Quasi-Nambu-Goldstone modes in Bose-Einstein condensates

We show that quasi-Nambu-Goldstone (NG) modes, which play prominent roles in high energy physics but have been elusive experimentally, can be realized with atomic Bose-Einstein condensates. The quasi-NG modes emerge when the symmetry of a ground state is larger than that of the Hamiltonian. When they appear, the conventional vacuum manifold should be enlarged. Consequently, topological defects that are stable within the conventional vacuum manifold become unstable and decay by emitting the quasi-NG modes. Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, we show that the topological defects are stabilized by quantum fluctuations that make the quasi-NG modes massive, thereby suppressing their emission.     

Broadband laser emission from color centers inside MgO microcrystals

We report room-temperature broadband laser emission in the near-ultraviolet to the blue-green spectral range using color centers in MgO microcrystals. The lasing MgO microcrystals are obtained through a solid phase reaction between SiO and Mg at 450 degrees C in an argon atmosphere and are mostly composed of an accumulation of microcubes enclosed by [100] facets. The laser action was observed in the wavelength region from 350 to 600 nm without using cavity mirrors. In the present MgO microcrystals, some of the color centers will be stabilized at the interfaces and/or boundaries of the microcrystalline domains, probably explaining the stable laser action even at room temperature.     

Enthalpy Relaxation Study of Poly(Vinyl Chloride) Films Based on the Time-Temperature Superposition Principle

Abstract

In the enthalpy relaxation of poly(vinyl chloride), a decrease in enthalpy upon the isothermal ageing was measured using the differential scanning calorimetry method as a function of ageing time (t_A) and ageing temperature. The range of the ageing temperature was from 56?°C (T_g ? 25?°C) to 72?°C (T_g ? 9?°C) where T_g denotes the glass transition temperature. The limiting value of the decrease in enthalpy was determined by applying a stretched exponential function to the measured enthalpy data. The relaxation function (?) was derived from the measured enthalpy and the construction of a master curve was tried by shifting the ? ? t_A curves of the respective ageing temperatures horizontally. Although there was no agreement between the shift factors (a_T) and the relaxation times of the ? ? t_A curves, the superposition was successfully constructed and the a_T values obtained for the poly(vinyl chloride) sample were found to be comparable to those reported for viscoelastic experiments over a broad temperature range above and below T_g carried out for different polymers. The origin of the decrease in enthalpy was briefly discussed in terms of the chain dynamics in the isothermal condition.     

Ab initio study of NMR spectra of Li2S–SiS2 glass system

We obtained the chemical shielding constants of ²⁹Si in Li₂S–SiS₂ glass system on the basis of molecular orbital calculations. The relative chemical shieldings calculated at the HF/6-31G* level is −16.1 and −23.8 ppm for E(1) and E(0), respectively. These calculations are in good agreement with the previous NMR study: σ(E(2))>σ(E(1))>σ(E(0)). It is found theoretically that incorporation of Li₂S into SiS₂ does not influence the ²⁹Si chemical shift, while incorporation of Li₂O into SiO₂ does to a significant extent. It is also found that the existence of oxygen in Li₂S–SiS₂ glasses increases the chemical shielding of ²⁹Si by about 25 ppm, which is in good agreement with the experimental result.     

Spectrochemical analysis of powder using 355 nm Nd-YAG laser-induced low-pressure plasma

The applicability of spectrochemical analysis of minute amounts of powder samples was investigated using an ultraviolet Nd-YAG laser (355 nm) and low-pressure ambient air. A large variety of chemical powder samples of different composition were employed in the experiment. These included a mixture of copper(II) sulfate pentahydrate, zinc sulfide, and chromium(III) sulfate n-hydrate powders, baby powder, cosmetic powders, gold films, zinc supplement tablet, and muds and soils from different areas. The powder samples were prepared by pulverizing the original samples to an average size of around 30 μm in order to trap them in the tiny micro holes created on the surface of the quartz subtarget. It was demonstrated that in all cases studied, good quality spectra were obtained with low background, free from undesirable contamination by the subtarget elements and featuring ppm sensitivity. A further measurement revealed a linear calibration curve with zero intercept. These results clearly show the potential application of this technique for practical qualitative and quantitative spectrochemical analysis of powder samples in various fields of study and investigation.     

