The electroweak mixing angle in unified gauge theories

We study in detail the factors that influence the unification relations among the coupling parameters of strong and electroweak interactions. We find that the factor that decides the unification relations in a theory is the fermion content of the theory. The specific ‘observed’ group of strong and electroweak interactions used and the specific unification group in which these interactions are embedded are largely irrelevant. In particular, we find that the unification value of the electroweak mixing angle is the same for almost all models of interest. We also explicitly illustrate that the canonical value 3/8 of the mixing angle is a characteristic result of the currently popular sequential doublets scheme of fermions. Addition of extra fermion singlets reduces the mixing angle to 1/4. We propose this sequential triplets scheme of fermions as an interesting alternative to the current scheme.     

Phenomenology of neutrino oscillations

The phenomenology of solar, atmospheric, supernova and laboratory neutrino oscillations is described. Analytical formulae for matter effects are reviewed. The results from oscillations are confronted with neutrinoless double beta decay.     

Free vibration and stability of tapered Euler–Bernoulli beams made of axially functionally graded materials

The free vibration and stability of axially functionally graded tapered Euler–Bernoulli beams are studied through solving the governing differential equations of motion. Observing the fact that the conventional differential transform method (DTM) does not necessarily converge to satisfactory results, a new approach based on DTM called differential transform element method (DTEM) is introduced which considerably improves the convergence rate of the method. In addition to DTEM, differential quadrature element method of lowest-order (DQEL) is used to solve the governing differential equation, as well. Carrying out several numerical examples, the competency of DQEL and DTEM in determination of free longitudinal and free transverse frequencies and critical buckling load of tapered Euler–Bernoulli beams made of axially functionally graded materials is verified.     

Decays ofW andZ in the broken-colour model

The two-gluonic decay modes ofW andZ in the broken colour model with integrally charged quarks are considered. The gluonic branching ratios are found to be 3% and 2·7% forW andZ respectively. The angular distributions of the decays ofW andZ to two jets of hadrons are also worked out.     

New forms of quantum statistics

We propose a new two-parameter deformation of the algebra of creation and destruction operators, which allows the construction of a new family of Hillbert spaces with positive definite inner product. This provides a continuous interpolation between two new forms of statistics named orthofermi and orthobose statistics. Positivity of the inner product over the two-parameter region is discussed.     

Chromium stress induced alterations in biochemical and enzyme metabolism in aquatic and terrestrial plants

Water is seriously polluted by the discharge of various industrial wastewater containing heavy metals. Among them, chromium is considered to be toxic to living organisms and it is released mostly from tanneries. The chromium-contaminated water is discharged into nearby water bodies and it affects both aquatic and terrestrial plants. So the present experiment was conducted with an aquatic plant, water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.) and a terrestrial plant soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.). They were treated with different concentrations (0, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200mg/L) of potassium dichromate solution. The biochemical parameters such as total chlorophyll, carotenoid, protein and amino acid content and the enzymatic activities like catalase and peroxidase were estimated. The accumulation of chromium was also analysed in both the plants. All the biochemical contents and enzyme activities of water lettuce and soybean seedlings showed a great variation with respect to the increase in chromium concentrations. The accumulation of chromium increased gradually with the increase of chromium concentrations. Total inhibition of all the parameters were observed at 300 mg/L chromium concentration. The terrestrial plant soybean was sensitive than the aquatic plant water lettuce towards chromium stress.     

Studies on electron transfer reactions: oxidation of phenol and ring-substituted phenols by heteropoly 11-tungstophosphovanadate(V) in aqueous acidic medium

The kinetics of oxidation of phenol and a few ring-substituted phenols by heteropoly 11-tungstophosphovanadate(V), [PV^VW₁₁O₄₀]⁴⁻ (HPA) have been studied spectrophotometrically in aqueous acidic medium containing perchloric acid and also in acetate buffers of several pH values at 25 °C. EPR and optical studies show that HPA is reduced to the one-electron reduced heteropoly blue (HPB) [PV^IVW₁₁O₄₀]⁵⁻. In acetate buffers, the build up and decay of the intermediate biphenoquinone show the generation of phenoxyl radical (ArO^·) in the rate-determining step. At constant pH, the reaction shows simple second-order kinetics with first-order dependence of rate on both [ArOH] and [HPA]. At constant [ArOH], the rate of the reaction increases with increase in pH. The plot of apparent second-order rate constant, k ₂, versus 1/[H⁺] is linear with finite intercept. This shows that both the undissociated phenol (ArOH) and the phenoxide ion (ArO⁻) are the reactive species. The ArO⁻–HPA reaction is the dominant pathway in acetate buffer and it proceeds through the OH⁻ ion triggered sequential proton transfer followed by electron transfer (PT-ET) mechanism. The rate constant for ArO⁻–HPA reaction, calculated using Marcus theory, agrees fairly well with the experimental value. The reactivity of substituted phenoxide ions correlates with the Hammett σ⁺ constants, and ρ value was found to be −4.8. In acidic medium, ArOH is the reactive species. Retardation of rate for the oxidation of C₆H₅OD in D₂O indicates breaking of the O–H bond in the rate-limiting step. The results of kinetic studies show that the HPA-ArOH reaction proceeds through a concerted proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism in which water acts as proton acceptor (separated-CPET).     

Light-induced Ostwald ripening of organic nanodots to rods

Ostwald ripening allows the synthesis of 1D nanorods of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles. However, this phenomenon is unsuccessful with organic π-systems due to their spontaneous self-assembly to elongated fibers or tapes. Here we demonstrate the uses of light as a versatile tool to control the ripening of amorphous organic nanodots (ca. 15 nm) of an azobenzene-derived molecular assembly to micrometer-sized supramolecular rods. A surface-confined dipole variation associated with a low-yield (13-14%) trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene moiety and the consequent dipole-dipole interaction in a nonpolar solvent is believed to be the driving force for the ripening of the nanodots to rods.