Evidence for the production of slow antiprotonic hydrogen in vacuum

We present evidence showing how antiprotonic hydrogen, the quasistable antiproton (p)-proton bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the molecular ion H2+ in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events, evidence is presented for antiprotonic hydrogen production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around n=70, and with low angular momenta. The slow antiprotonic hydrogen may be studied using laser spectroscopic techniques.     

Diffusion dynamics during the nucleation and growth of Ge/Si nanostructures on Si(111)

We report a low energy electron microscopy study of the relation between self-organized Ge/Si(111)nanostructures and their local environment. By comparison with Monte Carlo simulations, three-dimensional islands are shown to display a substantial tendency towards self-ordering. This tendency may result from the diffusive nature of the nucleation processes. The size of individual nanostructures does not significantly correlate with the distance between neighboring islands. Thus energetic factors are thought to govern the competition among coexisting nanostructures to capture the deposited mass.     

Properties of chains of prime ideals in an amalgamated algebra along an ideal

Let f:A→B be a ring homomorphism and let J be an ideal of B. In this paper, we study the amalgamation of A with B along J with respect to f (denoted by A?^fJ), a construction that provides a general frame for studying the amalgamated duplication of a ring along an ideal, introduced and studied by D’Anna and Fontana in 2007, and other classical constructions (such as the A+XB[X], the A+XB?X? and the D+M constructions). In particular, we completely describe the prime spectrum of the amalgamated duplication and we give bounds for its Krull dimension.     

On v-Domains and Star Operations

Let * be a star operation on an integral domain D. Let f (D) be the set of all nonzero finitely generated fractional ideals of D. Call D a *-Prüfer (respectively, (*, v)-Prüfer) domain if (FF ^?1)* = D (respectively, (F ^v F ^?1)* = D) for all F ∈  f (D). We establish that *-Prüfer domains (and (*, v)-Prüfer domains) for various star operations * span a major portion of the known generalizations of Prüfer domains inside the class of v-domains. We also use Theorem 6.6 of the Larsen and McCarthy book [30 Larsen , M. D. , McCarthy , P. J. ( 1971 ). Multiplicative Theory of Ideals . New York : Academic Press . [Google Scholar]], which gives several equivalent conditions for an integral domain to be a Prüfer domain, as a model, and we show which statements of that theorem on Prüfer domains can be generalized in a natural way and proved for *-Prüfer domains, and which cannot be. We also show that in a *-Prüfer domain, each pair of *-invertible *-ideals admits a GCD in the set of *-invertible *-ideals, obtaining a remarkable generalization of a property holding for the “classical” class of Prüfer v-multiplication domains. We also link D being *-Prüfer (or (*, v)-Prüfer) with the group Inv*(D) of *-invertible *-ideals (under *-multiplication) being lattice-ordered.     

Umt-domains and domains with prüfer integral closure

An integral domain R is said to be a UMT-domain if uppers to zero in R[X) are maximal t-ideals. We show that R is a UMT-domain if and only if its localizations at maximal tdeals have Prüfer integral closure. We also prove that the UMT-property is preserved upon passage to polynomial rings. Finally, we characterize the UMT-property in certian pullback constructions; as an application, we show that a domain has Prüfer integral closure if and only if all its overrings are UMT-domains.     

Raman study of cation effect on sulfate vibration modes in solid state and in aqueous solutions

Raman spectra of potassium, sodium, and ammonium sulfates (K₂SO₄, Na₂SO₄, and (NH₄)₂SO₄) are reported and analyzed. These sulfates have been investigated under two states: solid (anhydrous and hydrated) salts and aqueous solutions. The effects of monovalent ions (K⁺, Na⁺, and NH₄⁺) and hydration on the position of Raman lines assigned to internal vibrations of sulfate anion SO₄²⁻ are discussed. In solid salts, the line position of each Raman peak is shown to decrease with increasing radius of the cation. The main ν₁ mode of sulfate molecule is particularly affected. It is emphasized that this sensitivity in solid sulfates vanishes in aqueous solutions. As a consequence, this mode can be probed by Raman spectroscopy as the main signature of SO₄²⁻ to determine its concentration within a single calibration. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Antiferroelectric and ferroelectric phase transitions of the displacive and order-disorder type in PbZrO3 and PbZr1-xTi x O3 single crystals

For PbZrO₃ and PbZr_0.99Ti_0.01O₃ single crystals the first order Raman light scattering spectra in the paraelectric phase have been analysed. In lead zirconate two kinds of crystals, with and without a transient phase, were investigated. It was found that temperature dependence of the defect-induced soft mode frequency in the paraelectric phase has a negligible contribution to the low-frequency dielectric response. From the point of view of strong dielectric relaxation in the range of 10⁶–10⁹ Hz, which originates in a disorder of the lead sites, crossover of the order-disorder and displacive type of antiferroelectric phase transition in lead zirconate is considered: the phase transition mechanism is neither purely displacive nor order-disorder. Contribution of physical phenomena responsible for the ε(ω,T) dielectric response at low frequencies of an external electric field are described.     

Characterization of foxing stains in early twentieth century photographic and paper materials

Abstract

The subject of this present work is a group of nine historical pictures shot in Palermo by the Sicilian photographer E. Interguglielmi in 1912. They are nine matte-collodion prints mounted on the original cardboard supports and all of them show foxing stains affecting the paper surface. In order to characterise the chemical composition of the supports and investigate foxing spots, non-destructive and micro-destructive analysis were carried out. X-rays fluorescence (XRF) analysis was used to characterise the elemental composition of all the mounting boards, allowing a comparison between the foxing spots and non-affected areas. Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy was used to investigate the presence of lower atomic number elements, not detectable by XRF, while SEM imaging allowed the investigation of surface appearance and nature of original paper samples from the cardboards.     

Recent results on antiproton annihilation in 4He

With experimental data of ${\bar p}$ annihilation at rest on nuclei of ⁴He, collected by the Obelix spectrometer (LEAR, CERN), we have studied a number of reactions with 4 and 5 charged particles in the final state, distinguishing the annihilations on more than one nucleon, and with strangeness production. The main results of our observations are: (a) a higher (up to 20 times) strangeness production in ⁴He than in H; (b) the evidence of a possible signature of a $\overline{K}pp$ ( $\overline{K} ppn$ ) bound state; (c) a measurement of a double strangeness production (2K ⁺) and a hint for some production yields of double-strange bound systems like 2K ^?2n; (d) a signal compatible with the baryonic $\Theta^+(1530)$ resonance, interpreted as a pentaquark system.     

Electro-optic and dielectric properties of Hafnium-doped congruent lithium niobate crystals

We report the optical and dielectric properties in hafnium (Hf)-doped lithium niobate (LN) crystals. We investigated samples of congruent composition with various doping concentration varying from 0 to 8 mol%. The clamped and unclamped values of the electro-optic coefficient r ₂₂ of Hf-doped LN and the corresponding dielectric permittivity as well, have been experimentally determined and compared with the results obtained in undoped congruent LN crystals. We show that the electro-optic and dielectric properties are only slightly affected by the introduction of hafnium ions, and therefore Hf-doped LN has the advantage of low photorefractive damage compared with the undoped congruent LN.