High harmonic XUV spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction

We demonstrate the first experimental complete temporal characterization of high-harmonic XUV pulses by spectral phase interferometry, with an all-optical setup. This method allows us to perform single-shot measurements of the harmonic temporal profile and phase, revealing a remarkable shot-to-shot stability. We characterize harmonics generated in argon by a 50 fs 800 nm laser pulse. The 11th harmonic is found to be 22 fs long with a negative chirp rate of -4.8 x 10(27) s(-2). This duration can be reduced to 13 fs by modulating the polarization of the generating laser. The technique is easy to implement and could be routinely used in femtosecond XUV pump-probe experiments with harmonics.     

Über die Verteilung der quadratischen Reste

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

One-pot synthesis of highly functionalized pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole-4,4′-diacetate and 6-oxo-pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole derivatives catalyzed by urea

A facile one-pot, multicomponent protocol for the synthesis of 1,4-dihydro-pyrano[2,3-c]pyrazole derivatives using a urea catalyst is reported. This transformation proceeds via a four-component reaction of ethyl acetoacetate, a hydrazine, 3-oxo-pentanedioic acid dimethyl ester, and malononitrile. The bifunctional nature of urea means that it catalyzes many steps in this transformation, including domino Knoevenagel condensation, Michael addition, and ring opening and closing reactions. This synthetic method has several advantages, including good yield, simple work-up, harmless by-products, and simple purification.     

Forbidden Configurations and Product Constructions

A simple matrix is a (0,1)-matrix with no repeated columns. For a (0,1)-matrix F, we say that a (0,1)-matrix A has F as a configuration if there is a submatrix of A which is a row and column permutation of F (trace is the set system version of a configuration). Let \({\|A\|}\) denote the number of columns of A. We define \({{\rm forb}(m, F) = {\rm max}\{\|A\| \,:\, A}\) is m-rowed simple matrix and has no configuration F. We extend this to a family \({\mathcal{F} = \{F_1, F_2, \ldots , F_t\}}\) and define \({{\rm forb}(m, \mathcal{F}) = {\rm max}\{\|A\| \,:\, A}\) is m-rowed simple matrix and has no configuration \({F \in \mathcal{F}\}}\) . We consider products of matrices. Given an m ₁ × n ₁ matrix A and an m ₂ × n ₂ matrix B, we define the product A × B as the (m ₁ + m ₂) × n ₁ n ₂ matrix whose columns consist of all possible combinations obtained from placing a column of A on top of a column of B. Let I _k denote the k × k identity matrix, let \({I_k^{c}}\) denote the (0,1)-complement of I _k and let T _k denote the k × k upper triangular (0,1)-matrix with a 1 in position i, j if and only if i ≤ j. We show forb(m, {I ₂ × I ₂, T ₂ × T ₂}) is \({\Theta(m^{3/2})}\) while obtaining a linear bound when forbidding all 2-fold products of all 2 × 2 (0,1)-simple matrices. For two matrices F, P, where P is m-rowed, let \({f(F, P) = {\rm max}_{A} \{\|A\| \,:\,A}\) is m-rowed submatrix of P with no configuration F}. We establish f(I ₂ × I ₂, I _m/2 × I _m/2) is \({\Theta(m^{3/2})}\) whereas f(I ₂ × T ₂, I _m/2 × T _m/2) and f(T ₂ × T ₂, T _m/2 × T _m/2) are both \({\Theta(m)}\) . Additional results are obtained. One of the results requires extensive use of a computer program. We use the results on patterns due to Marcus and Tardos and generalizations due to Klazar and Marcus, Balogh, Bollobás and Morris.     

Some intersection theorems

LetL(A) be the set of submatrices of anm×n matrixA. ThenL(A) is a ranked poset with respect to the inclusion, and the poset rank of a submatrix is the sum of the number of rows and columns minus 1, the rank of the empty matrix is zero. We attack the question: What is the maximum number of submatrices such that any two of them have intersection of rank at leastt? We have a solution fort=1,2 using the followoing theorem of independent interest. Letm(n,i,j,k) = max(|F|;|G|), where maximum is taken for all possible pairs of families of subsets of ann-element set such thatF isi-intersecting,G isj-intersecting andF ansd,G are cross-k-intersecting. Then fori≤j≤k, m(n,i,j,k) is attained ifF is a maximali-intersecting family containing subsets of size at leastn/2, andG is a maximal2k?i-intersecting family. Furthermore, we discuss and Erd?s-Ko-Rado-type question forL(A), as well.     

