Hyper-raman scattering observation of the boson peak in vitreous silica

Hyper-Raman spectroscopy is used to investigate low frequency vibrations of various silica glasses. A strong boson peak is observed. The corresponding modes are inactive in infrared and Raman spectra, and are nonacoustic in nature. The shape of this boson peak essentially matches the total density of vibrational states (DOS), with a constant coupling coefficient C. This and other indications suggest that these modes actually dominate the DOS of silica.     

Hyper-Raman scattering from vitreous boron oxide: coherent enhancement of the boson peak

Hyper-Raman scattering spectra of vitreous B(2)O(3) are compared to Raman scattering ones. Particular attention is given to the low-frequency boson peak which relates to out-of-plane rigid librations of planar structural units, mostly boroxols. While the Raman strength can be accounted for by the motions of single units, the hyper-Raman signal exhibits a unequaled enhancement due to coherent librations of several boroxols. This important distinction is explained by the different symmetry properties of the polarizability and hyperpolarizability tensors of the structural units.     

Revelation of ion hydration in Raman scattering spectral bands of water

The influence of ions with different hydration properties on the stretching, bending, and low-frequency bands of water Raman scattering spectra has been investigated. The obtained results are explained using the ion hydration theory: from the point of view of the formation of hydration shells, ion pairs and complexes, and the migration of protons in water. Using the detected peculiarities of the dependences of spectra characteristics on the salt concentration for the determination of the parameters of long-range and short-range hydration is proposed.     

Detecting anomalies in vector boson scattering

Measuring vector boson scattering(VBS) precisely is an important step toward understanding the electro weak symmetry breaking of and detecting new physics beyond the standard model(SM).Herein,we propose a neural network that compresses the features of the VBS data into a three-dimensional latent space.The consistency of the SM predictions and experimental data is tested via binned log-likelihood analysis in the latent space.We show that the network is capable of distinguishing different polarization modes of WWjj production in both di-and semileptonic channels.The method is also applied to constrain the effective field theory and two Higgs Doublet Model.The results demonstrate that the method is sensitive to general new physics contributing to the VBS.     

Reweighing the evidence for a light Higgs boson in dileptonic W boson decays

We reconsider observables for discovering and measuring the mass of a Higgs boson via its dileptonic decays h → W W* → ?ν?ν. We define an observable generalizing the transverse mass that takes into account the fact that one of the intermediate W bosons is likely to be on shell. We compare this new variable with existing ones and argue that it gives a significant improvement for discovery in the region mh < 2 mW.     

Neutron scattering in intermetallics

Inelastic and elastic neutron scattering as a probe of long range and disordered magnetism is discussed for example cases in rare earth intermetallic crystalline compounds and amorphous analogues. The determination of the sublattice site magnetizations is illustrated for RFe₂ and Y₆(Mn_xFe_1−x)₂₃ compounds. The latter are shown to exhibit strong exchange disorder effects for intermediate compositions, as manifested by the development of short range antiferromagnetic clusters. The effect of randomization of the crystal field interaction in destroying long range order is illustrated in amorphous rare earth compounds and in rare earth compound hydrides. Results of inelastic scattering measurements on Laves phase Fe, Co, and Al compounds are summarized which yield exchange and crystal field parameters.     

Neutron scattering and compressibility measurements for the study of hydration effects on polymeric aqueous solutions

Summary The present paper reports the results of compressibility and incoherent quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements performed on polymeric systems and on their aqueous solutions. From the compressibility data, the temperature evolution of the polymer hydration number can be derived. On the other hand, neutron data show that the translational diffusion coefficientD _T turns out to be higher in the case of ethylene glycol + water, with respect to that of pure, suggesting that the water molecules act as a ?structure breaker? of the intermolecular connectivity existing into the pure. Furthermore the dynamical properties of the H₂O molecules in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) deeply differ from those in the bulk, and show that we are in the presence of entangled water. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994.     

The boson peak and nanostructure of vitreous benzophenone

The temperature behavior of the low-frequency Raman spectra of vitreous and supercooled liquid benzophenones is investigated experimentally. The structural phase transformations are studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The results obtained suggest that the structure of glasses involves nanometer-sized fragments similar to the structural elements of the crystals.     

Electron scattering in the interacting boson model

It is suggested that the interacting boson model be used in the analysis of electron scattering data. Qualitative features of the expected behavior of the inelastic excitation of some 2⁺ states in the transitional SmNd region are discussed.     

Neutron scattering in a Leibfried-Brenig spectrum space lattice

The classical high-temperature limit of the pair self-correlation function for a system of harmonic oscillators as introduced by Sunakawaet al. is applied to a lattice whose vibrational spectrum is described by a Leibfried-Brenig approximation. The resulting neutron scattering cross-section is discussed qualitatively; it is shown that the principle of detailed balance is fulfilled.     

