bombarding energy, mass or charge and angular momentum is discussed.     

Plastic deformation and springback of rectangular bars subject to combined torsion and tension

Springback of rectangular bars under combined torsion and tension is investigated. A theoretical model for springback is developed and evaluated by comparing calculated and experimental results. It is concluded that springback is analytically predictable. Both analysis and test data show that an axial tension always reduces angular springback in a twisted bar. The order of plastic deformation is found to be important : twist followed by pull produces smaller angular springback upon release of torque and force than does a deformation in the reverse order.     

The distribution of 3p12 strength in 209Bi

An optimized Woods-Saxon potential, which gives excellent fits to the observed proton states in ²⁰⁹Bi and ²⁰⁷Tl, is used to calculate the excitation energy of the unbound $\text{3p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ proton state in ²⁰⁹Bi. Using the wave functions given by the above potential, the strength of the core-particle interaction is calculated. The effect of the vibration of the core on the fragmentation of the $\text{3p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ state is estimated. It is found that the $\text{3p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ state at 5.123 MeV loses more than 80% of its strength to five $\text{1}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ collective states in ²⁰⁹Bi and the observed $\text{3p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ state at 3.64 MeV is actually an almost equal mixture of the $\text{3p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ single-proton state and the ($\text{4}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{, 1}\text{h}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>9</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$) collective state.     

Preparation and characterization of silver-poly(vinylidene fluoride) nanocomposites: formation of piezoelectric polymorph of poly(vinylidene fluoride)

In situ Ag nanoparticles are produced on reduction of Ag+ with N,N-dimethylformamide in the presence of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVF2). The plasmon band transition is monitored with time in the reaction mixture for three sets of experiments by UV-vis spectroscopy. The plasmon band absorbance increases sigmoidally with log(time). Analysis of the data with the Avrami equation yields an exponent n value between 1.5 and 2.0, indicating two-dimensional nucleation with linear or diffusion controlled growth. The TEM study of the polymer nanocomposites (PNC) indicates both spherical and rodlike morphology for PNC0.5 and PNC2.5 samples, whereas the PNC11 sample has spherical and agglomerated structures (the numerical number associated with PNC indicates percentage (w/w) of Ag in the nanocomposite). The WAXS and FTIR studies indicate the formation of piezoelectric beta-polymorphic PVF2 in the nanocomposites. The DSC study indicates some increase of the melting point and enthalpy of fusion of PVF2 in the nanocomposite, although with increase in Ag nanoparticle concentration the increase is smaller. The crystallization temperatures of PNCs also increased, indicating nucleating effect of Ag nanoparticles in the composite. In the TGA curves, the PNCs exhibit a three-step degradation process. The degradation temperatures of PNCs are lower than that of PVF2. The storage modulus data indicate a significant reinforcement of the mechanical property in the PNCs where also the reinforcement effect decreases with increasing nanoparticle concentration. Both the loss modulus and tan delta plots indicate two peaks; the lower temperature peak has been attributed for glass transition temperature, whereas the higher one has been attributed to a similar type relaxation process for the crystalline-amorphous interface. The increase in the glass transition is marginal for the PNCs, but the increase of later transition temperature is somewhat higher. The FTIR study shows that the dipolar interaction of the >CF2 dipole with the surface charges of Ag nanoparticle stabilizes the nanoparticle in the nanocomposite.     

Exploration of the secondary structure specific differential solvation dynamics between the native and molten globule states of the protein HP-36

Recent experiments have shown that the time dependence of fluorescence Stokes shift of a chromophore is substantially different when the chromophore is located in a molten globule (MG) state and in the native state of the same protein. To understand the origin of this difference, particularly the role of water in the differential solvation of the protein in the native and the MG states, we have carried out fully atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with explicit water of a partially unfolded MG state of the protein HP-36 and compared the results with the solvation dynamics of the protein in the folded native state. It is observed that the polar solvation dynamics of the three helical segments of the protein is influenced in a nonuniform heterogeneous manner in the MG state. While the equilibrium solvation time correlation function for helix-3 has been found to relax faster in the MG state as compared to that in the native state, the decay of the corresponding function for the other two helices slows down in the MG state. A careful analysis shows that the origin of such heterogeneous relative solvation behavior lies in the differential location of the polar probe residues and their exposure to bulk solvent. We find a significant negative cross-correlation between the contribution (to the solvation energy of a tagged amino acid residue) of water and the other groups of the protein, indicating a competing role in solvation. The sensitivity of solvation dynamics to the secondary structure and the immediate environment can be used to discriminate the partially unfolded and folded states. These results therefore should be useful in explaining recent solvation dynamics experiments on native and MG states of proteins.     

Probing CPT violation in neutrino oscillation: A three flavor analysis

We have studied CPT violation in neutrino oscillation considering three flavor framework with matter effect. We have constructed a new way to find the oscillation probability incorporating CPT violating terms without any approximation. Then CPT   violation with atmospheric neutrinos for a magnetized iron calorimeter detector considering the muons (directly measurable with high resolution) of the charge current events has been studied for zero and nonzero θ₁₃${\theta }_{13}$ values. It is found that a potential bound of δb₃₂?6×¹⁰⁻²⁴ GeV$\delta b_{32}?6\times {10}^{-24}\text{GeV}$ at 99% CL can be obtained with 1 Mton.year exposure of this detector; and unlike neutrino beam experiments, there is no possibility to generate ‘fake’ CPT violation due to matter effect with atmospheric neutrinos. The advantages of atmospheric neutrinos to discriminate CPT violation from CP violation and nonstandard interactions are also discussed.     

Femtosecond study of partially folded states of cytochrome C by solvation dynamics

Using femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, it is shown that the solvation dynamics in the two partially folded states (IS' and IS' ') of a protein, cytochrome C, are very different. In the case of IS' (formed by the addition of 2 mM sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS) almost the entire dynamic solvent shift of coumarin 153 (C153) is captured in a picosecond setup and the contribution of the ultrafast component (0.5 ps) is very small (5%). Solvation dynamics of IS' ' (formed by 2 mM SDS and 5 M urea) displays a major component (47%) of 1.3 ps. This indicates that the structure of IS' ' is much more open and exposed compared to that of IS'. The difference in the dynamics of IS' and IS' ' is attributed to differences in their structure, particularly near the heme region, and the presence of urea in IS' '.