Impact of silica environment on hyperfine interactions in 𝜖-Fe2O3 nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles have found broad applications in medicine, especially for cell targeting and transport, and as contrast agents in MRI. Our samples of ??-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles were prepared by annealing in silica matrix, which was leached off and the bare particles were then coated with amorphous silica layers of various thicknesses. The distribution of particle sizes was determined from the TEM pictures giving the average size ～20 nm and the thickness of silica coating ～5; 8; 12; 19 nm. The particles were further characterized by the XRPD and DC magnetic measurements. The nanoparticles consisted mainly of ??-Fe₂O₃ with admixtures of ～1 % of the α phase and less than 1 % of the γ phase. The hysteresis loops displayed coercivities of ～2 T at room temperature. The parameters of hyperfine interactions were derived from transmission Mössbauer spectra. Observed differences of hyperfine fields for nanoparticles in the matrix and the bare ones are ascribed to strains produced during cooling of the composite. This interpretation is supported by slight changes of their lattice parameters and increase of the elementary cell volume deduced from XRD. The temperature dependence of the magnetization indicated a two-step magnetic transition of the ??-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticles spread between ～85 K and ～150 K, which is slightly modified by remanent tensile stresses in the case of nanoparticles in the matrix. The subsequent coating of the bare particles by silica produced no further change in hyperfine parameters, which indicates that this procedure does not modify magnetic properties of nanoparticles.     

Olson Order of Quantum Observables

M.P. Olson, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 28, 537–544 (1971) showed that the system of effect operators of the Hilbert space can be ordered by the so-called spectral order such that the system of effect operators is a complete lattice. Using his ideas, we introduce a partial order, called the Olson order, on the set of bounded observables of a complete lattice effect algebra. We show that the set of bounded observables is a Dedekind complete lattice.     

Mössbauer studies on ultraporous Fe-Oxide/SiO2 aerogel

Magnetic aerogels with very low volume density of ～0.2 g/cm³ were prepared by sol-gel method and supercritical drying. The resulting materials were monolithic and displayed high surface area. By X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy the crystalline phase formed inside the mesopores of the SiO₂ matrix was identified as a spinel iron oxide. Comparison of the magnetic measurements with Mössbauer spectra at various temperatures contributed to the elucidation of the magnetic state of this nanocomposite system with restricted magnetic interactions, in particular its transition to a superparamagnetic state.     

Are the New Physics Contributions from the Left-Right Symmetric Model Important for the Indirect CP Violation in the Neutral B Mesons?

No Heading Several works analyzing the new physics contributions from the Left-Right Symmetric Model to the CP violation phenomena in the neutral B mesons can be found in the literature. These works exhibit interesting and experimentally sensible deviations from the Standard Model predictions but at the expense of considering a low right scale υ_R around 1 TeV. However, when we stick to the more conservative estimates for υ_R, which say that it must be at least 10⁷ GeV, no experimentally sensible deviations from the Standard Model appear for indirect CP violation. This estimate for υ_R arises when the generation of neutrino masses is considered. In spite of the fact that this scenario is much less interesting and says nothing new about both the CP violation phenomenon and the structure of the Left-Right Symmetric Model, this possibility must be taken into account for the sake of completeness and when considering the see-saw mechanism that provides masses to the neutrino sector. ¹ Associate researcher of the Centro Internacional de Física, Ciudad Universitaria, Bogotá D.C., Colombia.     

The role of the pion pair term in the theory of the weak axial meson exchange currents

The structure of the weak axial pion exchange current is discussed in various models. It is shown how the interplay of the chiral invariance and the double-counting problem restricts uniquely the form of the pion potential term, to the case when the nuclear dynamics is described by the Schrödinger equation with static nucleon-nucleon potential.     

Quantitative analysis of thin samples by differential absorption imaging using a laser-plasma soft X-ray source

We consider the application of the differential absorption imaging technique in the soft X-ray region. The surface-density maps of test samples containing bromine, resulting from the application of the differential absorption imaging technique, are presented. Images of the samples were obtained in an X-ray monochromatic projection imaging scheme based on a spherically bent crystal using line emission close to the $L_2$ edge of bromine from a microplasma produced by focusing a nanosecond laser on the surface of an aluminum target.     

High-resolution dissociative recombination of cold H3+and first evidence for nuclear spin effects

The energy-resolved rate coefficient for the dissociative recombination (DR) of H(3)(+) with slow electrons has been measured by the storage-ring method using an ion beam produced from a radiofrequency multipole ion trap, employing buffer-gas cooling at 13 K. The electron energy spread of the merged-beams measurement is reduced to 500 microeV by using a cryogenic GaAs photocathode. This and a previous cold- measurement jointly confirm the capability of ion storage rings, with suitable ion sources, to store and investigate H(3)(+) in the two lowest, (J,G) = (1,1) and (1,0) rotational states prevailing also in cold interstellar matter. The use of para-H(2) in the ion source, expected to enhance para-H(3)(+) in the stored ion beam, is found to increase the DR rate coefficient at meV electron energies.     

Creation of helical vortices during magnetization of aligned carbon nanotubes filled with Fe: theory and experiment

We report a novel magnetic phenomenon consisting of the formation of helical spin configurations during the magnetization of densely packed ferromagnetic nanowires encapsulated inside carbon nanotubes. We studied the hysteresis loops when the magnetic fields are applied parallel and perpendicular to the nanotubes axes. We also performed theoretical calculations on aligned nanowire arrays that clearly indicate the creation of helical spin vortices in the hysteresis loops. The latter are caused by the presence of strong dipolar interactions among neighboring wires.     

Synthesis and antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles with different sizes

Silver nanoparticles with different sizes (7, 29, and 89 nm mean values) were synthesized using gallic acid in an aqueous chemical reduction method. The nanoparticles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) absorption spectroscopy; the antibacterial activity was assessed using the standard microdilution method, determining the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) according to the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards. From the microscopies studies (TEM) we observed that silver nanoparticles have spherical (7 and 29 nm) and pseudospherical shape (89 nm) with a narrow size distribution. The sizes of the silver nanoparticles were controlled by varying some experimental conditions. It was found that the antibacterial activity of the nanoparticles varies when their size diminishes.     

Black hole entropy quantization

Ever since the pioneering works of Bekenstein and Hawking, black hole entropy has been known to have a quantum origin. Furthermore, it has long been argued by Bekenstein that entropy should be quantized in discrete (equidistant) steps given its identification with horizon area in (semi-)classical general relativity and the properties of area as an adiabatic invariant. This lead to the suggestion that the black hole area should also be quantized in equidistant steps to account for the discrete black hole entropy. Here we shall show that loop quantum gravity, in which area is not quantized in equidistant steps, can nevertheless be consistent with Bekenstein's equidistant entropy proposal in a subtle way. For that we perform a detailed analysis of the number of microstates compatible with a given area and show consistency with the Bekenstein framework when an oscillatory behavior in the entropy-area relation is properly interpreted.