On the uniqueness of minimizing harmonic maps to a closed hemisphere

We study the uniqueness of minimizing harmonic maps to a closed hemisphere. We are able to describe the boundary data for which there are more than one minimizer, and to describe in these cases the corresponding set of minimizers. This is a limiting case for a former result of W.Jäger and H.Kaul.This article was processed by the author using the Springer-Verlag T_EX PJourlg macro package 1991.     

Model studies of the chemisorption of hydrogen and oxygen on nickel surfaces

Atomic chemisorption of hydrogen and oxygen on the Ni(100) surface has been studied using an Effective Core Potential (ECP) approach described in a previous paper. Clusters of up to 50 nickel atoms have been used to model the surface. The computed chemisorption energies are 62 kcal/mol (exp. 63 kcal/mol) for hydrogen and 106 kcal/mol (exp. 115–130 kcal/mol) for oxygen. Correlating the adsorbate and the cluster-adsorbate bonds is extremely important for obtaining accceptable results, particularly for oxygen. Reasonable convergence of chemisorption energies is obtained with 40–50 cluster atoms for both hydrogen and oxygen. For hydrogen the addition of a third cluster layer stabilizes the results considerably. Both hydrogen and oxygen are adsorbed at (or close to) the four-fold hollow site. The calculated barriers for surface migration are also in good agreement with the experimental estimates. The calculated equilibrium heights above the surface are on the other hand too high compared with experiments. This disagreement is believed to be due to core-valence correlation effects, which are not incorporated in the present ECP. The cluster convergence for the height above the surface is much slower than for the chemisorption energy.     

Combinatorial invariants and covariants as tools for conical intersections

The combinatorial invariant and covariant are introduced as practical tools for analysis of conical intersections in molecules. The combinatorial invariant is a quantity depending on adiabatic electronic states taken at discrete nuclear configuration points. It is invariant to the phase choice (gauge) of these states. In the limit that the points trace a loop in nuclear configuration space, the value of the invariant approaches the corresponding Berry phase factor. The Berry phase indicates the presence of an odd or even number of conical intersections on surfaces bounded by these loops. Based on the combinatorial invariant, we develop a computationally simple and efficient method for locating conical intersections. The method is robust due to its use of gauge invariant nature. It does not rely on the landscape of intersecting potential energy surfaces nor does it require the computation of nonadiabatic couplings. We generalize the concept to open paths and combinatorial covariants for higher dimensions obtaining a technique for the construction of the gauge-covariant adiabatic-diabatic transformation matrix. This too does not make use of nonadiabatic couplings. The importance of using gauge-covariant expressions is underlined throughout. These techniques can be readily implemented by standard quantum chemistry codes.     

Physicochemical properties and stability in the acidic solution of a new macrolide antibiotic, clarithromycin, in comparison with erythromycin.

Clarithromycin (6-O-methylerythromycin), a new 14-membered macrolide antibiotic, has been studied to clarify its physicochemical properties and stability in acidic solution, as compared with erythromycin (EM). The solubility of clarithromycin (CAM) in distilled water was lower than that of EM and decreased with increasing temperature. The solubilities of CAM and EM in the phosphate buffer solution at 37 degrees C decreased with an increasing pH and kept constant above pH 9. From pH-solubility profiles, the dissociation constants of CAM and EM were determined to be 8.76 and 8.36, respectively. The partition coefficient of CAM took a higher value than that of EM and increased with an increasing pH. In the acidic solution, the decomposition of CAM and EM obeyed the pseudo-first order kinetics. From the decomposition rate constants, the half life (T1/2) of CAM and EM were determined. In pH 1.39, CAM degraded with a T1/2 of 17 min while EM kinetics corresponded to a T1/2 of 3 s. Therefore, CAM was 340-fold more stable in pH 1.39 and markedly more stable in the acidic solution than EM.     

Spin Selectivity in Electron Transfer in Photosystem I

Photosystem I (PSI) is one of the most studied electron transfer (ET) systems in nature; it is found in plants, algae, and bacteria. The effect of the system structure and its electronic properties on the electron transfer rate and yield was investigated for years in details. In this work we show that not only those system properties affect the ET efficiency, but also the electrons’ spin. Using a newly developed spintronic device and a technique which enables control over the orientation of the PSI monolayer relative to the device (silver) surface, it was possible to evaluate the degree and direction of the spin polarization in ET in PSI. We find high‐spin selectivity throughout the entire ET path and establish that the spins of the electrons being transferred are aligned parallel to their momenta. The spin selectivity peaks at 300 K and vanishes at temperatures below about 150 K. A mechanism is suggested in which the chiral structure of the protein complex plays an important role in determining the high‐spin selectivity and its temperature dependence. Our observation of high light induced spin dependent ET in PSI introduces the possibility that spin may play an important role in ET in biology.     

Evidence for Electron Transfer between Graphene and Non-Covalently Bound π-Systems

Hybridizing graphene and molecules possess a high potential for developing materials for new applications. However, new methods to characterize such hybrids must be developed. Herein, the wet-chemical non-covalent functionalization of graphene with cationic π-systems is presented and the interaction between graphene and the molecules is characterized in detail. A series of tricationic benzimidazolium salts with various steric demand and counterions was synthesized, characterized and used for the fabrication of graphene hybrids. Subsequently, the doping effects were studied. The molecules are adsorbed onto graphene and studied by Raman spectroscopy, XPS as well as ToF-SIMS. The charged π-systems show a p-doping effect on the underlying graphene. Consequently, the tricationic molecules are reduced through a partial electron transfer process from graphene, a process which is accompanied by the loss of counterions. DFT calculations support this hypothesis and the strong p-doping could be confirmed in fabricated monolayer graphene/hybrid FET devices. The results are the basis to develop sensor applications, which are based on analyte/molecule interactions and effects on doping.     

Shear-induced configurations of confined colloidal suspensions

We show that geometric confinement dramatically affects the shear-induced configurations of dense monodisperse colloidal suspensions; a new structure emerges, where layers of particles buckle to stack in a more efficient packing. The volume fraction in the shear zone is controlled by a balance between the viscous stresses and the osmotic pressure of a contacting reservoir of unsheared particles. We present a model that accounts for our observations and helps elucidate the complex interplay between particle packing and shear stress for confined suspensions.     

On model complete differential fields

We develop a geometric approach to definable sets in differentially closed fields, with emphasis on the question of orthogonality to a given strongly minimal set. Equivalently, within a family of ordinary differential equations, we consider those equations that can be transformed, by differential-algebraic transformations, so as to yield solutions of a given fixed first-order ODE . We show that this sub-family is usually definable (in particular if lives on a curve of positive genus). As a corollary, we show the existence of many model-complete, superstable theories of differential fields.