Chemical kinetics and thermodynamics of the AlN crystalline phase formation on sapphire substrate in ammonia MBE

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Chemical kinetics of a two-dimensional (2D) AlN layer formation on the (0001) sapphire (Al2O3) surface during nitridation as function of ammonia flux...     

Infinite-dimensional representations of the Lsorentz group: The complete series

The method used by Carmeli to obtain a new form for the principal series of representations of the groupSL(2, C) is further generalized to all completely irreducible (finite and infinite-dimensional) representations of that group. This is done, following Naimark, by extending the meaning of one of the parameters appearing in the formula for the operators of the principal series of representations. As a result a new form for the complete series of representations of the groupSL(2, C) is obtained which describes the transformation law of an infinite set of quantities under the group translation in a way which is very similar, but as a generalization, to the way spinors appear in the finite-dimensional case. The finite-dimensional representation is then discussed in details and the relation between the new set of quantities (which becomes finite in this case) and 2-component spinors is found explicitly.     

Field theory onR×S 3 topology. IV: Electrodynamics of magnetic moments

The equations of electrodynamics for the interactions between magnetic moments are written on R×S³ topology rather than on Minkowskian space-time manifold of ordinary Maxwell's equations. The new field equations are an extension of the previously obtained Klein-Gordon-type, Schrödinger-type, Weyl-type, and Dirac-type equations. The concept of the magnetic moment in our case takes over that of the charge in ordinary electrodynamics as the fundamental entity. The new equations have R×S³ invariance as compared to the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations. The solutions of the new field equations are given. In this theory the divergence of the electric field vanishes whereas that of the magnetic field does not.Research supported in part by the Colgate Research Council and by the Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Maryland.     

Group analysis of masses and spins in curved space-time: Cosmological and experimental consequences

Recent developments in spontaneously broken gauge theories as well as in group analysis of masses and spins in curved space-time indicate that rest masses may change as a function of cosmic time. Such as effect is incompatible with standard cosmological models. A set of cosmological models that incorporate mass variation is introduced. These cosmological models are shown to be fully compatible with the group analysis, yielding exactly the same formula; they are used therefore as a theoretical testing ground for the hypothesis of mass variation. The following consequences of this hypothesis are obtained: (1) Cosmological red-shifts are shown to correspond to a contracting, rather than expanding, universe. (2) The effects of mass variation on planetary orbits are calculated; they are not precluded by the data. Conclusive experimental evidence is expected within a few years.     

Field theory onR×S 3 topology. II: The Weyl equation

A Weyl-type equation onR×S ³ topology is derived, as a generalization to previously obtained Klein-Gordon- and Schrödinger-type equations for the same topology. The general solution of the new equation is given as an expansion in the matrix elements of the irreducible representations of the groupSU ₂. The properties of the solutions are discussed.Supported in part by the Colgate Research Council.     

SL(2,C) Gauge Theory of Gravitation and the Quantization of the Gravitational Field

A new approach to quantize the gavitationalfield is presented. It is based on the observation thatthe quantum character of matter becomes more significantas one gets closer to the big bang. As the metric loses its meaning, it makes sense to considerSchrodinger's three generic types of manifolds —unconnected differentiable, affinely connected, andmetrically connected — as a temporal sequencefollowing the big bang. Hence one should quantize thegravitational field on general differentiable manifoldsor on affinely connected manifolds. The SL(2,C) gaugetheory of gravitation is employed to explore thispossibility. Within this framework, the quantization itselfmay well be canonical.     

Immobilized 2-(4-hydrazinocarbonylphenyl)-4,5-diphenylimidazole as solid phase luminophore in peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence

A new luminophore for application in peroxyoxalate chemiluminescence is presented. An analogue of the well-known chemiluminescence compound lophine, i.e. 2-(4-hydrazinocarbonylphenyl)-4,5-diphenylimidazole (HCPI), has been covalently immobilized to controlled pore glass and a porous methacrylate resin. By using this reagent in a solid phase detection reactor, sensitive determinations of hydrogen peroxide have been demonstrated. In homogeneous solution HCPI emits poorly as a result of 1,1-oxalyldiimidazole excitation, but when immobilized its efficiency is almost comparable to highly efficient luminophores such as 3-aminofluoranthene. Linearity extends in the single stream flow system over several orders of magnitude with both materials. The limit of detection was 1 nmol/l (10 fmole injected), when using the porous methacrylate support.     

