Skeletal modifications of $$\upbeta $$-carboline alkaloids and their antiviral activity profile

To study the effect of the variation of fused ring size and substitution on the antiviral activity of \(\upbeta \)-carboline alkaloids, four types of structurally novel \(\upbeta \)-carboline alkaloids analogues, with indole-fused six- to nine-membered-rings motifs, were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for the inhibition of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Bioassay results indicated that most of these analogues had significant anti-TMV activity; especially I-14 (54 \(\pm \) 3 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vitro; 51 \(\pm \) 2, 45 \(\pm \) 2, and 42 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vivo), II-4 (53 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vitro; 49 \(\pm \) 2, 57 \(\pm \) 2, and 48 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vivo), and II-8 (48 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vitro; 53 \(\pm \) 2 %, 56 \(\pm \) 2 %, and 46 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vivo), which were more potent vs. TMV than was ribavirin (36 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vitro; 37 \(\pm \) 2, 41 \(\pm \) 2, and 38 \(\pm \) 1 % at 500 \(\upmu \)g/mL in vivo). The size of the fused ring has important effects on anti-TMV potency, which may be ascribed to conformational differences. The X-ray structures of I-1, I-6, II-8, and III show differing conformational preferences. The most potent compounds can be used as leads for further optimization as antiphytoviral agents.     

The decays of $$\bar{B}^0$$, $$\bar{B}^0_s$$B¯s0 and $$B^-$$B- into $$\eta _c$$ηc plus a scalar or vector meson

We investigate the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s\), \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(B^-\) into \(\eta _c\) plus a scalar or vector meson in a theoretical framework by taking into account the dominant process for the weak decay of \(\bar{B}\) meson into \(\eta _c\) and a \(q\bar{q}\) pair. After hadronization of this \(q\bar{q}\) component into pairs of pseudoscalar mesons we obtain certain weights for the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson components. In addition, the \(\bar{B}^0\) and \(\bar{B}^0_s\) decays into \(\eta _c\) and \(\rho ^0\), \(K^*\) are evaluated and compared to the \(\eta _c\) and \(\phi \) production. The calculation is based on the postulation that the scalar mesons \(f_0(500)\), \(f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\) are dynamically generated states from the pseudoscalar meson-pseudoscalar meson interactions in S-wave. Up to a global normalization factor, the \(\pi \pi \), \(K \bar{K}\) and \(\pi \eta \) invariant mass distributions for the decays of \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0_s \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^+ \pi ^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c K^+ K^-\), \(\bar{B}^0 \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^0 \eta \), \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c K^0 K^-\) and \(B^- \rightarrow \eta _c \pi ^- \eta \) are predicted. Comparison is made with the limited experimental information available and other theoretical calcualtions. Further comparison of these results with coming LHCb measurements will be very valuable to make progress in our understanding of the nature of the low lying scalar mesons, \(f_0(500), f_0(980)\) and \(a_0(980)\).     

Influence of photon-neutrino processes on the cooling of a magnetar

The influence of a strongly magnetized dense plasma on the photon-neutrino processes γe ^± → e ^±ν\(\bar \nu \), γ → ν\(\bar \nu \), and γγ → ν\(\bar \nu \) is considered; invariant amplitudes of the γe ^± → e ^±ν\(\bar \nu \) and γγ → ν\(\bar \nu \) reactions are calculated. The contributions from these processes to the neutrino luminosity are calculated in the special case of a cold plasma. Under these conditions, the contribution from the process γ → ν\(\bar \nu \) to the neutrino emissivity is shown to be strongly suppressed compared to the contributions from the photoneutrino and photon conversion processes. Since the neutron star cooling curve can be modified through a change of the neutrino luminosity in a strong magnetic field, the magnetic field strength in the outer crust of the magnetar is assumed to be constrained.     

Coupled channels dynamics in the generation of the $$\Omega (2012)$$ resonance

We look into the newly observed \(\Omega (2012)\) state from the molecular perspective in which the resonance is generated from the \(\bar{K} \Xi ^*\), \(\eta \Omega \) and \(\bar{K} \Xi \) channels. We find that this picture provides a natural explanation of the properties of the \(\Omega (2012)\) state. We stress that the molecular nature of the resonance is revealed with a large coupling of the \(\Omega (2012)\) to the \(\bar{K} \Xi ^*\) channel, that can be observed in the \(\Omega (2012) \rightarrow \bar{K} \pi \Xi \) decay which is incorporated automatically in our chiral unitary approach via the use of the spectral function of \(\Xi ^*\) in the evaluation of the \(\bar{K} \Xi ^*\) loop function.     