Origin of the boson peak in systems with lattice disorder

The origin of the boson peak in models with force-constant disorder has been established by calculations using the coherent potential approximation. The analytical results obtained are supported by precise numerical solutions. The boson peak in the disordered system is associated with the lowest van Hove singularity in the spectrum of the reference crystalline system, pushed down in frequency by disorder-induced level-repelling and hybridization effects.     

Neutron scattering in superionic conductors

The coherent dynamical structure factor S(q,ω) of one-dimensional superionic conductors is studied in a model of Brownian particles with harmonic interactions moving in a periodic potential. We present results for the q-dependence of the halfwidth of the quasielastic peak, which reflects the commensurability ratios of the periodic potential and the molten sublattice. Furthermore the influence of the periodic potential on the collective excitations of the mobile ions is discussed.     

Neutron scattering from a substitutional mass defect

The dynamic structure factor is calculated for a low concentration of light mass scatterers substituted in a cubic crystal matrix. A new numerical method for the exact calculation is demonstrated. We derive a local density of states for the low momentum transfer limit, and derive the shifts and widths of the oscillator peaks in the high momentum transfer limit. We discuss the limitations of an approximation which decouples the defect from the lattice.     

Short-range-order lifetime and the "boson peak" in a metallic glass model

We extend the usual static view of short range order in metallic glasses to a dynamical model of local order. We use an atomistic simulation of a NiZr glass to investigate time-dependent fluctuations of the atomic environment. We show that, even in the "frozen" glass, the solute-centered clusters change their identities between distinct polyhedron types. The frequency spectrum of these transitions exhibits a characteristic peak which we show to be related to a universal vibrational anomaly of disordered solids: the controversial boson peak.     

Elastic scattering of antiprotons on protons at 5 GeV/c evidence for a backward peak

Antiproton-proton elastic scattering has been measured at 5 GeV/c. A total of 30 000 events were observed in the angular range 17° < θ_cm < 136°, corresponding to 0.3 < −t < 7.7 (GeV/c²). In addition to the known dip at −t = 0.5 (GeV/c)², we observe a structure at about −t = 2 (GeV/c)² and a backward peak with a slope4.1 ± 0.6 (GeV/c)². The extrapolated differential cross-section at u = 0 is 1.3 ± 0.8 μb/(GeV/c)².     

Glasslike structure of globular proteins and the boson peak

Vibrational spectra of proteins and topologically disordered solids display a common anomaly at low frequencies, known as boson peak. We show that such feature in globular proteins can be deciphered in terms of an energy landscape picture, as it is for glassy systems. Exploiting the tools of Euclidean random matrix theory, we clarify the physical origin of such anomaly in terms of a mechanical instability of the system. As a natural explanation, we argue that such instability is relevant for proteins in order for their molecular functions to be optimally rooted in their structures.     

High frequency sound and the boson peak in amorphous silica

We present the results of extensive molecular dynamics computer simulations in which the high frequency dynamics of silica, i.e. for frequencies ν > 0.5 THz, is investigated in the viscous liquid state as well as in the glass state. We characterize the properties of high frequency sound modes by analyzing J _l(q,ν) and J _t(q,ν), the longitudinal and transverse current correlation function, respectively. For wave-vectors q > 0.4 ?^-1 the spectra are sitting on top of a flat background. The dynamic structure factor S(q,ν) exhibits for q > 0.23 ?^-1 a boson peak which is located nearly independent of q around 1.7 THz and for which the intensity scales approximately linearly with temperature. We show that the low frequency part of the boson peak is mainly due to the elastic scattering of transverse acoustic modes with frequencies around 1 THz. The strength of this scattering depends on q and is largest around q = 1.7 ?^-1, the location of the first sharp diffraction peak in the static structure factor. By studying S(q,ν) for different system sizes we show that strong finite size effects are present in the low frequency part of the boson peak in that for small systems part of its intensity is missing. We discuss the consequences of these finite size effects for the structural relaxation. Received 27 June 2000 and Received in final form 9 January 2001     

The dynamical crossover phenomenon in bulk water, confined water and protein hydration water

We discuss a phenomenon regarding water that was until recently a subject of scientific controversy, i.e. the dynamical crossover from fragile-to-strong glass-forming material, for both bulk and protein hydration water. Such a crossover is characterized by a temperature T(L) at which significant dynamical changes occur, such as violation of the Stokes-Einstein relation and changes of behaviour of homologous transport parameters such as the density relaxation time and the viscosity. In this respect we will consider carefully the dynamic properties of water-protein systems. More precisely, we will study proteins and their hydration water as far as bulk and confined water. In order to clarify the controversy we will discuss in a comparative way many previous and new experimental data that have emerged using different techniques and molecular dynamic simulation (MD). We point out the reasons for the different dynamical findings from the use of different experimental techniques.