First results from KamLAND: evidence for reactor antineutrino disappearance

KamLAND has measured the flux of nu;(e)'s from distant nuclear reactors. We find fewer nu;(e) events than expected from standard assumptions about nu;(e) propagation at the 99.95% C.L. In a 162 ton.yr exposure the ratio of the observed inverse beta-decay events to the expected number without nu;(e) disappearance is 0.611+/-0.085(stat)+/-0.041(syst) for nu;(e) energies >3.4 MeV. In the context of two-flavor neutrino oscillations with CPT invariance, all solutions to the solar neutrino problem except for the "large mixing angle" region are excluded.     

A charge-transfer host system composed of a chiral 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol cluster and benzylviologen

Chiral charge-transfer (CT) complexes composed of a chiral 1,1′-bi-2-naphthol cluster as the electron donor and 1,1′-dibenzyl-4,4′-bipyridinium dichloride as the electron acceptor serve as a host system for molecular recognition. CT complexes that include guest alcohols show different diffuse reflectance spectra (DRS) depending on the included guest.     

Epithermal neutron diffraction from a gadolinium alloy (Gd0.9Y0.1)

The coherent nuclear scattering amplitude of natural Gd was determined by epithermal neutron diffraction with neutron energy of 1.4 eV to be 1.4 ± 0.1 × 10^?12 cm.     

Critical phenomena of ferromagnetic cobalt disulfide

The simultaneous measurements of magnetization and resistivity of a ferromagnetic CoS₂ near the critical temperature have shown that the negative divergence of $\text{d}\text{ρ}\text{d}\text{T}$ occurs exactly at the Curie temperature of 115.9 K. The magnetization satisfies the static scaling law.     

Reactivities of 3-(1-Azolyl)-2-alken-1-ones and the related compounds with pyrrolidine

From the rate constants of the reaction with pyrrolidine, the reactivities of 3-(1-azolyl)-2-alken-1-ones with nucleophiles were evaluated to be rather high. Especially the reactivities of the quaternary salts of 3-(1-imidazolyl)-2-alken-1-ones were nearly equal to those of 3-chloro-2-alken-1-ones. In conclusion, 3-(1-imidazolyl)-2-alken-1-ones satisfied the practical requirements for the starting materials of the synthesis of 3-hetero-substituted 2-alken-1-ones.     

Helical spin structure in manganese silicide MnSi

At 4.2 K, MnSi has a helical spin structure with a period of 180 Å in the [111] direction. In magnetic fields greater than 4 kOe, a conical spin structure, whose screw axis coincides with the field direction and whose period is independent of the applied field is realized.     

Phosphotungstate as a useful eluent for hepatitis-B virus surface antigen purification by heparin-sepharose affinity chromatography.

On the basis of the heparin-like effect of phosphotungstate (PTA), we have shown that it is useful for the purification of hepatitis-B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) using heparin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. HBsAg was eluted with 0.2-0.6 M NaCl. HBsAg was also eluted with PTA at approximately 1 mM, and the HBsAg fraction thus obtained contained fewer impurities than the corresponding fraction eluted with NaCl. Moreover, PTA yielded HBsAg and hepatitis-B virus e-antigen simultaneously. PTA may specifically reduce the affinity of HBsAg for heparin as well as simply competing with heparin for an anion-binding site of HBsAg. Residual PTA in the eluate was easily decomposed by alkalization, which was useful for subsequent studies.     

Raman scattering in YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals: Anisotropy in normal and superconductivity states

Precise temperature and polarization dependences of Raman spectra have been investigated for fully oxygenated twin-free YBa₂Cu₃O₇ single crystals. We have found a striking superconductivity-induced x−y anisotropy in the temperature behavior of the 340 cm⁻¹ line: the magnitudes of the softening and broadening are quite different in the xx-and yy-polarizations. This anisotropy suggests a contribution of the CuO-chain superconductivity with a pairing symmetry different from that for the CuO₂ plane, or indicates that the superconducting gap amplitudes are different in the k _x and k _y directions. The d+s gap symmetry is the only realistic symmetry in the case of Δ_x≠Δ_y. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 403–412 (March 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Large signal analysis of phase variations and bistability in degenerate four-wave mixing

Optical and Quantum Electronics -