M-theory: Strings,duality and branes

String theory is an attempt to combine all of the known physical forces into a single unified framework. A powerful new type of duality symmetry has recently been discovered in string theory which has led to important breakthroughs. What were previously considered to be five distinct string theories are now known to be different aspects of an underlying structure called M-theory. In addition to strings, extended objects of higher dimension or 'branes', play a key role. We review these developments and discuss the impact that they are having on quantum field theory and the quantum properties of black holes.     

Air-broadening coefficients of the HO2 radical in the 2ν1 band measured using cw-CRDS

In this paper we present measurements of the air-broadening coefficients of HO₂ at room temperature in the 2ν₁ band around 1.5 microns. The HO₂ radicals were created by flash photolysis of SOCl₂ in a flow of O₂/CH₃OH mixtures. To observe air-broadening, N₂ (79%) and O₂ (21%) were added using calibrated flow controllers and a total pressure controller. The total pressure was monitored in parallel using a capacitive pressure gauge. Air-broadening coefficients at 296 K were determined for 34 absorption lines between 6631 and 6671 cm⁻¹. The air-broadening coefficients of HO₂ show a rotational dependence (decreasing from about 0.14 cm⁻¹/atm for N″ = 3 to about 0.09 cm⁻¹/atm for N″ = 10). No evidence for collisional narrowing was observed.     

Enhanced weak-signal sensitivity in two-photon microscopy by adaptive illumination

We describe a technique to enhance both the weak-signal relative sensitivity and the dynamic range of a laser scanning optical microscope. The technique is based on maintaining a fixed detection power by fast feedback control of the illumination power, thereby transferring high measurement resolution to weak signals while virtually eliminating the possibility of image saturation. We analyze and demonstrate the benefits of adaptive illumination in two-photon fluorescence microscopy.     

Characterization and optimization of magnetron sputtered Sc/Si multilayers for extreme ultraviolet optics

Scandium/silicon multilayers have been deposited by magnetron sputtering and characterized by several techniques. Experimental peak reflectances of 0.22 and 0.37 have been measured respectively at wavelengths of 40 nm and 46 nm, for 10° incidence angle. The corresponding theoretical values for a perfect Sc/Si structure are respectively 0.38 and 0.57. In order to explain these differences between calculated and measured reflectivity, thin film and multilayer characterizations have been done. Effects of multilayer imperfections on the reflectivity have been estimated independently by means of simulation. Based on these results, a new design of Sc/Si multilayer is proposed with top layer thickness optimization. With this design, the experimental peak reflectance reaches 0.46 at a wavelength of 46 nm. PACS 78.67.Pt; 78.66.-W; 81.15.Cd     

The N4 molecule and the N3 + ion

The possibility of the nitrogen molecule forming a stable dimer is investigated. Through ab initio calculations in an extended contracted-gaussian basis, it is demonstrated that N₄ in tetrahedral geometry and N₃ ⁺ in D _3h geometry are local minimum points on their respective internuclear potential energy surfaces. The N₄ molecule is considerably higher in energy than two ground-state N₂ molecules and some study of the barrier for N₄ decomposition has been made. The bond lengths and force constants for the two systems are shown to be similar to their hydrocarbon counterparts, C₄H₄ and C₃H₃ ⁺, tetrahedrane and cyclopropenyl cation. Other related systems are discussed as well.     

Molecular dynamics calculations of the hard-sphere equation of state

The equation of state of the hard-sphere fluid is studied by a Monte Carlomolecular dynamics method for volumes ranging from 25V ₀ to 1.6V ₀ , whereV ₀ is the close-packed volume, and for system sizes from 108 to 4000 particles. TheN dependence of the equation of state is compared to the theoretical dependence given by Salsburg for theNPT ensemble, after correction for the ensemble difference, in order to obtain estimates for the thermodynamic limit. The observed values of the pressure are compared with both the [3/2] and the [2/3] Padé approximants to the virial series, using Kratky's value for the fifth virial coefficientB ₅ and choosingB ₆ andB ₇, to obtain a least-squares fit. The resulting values ofB ₆ andB ₇ lie within the uncertainties of the Ree-Hoover-Kratky Monte Carlo estimates for these virial coefficients. The values ofB ₈,B ₉, andB ₁₀ predicted by our optimal [3/2] approximant are also reported. Finally, the Monte Carlo-molecular dynamics equation of state is compared with a number of analytic expressions for the hard-sphere equation of state.Work supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy.     

Republication of: Observations in cosmology

This is a reprinting of a paper by Jerome Kristian and Rainer K. Sachs, first published in 1966, in which they proposed a power-series scheme for reading out various parameters of the Universe directly from observations in a model-independent way. The paper has been selected by the Editors of General Relativity and Gravitation for re-publication in the Golden Oldies series of the journal. This republication is accompanied by an editorial note written by George Ellis and by a brief biography of J. Kristian, compiled by A. Krasiński from internet sources.     

Self-focusing of femtosecond diffraction-resistant vortex beams in water

We report experiments on self-focusing of femtosecond diffraction-resistant vortex beams in water. These beams are higher-order Bessel beams with weak azimuthal modulation of the transverse intensity patterns. The modulation overrides the self-focusing dynamics and results in the formation of regular bottlelike filament distributions. The peak-power thresholds for filamentation, at a particular distance, are relatively accurately estimated by the adaptation of the Marburger formula derived earlier for Gaussian beams. The nonlinear conversion of the incident conical waves into the localized spatial wave packets propagating near the beam axis is observed.