NLO contributions to <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>→<Emphasis Type="Italic">KK</Emphasis><Superscript>*</Superscript> decays in the pQCD approach

We calculate the important next-to-leading-order (NLO) contributions to the B→KK ^* decays from the vertex corrections, the quark loops, and the magnetic penguins in the perturbative QCD (pQCD) factorization approach. The pQCD predictions for the CP-averaged branching ratios are , , and Br(B ⁰→K ⁺ K ^*−+K ⁻ K ^*+)≈1.3×10⁻⁷, which agree well with both the experimental upper limits and the predictions based on the QCD factorization approach. Furthermore, the CP violating asymmetries of the considered decay modes are also evaluated. The NLO pQCD predictions for and decays are and .     

Low temperature cavity ring down spectroscopy with off-axis alignment: application to the A- and γ-bands of O2 in the visible at 90 K

The cavity ring down (CRD) technique presented here involves an optical cavity attached to a cryostat. The static cell and mirrors of the optical cavity are all inside a vacuum chamber at the same temperature of the cryostat. The temperature of the cell can be changed between 77 K and 298 K. An off-axis alignment of the laser beam into the cavity is used to increase the number of resonant modes inside the cavity and improve the signal to noise ratio of the absorption bands. To demonstrate the capabilities of the low temperature CRD cell, the absorption spectra of O₂ are recorded at 90 K for the A (υ′=0←υ″=0) and γ (υ′=2←υ″=0) bands of the b¹?_g ⁺? X³?_g ^-b^{1}\sum_{g}^{ +}\leftarrow X^{3}\sum_{g}^{ -} transition using cavity ring down spectroscopy. The optical cavity performance was tested using two variations of the CRD technique. The A-band is measured using the phase-shift cavity ring down method and the γ-band using the pulsed-laser exponential-decay method. A comparison between experimental and simulated spectra of the O₂ bands at 90 K confirms the molecular temperature measured by a sensor localized in the cell. Quantitative measurements of the individual rotational line intensities are made for the oxygen γ-band to confirm the temperature of the cell and calculate the vibrational band intensity. The application of this technique for laboratory studies of planetary atmospheres and the spectroscopy of molecular complexes is emphasized.     

NO excitation and thermal non-equilibrium within a flat plate boundary layer in an air plasma

Optical emission spectroscopy experiments are carried out by recording the radiation from the γ transitions of nitrogen monoxide in an air inductively coupled plasma in interaction with a water-cooled metallic flat plate at moderate pressure. The calibrated results allow to derive the vibrational and rotational temperatures of the NO(A ² Σ ⁺) excited state as well as its densities in the free jet and within the boundary layer by comparison with calculated spectra. Those results are compared with previous ones concerning temperatures and densities of the ground states of the majority species (N₂, O₂ and NO) that were obtained by laser techniques. As for the NO(X ² Π) ground state, vibration and rotation of the excited state are found out of equilibrium. The NO(A ² Σ ⁺) excited state is found to be populated by an energy transfer from the metastable N₂( A³\varSigma ⁺_uA^{3}\varSigma ^{+}_{u}). The steady state of the plasma allows using this property to derive N₂( A³\varSigma ⁺_uA^{3}\varSigma ^{+}_{u}) densities and N₂ electronic excitation temperatures. Close to the wall, a production of excited NO by a catalytic process is also considered involving N₂( A³\varSigma ⁺_uA^{3}\varSigma ^{+}_{u}) as source of adsorbed atoms. The present results confirm that the kinetic temperature cannot be compared to the rotational temperature derived from optical emission spectroscopy in such plasma conditions.     

Effects of Si and Ti impurities on electrical properties of sol–gel-derived amorphous SrTa2O6 thin films by UV/O3 treatment

Sol–gel-derived SrTa₂O₆ thin films were fabricated at a low temperature of 500 °C. To improve their leakage current properties, additional UV/O₃-assisted annealing was performed from room temperature to 290 °C. UV/O₃ treatment at 290 °C gave a very low leakage current that was six orders of magnitude lower than that of an untreated thin film. During UV/O₃-assisted annealing, Si and Ti ions diffused from the substrates into the SrTa₂O₆ thin films and occupied the Ta⁵⁺ sites, subsequently generating Si^? and Ti^?. At a heating temperature of 290 °C, large amounts of Ti ions diffused throughout the SrTa₂O₆ thin film. These Ti ions contributed to the generation of inactive combinations of $(\mathrm{Si}^{-}\mbox{--}\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{o}}^{+})^{+}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Ti}^{-}$ and $(\mathrm{Ti}^{-}\mbox{--}\mathrm{V}_{\mathrm{o}}^{+})^{+}\mbox{--}\mathrm{Ti}^{-}$ , which greatly reduced oxygen vacancies (V_o). Thus, the leakage current was significantly reduced.     

