Reference spectra of important adsorbed organic and inorganic phosphate binding forms for soil P speciation using synchrotron‐based K‐edge XANES spectroscopy

Direct speciation of soil phosphorus (P) by linear combination fitting (LCF) of P K‐edge XANES spectra requires a standard set of spectra representing all major P species supposed to be present in the investigated soil. Here, available spectra of free‐ and cation‐bound inositol hexakisphosphate (IHP), representing organic P, and of Fe, Al and Ca phosphate minerals are supplemented with spectra of adsorbed P binding forms. First, various soil constituents assumed to be potentially relevant for P sorption were compared with respect to their retention efficiency for orthophosphate and IHP at P levels typical for soils. Then, P K‐edge XANES spectra for orthophosphate and IHP retained by the most relevant constituents were acquired. The spectra were compared with each other as well as with spectra of Ca, Al or Fe orthophosphate and IHP precipitates. Orthophosphate and IHP were retained particularly efficiently by ferrihydrite, boehmite, Al‐saturated montmorillonite and Al‐saturated soil organic matter (SOM), but far less efficiently by hematite, Ca‐saturated montmorillonite and Ca‐saturated SOM. P retention by dolomite was negligible. Calcite retained a large portion of the applied IHP, but no orthophosphate. The respective P K‐edge XANES spectra of orthophosphate and IHP adsorbed to ferrihydrite, boehmite, Al‐saturated montmorillonite and Al‐saturated SOM differ from each other. They also are different from the spectra of amorphous FePO₄, amorphous or crystalline AlPO₄, Ca phosphates and free IHP. Inclusion of reference spectra of orthophosphate as well as IHP adsorbed to P‐retaining soil minerals in addition to spectra of free or cation‐bound IHP, AlPO₄, FePO₄ and Ca phosphate minerals in linear combination fitting exercises results in improved fit quality and a more realistic soil P speciation. A standard set of P K‐edge XANES spectra of the most relevant adsorbed P binding forms in soils is presented.     

Production mechanism of superheavy nuclei in massive fusion reactions

Within the concept of the dinuclear system (DNS), a dynamical model is proposed for describing the formation of superheavy nuclei in complete fusion reactions by incorporating the coupling of the relative motion to the nucleon transfer process. The capture of two heavy colliding nuclei, the formation of the compound nucleus and the de-excitation process are calculated by using an empirical coupled channel model, solving a set of microscopically derived master equations numerically and applying statistical theory, respectively. Fusion-fission reactions and evaporation residue excitation functions of synthesizing superheavy nuclei (SHN) are investigated systematically and compared them with available experimental data. The possible factors that affecting the production cross sections of SHN are discussed in this workshop.     

The see-saw mechanism: Neutrino mixing,leptogenesis and lepton flavour violation

The see-saw mechanism to generate small neutrino masses is reviewed. After summarizing our current knowledge about the low energy neutrino mass matrix, we consider reconstructing the see-saw mechanism. Indirect tests of see-saw are leptogenesis and lepton flavour violation in supersymmetric scenarios, which together with neutrino mass and mixing define the framework of see-saw phenomenology. Several examples are given, both phenomenological and GUT-related.      

A coupled-channel lattice study of the resonance-like structure Zc(3900)

In this exploratory study, near-threshold scattering of D and \begin{document}$\bar{D}^*$\end{document} meson is investigated using lattice QCD with \begin{document}$N_f=2+1+1$\end{document} twisted mass fermion configurations. The calculation is performed in the coupled-channel Lüscher finite-size formalism. The study focuses on the channel with \begin{document}$I^G(J^{PC})=1^+(1^{+-})$\end{document} where the resonance-like structure \begin{document}$Z_c(3900)$\end{document} was discovered. We first identify the two most relevant channels and the lattice study is performed in the two-channel scattering model. Combined with the two-channel Ross-Shaw theory, scattering parameters are extracted from the energy levels by solving the generalized eigenvalue problem. Our results for the scattering length parameters suggest that for the particular lattice parameters that we studied, the best fit parameters do not correspond to the peak in the elastic scattering cross-section near the threshold. Furthermore, in the zero-range Ross-Shaw theory, the scenario of a narrow resonance close to the threshold is disfavored beyond the 3\begin{document}$\sigma$\end{document} level.     

Internal Biokinetic Behaviour of Molybdenum in Humans Studied with Stable Isotopes as Tracers

Abstract

Although molybdenum is considered to be an essential trace metal for humans, the knowledge about its metabolism is rather limited. The present study was aimed at the assessment of biokinetics following intravenous injection of trace amounts of ⁹⁵Mo or ⁹⁶Mo into five healthy volunteers. In a total of 11 investigations, the plasma clearance up to eight hours and the urinary excretion for at least three days after the injection were evaluated. The tracer concentrations were determined by proton nuclear activation analysis in blood plasma and by thermal ionization mass spectrometry in urine samples respectively. In all subjects, the plasma clearance is much faster than expected from the literature. The data obtained for the plasma clearance of the tracer can reasonably be fitted by a two exponential equation. The half times of the fast component range between 4 and 70 minutes and for the slow component between 3 and 30 hours. The urinary excretion of the injected tracer seems also to be faster than expected and the fractions lost are higher for larger doses administered. For the smallest dose given, 34% of the injected tracer were excreted within one day whereas for the four times larger dose about 60% were lost. These findings on urinary excretion are in agreement with recently published results.     

Electric field effects on roto-vibrational transitions of13CD3OH1

We used a Stark-Optoacoustic cell and hybrid waveguide resonators to perform an Infrared and Far Infrared Stark Spectroscopy study on some transitions of¹³CD₃OH. Different behaviours of the transitions in the presence of a d.c. electric field were observed. The Stark splittings of six FIR laser lines ranging from 34 to 136 MHz/kVcm^–1 were determined. The analysis of the behaviour of the IR and FIR transitions in the presence of the external electric fields gives important and exclusive information on the levels involved in the transitions.Work Supported by FAPESP, CNPq, FAEP - Brazil, and CNR - Italy.     

Breakdown of a topological phase: quantum phase transition in a loop gas model with tension

We study the stability of topological order against local perturbations by considering the effect of a magnetic field on a spin model--the toric code--which is in a topological phase. The model can be mapped onto a quantum loop gas where the perturbation introduces a bare loop tension. When the loop tension is small, the topological order survives. When it is large, it drives a continuous quantum phase transition into a magnetic state. The transition can be understood as the condensation of "magnetic" vortices, leading to confinement of the elementary "charge" excitations. We also show how the topological order breaks down when the system is coupled to an Ohmic heat bath and relate our results to error rates for topological quantum computations.     

On the averaged quantum dynamics by white-noise hamiltonians with and without dissipation

Exact results are derived on the averaged dynamics of a class of random quantum-dynamical systems in continuous space. Each member of the class is characterized by a Hamiltonian which is the sum of two parts. While one part is deterministic, time-independent and quadratic, the Weyl-Wigner symbol of the other part is a homogeneous Gaussian random field which is delta correlated in time, but smoothly correlated in position and momentum. The averaged dynamics of the resulting white-noise system is shown to be a monotone mixing increasing quantum-dynamical semigroup. Its generator is computed explicitly. Typically, in the course of time the mean energy of such a system grows linearly to infinity. In the second part of the paper an extended model is studied, which, in addition, accounts for dissipation by coupling the white-noise system linearly to a quantum-mechanical harmonic heat bath. It is demonstrated that, under suitable assumptions on the spectral density of the heat bath, the mean energy then saturates for long times.