Evidence for strain glass in the ferroelastic-martensitic system Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x)

We report here "strain glass," a new glassy phenomenon in ferroelastic-martensitic system of Ni-rich intermetallic Ti(50-x)Ni(50+x) (x > 1), where local strain is frozen in disordered configuration below a critical temperature Tg. The ac elastic modulus shows a minimum at Tg, which exhibits logarithmic frequency dependence following Vogel-Fulcher relationship, and the corresponding internal friction shows a frequency-dependent peak located at a lower temperature. In situ high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observations reveal uncorrelated nanoclusters of martensiticlike phase, randomly frozen in the otherwise untransformed parentlike matrix. Being parallel to spin glass and relaxor, strain glass may shed new light on the fundamental physics of glass and lead to the discovery of novel properties.     

Phase diagram of the square-lattice three-state Potts antiferromagnet with a staggered polarization field

We study a square-lattice three-state Potts antiferromagnet with a staggered polarization field at finite temperature. Numerically treating the transfer matrices, we determine two phase boundaries separating the model-parameter space into three parts. We confirm that one of them belongs to the ferromagnetic three-state Potts criticality, which is in accord with a recent prediction, and another to the Ising-type; these are both corresponding to the massless renormalization-group flows stemming from the Gaussian fixed points. We also discuss a field theory to describe the latter Ising transition.     

Equilateral-triangular shape in 14C

An equilateral-triangular shape of three alpha clusters surrounded by excess neutrons is suggested for 14C, based on the molecular-orbit model. It is found that the attractive interaction between an excess neutron and an alpha particle stabilizes the K(pi)=0(+) and 3(-) rotational bands, which demonstrates an equilateral-triangular symmetry. This K(pi)=3(-) band at 3 MeV below the 10Be+alpha threshold energy corresponds to the experimentally observed band built on top of the second 3(-) state. A positive-parity rotational band (0(+), 2(+), 4(+)) arises similarly. These two bands suggest a molecular 3-alpha structure stabilized by the excess neutrons and can be viewed as a realization of the alpha crystallization in the dilute nuclear medium.     

Structure of even-even beryllium isotopes studied by AMD+GCM method

The ground state properties and the properties of low-lying states of the even-even⁶Be-¹²Be beryllium isotopes are investigated using the extended version of the Antisymmetrized Molecular Dynamics Multi-Slater Determinant model. The theoretical method is found to be very useful to study ground state properties of various nuclei covering light unstable nuclei. Many experimental data can be successfully reproduced by the adopted approach. Binding energies, the energies of the 2 ₁ ⁺ states, electromagnetic transition strengths and quadrupole moments of proton and neutron distribution are calculated. This work is supported in part by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (13740145) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture.     

Noise-driven switching and chaotic itinerancy among dynamic states in a three-mode intracavity second-harmonic generation laser operating on a Lambda transition

We studied the antiphase self-pulsation in a globally coupled three-mode laser operating in different optical spectrum configurations. We observed locking of modal pulsation frequencies, quasiperiodicity, clustering behaviors, and chaos, resulting from the nonlinear interaction among modes. The robustness of [p:q:r] three-frequency locking states and quasiperiodic oscillations against residual noise has been examined by using joint time-frequency analysis of long-term experimental time series. Two sharply antithetical types of switching behaviors among different dynamic states were observed during temporal evolutions; noise-driven switching and self-induced switching, which manifests itself in chaotic itinerancy. The modal interplay behind observed behaviors was studied by using the statistical dynamic quantity of the information circulation. Well-organized information flows among modes, which correspond to the number of degeneracies of modal pulsation frequencies, were found to be established in accordance with the inherent antiphase dynamics. Observed locking behaviors, quasiperiodic motions, and chaotic itinerancy were reproduced by numerical simulation of the model equations.     

Signal denoising and baseline correction by discrete wavelet transform for microchip capillary electrophoresis

Signal denoising and baseline correction using discrete wavelet transform (DWT) are described for microchip capillary electrophoresis (MCE). DWT was performed on an electropherogram describing a separation of nine tetramethylrohodamine-5-isothiocyanate labeled amino acids, following MCE with laser-induced fluorescence detection, using Daubechies 5 wavelet at a decomposition level of 6. The denoising efficiency was compared with, and proved to be superior to, other commonly used denoising techniques such as Fourier transform, Savitzky-Golay smoothing and moving average, in terms of noise removal and peak preservation by directly visual inspection. Novel strategies for baseline correction were proposed, with a special interest in baseline drift that frequently occurred in chromatographic and electrophoretic separations.     

Glochidionionosides A-D: megastigmane glucosides from leaves of Glochidion zeylanicum (Gaertn.) A. Juss

Five megastigmane glucosides were isolated from the leaves of Glochidion zeylanicum. One of them was a known compound, blumenol C O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (1), and the structures of the four new compounds, glochidionionosides A-D (2-5), were mainly elucidated by spectroscopic methods, including a modified Mosher's method. The absolute configurations of the six-membered ring of glochidionionoside D (5) were deduced by beta-D-glucopyranosylation-induced shift trends in the (13)C-NMR spectra and confirmed by X-ray analysis as its p-bromobenzoate (5b), and the axis chirality of C-7 was determined to be R.     

Determination of environmentally relevant aromatic amines in the ppt levels by cation selective exhaustive injection-sweeping-micellar electrokinetic chromatography

Environmentally important aromatic amines are determined by micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC) with UV detection. Using a combination of field-enhanced sample injection in the capillary zone electrophoresis format (performed for a longer period than usual, e.g., 200 s at high voltages; cation selective exhaustive injection) and sweeping in the MEKC format, from 10(4)- to 10(5)-fold improvements in detector response are achieved for all positively chargeable test analytes. Preliminary results indicate that limits of detection for the positively chargeable aromatic amines are in the parts per trillion (ppt) levels.     

1.5-mum emissions from laser-diode-pumped Nd-doped microchip solid-state lasers

1.5-mum emissions from Nd:YAG, Nd:YVO(4), and LiNdP(4) O>(12) microchip lasers pumped by laser diodes have been observed. These coherent emissions are attributed to the effect of high-energy modified lattice vibration owing to the existence of Nd ions as well as to stimulated intracavity Raman scattering enhanced by the microchip configuration. A four-wave mixing process involving two lasing fields and a Stokes field was identified as the generator of new adjacent 1.5-mu;m emission.     

Beta-delayed γ-ray studies of πf7/2 - νpf shell nuclei

We have utilized the selective process of β decay to populate low-energy excited states in the neutron-rich ₂₂Ti, ₂₃V, ₂₄Cr, and ₂₅Mn nuclei. The goal was to systematically track the monopole shift of the νf_5/2 single-particle level with increased occupancy of the πf_7/2 orbital. The β-decay properties of the parent nuclides, along with the low-energy structure of the daughters, are presented and compared with the results of shell model calculations employing the GXPF1 interaction.