Multi-mode absorption spectroscopy of oxygen for measurement of concentration, temperature and pressure

The use of multi-mode absorption spectroscopy (MUMAS) to detect multiple transitions in the A-band b¹Σ_g ⁺-X³Σ_g ^- of molecular oxygen is reported. The modelling of MUMAS signatures and the procedure for fitting such model signatures to experimental data obtained using a multi-mode diode laser is described. The technique is shown to allow accurate and precise measurement of concentration, temperature over the range 300 to 500 K and of pressure over the range 0.2 to 1 bar. Extension of the technique to other ranges of temperature and pressure and to other species is discussed. PACS 42.62.Fi; 33.20.Kf     

Alpha-gamma decay studies of 255Rf, 251No and 247Fm

The decay of the isotopes ²⁵⁵Rf, ²⁵¹No and ²⁴⁷Fm produced in the reactions , and was investigated by means of α-γ spectroscopy. Previously observed γ transitions in coincidence with α decays of ²⁵⁵Rf were confirmed, their energies and line intensities were measured more precisely, and their multipolarities were determined as E1. In ²⁵¹No a new isomeric state at E ^* > 1700keV with a half-life of ≈ 2μs was identified. The decay of ²⁴⁷Fm was measured more precisely. A partial level scheme of the daughter nucleus ²⁴³Cf could be established.     

Time evolution of the Infrared Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy of DNA bases Guanine and Adenine

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) of DNA bases Guanine and Adenine was studied using a high-power CO₂ pulsed laser (λ=10.591 μm, τ _FWHM=64 ns and fluences ranging from 25 to 70 J/cm²). The strong emission of the adenine and guanine plasma, collected using a high-resolution spectrometer, at medium-vacuum conditions (4 Pa) and at 1 mm from the target, exhibits excited molecular bands of CN (B² Σ ⁺–X² Σ ⁺) and excited neutral H and ionized N⁺ and C⁺. The medium-weak emission is due to excited species C²⁺, C³⁺, N, O, O⁺, O²⁺ and molecular band systems of $\mathrm{C}_{2}(\mathrm{d}^{3}\varPi_{\mathrm{g}}\mbox{--}\mathrm{a}^{3}\varPi_{\mathrm{u}};\ \mathrm{D}^{1}\varSigma_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}\mbox{--}\mathrm{X}^{1}\varSigma_{\mathrm{g}}^{+})$ , OH(A² Σ ⁺–X² Π), NH(A³ Π–X³ Σ ^?), CH(A² Π–X² Π), $\mathrm{N}_{2}^{+}(\mathrm{B}^{2}\varSigma_{\mathrm{u}}^{+}\mbox{--} \mathrm{X}^{2}\varSigma_{\mathrm{g}}^{+})$ and N₂(C³ Π _u–B³ Π _g). We focus our attention on the temporal evolution of different atomic/ionic and molecular species. The velocity distributions for various (different) species were obtained from time-of-flight (TOF) measurements. Intensities of some lines from C⁺ were used for determining electron temperature and their Stark-broadened profiles were employed to estimate the temporal evolution of electron density.     

Pyroxene inclusions in paleo-Christian mosaic tesserae: a new tool for constraining the glass manufacturing temperature

The mineral inclusions of two orange glass tesserae from paleo-Christian mosaics were investigated in order to derive the melting temperature reached during their production (sourced from Padua and Vicenza, Veneto region, Italy). In particular, clinopyroxene crystals were studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe WDS analysis. The crystals show C2/c symmetry, typical of disordered Ca/Na and Mg/Al distributions indicating high-temperature of formation (>700°C). The cation site populations were obtained by combining results from the two experimental techniques enabled us to derive the following stoichiometric formula:

Ultrafast delocalization of hydrogen atoms in allene in intense laser fields

Ultrafast delocalization of hydrogen atoms in allene (CH₂=C=CH₂) induced by intense laser fields was investigated by the Coulomb explosion coincidence momentum imaging method. On the basis of the kinetic energy distributions of the fragment ions produced through the two three-body Coulomb explosion pathways, C₃H₄³⁺ ? H⁺ + CH⁺ + C₂H₂⁺\mathrm{C}_{3}\mathrm{H}_{4}^{3+} \rightarrow \mathrm{H}^{+} + \mathrm{CH}^{+} + \mathrm{C}_{2}\mathrm{H}_{2}^{+} and C₃H₄³⁺ ? H⁺ + C₂H⁺ +CH₂⁺\mathrm{C}_{3}\mathrm{H}_{4}^{3+} \rightarrow \mathrm{H}^{+} + \mathrm{C}_{2}\mathrm{H}^{+} +\mathrm{CH}_{2}^{+}, and the proton maps for both pathways, it was shown that the decomposition proceeds in a stepwise manner as well as in a concerted manner. The time scale of the hydrogen migration within an allene molecule was estimated to be ∼20 fs.     

Analysis of the ΛQ baryons in the nuclear matter with the QCD sum rules

In this article, we study the Λ c and Λ b baryons in the nuclear matter using the QCD sum rules, and obtain the in-medium masses M\varLambda c*=2.335 GeVM_{\varLambda _{c}}^{*}=2.335~\mathrm{GeV}, M\varLambda b*=5.678 GeVM_{\varLambda _{b}}^{*}=5.678~\mathrm{GeV}, the in-medium vector self-energies \varSigma \varLambda cv=34 MeV\varSigma ^{\varLambda _{c}}_{v}=34~\mathrm{MeV}, \varSigma \varLambda bv=32 MeV\varSigma ^{\varLambda _{b}}_{v}=32~\mathrm {MeV}, and the in-medium pole residues l\varLambda c*=0.021 GeV3\lambda_{\varLambda _{c}}^{*}=0.021~\mathrm{GeV}^{3}, l\varLambda b*=0.026 GeV3\lambda_{\varLambda _{b}}^{*}=0.026~\mathrm{GeV}^{3}. The mass-shifts are M\varLambda c*-M\varLambda c=51 MeVM_{\varLambda _{c}}^{*}-M_{\varLambda _{c}}=51~\mathrm{MeV} and M\varLambda b*-M\varLambda b=60 MeVM_{\varLambda _{b}}^{*}-M_{\varLambda _{b}}=60~\mathrm{MeV}, respectively.     

Spectroscopy study of air plasma induced by IR CO2 laser pulses

A spectroscopic study of ambient air plasma, initially at room temperature and pressures ranging from 32 to 101 kPa, produced by high-power transverse excitation atmospheric (TEA) CO₂ laser (λ=9.621 and 10.591 μm; τ _FWHM≈64 ns; power densities ranging from 0.29 to 6.31 GW cm⁻²) has been carried out in an attempt to clarify the processes involved in laser-induced breakdown (LIB) air plasma. The strong emission observed in the plasma region is mainly due to electronic relaxation of excited N, O and ionic fragments N⁺. The medium-weak emission is due to excited species O⁺, N²⁺, O²⁺, C, C⁺, C²⁺, H, Ar and molecular band systems of N ₂⁺(_{2}^{+}( B ²\varSigma _u⁺^{2}\varSigma _{\mathrm{u}}^{+} –X ²\varSigma _g⁺)^{2}\varSigma _{\mathrm{g}}^{+}) , N₂(C³ Π _u–B³ Π _g), N ₂⁺(_{2}^{+}( D² Π _g–A² Π _u) and OH(A² Σ ⁺–X² Π). Excitation temperatures of 23400±700 K and 26600±1400 K were estimated by means of N⁺ and O⁺ ionic lines, respectively. Electron number densities of the order of (0.5–2.4)×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ and (0.6–7.5)×10¹⁷ cm⁻³ were deduced from the Stark broadening of several ionic N⁺ and O⁺ lines, respectively. Estimates of vibrational and rotational temperatures of N ₂⁺_{2}^{+} electronically excited species are reported. The characteristics of the spectral emission intensities from different species have been investigated as functions of the air pressure and laser irradiance. Optical breakdown threshold intensities in air at 10.591 μm have been measured.     

