Polyimidines: A new class of polymers. III. A comparison of isomers of polypyromellitimidines

The cis (3,3,5,5-), trans (3,3,7,7-), oxo, and thio analogs of tetraphenylpyromellitide were polymerized with 1, 6-hexane diamine, p-phenylene diamine, and p,p'-diaminodiphenyl ether under various conditions. A comparison was then made of reactivity of the isomers and of the properties of the polymers. In general the thio monomers were more soluble and reactive than the oxo. They also gave more thermally stable polymers. The cis isomers of the monomers were more soluble than the trans, but the trans were more reactive. The least stable of the 12 polymers prepared was that from the cis–oxo monomer and 1,6-hexane diamine. It gave a 10% weight loss at 300°C in air and 340°C in nitrogen by TGA. The most stable polymer was from the reaction of the cis–thio pyromellitide with p,p'-diaminodiphenyl ether, which showed 10% weight losses by TGA at 560 and 650°C in air and nitrogen, respectively. The polymers were stable in hot dilute hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. They were all soluble in chloroform, dimethylformamide, and sulfuric acid. Polymers that contained sulfur were also soluble in carbon tetrachloride, benzene, xylene, and toluene. Brittle films could be cast from solution or melt-pressed.     

Robust polarization-based quantum key distribution over a collective-noise channel

We present two polarization-based protocols for quantum key distribution. The protocols encode key bits in noiseless subspaces or subsystems and so can function over a quantum channel subjected to an arbitrary degree of collective noise, as occurs, for instance, due to rotation of polarizations in an optical fiber. These protocols can be implemented using only entangled photon-pair sources, single-photon rotations, and single-photon detectors. Thus, our proposals offer practical and realistic alternatives to existing schemes for quantum key distribution over optical fibers without resorting to interferometry or two-way quantum communication, thereby circumventing, respectively, the need for high precision timing and the threat of Trojan horse attacks.     

Frequency response of a cold-wire in a flow seeded with oil particles

Experiments have been carried out to investigate the effects of aging on the frequency response of a fine cold-wire located in a flow seeded with oil particles used for laser Doppler anemometry. Transfer functions are shown to depend strongly on the running time. Photo-micrographs show that the contamination effect is due to discrete droplets, the diameter of which increases with running time. Reduction of frequency response is shown to affect at first the high-frequency range and then an intermediate range of frequencies that are larger than the inverse of the oil droplets time constant. Good agreement is found between experimental results and predictions derived from a simple model of the contaminated wire. This contamination process requires testing and cleaning the wire steadily in order to keep a significant frequency response and, if needed, to correct temperature fluctuations.     

Nonequilibrium steady states in sheared binary fluids

We simulate by lattice Boltzmann the steady shearing of a binary fluid mixture undergoing phase separation with full hydrodynamics in two dimensions. Contrary to some theoretical scenarios, a dynamical steady state is attained with finite domain lengths L(x,y) in the directions (x,y) of velocity and velocity gradient. Apparent scaling exponents are estimated as Lx approximately gamma (-2/3) and Ly approximately gamma(-3/4). We discuss the relative roles of diffusivity and hydrodynamics in attaining steady state.     

Dynamical reaction pathways in Eley-Rideal recombination of nitrogen from W(100)

The scattering of atomic nitrogen over a N-pre-adsorbed W(100) surface is theoretically described in the case of normal incidence off a single adsorbate. Dynamical reaction mechanisms, in particular Eley-Rideal (ER) abstraction, are scrutinized in the 0.1-3.0?eV collision energy range and the influence of temperature on reactivity is considered between 300 and 1500 K. Dynamics simulations suggest that, though non-activated reaction pathways exist, the abstraction process exhibits a significant collision energy threshold (0.5 eV). Such a feature, which has not been reported so far in the literature, is the consequence of a repulsive interaction between the impinging and the pre-adsorbed nitrogens along with a strong attraction towards the tungsten atoms. Above threshold, the cross section for ER reaction is found one order of magnitude lower than the one for hot-atoms formation. The abstraction process involves the collision of the impinging atom with the surface prior to reaction but temperature effects, when modeled via a generalized Langevin oscillator model, do not affect significantly reactivity.     

Ultrahigh-order wave mixing in noncollinear high harmonic generation

We show that noncollinear high harmonic generation (HHG) can be fully understood in terms of nonlinear optical wave mixing. We demonstrate this by superposing on the fundamental ω1 field its second harmonic ω2 of variable intensity in a noncollinear geometry. It allows us to identify, by momentum conservation, each field's contribution (n1,n2) to the extreme ultraviolet emission at frequency Ω = n1ω1 + n2ω2. We observe that the photon (Ω) yield follows an n2 power law on the ω2 intensity, before saturation. It demonstrates that, although HHG is a highly nonperturbative process, a perturbation theory can still be developed around it.     

Coulomb excitation of neutron-rich Zn isotopes: first observation of the 2(1)+ state in 80Zn

Neutron-rich, radioactive Zn isotopes were investigated at the Radioactive Ion Beam facility REX-ISOLDE (CERN) using low-energy Coulomb excitation. The energy of the 2(1)+ state in 78Zn could be firmly established and for the first time the 2+ --> 0(1)+ transition in 80Zn was observed at 1492(1) keV. B(E2,2(1)+ --> 0(1)+) values were extracted for (74,76,78,80)Zn and compared to large scale shell model calculations. With only two protons outside the Z=28 proton core, 80Zn is the lightest N=50 isotone for which spectroscopic information has been obtained to date. Two sets of advanced shell model calculations reproduce the observed B(E2) systematics. The results for N=50 isotones indicate a good N=50 shell closure and a strong Z=28 proton core polarization. The new results serve as benchmarks to establish theoretical models, predicting the nuclear properties of the doubly magic nucleus 78Ni.     

Classical treatment of molecular collisions: striking improvement of the description of recoil energy distributions using Gaussian weighted trajectories

The Gaussian weighting (GW) procedure, recently used in the classical treatment of molecular collisions, is a practical way of taking into account quantization of product vibrational actions. The goal of this brief communication is to show that the GW procedure may drastically improve the predictions of the recoil energy distribution between final fragments, an observable frequently measured in molecular beam experiments.