Analysis of the Tautomeric Properties of 2-Formylcyclopentane-1,3-Dione Using the Data of IR Spectroscopy and Nonempirical (ab initio and DFT) Quantum-Chemical Calculations

The tautomerism, spectral properties, and properties of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in 2-formylcyclopentane-1,3-dione (FCPD) have been investigated by the methods of nonempirical quantum chemistry (calculations by the ab initio and DFT methods) and IR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. It is shown that FCPD in a crystalline form, as also does malonic dialdehyde, exists as self-associated enolized molecules with an open chelate ring. It is found that in solutions in CCl₄ the compound investigated exists as an equilibrium mixture of its exo- and endoenolic forms, with predominance of the former. The IR spectra of the solutions of FCPD in CCl₄ fix the presence of small amounts of the associate formed from the anionic and protonated forms of the substance. For the first time, the energies of the intramolecular H bonds of the endo- and exoenolic tautomeric forms in FCPD have been estimated theoretically. They appeared to be equal to 3.69 and 4.91 kcal·mole^–1, respectively. The possible mechanisms of enol-enolic interconversions of FCPD have been discussed.     

Variations on a Constant Theme

We describe how theories incorporating time-varying coupling constants can drive the Universe to a late-time near-flat attractor in which the cosmological constant is very small. We also discuss some consequences of allowing time-varying constants to vary in space as well.     

Towards a realistic equation of state of strongly interacting matter

We consider a relativistic strongly interacting Bose gas. The interaction is manifested in the off-shellness of the equilibrium distribution. The equation of state that we obtain for such a gas has the properties of a realistic equation of state of strongly interacting matter, i.e., at low temperature it agrees with the one suggested by Shuryak for hadronic matter, while at high temperature it represents the equation of state of an ideal ultrarelativistic Stefan-Boltzmann gas, implying a phase transition to an effectively weakly interacting phase.     

Synthesis of peptidomimetics using a polymer-bound Boc-linker

Boc-resin-bound -hydroxy--amino-aldehydes are accessible starting from N-terminally bound amino acidesters by using Dondoni's C₁-homologationreaction sequence. The conversion of these synthons totwo different peptide mimetics – 2-hydroxy-1,3-ethyl-diamines and -hydroxy--amino-vinyl sulfones – hasbeen investigated. The successful transfer of thecomplex -amino acid homologation reactionsequence into solid-phase chemistry demonstrates thepotentials of the Boc-resin for synthesis of peptidomimetics.     

A GaAs–InGaAs optoelectronic switch with multiple operation states

An optoelectronic switch with both n- and p-type delta-doped (-doped) quantum wells was investigated. The -doped structures formed potential wells for the carrier accumulation and potential barriers for the carrier injection. Being possessed of -doped sheets with different doping levels, the potential barriers were sequentially collapsed to produce a double negative-differential-resistance (NDR) phenomenon in the current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of the device, due to the carrier accumulation in the potential wells. The device also showed an optical function related to the barrier heights controllable by incident light.     

The maximum entropy principle as a consequence of the principle of Laplace

The maximum entropy principle states that the probability distribution which best represents our information is the one which maximizes the entropy with the given evidence as constraints. We prove that this principle is implied from the Laplace principle of equiprobabilities applied to the setS of allN-term sequences of results which are compatible with the given evidence. We generalize to the information gain method of Kullback.     

O(N) vector model with twisted boundary conditions

Prompted by a recent article of Chakravarty, we reexamine theO(N) vector model with twisted boundary conditions ind dimensions in the various frameworks of the =d–2 expansion, the =4–d expansion, and the large-N expansion. These continuum models describe the physics below the critical temperatureT _c and nearT _c of a latticeO(N) spin model. We determine the effect of the twisting on finite-size scaling functions, for various geometries.On leave from G. Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.     