Spin density matrix of the $$\omega $$ in the reaction $${\bar{p}p}\,\rightarrow \,\omega \pi ^0$$p¯p→π0

The spin density matrix of the \(\omega \) has been determined for the reaction \({\bar{p}p}\,\rightarrow \,\omega \pi ^0\) with unpolarized in-flight data measured by the Crystal Barrel LEAR experiment at CERN. The two main decay modes of the \(\omega \) into \(\pi ^0 \gamma \) and \(\pi ^+ \pi ^- \pi ^0\) have been separately analyzed for various \({\bar{p}}\)momenta between 600 and 1940 MeV/c. The results obtained with the usual method by extracting the matrix elements via the \(\omega \) decay angular distributions and with the more sophisticated method via a full partial wave analysis are in good agreement. A strong spin alignment of the \(\omega \) is clearly visible in this energy regime and all individual spin density matrix elements exhibit an oscillatory dependence on the production angle. In addition, the largest contributing orbital angular momentum of the \({\bar{p}p~}\)system has been identified for the different beam momenta. It increases from \(L^{max}_{{\bar{p}p~}}\) \(=\) 2 at 600 MeV/c to \(L^{max}_{{\bar{p}p~}}\) \(=\) 5 at 1940 MeV/c.     

Scaling exponents of forced polymer translocation through a nanopore

We investigate several properties of a translocating homopolymer through a thin pore driven by an external field present inside the pore only using Langevin Dynamics (LD) simulations in three dimensions (3D). Motivated by several recent theoretical and numerical studies that are apparently at odds with each other, we estimate the exponents describing the scaling with chain length (Nof the average translocation time \(\ensuremath \langle\tau\rangle\) , the average velocity of the center of mass \(\ensuremath \langle v_{{\rm CM}}\rangle\) , and the effective radius of gyration \(\ensuremath \langle {R}_g\rangle\) during the translocation process defined as \(\ensuremath \langle\tau\rangle \sim N^{\alpha}\) , \(\ensuremath \langle v_{{\rm CM}} \rangle \sim N^{-\delta}\) , and \(\ensuremath {R}_g \sim N^{\bar{\nu}}\) respectively, and the exponent of the translocation coordinate (s -coordinate) as a function of the translocation time \(\ensuremath \langle s^2(t)\rangle\sim t^{\beta}\) . We find \(\ensuremath \alpha=1.36 \pm 0.01\) , \(\ensuremath \beta=1.60 \pm 0.01\) for \(\ensuremath \langle s^2(t)\rangle\sim \tau^{\beta}\) and \(\ensuremath \bar{\beta}=1.44 \pm 0.02\) for \(\ensuremath \langle\Delta s^2(t)\rangle\sim\tau^{\bar{\beta}}\) , \(\ensuremath \delta=0.81 \pm 0.04\) , and \(\ensuremath \bar{\nu}\simeq\nu=0.59 \pm 0.01\) , where \( \nu\) is the equilibrium Flory exponent in 3D. Therefore, we find that \(\ensuremath \langle\tau\rangle\sim N^{1.36}\) is consistent with the estimate of \(\ensuremath \langle\tau\rangle\sim\langle R_g \rangle/\langle v_{{\rm CM}} \rangle\) . However, as observed previously in Monte Carlo (MC) calculations by Kantor and Kardar (Y. Kantor, M. Kardar, Phys. Rev. E 69, 021806 (2004)) we also find the exponent α = 1.36 ± 0.01 < 1 + ν. Further, we find that the parallel and perpendicular components of the gyration radii, where one considers the “cis” and “trans” parts of the chain separately, exhibit distinct out-of-equilibrium effects. We also discuss the dependence of the effective exponents on the pore geometry for the range of N studied here.     

A new decay mode of higher charmonium

We calculate the \(\Lambda _c{\bar{\Lambda }}_c\) partial decay width of the excited vector charmonium states around 4.6 GeV with the quark pair creation model. We find that the partial decay width of the \(\Lambda _c{\bar{\Lambda }}_c\) mode can reach up to several MeV for \(\psi (4S,~5S,~6S)\). In contrast, the partial \(\Lambda _c{\bar{\Lambda }}_c\) decay width of the states \(\psi (3D,~4D,~5D)\) is less than one MeV. If the enhancement Y(4630) reported by the Belle Collaboration in \(\Lambda _c{\bar{\Lambda }}_c\) invariant-mass distribution is the same structure as Y(4660), the Y(4660) resonance is most likely to be a S-wave charmonium state.     

