The Gay‐Berne mesogen: a paradigm shift?

A Commentary on the paper ”Computer simulation studies of anisotropic systems XIX. Mesophases formed by the Gay‐Berne model mesogen?, by G.R. Luckhurst, R.A. Stephens and R.W. Phippen. First published in Liquid Crystals, 8, 451‐464 (1990).     

Gold-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization of Sulfur Ylides to Dihydrobenzothiepines

The metal-promoted nucleophilic addition of sulfur ylides to π-systems is a well-established reactivity. However, the driving force of such transformations, elimination of a sulfide moiety, entails stoichiometric byproducts making them unfavorable in terms of atom economy. In this work, a new take on sulfur ylide chemistry is reported, an atom-economical gold(I)-catalyzed synthesis of dihydrobenzo[b]thiepines. The reaction proceeds under mild conditions at room temperature.     

Electrons magnetic fields and background radio emission in the galaxy

Extensive data now available on the non-thermal background radio emission from different celestial directions, and recent measurements on the energy spectrum of cosmic ray electrons in the vicinity of the earth permit one to deduce information on the mean magnetic fields and cosmic electron spectra needed to exist in different regions of the Galaxy. It is found that in order to explain quantitatively the background radio brightness distributions from the Galaxy one needs (i) the same or nearly same electron spectrum that exists in the near interstellar space, to exist in almost all regions of Galactic space, (ii) a mean magnetic field close to 6×10^?6 Gauss in the Disc in the direction of the Anti-centre, (iii) a mean magnetic field close to 2·5×10^?6 Gauss in the radio Halo and (iv) a mean magnetic field probably close to 9·5×10^?6 Gauss towards the Galactic Ridge in the direction of the Centre. Some inferences are also drawn on the confinement of cosmic rays in the Galaxy.     

High-spin 52 117 Te: Rotational bands? Noncollective oblate

¹¹⁷Te has been studied via⁸²Se(⁴⁰Ar,5n)¹¹⁷Te, and a new, substantially extended level scheme is proposed to I53/2. Our TRS calculations suggest rotational bands, but with an experimental sensitivity of 2%, we see none. Our results differ from those of Sharma, et al, who report two isolated E2 bands. We find them less band-like, being joined at the top and changed in content and order. We suggest a noncollective oblate shape for a new 39/2^– level.This work is supported in part by the Department of Energy under Contract No.DE-AC03-76SF0098(LBL).     

Atmospheric gamma rays in the energy region 40–1000 GeV

A large stack of lead-emulsion sandwich detector assembly was flown over Hyderabad, India. High energy gamma rays at the float altitude were unambiguously identified from the cascades they induced, and their energies reliably determined by improved methods. From an analysis of 163 gamma rays of energy ≳ 30 GeV, it is found that the differential energy spectrum is represented by the power lawJ _r (E)= 129·4E ^{−2·62±0·12} photons m⁻² sr⁻¹sec⁻¹ GeV⁻¹ at an effective atmospheric depth of 14·3 g cm⁻²; this is the first reliable balloon measurement of atmospheric gamma rays in the energy range 40–1000 GeV. After correcting for the gamma rays radiated by the primary cosmic ray electrons, the production spectrum of gamma rays, resulting from the collisions of cosmic ray nuclei with air nuclei, at the top of the atmosphere isP _r (E, 0)=8·2 × 10⁻⁴ E^2.60±0.09 photons g⁻¹sr⁻¹sec⁻¹ GeV⁻¹. The atmospheric propagation of the electromagnetic component due to the cascade process is also derived from the gamma ray production spectrum.     

Implosion of indirectly driven reentrant-cone shell target

We have examined the implosion of an indirectly driven reentrant-cone shell target to clarify the issues attendant on compressing fuel for a fast ignition target. The target design is the hydrodynamic equivalent of a NIF cryoignition target scaled to be driven by Omega. Implosions were imaged with backlit x radiographs and modeled with LASNEX. The simulations were generally in good agreement with the experiments with respect to the shell diameter, density, and symmetry, but did not show the prestagnation central absorption maximum. The existence of material between the original cone and the shell is sensitive to gold M-band radiation, which penetrates the shell and ablates gold from the cone. The simulated radiographs using recently measured M-band fractions showed absorption between the cone and shell similar to the experiment. This gold ablation might be a problem in a cryoignition target.     

High-spin structure of N\simeq Z nuclei around the A = 72 region

High-spin states have been studied in ⁷²Kr and ⁷²Br using the ⁴⁰Ca + ⁴⁰Ca and ³⁶Ar + ⁴⁰Ca reactions at 164 and 145 MeV, respectively. The properties and configurations of the high-spin bands observed have been interpreted using unpaired cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky (CNS), and for ⁷²Kr, paired cranked relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (CRHB) calculations. In ⁷²Kr a new band has been identified that has the properties expected for the doubly aligned S-band configuration. In ⁷²Br the previously known bands have been extended to higher spin. This has lead to a re-interpretation of the configurations.Received: 31 October 2002, Published online: 24 February 2004PACS: 21.10.Re Collective levels - 23.20.Lv transitions and level energies - 27.50. + e