Investigation of Rust Formed on Steel Surfaces and Related Oxyhydroxides

In order to indentity the corrosion products formed on steel surfaces from ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, detailed Mössbauer parameters have been determined for various kinds of iron-oxyhydroxides: -FeOOH, -FeOOH, -FeOOH and -FeOOH. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer measurements of the iron oxyhydroxides indicate the following results. Fe occupies a single site in -FeOOH, but below the Néel temperature as at e.g., 300 K the Mössbauer spectrum is always broad, showing a distribution of the strength of the magnetic exchange interactions. Its shape depends on the grain-size and synthetic methods of the specimen. Fe occupies 3 sites in -FeOOH. High-purity reagents of -FeOOH always contain small amounts of -FeOOH and their Néel temperatures depend on the synthetic methods of the specimen. Mössbauer spectroscopy of the synthetic -FeOOH shows very broad distribution of the hyperfine magnetic fields.     

IR Spectra of Derivatives of Immunotropic 8-Azasteroids

By the method of IR Fourier spectroscopy with the use of numerical differentiation of spectral line profiles we have studied the spectra of some structural and functional derivatives of immunotropic 8-azasteroids in the region of C=O and C=C bonds (1800–1400 cm^–1). We have established the dependence of vibration frequencies of the C=O and C=C groups on the size of the ring D, the presence of heteroatoms (O, S) in the ring D, transformations in the -acyl--aminovinylcarbonyl fragment and in its adjacent positions of the heterosteroid skeleton, and the composite character of the absorption bands that are due to the vibrations of the C=O and C=C groups. The role of the structural and stereoelectronic factors in the observed group frequencies of 8-azasteroids is discussed.     

Manifestation of Intermolecular Interactions in the IR Spectra of 8-Azasteroids

We have investigated the intermolecular interactions of 8-aza-D-homogona-1,3,5(10),13-tetrane-12,17a-dione and 2,3-dimethoxy-8-azagone-1,3,5(10),13-tetran-12,17-dione with CHCl₃, binary solvents CHCl₃–CH₃OH, CCl₄–CHCl₃, and CCl₄–CH₃OH and also in the solid phase, which manifest themselves in the IR spectra. When the C=O groups of the studied 8-azasteroids form hydrogen bonding with the OH groups of alcohol, the frequencies (C=O) change insignificantly. We have found that they are higher than the corresponding frequencies in the IR absorption spectra of solid-phase samples, which is attributable not only to the effect of the medium but also to the possible shortened contacts of the C=O groups with the CH₃ and CH₂ groups of the molecules under study.     

Supertubes versus superconducting tubes

In this paper we show the relationship between cylindrical D2-branes and cylindrical superconducting membranes described by a generic effective action at the bosonic level. In the first case the extended objects considered, arose as blown up type IIA superstrings to D2-branes, named supertubes. In the second one, the cosmological objects arose from some sort of field theories. The Dirac–Born–Infeld action describing supertubes is shown to be equivalent to the generic effective action describing superconducting membranes via a special transformation. (Dedicated to Prof. Alberto García on the occasion of his 60th birthday)     

Levels in <Superscript>127</Superscript>La fed by the <Superscript>127</Superscript>Ce beta-decay

The low-lying levels in ¹²⁷La have been studied through the -decay of ¹²⁷Ce ( T_1/2 = 29s) produced by bombarding a ^natMo target with a 185-MeV ³⁵Cl beam. Reaction products were on-line mass-separated, and -ray singles and - coincidence measurements were performed. Conversion electrons were also measured and multipolarities of transitions have been derived. The half-life of the 210.9-keV level was determined to be (1.9±0.3)ns by the - delayed coincidence technique. The level scheme obtained has been compared with calculations based on the Nilsson model.     

Integrability and PT-Symmetry of N-Body Systems with Spin-Coupling δ-Interactions

We study the PT-symmetric boundary conditions for "spin"-related -interactions and the corresponding integrability for both bosonic and fermionic many-body systems. The spectra and bound states are discussed in detail for 1/2-spin particle systems.     

