Double diffraction dissociation at the Fermilab Tevatron collider

We present results from a measurement of double diffraction dissociation in pp collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The production cross section for events with a central pseudorapidity gap of width Deltaeta(0)>3 (overlapping eta = 0) is found to be 4.43+/-0.02(stat)+/-1.18(syst) mb [ 3.42+/-0.01(stat)+/-1.09(syst) mb] at square root of (s) = 1800[630] GeV. Our results are compared with previous measurements and with predictions based on Regge theory and factorization.     

Behavior of transversally isotropic cylindrical shells under dynamic application of radial pressure

We consider the problem on the buckling of a transversally isotropic long cylindrical shell under dynamic external pressure. For the cases of a sudden load [1] and a load rapidly increasing with time [2], we compare the results obtained from the two-dimensional Kirchhoff-Love and Timoshenko-Reissner theories.     

High-field EPR studies on polymer film formation from colloidal dispersions

High-field EPR on nitroxide spin probes is applied to characterize the dynamics of small additive molecules and surfactants in polymer films obtained from colloidal dispersions. Due to the increased width of the spectra and the smaller influence of hyperfine-dependent relaxation on the spectral lineshape at W band (94 GHz) compared to X band (9.6 GHz), it is possible to measure subnanosecond rotational correlation times for the isotropic motion of the unpolar spin probe TEMPO in the free volume of poly(acrylate) films. Likewise, the anisotropies of the rotational diffusion tensors of a surfactant and a small ionic additive molecule in poly(fluoroacrylate) films can be determined with better confidence at W band. From these anisotropies it is concluded that the surfactant aggregates exhibit low molecular order, whereas the ionic additives are strongly attached to immobilized ionic clusters. High-field EPR lineshapes at W band are also found to be more sensitive to slow motions on a microsecond time scale than X-band EPR lineshapes. The design of a Fabry-Pérot resonator for measurements on polymer films is discussed and its sensitivity is demonstrated on a wet polymer film with a thickness of 160 μm.     

Fast right-angle spinning EPR on organic radicals: Resolution enhancement and angle determination

Fast right-angle sample spinning (RAS) with rotation frequencies up to 17 kHz at temperatures down to 205 K is applied to electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) experiments on organic radicals. Echo-detected RAS EPR provides substantial resolution enhancements for the range of anisotropies between 10 and 100 MHz which is not accessible with either magic-angle sample spinning EPR or anisotropy-resolved EPR on the basis of slow rotation. The larger reorientation angles in experiments with fast spinning cause strong phase shifts of the echo, which manifest themselves as regions with negative intensity in the spectrum. These phase shifts and thus the lineshape in echo-detected RAS EPR depend significantly on the relative orientation of theg and hyperfine tensor. For the determination of anisotropies in poorly resolved spectra of organic radicals in disordered solids, we introduce the two-dimensional fixed-angle rotation experiment as an alternative to anisotropy-resolved EPR.     

Potential and limitations of nucleon transfer experiments with radioactive beams at REX-ISOLDE

As a tool for studying the structure of nuclei far off stability the technique of γ-ray spectroscopy after low-energy single-nucleon transfer reactions with radioactive nuclear beams in inverse kinematics was investigated. Modules of the MINIBALL germanium array and a thin position-sensitive parallel plate avalanche counter (PPAC) to be employed in future experiments at REX-ISOLDE were used in a test experiment performed with a stable ³⁶S beam on deuteron and ⁹Be targets. It is demonstrated that the Doppler broadening of γ lines detected by the MINIBALL modules is considerably reduced by exploiting their segmentation, and that for beam intensities up to 10⁶ particles/s the PPAC positioned around zero degrees with respect to the beam axis allows not only to significantly reduce the γ background by requiring coincidences with the transfer products but also to control the beam and its intensity by single particle counting. The predicted large neutron pickup cross-sections of neutron-rich light nuclei on ²H and ⁹Be targets at REX-ISOLDE energies of 2.2 MeV ^. A are confirmed. Received: 9 October 2000 / Accepted: 28 January 2001     

Water Permeation Through DMPC Lipid Bilayers using Polarizable Charge Equilibration Force Fields

We investigate permeation energetics of water entering a model dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) bilayer via molecular dynamics simulations using polarizable Charge Equilibration (CHEQ) models. Potentials of mean force show 4.5-5.5 kcal/mol barriers for water permeation into bilayers. Barriers are highest when water coordination within the bilayer is prevented, and also when using force fields that accurately reproduce experimental alkane hydration free energies. The magnitude of the average water dipole moment decreases from 2.6 Debye (in bulk) to 1.88 Debye (in membrane interior). This variation correlates with the change in a water molecule's coordination number.     

Nef cone volumes and discriminants of abelian surfaces

The nef cone volume appeared first in work of Peyre in a number-theoretic context on Fano varieties, and was then studied by Derenthal and co-authors in a series of papers on del Pezzo surfaces. The idea was subsequently extended to also measure the Zariski chambers of del Pezzo surfaces. We start in this paper to explore the possibility to use this attractive concept to effectively measure the size of the nef cone on algebraic surfaces in general. This provides an interesting way of measuring in how big a space an ample line bundle can be moved without destroying its positivity. We give here complete results for simple abelian surfaces that admit a principal polarization and for products of elliptic curves.     

Electronic structure of single crystal UPd3, UGe2, and USb2 from hard X-ray and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

Electronic structure of single crystal UPd₃, UGe₂, and USb₂ has been measured from hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) with 7.6 keV photons at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF). Lower photon energy angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy (ARPES) was also performed at the Synchrotron Radiation Center (SRC). Herein the following results are presented: (i) ARPES results demonstrate hybridization between the U 5f and Pd 4d electrons within UPd₃. (ii) The greatly reduced surface sensitivity of HAXPES enabled observation of the bulk core levels in spite of surface oxidation. Photoelectron mean-free-path versus oxide layer thickness considerations were used to model the effectiveness of HAXPES for probing bulk features of in-air cleaved samples. (iii) Two distinct features separated by 800 meV were observed for the Sb 3d core level. These two features are attributed to manifestations of two distinct Sb sites within the USb₂ single crystal as supported by consideration of interatomic distances and enthalpy-of-formation. (iv) Doniach–Sunjic line shape analysis of core level spectral features revealed correlations between asymmetry coefficients and 5f localization.