Synthesis and evaluation of bile acid amides of $$\alpha $$-cyanostilbenes as anticancer agents

A series of amino-substituted \(\alpha \)-cyanostilbene derivatives and their bile acid (cholic and deoxycholic acid) amides were designed and synthesized. A comparative study on the anticancer and antibacterial activity evaluation on the synthesized analogs was carried against the human osteosarcoma (HOS) cancer cell line, and two gram ?ve (E. coli and S. typhi) and two gram \(+\)ve (B. subtilis and S. aureus) bacterial strains. All the cholic acid \(\alpha \)-cyanostilbene amides showed an \(\hbox {IC}_{50}\) in the range 2–13 \(\upmu \hbox {M}\) against human osteosarcoma cells (HOS) with the most active analog (6g) possessing an \(\hbox {IC}_{50}\) of \(2\,\upmu \hbox {M}\). One of the amino-substituted \(\alpha \)-cyanostilbene, 4e, was found to possess an \(\hbox {IC}_{50}\) of \(3\,\upmu \hbox {M}\). An increase in the number of cells at the sub-\(\hbox {G}_{1}\) phase of the cell was observed in the in vitro cell cycle analysis of two most active compounds in the series (4e, 6g) suggesting a clear indication toward induction of apoptotic cascade. With respect to antibacterial screening, amino-substituted \(\alpha \)-cyanostilbenes were found to be more active than their corresponding bile acid amides. The synthesized compounds were also subjected to in silico study to predict their physiochemical properties and drug-likeness score.     

Summability of Connected Correlation Functions of Coupled Lattice Fields

We consider two nonindependent random fields \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) defined on a countable set Z. For instance, \(Z=\mathbb {Z}^d\) or \(Z=\mathbb {Z}^d\times I\), where I denotes a finite set of possible “internal degrees of freedom” such as spin. We prove that, if the cumulants of \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) enjoy a certain decay property, then all joint cumulants between \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) are \(\ell _2\)-summable in the precise sense described in the text. The decay assumption for the cumulants of \(\psi \) and \(\phi \) is a restricted \( \ell _1\) summability condition called \(\ell _1\)-clustering property. One immediate application of the results is given by a stochastic process \(\psi _t(x)\) whose state is \(\ell _1\)-clustering at any time t: then the above estimates can be applied with \(\psi =\psi _t\) and \(\phi =\psi _0\) and we obtain uniform in t estimates for the summability of time-correlations of the field. The above clustering assumption is obviously satisfied by any \(\ell _1\)-clustering stationary state of the process, and our original motivation for the control of the summability of time-correlations comes from a quest for a rigorous control of the Green–Kubo correlation function in such a system. A key role in the proof is played by the properties of non-Gaussian Wick polynomials and their connection to cumulants     

CP violations in predictive neutrino mass structures

We study the CP-violation effects from two types of neutrino mass matrices with (i) \((M_\nu )_{ee}=0\), and (ii) \((M_\nu )_{ee}=(M_\nu )_{e\mu }=0\), which can be realized by the high-dimensional lepton number violating operators \(\bar{\ell }_R^c\gamma ^\mu L_L (D_\mu \Phi )\Phi ^2\) and \(\bar{\ell }_R^c l_R (D_\mu {\Phi })^2\Phi ^2\), respectively. In (i), the neutrino mass spectrum is in the normal ordering with the lightest neutrino mass within the range \(0.002\,\mathrm{eV}\lesssim m_0\lesssim 0.007\,\mathrm{eV}\). Furthermore, for a given value of \(m_0\), there are two solutions for the two Majorana phases \(\alpha _{21}\) and \(\alpha _{31}\), whereas the Dirac phase \(\delta \) is arbitrary. For (ii), the parameters of \(m_0\), \(\delta \), \(\alpha _{21}\), and \(\alpha _{31}\) can be completely determined. We calculate the CP-violating asymmetries in neutrino–antineutrino oscillations for both mass textures of (i) and (ii), which are closely related to the CP-violating Majorana phases.     

