Testing the stability of fundamental constants with the 199Hg+ single-ion optical clock

Over a two-year duration, we have compared the frequency of the 199Hg+ 5d(10)6s (2)S(1/2)(F=0)<-->5d(9)6s(2) (2)D(5/2)(F=2) electric-quadrupole transition at 282 nm with the frequency of the ground-state hyperfine splitting in neutral 133Cs. These measurements show that any fractional time variation of the ratio nu(Cs)/nu(Hg) between the two frequencies is smaller than +/-7 x 10(-15) yr(-1) (1sigma uncertainty). According to recent atomic structure calculations, this sets an upper limit to a possible fractional time variation of g(Cs)(m(e)/m(p))alpha(6.0) at the same level.     

Soliton-sound interactions in quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates

Longitudinal confinement of dark solitons in quasi-one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensates leads to sound emission and reabsorption. We perform quantitative studies of the dynamics of a soliton oscillating in a tight dimple trap, embedded in a weaker harmonic trap. The dimple depth provides a sensitive handle to control the soliton-sound interaction. In the limit of no reabsorption, the power radiated is found to be proportional to the soliton acceleration squared. An experiment is proposed to detect sound emission as a change in amplitude and frequency of soliton oscillations.     

Ternary complexes between cationic GdIII chelates and anionic metabolites in aqueous solution: an NMR relaxometric study

The (1)H and (17)O NMR relaxometric properties of two cationic complexes formed by Gd(III) with a macrocyclic heptadentate triamide ligand, L(1), and its Nmethylated analogue, L(2), have been investigated in aqueous media as a function of pH, temperature and magnetic field strength. The complexes possess two water molecules in their inner coordination sphere for which the rate of exchange has been found to be sensibly faster for the Nmethylated derivative and explained in terms of electronic effects (decrease of the charge density at the metal center) and perturbation of the network of hydrogen-bonded water molecules in the outer hydration sphere. The proton relaxivity shows a marked dependence from pH and decreases of about six units in the pH range 6.5 to 9.0. This has been accounted for by the displacement of the two water molecules by dissolved carbonate which acts as a chelating anion. The formation of ternary complexes with lactate, malonate, citrate, acetate, fluoride and hydrogenphosphate has been monitored by (1)H NMR relaxometric titrations at 20 MHz and pH 6.3 and the value of the affinity constant, K, and of the relaxivity of the adducts could be obtained. Lactate, malonate and citrate interact strongly with the complexes (log K > or =3.7) and coordinate in a bidendate mode by displacing both water molecules. Larger affinity constants have been measured for GdL(2). Acetate, fluoride and hydrogenphosphate form monoaqua ternary complexes which were investigated in detail with regard to their relaxometric properties. The NMR dispersion (NMRD) profiles indicate a large contribution to the relaxivity of the adducts from water molecules belonging to the second hydration shell of the complexes and hydrogen-bonded to the anion. A VT (17)O NMR study has shown a marked increase of the rate of water exchange upon binding which is explained by coordination of the anion in an equatorial site, thus leaving the water molecule in an apical position, more accessible for interactions with the solvent molecules of the second hydration shell which facilitate the exchange process.     

Experimental assessment of lanthanide ion donor preference: spectroscopic and theoretical dissection of static charge and dynamic polarisation contributions to axial ligation in a C4-symmetric chiral europium complex

Measurements of the equilibrium constants for ligand exchange (MeCN, 295 K) involving the axial donor in a C4-symmetric, mono-capped, square antiprismatic cationic Eu complex, supported by calculations based on an electrostatic perturbation model, have been interpreted in terms of a predominant ligand polarisation interaction defined by observation of the hypersensitive delta J = 2 normalised emission intensity, in association with measurements correlating delta J = 1 band splitting and 1H NMR dipolar shifts that vindicate Bleaney's theory of magnetic anisotropy.     

Optical trirefringence in photonic crystal waveguides

We demonstrate that 2D photonic crystals can possess optical trirefringence in which there are six field orientations for which linear incident light is not perturbed on reflection or transmission. Such a property is rigorously forbidden in homogeneous nonmagnetic dielectrics which can possess only optical birefringence. We experimentally demonstrate this phenomena in silicon-based mesostructures formed from photonic crystal waveguides embedded in a Fabry-Perot cavity. Multirefringence is controlled by the presence of submicron dielectric patterning and is well explained by an exact scattering matrix theory.     

Analytical computation of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors in DT-MRI

In this paper a noniterative algorithm to be used for the analytical determination of the sorted eigenvalues and corresponding orthonormalized eigenvectors obtained by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) is described. The algorithm uses the three invariants of the raw water spin self-diffusion tensor represented by a 3 x 3 positive definite matrix and certain math functions that do not require iteration. The implementation requires a positive definite mask to preserve the physical meaning of the eigenvalues. This algorithm can increase the speed of eigenvalue/eigenvector calculations by a factor of 5-40 over standard iterative Jacobi or singular-value decomposition techniques. This approach may accelerate the computation of eigenvalues, eigenvalue-dependent metrics, and eigenvectors especially when having high-resolution measurements with large numbers of slices and large fields of view.     

Efficient factorization with a single pure qubit and logN mixed qubits

It is commonly assumed that Shor's quantum algorithm for the efficient factorization of a large number N requires a pure initial state. Here we demonstrate that a single pure qubit, together with a collection of log 2N qubits in an arbitrary mixed state, is sufficient to implement Shor's factorization algorithm efficiently.     

A (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy study of aging in parietal white matter: implications for trials in multiple sclerosis

1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a unique tool to detect and quantify brain metabolites. In multiple sclerosis it can be used to investigate axonal loss or dysfunction through measurement of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), a neuronal marker. Previous studies in adults have reported variable effects of aging on metabolite concentrations but have predominantly focused on changes in the elderly. This study has examined a younger adult age group to provide a reference database more applicable to the multiple sclerosis population. Single voxel (1)H MRS was carried out in 44 subjects between 22 and 62 years of age. Sixteen subjects underwent repeat examination after one year. Absolute concentrations of NA (the sum of NAA and N-acetyl aspartate glutamate), NAA, creatine/phosphocreatine (Cr), choline containing compounds (Cho) and myo-inositol (mI) were measured. NA, NAA and mI concentrations did not correlate with age but there were significant correlations between age and Cr (r = 0.43, p = 0.004) and Cho (r = 0.38, p = 0. 011) concentrations. No significant differences in metabolite concentrations were seen over one year. This study provides evidence that age-related changes of metabolite concentrations occur even in a young to middle aged adult population. This emphasizes the need to perform absolute quantification of metabolite concentrations rather than ratios and the importance of age-matching in (1)H MRS studies of multiple sclerosis.     

The electrical properties of doped silicon,grown by Molecular-Beam-Epitaxy (MBE)

Measurements of the Hall coefficients and of the resistivity of MBE-grown Si, doped with P, As, Sb, B, and Ga in the concentration range 10¹⁴ to 10²⁰ cm^–3, were carried out at 77 K and at 300 K. With the exception of Ga-doped Si, the measured mobilities were close to or higher than those of bulk materials at both temperatures. The Mott metal/non-metal transition has been observed in the present epitaxial materials and the measured values for the critical impurity concentration at which the transition occurs, agree with values reported by other workers for bulk silicon.