A Criterion for Relative Compactness of a Sequence of Measure-Valued Random Processes

A criterion for relative compactness of a sequence of measure-valued processes is proved and exemplified.     

Water molecules in a protein cavity detected by a statistical-mechanical theory

Four water molecules confined in a small cavity of hen egg-white lysozyme were detected by means of the three-dimensional (3D) RISM theory, a statistical-mechanical theory of molecular solutions. This is the first theoretical realization of confined molecules in a protein without making nonsense tricks, such as placing the molecules in the space a priori. Possible impacts which the result may have on biochemistry and biophysics, including the molecular recognition, enzymatic reactions, etc., are discussed.     

Surface segregation of dissolved salt ions

Surface segregation of iodide, but not of fluoride or cesium ions, is observed by a combination of metastable impact electron spectroscopy (MIES) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS(HeI)) of amorphous solid water exposed to CsI or CsF vapor. The same surface ionic behavior is also derived from molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the corresponding aqueous salt solutions. The MIES results show the propensity of iodide, but not fluoride, for the surface of the amorphous solid water film, providing thus strong evidence for the suggested presence of heavier halides (iodide, bromide, and to a lesser extent chloride) at the topmost layer of aqueous surfaces. In contrast, no appreciable surface segregation of ions is observed in methanol, neither in the experiment nor in the simulation. Furthermore, the present results indicate that, as far as the thermodynamic aspects of solvation of alkali halides are concerned, amorphous solid water and methanol surfaces behave similarly as surfaces of the corresponding liquids.     

Tolerance of continuous-variables quantum key distribution to the noise in state preparation

We address the applicability of the continuous-variables quantum key distribution in the realistic conditions of noisy preparation, channel loss and detection noise and investigate the possibility to increase its tolerance to the state preparation noise. The two types of preparation noise, either phase-sensitive or phase-insensitive excess noise, are considered in the assumption of optimal attacks performed by an eavesdropper within the setup based on the entangled source and either homodyne or heterodyne measurements. We show that preparation noise is destructive for the secure channel upon even low noise variances in the conditions of channel loss, while detection noise just decreases the key rate. We propose the method of sender-side attenuation to suppress the preparation noise in the entanglements-based scheme and show that it enables the secure key transmission upon arbitrary high preparation noise of both types and any pure channel loss against both individual and collective attacks.     

Luminescence properties of transparent ceramics Y<Subscript>3</Subscript>Al<Subscript>5</Subscript>O<Subscript>12</Subscript>:Yb

We present the results of studying the luminescence properties of transparent ceramics Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Yb obtained by the vacuum sintering and nanocrystalline technology. In the course of research, we measured the luminescence and luminescence excitation spectra, as well as the temperature and kinetic behavior of luminescence. Our results are analyzed in comparison with the characteristics of corresponding single crystals. We revealed that processes of generation and relaxation of electronic excitations that occur in ceramics, in particular, in the charge transfer state, are similar to processes occurring in crystals. The behavior of two charge-transfer luminescence bands at 340 and 490 nm is studied. In the range 300–600 nm, we revealed a broad emission band of radiation of other type, which is also observed in spectra of undoped ceramics. This broad band is attributed to F⁺ centers. Emission and excitation spectra of charge transfer luminescence at a maximum of the temperature dependence of 100 K are measured for the first time. We found that, upon excitation in the charge transfer band, luminescence in ceramics is more intense than in single crystals with similar concentrations of Yb and has a higher quenching temperature.     

Thermal expansion of Sn2P2S6 crystals

We present the results for thermal expansion coefficients of Sn₂P₂S₆ crystals determined both in the crystallographic system and the system based on eigenvectors of thermal expansion tensor. Peculiarities of temperature evolution of the indicative surface of thermal expansion tensor for Sn₂P₂S₆ are discussed, including the region of their ferroelectric phase transition.