Study of the weak annihilation contributions in charmless $$\varvec{B_s\rightarrow VV}$$ decays

In this paper, in order to probe the spectator-scattering and weak annihilation contributions in charmless \(B_s\rightarrow VV\) (where V stands for a light vector meson) decays, we perform the \(\chi ^2\)-analyses for the endpoint parameters within the QCD factorization framework, under the constraints from the measured \(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow \) \(\rho ^0\phi \), \(\phi K^{*0}\), \(\phi \phi \) and \(K^{*0}\bar{K}^{*0}\) decays. The fitted results indicate that the endpoint parameters in the factorizable and nonfactorizable annihilation topologies are non-universal, which is also favored by the charmless \(B\rightarrow PP\) and PV (where P stands for a light pseudo-scalar meson) decays observed in previous work. Moreover, the abnormal polarization fractions \(f_{L,\bot }(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow K^{*0}\bar{K}^{*0})=(20.1\pm 7.0)\%,(58.4\pm 8.5)\%\) measured by the LHCb collaboration can be reconciled through the weak annihilation corrections. However, the branching ratio of \(\bar{B}_{s}\rightarrow \phi K^{*0}\) decay exhibits a tension between the data and theoretical result, which dominates the contributions to \(\chi _\mathrm{min}^2\) in the fits. Using the fitted endpoint parameters, we update the theoretical results for the charmless \(B_s\rightarrow VV\) decays, which will be further tested by the LHCb and Belle-II experiments in the near future.     

Predictions for $$\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \pi ^- (D_s^- ) \ \Xi _c^0 (2790) \left( \Xi _c^0 (2815) \right) $$ and $$\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \bar{\nu }_l l \ \Xi _c^0 (2790) \left( \Xi _c^0 (2815) \right) $$Ξb-→ν¯llΞc0(2790)Ξc0(2815)

We have performed calculations for the nonleptonic \(\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \pi ^- \ \Xi _c^0 (2790) \left( J=\frac{1}{2}\right) \) and \(\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \pi ^- \ \Xi _c^0 (2815) \left( J=\frac{3}{2}\right) \) decays and the same reactions replacing the \(\pi ^-\) by a \(D_s^-\). At the same time we have also evaluated the semileptonic rates for \(\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \bar{\nu }_l l \ \Xi _c^0 (2790)\) and \(\Xi _b^- \rightarrow \bar{\nu }_l l \ \Xi _c^0 (2815)\). We look at the reactions from the perspective that the \(\Xi _c^0 (2790)\) and \(\Xi _c^0 (2815)\) resonances are dynamically generated from the pseudoscalar–baryon and vector–baryon interactions. We evaluate ratios of the rates of these reactions and make predictions that can be tested in future experiments. We also find that the results are rather sensitive to the coupling of the \(\Xi _c^*\) resonances to the \(D^* \Sigma \) and \(D^* \Lambda \) components.     

Lepton polarization asymmetries in rare semi-tauonic $$ b \rightarrow s $$ exclusive decays at FCC- ee

We consider measurements of exclusive rare semi-tauonic b-hadron decays, mediated by the \(b \rightarrow s \tau ^+ \tau ^-\) transition, at a future high-energy circular electron–positron collider (FCC-ee). We argue that the high boosts of b-hadrons originating from on-shell Z boson decays allow for a full reconstruction of the decay kinematics in hadronic \(\tau \) decay modes (up to discrete ambiguities). This, together with the potentially large statistics of \(Z\rightarrow b\bar{b}\), opens the door for the experimental determination of \(\tau \) polarizations in these rare b-hadron decays. In the light of the current experimental situation on lepton flavor universality in rare semileptonic B decays, we discuss the complementary short-distance physics information carried by the \(\tau \) polarizations and suggest suitable theoretically clean observables in the form of single- and double-\(\tau \) polarization asymmetries.     