Another tetraquark structure in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">π</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">χ</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>1</Subscript> invariant mass distribution

In this article, we assume that there exists a scalar hidden charm tetraquark state in the π ⁺ χ _c1 invariant mass distribution, and we study its mass using the QCD sum rules. The numerical result M _Z =(4.36±0.18) GeV is consistent with the mass of the Z(4250). The Z(4250) may be a tetraquark state, but other possibilities, such as a hadro-charmonium resonance and a molecular state, are not excluded.     

Synthetic versiliaite and apuanite: investigation by <Superscript>57</Superscript>Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy

The minerals versiliaite and apuanite have been synthesised for the first time. The ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra recorded at 298 and 4 K are reported. The results are indicative of a formulation for versiliaite as \(\left (\text {Fe}_{4}^{2+}\text {Fe}_{4}^{3+}\right )^{\text {oct}}\left [\text {Fe}_{4}^{3+}\text {Sb}_{12}^{3+}\right ]^{\text {tet}}\textit {O}_{32}\textit {S}_{2}\) and of apuanite as \(\left (\text {Fe}_{4}^{2+}\text {Fe}_{8}^{3+}\right )^{\text {oct}}\left [\text {Fe}_{8}^{3+}\text {Sb}_{16}^{3+}\right ]^{\text {tet}}\textit {O}_{48}\textit {S}_{\mathrm {4.}}\) The spectra recorded at low temperature are indicative of complex magnetic interactions. The results indicate the potential for the synthesis of further new structurally-related materials with different compositions and new low dimensional physical properties.     

Cluster generation under pulsed laser ablation of zinc oxide

Neutral and cationic Zn _n O _m clusters of various stoichiometry have been produced by nanosecond laser ablation of ZnO in vacuum and investigated by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Particular attention was paid to the effect of laser wavelength (in the range from near-IR to UV) on cluster composition. Under 193-nm laser ablation, the charged clusters are essentially substoichiometric with Zn_nO_n-1⁺\mathrm{Zn}_{n}\mathrm{O}_{n-1}^{+} and Zn_nO_n-3⁺\mathrm{Zn}_{n}\mathrm{O}_{n-3}^{+} being the most abundant series. Both sub- and stoichiometric cationic clusters are generated in abundance at 532- and 1064-nm ablation whose composition depends on the cluster size. The reactivity of small stoichiometric Zn_nO_n⁺\mathrm{Zn}_{n}\mathrm{O}_{n}^{+} clusters (n<11) toward hydrogen is found to be high, while oxygen-deficient species are less reactive. The neutral plume particles are mainly stoichiometric with Zn₄O₄ tetramer being a magic cluster. It is suggested that the Zn₄O₄ loss is the dominant fragmentation channel of large zinc oxide clusters upon electron impact. Plume expansion conditions under ZnO ablation with visible and IR laser pulses are shown to be favorable for stoichiometric cluster formation.     

Muonic Anti-hydrogen {(\bar{\rm H}_{\mu}}) Formation in Low-energy Three-body Reactions

A few-body type computation is performed for a three-charge-particle collision with participation of a slow antiproton ${\bar{\rm{p}}}$ and a muonic muonium atom (true muonium), i.e. a bound state of two muons ${(\mu^{+}\mu^{-})}$ in its ground state. The total cross section of the following reaction ${\bar{\rm p}+(\mu^{+}\mu^{-}) \rightarrow \bar{\rm{H}}_{\mu} + \mu^{-}}$ , where muonic anti-hydrogen ${\bar{\rm{H}}_{\mu}=(\bar{\rm p}\mu^{+})}$ is a bound state of an antiproton and positive muon, is computed in the framework of a set of coupled two-component Faddeev-Hahn-type equation. A better known negative muon transfer low energy three-body reaction: ${{\rm t}^{+} + ({\rm d}^{+}\mu^{-})\rightarrow ({\rm t}^{+}\mu^{-}) + {\rm d}^{+}}$ is also computed as a test system. Here, t⁺ is triton and d⁺ is deuterium.     

