β-Lactam Derivatives as Enzyme Inhibitors: Peptidic Derivatives of ( RS )-2-Oxo-4-phenylazetidine-1-alkanoic Acids

4-Phenylazetidine-2-one was transformed into 4-phenylazetidine-1-alkanoic acids, which were reacted in the presence of diphenylphosphoroazidate with amino acid esters and dipeptide esters yielding β-lactam peptides with different spacers between the lactam ring and the peptide moiety. All structures were established by elementary analyses, HPLC, optical rotation, and spectroscopic data and all new compounds were tested as inhibitors of PPE using standard procedures. Four compounds exhibited a weak activity compared with the standard inhibitor trifluoroacetyl-l-val-l-tyr-l-val.     

Measurement of geometric phase for mixed states using single photon interferometry

Geometric phase may enable inherently fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, due to potential decoherence effects, it is important to understand how such phases arise for mixed input states. We report the first experiment to measure mixed-state geometric phases in optics, using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer, and polarization mixed states that are produced in two different ways: decohering pure states with birefringent elements; and producing a nonmaximally entangled state of two photons and tracing over one of them, a form of remote state preparation.     

Fiber-assisted detection with photon number resolution

We report the development of a photon-number-resolving detector based on a fiber-optical setup and a pair of standard avalanche photodiodes. The detector is capable of resolving individual photon numbers and operates on the well-known principle by which a single-mode input state is split into a large number (eight) of output modes. We reconstruct the photon statistics of weak coherent input light from experimental data and show that there is a high probability of inferring the input photon number from a measurement of the number of detection events on a single run.     

Quantitative Bestimmungen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Metastable states in homogeneous Ising models

Metastable states of homogeneous 2D and 3D Ising models are studied under free boundary conditions. The states are defined in terms of weak and strict local minima of the total interaction energy. The morphology of these minima is characterized locally and globally on square and cubic grids. Furthermore, in the 2D case, transition from any spin configuration that is not a strict minimum to a strict minimum is possible via non-energy-increasing single flips.