Translation Invariant Extensions of Finite Volume Measures

We investigate the following questions: Given a measure \(\mu _\Lambda \) on configurations on a subset \(\Lambda \) of a lattice \(\mathbb {L}\), where a configuration is an element of \(\Omega ^\Lambda \) for some fixed set \(\Omega \), does there exist a measure \(\mu \) on configurations on all of \(\mathbb {L}\), invariant under some specified symmetry group of \(\mathbb {L}\), such that \(\mu _\Lambda \) is its marginal on configurations on \(\Lambda \)? When the answer is yes, what are the properties, e.g., the entropies, of such measures? Our primary focus is the case in which \(\mathbb {L}=\mathbb {Z}^d\) and the symmetries are the translations. For the case in which \(\Lambda \) is an interval in \(\mathbb {Z}\) we give a simple necessary and sufficient condition, local translation invariance (LTI), for extendibility. For LTI measures we construct extensions having maximal entropy, which we show are Gibbs measures; this construction extends to the case in which \(\mathbb {L}\) is the Bethe lattice. On \(\mathbb {Z}\) we also consider extensions supported on periodic configurations, which are analyzed using de Bruijn graphs and which include the extensions with minimal entropy. When \(\Lambda \subset \mathbb {Z}\) is not an interval, or when \(\Lambda \subset \mathbb {Z}^d\) with \(d>1\), the LTI condition is necessary but not sufficient for extendibility. For \(\mathbb {Z}^d\) with \(d>1\), extendibility is in some sense undecidable.     

Analysis of charmless two-body <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis> decays in factorization-assisted topological-amplitude approach

We analyze charmless two-body non-leptonic B decays \(B \rightarrow PP, PV\) under the framework of a factorization-assisted topological-amplitude approach, where P(V) denotes a light pseudoscalar (vector) meson. Compared with the conventional flavor diagram approach, we consider the flavor SU(3) breaking effect assisted by a factorization hypothesis for topological diagram amplitudes of different decay modes, factorizing out the corresponding decay constants and form factors. The non-perturbative parameters of topology diagram magnitudes \(\chi \) and the strong phase \(\phi \) are universal; they can be extracted by \(\chi ^2\) fit from current abundant experimental data of charmless Bdecays. The number of free parameters and the \(\chi ^2\) per degree of freedom are both reduced compared with previous analyses. With these best fitted parameters, we predict branching fractions and CP asymmetry parameters of nearly 100 \(B_{u,d}\) and \(B_s\) decay modes. The long-standing \(\pi \pi \) and \(\pi K\)-CP puzzles are solved simultaneously.     

Chern–Simons,Wess–Zumino and other cocycles from Kashiwara–Vergne and associators

Descent equations play an important role in the theory of characteristic classes and find applications in theoretical physics, e.g., in the Chern–Simons field theory and in the theory of anomalies. The second Chern class (the first Pontrjagin class) is defined as \(p= \langle F, F\rangle \) where F is the curvature 2-form and \(\langle \cdot , \cdot \rangle \) is an invariant scalar product on the corresponding Lie algebra \(\mathfrak g\). The descent for p gives rise to an element \(\omega =\omega _3+\omega _2+\omega _1+\omega _0\) of mixed degree. The 3-form part \(\omega _3\) is the Chern–Simons form. The 2-form part \(\omega _2\) is known as the Wess–Zumino action in physics. The 1-form component \(\omega _1\) is related to the canonical central extension of the loop group LG. In this paper, we give a new interpretation of the low degree components \(\omega _1\) and \(\omega _0\). Our main tool is the universal differential calculus on free Lie algebras due to Kontsevich. We establish a correspondence between solutions of the first Kashiwara–Vergne equation in Lie theory and universal solutions of the descent equation for the second Chern class p. In more detail, we define a 1-cocycle C which maps automorphisms of the free Lie algebra to one forms. A solution of the Kashiwara–Vergne equation F is mapped to \(\omega _1=C(F)\). Furthermore, the component \(\omega _0\) is related to the associator \(\Phi \) corresponding to F. It is surprising that while F and \(\Phi \) satisfy the highly nonlinear twist and pentagon equations, the elements \(\omega _1\) and \(\omega _0\) solve the linear descent equation.     

Equilibration in the Kac Model Using the GTW Metric $$d_2$$

We use the Fourier based Gabetta–Toscani–Wennberg metric \(d_2\) to study the rate of convergence to equilibrium for the Kac model in 1 dimension. We take the initial velocity distribution of the particles to be a Borel probability measure \(\mu \) on \(\mathbb {R}^n\) that is symmetric in all its variables, has mean \(\vec {0}\) and finite second moment. Let \(\mu _t(dv)\) denote the Kac-evolved distribution at time t, and let \(R_\mu \) be the angular average of \(\mu \). We give an upper bound to \(d_2(\mu _t, R_\mu )\) of the form \(\min \left\{ B e^{-\frac{4 \lambda _1}{n+3}t}, d_2(\mu ,R_\mu )\right\} ,\) where \(\lambda _1 = \frac{n+2}{2(n-1)}\) is the gap of the Kac model in \(L^2\) and B depends only on the second moment of \(\mu \). We also construct a family of Schwartz probability densities \(\{f_0^{(n)}: \mathbb {R}^n\rightarrow \mathbb {R}\}\) with finite second moments that shows practically no decrease in \(d_2(f_0(t), R_{f_0})\) for time at least \(\frac{1}{2\lambda }\) with \(\lambda \) the rate of the Kac operator. We also present a propagation of chaos result for the partially thermostated Kac model in Tossounian and Vaidyanathan (J Math Phys 56(8):083301, 2015).     