Living anionic polymerization of ethylphenylketene: A novel approach to well‐defined polyester synthesis

A living polymerization of ethylphenylketene (EPK) was accomplished. When polymerization of EPK was carried out with butyllithium as an initiator in tetrahydrofuran (THF) at −20 °C, EPK was completely consumed within 5 min, and the corresponding polyester with narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w /M_n ∼ 1.1) was obtained almost quantitatively. Kinetic study of the polymerization at −78 °C revealed that conversion of EPK agreed with the first‐order kinetic equation, and that M_n of the polymer increased in virtually direct proportion to the conversion. Along with these results, successful results in postpolymerization at −20 °C strongly supported living mechanism of the present polymerization. Further, lithium alkoxides having a methoxy group, styryl moiety, and nitroxyl radical, also successfully initiated polymerization of EPK to afford the corresponding polymers having functional initiating ends. In the polymerization with varying feed ratio [EPK]₀/[initiator]₀, the linear relationship between the feed ratio and M_n of the obtained polymer was observed, while maintaining narrow M_w /M_n. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 1073–1082, 2000     

Gradient-norm-based histogram equalization taking account of HSV color space distribution

In the present paper, we propose an image contrast enhancement method that can enhance the contrast of a color image naturally by taking account of a color space shape. The proposed method realizes the natural enhancement based on two kinds of intensity histograms: a gradient-norm-based histogram and an ideal histogram derived from the shape of a color space. The former histogram is used to suppress over-enhancement in the flat regions of an image and the latter histogram is used to prevent the whole image from being darken. Concretely, the aforementioned intensity histograms are appropriately mixed into a histogram with a weight based on the average intensity of the input image. The contrast enhancement of the input image is realized using the cumulative histogram of the mixed histogram as an intensity transform function. To verify the validity of the proposed method, in experiments, the proposed method is applied to a variety of images and experimental results are evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively.     

Application of ketenes to well‐defined polyester synthesis. II. Synthesis of reactive polyester by living anionic polymerization of (4‐halophenyl)ethylketene

Novel ketenes, (4‐chlorophenyl)ethylketene and (4‐bromophenyl)ethylketene, were synthesized by dehydrochlorination of 2‐(4‐halophenyl)butanoyl chlorides, and their anionic polymerizations by lithium (4‐methoxyphenoxide) in tetrahydrofuran at ?20 °C were carried out to afford the corresponding polyesters with narrow molecular weight distributions (weight‐average molecular weight/number‐average molecular weight < 1.3) quantitatively. Polymerizations with various feed ratios afforded the corresponding polyesters with predictable molecular weights and narrow molecular weight distributions. Kinetic studies of the polymerizations at ?78 °C revealed that the polymerization rates were apparently larger than that of ethylphenylketene, which is considered to be responsible for the enhanced electrophilicities of the monomers via the introduction of electron‐negative halogen atoms. Monomer conversion agreed with the first‐order kinetic equation. These results strongly support the living mechanism of this polymerization. The obtained polyesters were modified by a palladium‐catalyzed coupling reaction of the side‐chain 4‐halophenyl group with 4‐methoxyphenylboronic acid, demonstrating their potential as reactive polymers. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 39: 2093–2102, 2001     

Phosphatase-inhibitory activity and activation of murine macrophages by new 5'-nucleotidase inhibitors, NPF-86IA, NPF-86IB, NPF-86IIA and NPF-86IIB

New 5'-nucleotidase-inhibitory polyphenols named NPF-86IA, NPF-86IB, NPF-86IIA and NPF-86IIB were isolated from the seeds of Areca catechu L. The ability of the inhibitors to precipitate gelatin was investigated by microturbidimetry. These inhibitors produced weak turbidity. As 5'-nucleotidase is a kind of phosphatase, we examined the effects of these inhibitors on alkaline and acidic phosphatases. While they showed moderate inhibitory effects on the activity of acidic phosphatases, they did not have any significant effect on the activity of alkaline phosphatase. Therefore, they showed a higher inhibitory effect on the 5'-nucleotidase than the other phosphatases, Murine macrophages were directly stimulated by the 5'-nucleotidase inhibitors.