Pion condensation and the σ-model in liquid neutron matter

The nature of the ground state of neutron matter at neutron star densities is discussed, starting from the linear σ-model Lagrangian. It is found that there is a possibility of a new, previously unknown, type of condensation, which involves coherent, non-vanishing expectation values of the neutral meson fields of the theory, the σ and π⁰ fields. The σπ⁰ condensate would, like normal neutron matter, develop its own π^? condensate. It is shown that the most general, translationally invariant, condensate is a combined σπ⁰ and π^? condensate with arbitrary, independent, wave numbers. The wave vectors of the condensates are determined by a minimization process, and are found to be non-vanishing and perpendicular.The σπ⁰ condensate corresponds to a state which is very different than previously considered states of neutron matter: all neutron spins are aligned, presumably with some macroscopic domain structure. Thus, criteria for the occurence of this condensate depend on the energy difference between very different states. This means that any prediction as to whether or not the state actually occurs in nature must at the moment be regarded as uncertain. However, using available hyperneted-chain calculations of the contribution to the energies from the direct neutron-neutron forces, it is demonstrated that a σπ⁰ condensate (with its accompanying π^? condensate) might well occur at neutron densities above perhaps 0.5 particles/fm³.This paper leans heavily on the linear σ-model. However, the neutral condensate is a general consequence of chiral symmetry, and can thus also be obtained e.g. from Weinberg's Lagrangian.     

Ultrafast nanoporous silica formation driven by femtosecond laser irradiation

A type of glass modifications occurring after femto‐second laser irradiation gives rise to strong (10⁻²) from birefringence. This form birefringence is thought to be related to index nanostructure (called nanogratings). Analyzing induced tracks in fused silica using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with nm resolution shows that nanostructures are porous nanoplanes with an average index lower than typical silica (Δn ∼ –0.20). Their origin is explained as arising from fast decomposition of the glass under localized, high‐intensity femtosecond laser radiation where strong nonlinear, multiphoton‐induced photoionization leads to plasma generation. Mechanistic details include Coulombic explosions characteristic of strong photoionization and the production of self‐trapped exciton (STE). Rapid relaxation of these STE prevents recombination and dissociated atomic oxygen instead recombines with each other to form molecular oxygen pointed out using Raman microscopy. Some of it is dissolved in the condensed glass whilst the rest is trapped within nanovoids. A chemical recombination can only occur at 1200 °C for many hours. This explains the thermal stability of such a nanostructure. Precise laser translation and control of these birefringent nanoporous structures allo arbitrarily tuning and positioning within the glass, an important tool for controlling optical properties for photonic applications, catalysts, molecular sieves, composites and more.     

A stationary approach to inverse scattering for schrodinger operators with first order perturbation

In this paper, we study the inverse scattering of Schrodinger operators with short-range (resp. long-range) electric and magnetic potentials. We develop a stationary approach to determine the high energy asymptotics of the scattering operator (resp. modified scattering operator). As a corollary, we show that the electric potential and the magnetic field are uniquely determined by the first two terms of this asymptotic expansion.     

The Fundamentals of Real‐Time Surface Plasmon Resonance/Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence

We report the integration of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), cyclic voltammetry and electrochemiluminescence (ECL) responses to survey the interfacial adsorption and energy transfer processes involved in ECL on a plasmonic substrate. It was observed that a Tween 80/tripropylamine nonionic layer formed on the gold electrode of the SPR sensor, while enhancing the ECL emission process, affects the electron transfer process to the luminophore, Ru(bpy)₃²⁺, which in turn has an impact on the plasmon resonance. Concomitantly, the surface plasmon modulated the ECL intensity, which decreased by about 40 %, due to an interaction between the excited state of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ and the plasmon. This occurred only when the plasmon was excited, demonstrating that the optically excited surface plasmon leads to lower plasmon‐mediated luminescence and that the plasmon interacts with the excited state of Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ within a very thin layer.     

On Spin Models, Modular Invariance, and Duality

A spin model is a triple (X, W ⁺, W ^–), where W ⁺ and W ^– are complex matrices with rows and columns indexed by X which satisfy certain equations (these equations allow the construction of a link invariant from(X, W ⁺, W ^–) ). We show that these equations imply the existence of a certain isomorphism between two algebras and associated with (X, W ⁺, W ^–) . When is the Bose-Mesner algebra of some association scheme, and is a duality of . These results had already been obtained in [15] when W ⁺, W ^– are symmetric, and in [5] in the general case, but the present proof is simpler and directly leads to a clear reformulation of the modular invariance property for self-dual association schemes. This reformulation establishes a correspondence between the modular invariance property and the existence of spin models at the algebraic level. Moreover, for Abelian group schemes, spin models at the algebraic level and actual spin models coincide. We solve explicitly the modular invariance equations in this case, obtaining generalizations of the spin models of Bannai and Bannai [3]. We show that these spin models can be identified with those constructed by Kac and Wakimoto [20] using even rational lattices. Finally we give some examples of spin models at the algebraic level which are not actual spin models.     

Optimized and far-red-emitting variants of fluorescent protein eqFP611

Fluorescent proteins (FPs) emitting in the far-red region of the spectrum are highly advantageous for whole-body imaging applications because scattering and absorption of long-wavelength light is markedly reduced in tissue. We characterized variants of the red fluorescent protein eqFP611 with bright fluorescence emission shifted up to 639 nm. The additional red shift is caused by a trans-cis isomerization of the chromophore. The equilibrium between the trans and cis conformations is strongly influenced by amino acid residues 143 and 158. Pseudo monomeric tags were obtained by further genetic engineering. For the red chromophores of eqFP611 variants, molar extinction coefficients of up to approximately 150,000 were determined by an approach that is not affected by the presence of molecules with nonfunctional red chromophores. The bright fluorescence makes the red-shifted eqFP611 variants promising lead structures for the development of near-infrared fluorescent markers. The red fluorescent proteins performed well in cell biological applications, including two-photon imaging.     

Mangrove trees growing in a very saline condition but not using seawater

Mangrove trees, which develop along tropical coasts, are known to use saline water uptake. In French Guiana, the high salinity condition is the result of seawater evaporation on mud banks formed from the Amazon sediment flumes. In the back mangrove a few kilometres inland, groundwater, soil water and the xylem sap uptake in the trees remain highly salty, and only very tolerant plants like Avicennia germinans can flourish, whereas the less salt-tolerant Rhizophora mangle is more difficult to find. Curiously, the same Avicennia trees propagate on the seafront. However, stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) measurements and ion analysis (high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission (ICP-AES) spectroscopy reveal that the origin of the water in the back mangrove is not seawater. It is freshwater percolating into the sand bars from the inland marshes and rainwater during the wet season that redissolves a marine evaporite and gives a saline groundwater. The absence of barren saltine areas ('tanne') in French Guiana could be explained by this freshwater inflow, the aquifer being no longer linked with the ocean. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solvent Extraction: Structure of the Liquid–Liquid Interface Containing a Diamide Ligand

Knowledge of the (supra)molecular structure of an interface that contains amphiphilic ligand molecules is necessary for a full understanding of ion transfer during solvent extraction. Even if molecular dynamics already yield some insight in the molecular configurations in solution, hardly any experimental data giving access to distributions of both extractant molecules and ions at the liquid–liquid interface exist. Here, the combined application of X‐ray and neutron reflectivity measurements represents a key milestone in the deduction of the interfacial structure and potential with respect to two different lipophilic ligands. Indeed, we show for the first time that hard trivalent cations can be repelled or attracted by the extractant‐enriched interface according to the nature of the ligand.