Specific Features of Light Scattering in [N(CH3)4]2CuCl4 Crystals with an Incommensurable Phase

We present the results of investigation of the optical birefringence and intensity of the main light beam that passed through an [N(CH₃)₄]₂CuCl₄ crystal under the conditions of viscous interaction of the incommensurable structure with defects. A nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the basic signal is revealed. The observed temperature dependence of the intensity (in the form of irregular steps) is related to different periods of the incommensurable structure. In transitions between adjacent metastable states the periodicity of the incommensurable structure changes. It is shown that in transition regions for the central beam one observes an anomalous decrease in the light intensity due to the appearance of a perturbation lattice with the wave vector q.     

Electrostatic Model of Edge Luminescence of Heavily Doped Degenerate Semiconductors

We propose a model of the narrowing of a forbidden band due to doping of crystalline semiconductors with hydrogenlike impurities with allowance for the following factors: spatial fluctuations of an electrostatical potential, exchange interaction of majority charge carriers, screening of the minority charge carrier by a cloud of the majority ones, and also tunneling at the level of percolation. The dependence of the position of the edge luminescence band maximum on the concentration of impurities for the degrees of their compensation from a weak to an intermediate one has been calculated. The results agree with the experimental data for cryogenic temperatures in a wide range of change in the equilibrium concentration of electrons (holes).     

Determinants,Grassmanniannians and Elliptic Boundary Problems for the Dirac Operator

We study the relations between different determinants of the Dirac operator over a manifold with boundary considered as sections of a holomorphic line bundle over the Grassmannian of boundary conditions of Atiyah–Patodi–Singer type.     

Finite-size effects in a field-theoretic model with long-range exchange interaction

We present a systematic approach to the calculation of finite-size (FS) effects for anO(n) field-theoretic model with both short-range (SR) and long-range (LR) exchange interactions. The LR exchange interaction decays at large distances as 1/r ^d+2–2,0⁺,0⁺. Renormalization group calculations ind=d _u – are performed for a system with a fully finite (block) geometry under periodic boundary conditions. We calculate the FS shift of the critical temperature and the FS renormalized coupling constant of the model to one-loop order. The universal scaling variable is obtained and the FS scaling hypothesis is verified.     

Space Videophotometric System for Recording Optical Radiations in the Earth Atmosphere

This paper describes the VFS-3M videophotometric system designed for automatic remote recording of images and parameters of optical radiations following lightning discharges from aboard the Russian segment of the International space station. The characteristics of the system and the possibilities of recording such types of radiation as Red Sprites and Blue Jets are given.     

Surface tension in Ising systems with Kac potentials

We consider an Ising spin system with Kac potentials in a torus of ^d,d>-2, and fix the temperature below its Lebowitz-Penrose critical value. We prove that when the Kac scaling parameter vanishes, the log of the probability of an interface becomes proportional to its area and the surface tension, related to the proportionality constant, converges to the van der Waals surface tension. The results are based on the analysis of the rate functionals for Gibbsian large deviations and on the proof that they -converge to the perimeter functional of geometric measure theory (which extends the notion of area). Our considerations include nonsmooth interfaces, proving that the Gibbsian probability of an interface depends only on its area and not on its regularity.     

Thickness dependence of temperature coefficient of resistance of MnBi films

In-situ measurements of the temperature coefficient of resistance of electron-beam evaporated MnBi films are reported for the thickness range 30–180 nm. The thickness dependence of the temperature coefficient of resistance curves are plotted for different weight ratios, annealing times and substrate temperatures. The temperature coefficient of resistance shows marked size effect, and is negative for lower thicknesses (<100nm) and positive for higher thicknesses. The experimental data is in good agreement with the Mayadas-Shatzkes theory. The thickness dependence of the Curie temperature also indicates marked size effect.