Scaling of wave-packet dynamics in an intense midinfrared field

A theoretical investigation is presented that examines the wavelength scaling from near-visible (0.8 micro m) to midinfrared (2 micro m) of the photoelectron distribution and high harmonics generated by a "single" atom in an intense electromagnetic field. The calculations use a numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr?dinger equation (TDSE) in argon and the strong-field approximation in helium. The scaling of electron energies (lambda2), harmonic cutoff (lambda2), and attochirp (lambda -1) agree with classical mechanics, but it is found that, surprisingly, the harmonic yield follows a lambda -(5-6) scaling at constant intensity. In addition, the TDSE results reveal an unexpected contribution from higher-order returns of the rescattering electron wave packet.     

Seasonal variations in metabolite profiling of the fruits of Ligustrum lucidum Ait

The metabolite profiling of fruits of the herb Ligustrum lucidum Ait collected during different months has been performed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/QTOFMS) and multivariate statistical analysis techniques. The markers such as oleuropein acid, neonuezhenide, specnuezhenide, oleuropein and ligustrosidic acid accountable for such variations were identified through the loadings plot of principal component analysis (PCA), and the tentative identification of the markers is completed by comparing the mass spectra and retention times with those of reference compounds and/or tentatively assigned by matching empirical molecular formulae and MS/MS data with those of the known compounds published. Furthermore, one of the chemical markers, such as specnuezhenide, which is water-soluble, biologically active and also the predominant compound in this crude drug, was quantified by ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with a tunable UV detector (UPLC-TUV). The developed UPLC method provides good linearity (r(2)=0.9991), repeatability (RSD=2.96%), intra- and inter-day precisions (RSD=0.21%, 0.96%), with accuracies of 99.18-100.26% and a recovery of specnuezhenide of 97.57%. The fruits of L. lucidum Ait collected from August to December were tested. The results clearly show that the fruits of L. lucidum Ait harvested in October have the highest yields of specnuezhenide. It is also noted that the variations of content of specnuezhenide obtained by both methods have a strong correlation. This suggests that the newly proposed strategy is a reliable and simple method for the rapid discrimination of subtle variations, within the same plant species or strains, due to different seasonal collection times.     

Generation of attosecond pulses in molecular nitrogen

We investigate the carrier-envelope phase dependence of the total ionization yield for single and double ionization of xenon. We compare our results to theoretical calculations and to the phase dependent asymmetry in photoelectron emission. We observe that the phase dependence of the photoion yields, regardless if single or double ionization, is at least 2-3 orders of magnitude below the photoelectron emission signal. We conclude that total photoionization yields are only very weakly dependent on the carrier envelope phase, and that they are not a useful means for measurement of the phase. It seems possible that the broad bandwidth of few-cycle pulses facilitates multiphoton ionization, which leads to a randomization of strong field ionization phase dependencies. Besides, we observe that the spatial asymmetry in photoelectron emission appears to be useful as an indicator for the laser pulse duration in the few cycle regime.     

Latin squares and low discrepancy allocation of two-dimensional data

Fast browsing and retrieval of geographically referenced information can require the allocation of data on different storage devices for concurrent retrieval. By dividing the two-dimensional space into tiles (essentially an array), a system can allow users to specify regions of interest using a query rectangle and then retrieving information related to tiles included in the rectangle. Suppose that there are m I/O devices. A tile is labeled by i if the data corresponding to this area is stored in the ith I/O device. A labeling is efficient if the discrepancy of the numbers of occurrences of different labels in any given rectangle is small. In the present paper, constructions are given to make this discrepancy O(logm). The constructions use Latin squares. A lower bound of Ω(logm) on the discrepancy is given for constructions of this Latin square type.     

The iron carbonyl induced deoxygenation of alcohols

Alcohols, able to form stable carbanions, are deoxygenated to hydrocarbons by treatment with potassium, iron pentacarbonyl, and then hydrochloric acid. Use of an alkyl halide in place of HCl results in reductive alkylation.