Search of the neutrino-less double beta decay of $$^{}$$Se into the excited states of $$^{}$$Kr with CUPID-0

The CUPID-0 experiment searches for double beta decay using cryogenic calorimeters with double (heat and light) read-out. The detector, consisting of 24 ZnSe crystals 95\(\%\) enriched in \(^{82}\)Se and two natural ZnSe crystals, started data-taking in 2017 at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. We present the search for the neutrino-less double beta decay of \(^{82}\)Se into the 0\(_1^+\), 2\(_1^+\) and 2\(_2^+\) excited states of \(^{82}\)Kr with an exposure of 5.74 kg\(\cdot \)yr (2.24\(\times \)10\(^{25}\) emitters\(\cdot \)yr). We found no evidence of the decays and set the most stringent limits on the widths of these processes: \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{0_1^+}\))8.55\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \) (\(^{82}\) Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\) Kr \(_{2_1^+}\))\(\,{<}\,6.25 \,{\times }\,10^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\), \(\varGamma \)(\(^{82}\)Se \(\rightarrow ^{82}\)Kr\(_{2_2^+}\))8.25\(\times \)10\(^{-24}\) yr\(^{-1}\) (90\(\%\) credible interval).     

Paradoxes of the influence of small Ni impurity additions in a NaCl crystal on the kinetics of its magnetoplasticity

A comparative study of magnetoplasticity in two types of NaCl crystals differing in impurity content only by a small Ni addition (0.06 ppm) in one of them, NaCl(Ni), has been carried out. Two methods of sample magnetic exposure were used: in a constant field B = 0–0.6 T and in crossed fields in the EPR scheme—the Earth’s field B_Earth (50 μT) and a variable pumping field \(\tilde B( \sim 1 \mu T)\) at frequencies ν ~ 1 MHz. In the experiments in the EPR scheme, the change of the field orientation from \(\tilde B \bot B_{Earth}\) to \(\left. {\tilde B} \right\|B_{Earth}\) led to almost complete suppression of the effect in the NaCl(Ni) crystals and reduced only slightly (approximately by 20%) the height of the resonance peak of dislocation mean paths in the crystals without Ni, with the amplitude of the mean paths in NaCl(Ni) in the orientation \(\tilde B \bot B_{Earth}\) having been appreciably lower than that in NaCl. In contrast, upon exposure to a constant magnetic field, a more intense effect was observed in the crystal with Ni. The threshold pumping field amplitude \(\tilde B\), below which the effect is absent under resonance conditions, for the NaCl(Ni) crystals turned out to be a factor of 5 smaller than that for NaCl, while the thresholds of a constant magnetic field coincide for both types of crystals. All these differences are discussed in detail and interpreted.     

Generalized polarizabilities of the nucleon in baryon chiral perturbation theory

The nucleon generalized polarizabilities (GPs), probed in virtual Compton scattering (VCS), describe the spatial distribution of the polarization density in a nucleon. They are accessed experimentally via the process of electron–proton bremsstrahlung (\(ep\rightarrow ep\gamma \)) at electron-beam facilities, such as MIT-Bates, CEBAF (Jefferson Lab), and MAMI (Mainz). We present the calculation of the nucleon GPs and VCS observables at next-to-leading order in baryon chiral perturbation theory (B\(\chi \)PT), and confront the results with the empirical information. At this order our results are predictions, in the sense that all the parameters are well known from elsewhere. Within the relatively large uncertainties of our calculation we find good agreement with the experimental observations of VCS and the empirical extractions of the GPs. We find large discrepancies with previous chiral calculations – all done in heavy-baryon \(\chi \)PT (HB\(\chi \)PT) – and discuss the differences between B\(\chi \)PT and HB\(\chi \)PT responsible for these discrepancies.