Photonic nanojets as three-dimensional optical atom traps: A theoretical study

We show that an efficient three-dimensional optical atom trap can be achieved by light scattered off a dielectric microsphere. Namely, under suitable conditions, a plane wave incident on a polymer sphere produces a focal point in the forward scattering direction known as photonic nanojet. The photonic nanojet is formed at a distance of a few micrometers away from the surface of the sphere wherein the Casimir–Polder interaction felt by an atom is negligible compared to the optical and gravitational potentials. When many polymer spheres are brought together so as to form a linear chain, a one-dimensional periodic optical lattice filled with cold atoms is possible since interference between the incident and scattered beams is minimal when the spheres are not too close.     

A Numerical Method for 2-D Bed Morphology Calculations

A fully coupled two-dimensional sub-critical and/or supercritical, free-surface flow numerical model is developed to calculate bed variations in alluvial channels. Vertically averaged free-surface flow equations in conjunction with sediment transport equation are numerically solved using an explicit finite-volume scheme in integral form. The capabilities of the proposed method are first demonstrated by analyzing supercritical flow in an expansion channel. Thereafter, one and two-dimensional applications referring to aggradation and scouring are reported. For each of these test cases, computed results compare satisfactorily with measurements as well as with other numerical solutions. The method is stable, reliable and accurate, although time consuming, handling a variety of sediment transport equations with rapid changes of sediment transport at the boundaries.     

A new family of octanuclear Mn complexes with a rod-like topology

Three new octanuclear compounds were prepared from reactions of [Mn(O₂CR)₂]·2H₂O (R = Et or Ph) with the diols 1,3-propanediol (pdH₂) or 2-methyl-1,3-propanediol (mpdH₂) in the presence of NaN₃. All three compounds [Mn₈(N₃)₄(O₂CR)₆(L)₄(py)₆] (L = pd²⁻, R = Et 1; L = mpd²⁻, R = Et 2; L = pd²⁻, R = Ph 3) (py = pyridine) possess a novel near-planar, rod-like topology. Dc and ac magnetic susceptibility studies in the 2–300 K range for complexes 1 and 2 revealed the presence of dominant antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, leading to diamagnetic ground spin states.     

Time distribution of adsorption entropy of gases on heterogeneous surfaces by reversed-flow gas chromatography

The reversed-flow gas chromatography (RF-GC) technique has been applied to measure the adsorption entropy over time, when gaseous pentane is adsorbed on the surface of two solids (gamma-alumina and a silica supported rhodium catalyst) at 393.15 and 413.15K, respectively. Utilizing experimental chromatographic data, this novel methodology also permits the simultaneous measurement of the local adsorption energy, epsilon, local equilibrium adsorbed concentration, c(s)(*), and local adsorption isotherm, theta(p, T, epsilon) in a time resolved way. In contrast with other inverse gas chromatographic methods, which determine the standard entropy at zero surface coverage, the present method operates over a wide range of surface coverage taking into account not only the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction, but also the adsorbate-adsorbate interaction. One of the most interesting observations of the present work is the fact that the interaction of n-pentane is spontaneous on the Rh/SiO(2) catalyst for a very short time interval compared to that on gamma-Al(2)O(3). This can explain the different kinetic behavior of each particular gas-solid system, and it can be attributed to the fact that large amounts of n-C(5)H(12) are present on the active sites of the Rh/SiO(2) catalyst compared to those on gamma-Al(2)O(3), as the local equilibrium adsorbed concentration values, c(s)(*), indicate.     

Sign of the refractive index in lossy metamaterials

One of the criteria for determining the existence of negative index of refraction in artificial electromagnetic structures (metamaterials) is the occurrence of opposite directions of the group and phase velocities. In this work, we study specific examples of metamaterials where we show that the above criterion does not hold when losses are taken into account and dominate the interaction of light with the metamaterial. The structure are three-dimensional superlattices of consisting of plasmonic and polaritonic particles and are studied by a rigorous multiple-scattering theory and effective-medium approximation.     

Canonical sequence method applied to a two-dimensional spin system

A number of years ago, Horn and Weinstein introduced a novel nonperturbative method, the t-expansion, for calculating ground-state expectation values for Hamiltonian systems. Recently Šamaj et al. have generalized the t-expansion technique and the related connected moments expansion to a more general canonical sequence. In the present work we have expounded upon this work and have applied this to the two-dimensional square anisotropic XXZ Heisenberg model.     

Brasilane-type sesquiterpenoids from Laurencia obtusa

[structure: see text] Three novel halogenated rearranged sesquiterpenes (1-3) have been isolated along with brasilenol (4) and epibrasilenol (5) from the organic extract of the red alga Laurencia obtusa, collected at Symi island in the Aegean Sea, Greece. The new metabolites possess the unusual skeleton of brasilane and contain the unprecedented 1,6-epoxy moiety. The structures of the new natural products, as well as their relative stereochemistry, were established by means of spectral data analyses, including two-dimensional NMR experiments along with molecular calculations.     

Efficient Population Transfer in a Λ-Type Quantum System Coupled to a Gold Nanoparticle Using STIRAP Shortcuts

A theoretical investigation on the population transfer in a Λ-type quantum system near a spherical gold nanoparticle under application of two stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (STIRAP) shortcuts and efficiency comparison with conventional STIRAP. It combines the density matrix approach for system dynamics, with classical electromagnetic calculations used to obtain the modified electric field amplitudes of the applied pulses and the Purcell factor of the quantum system due to the presence of the nanoparticle. The efficiency of population transfer is investigated by varying the distance between the quantum system and the nanoparticle, the free-space decay rate of quantum states, the mutual polarization, and the Rabi frequencies of each STIRAP shortcut pulses. In all cases, at least one of the applied shortcuts is more efficient than conventional STIRAP, while in most cases both perform better. When the pump and Stokes fields of the shortcuts have radial and tangential polarizations with respect to the nanoparticle surface, respectively, high transfer efficiency is obtained for small distances of the quantum system to the nanoparticle, moderate free space decay rates and large Rabi frequencies of the fields, while when the pulse polarizations are interchanged, the transfer becomes highly efficient only at large distances.