A theoretical study on the B3 phases of ZnSe: Structural and electronic properties

We analysed the process of \(B_{c}^{+}{\to } D_{s}^{+}\overline {K}^{0^{\ast } }\) using QCD factorization (QCDF) and final-state interaction (FSI) effects. First, the \(B_{c}^{+}{\to } D_{s}^{+}\overline {K}^{0^{\ast } }\) decay is calculated using QCDF method. The value found by using the QCDF method is less than the experimental value. Then we considered FSI effect as a sizable correction where the intermediate state \(D^{+^{\ast } }\pi ^{0}\) mesons via the exchange of \(K^{0}(K^{0^{\ast } })\) are produced. To consider the amplitudes of this intermediate state, the QCDF approach was used. The experimental branching ratio of \(B_{c}^{+}{\to } D_{s}^{+}\overline {K}^{0^{\ast } }\) decay is less than 0.4×10^?6 and our results are (0.21±0.04)×10^?7 and (0.37±0.05)×10^?6 from QCDF and FSI, respectively.     

Measurement of CP violation in stop cascade decays at the LHC

We study the potential observation at the LHC of CP-violating effects in stop production and subsequent cascade decays, , , , within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. We study T-odd asymmetries based on triple products between the different decay products. There may be a large CP asymmetry at the parton level, but there is a significant dilution at the hadronic level after integrating over the parton distribution functions. Consequently, even for scenarios where large CP intrinsic asymmetries are expected, the measurable asymmetry is rather small. High luminosity and precise measurements of masses, branching ratios and CP asymmetries may enable measurements of the CP-violating parameters in cascade decays at the LHC.     

Single-photon laser spectroscopy of cold antiprotonic helium

Some laser spectroscopy experiments carried out by the Atomic Spectroscopy and Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons (ASACUSA) collaboration to measure the single-photon transition frequencies of antiprotonic helium (\(\overline {p}\text {He}^{+}\equiv \overline {p}+\text {He}^{2+}+e^{-}\)) atoms are reviewed. The \(\overline {p}\text {He}^{+}\) were cooled to temperature T =?1.5–1.7 K by buffer-gas cooling in a cryogenic gas target, thus reducing the thermal Doppler width in the single-photon resonance lines. The antiproton-to-electron mass ratio was determined as \(M_{\overline {p}}/m_{e}=?1836.1526734(15)\) by comparisons with the results of three-body quantum electrodynamics calculations. This agreed with the known proton-to-electron mass ratio.     

Domain and Range of the Modified Wave Operator for Schrödinger Equations with a Critical Nonlinearity

We study the final problem for the nonlinear Schrödinger equation

$i{\partial }_{t}u+\frac{1}{2}\Delta u=\lambda|u|^{\frac{2}{n}}u,\quad (t,x)\in {\mathbf{R}}\times \mathbf{R}^{n},$

where\(\lambda \in{\bf R},n=1,2,3\). If the final data\(u_{+}\in {\bf H}^{0,\alpha }=\left\{ \phi \in {\bf L}^{2}:\left( 1+\left\vert x\right\vert \right) ^{\alpha }\phi \in {\bf L}^{2}\right\} \) with\(\frac{ n}{2} < \alpha < \min \left( n,2,1+\frac{2}{n}\right) \) and the norm\(\Vert \widehat{u_{+}}\Vert _{{\bf L}^{\infty }}\) is sufficiently small, then we prove the existence of the wave operator in L ². We also construct the modified scattering operator from H ^0,α to H ^0,δ with\(\frac{n}{2} < \delta < \alpha\).

     

Shift and broadening of emission lines in Nd<Superscript>3+</Superscript>:YAG laser crystal influenced by input energy

Spectroscopic properties of the flashlamp-pumped Nd ³⁺:YAG laser as a function of input energy were studied over the range of 18–75 J. The spectral widths and shifts of quasi-three-level and four-level inter-Stark emissions within the respective intermanifold transitions of \(^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {9/2}}\) and \(^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {11/2}}\) were investigated. The emission lines of \(^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -2.7pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {9/2}}\) shifted towards longer wavelength (red shift) and broadened, while the positions and linewidths of the \(^{\mathrm {4}}\mathrm {F}_{\mathrm {3/2}}\to ^{\mathrm {4}}{\kern -3.5pt}\mathrm {I}_{\mathrm {11/2}}\) transition lines remained constant by increasing the pumping energy. This is attributed to the thermal population as well as one-phonon and multiphonon emission processes in the ground state. This phenomenon degrades the output performance of the lasers.