On-line hyphenation of quantum cascade laser and capillary electrophoresis

We report the first successful hyphenation of a Fabry Pérot quantum cascade (QC) laser to a capillary electrophoresis system. This involved use of a dedicated IR-transparent flow cell, made of CaF2, constructed by means of SU-8 based lithography and low temperature wafer bonding techniques. Adenosine, guanosine, xanthosine and adenosine-5'-monophosphate were separated in a borate-containing separation electrolyte (10 mM, pH 9.3). Functional group (carbohydrate) detection was accomplished by use of the 1080 cm(-1) emission line of the available QC-laser. The assessable optical path length could be increased, from the normally available 10-15 microm in CE-FTIR analyses, to 60 microm using this powerful mid-infrared laser and aqueous solutions.     

A top-down method for the determination of residue-specific solvent accessibility in proteins

We present a method employing top-down Fourier transform mass spectrometry (FTMS) for the rapid profiling of amino acid side-chain reactivity. The reactivity of side-chain groups can be used to infer residue-specific solvent accessibility and can also be used in the same way as H/D exchange reactions to probe protein structure and interactions. We probed the reactivity of the N-terminal and epsilon-lysine amino groups of ubiquitin by reaction with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl acetate (NHSAc), which specifically acetylates primary amines. Using a hybrid Q-FTMS instrument, we observed several series of multiply acetylated ubiquitin ions that varied with the NHSAc:protein stoichiometry. We isolated and fragmented each member of the series of acetylated ubiquitin ions in the front end of the instrument and measured the fragment ion masses in the FTMS analyzer cell to determine which residue positions were modified. As we increased the NHSAc:protein stoichiometric ratio, identification of the fragments from native protein and protein with successively increasing modification allowed the assignment of the complete order of reactivity of the primary amino groups in ubiquitin (Met 1 approximately Lys 6 approximately Lys 48 approximately Lys 63>Lys 33>Lys 11>Lys 27, Lys 29). These results are in excellent agreement with the reactivity expected from other studies and predicted from the known crystal structure of ubiquitin. The top-down approach eliminates the need for proteolytic digestion, high-performance liquid chromatographic separations and all other chemical steps except the labeling reaction, making it rapid and amenable to automation using small quantities of protein.     

Effect of surface grafted polymers on the adsorption of different model proteins

Adsorption of a model protein to a surface with end-grafted polymers was studied by Monte Carlo simulations. In the model the effect on protein adsorption in the presence of end-grafted polymers was evaluated by calculating the change in free energy between an end-grafted surface and a surface without polymers. The change in free energy was calculated using statistical mechanical perturbation theory. Apart from ordinary athermal polymer-polymer and protein-polymer interactions we also study a broad selection of systems by varying the interaction between proteins and polymers and effective polymer-solvent interactions. The interactions between the molecules span an interval from -0.5 to +0.5 kT. Consequently, general features of protein adsorption to end-grafted surfaces is investigated by systematically changing properties like hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity of the polymer, protein and surface as well as grafting density, degree of polymerization and protein size. Increasing grafting density as well as degree of polymerization decreases the adsorption of protein except in systems with attractive polymer-protein interactions, where adsorption increases with increasing chain length and higher grafting density. At a critical polymer-protein interaction neither chain length nor grafting density affects the free energy of adsorption. Hydrophilic polymers were found to prevent adsorption better than hydrophobic polymers. Very small particles with radii comparable to the size of a polymer segment were, however, better excluded from the surface when using hydrophobic than hydrophilic polymers. For systems with attractive polymer-protein interaction not only the volume of the protein was shown to be of importance but also the size of the exposed surface.