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.     

Magnetic ordering of dangling bond networks on hydrogen-deposited Si(111) surfaces

Based on total-energy electronic-structure calculations within the density-functional theory, we find that a high spin state is realized for an ultimate dangling bond unit on an otherwise hydrogen-covered Si(111) surface. We further propose a systematic method of constructing nanometer-scale dangling bond networks that exhibit the ferrimagnetic spin ordering. The interplay between the electron-electron interaction and the surface reconstruction is elucidated.     

Lines of periodic hole structures produced by laser ablation using interfering femtosecond lasers split by a transmission grating

Long lines of periodic hole structures were produced on a gold film, a glass slide and polystyrene by laser ablation using interfering femtosecond lasers split by a transmission grating. An optical system comprising a cylindrical lens added to an imaging system with a transmission grating was used to obtain the interference of two beams along a long length, and high laser fluence was used to achieve laser ablation. The separation of each hole was 6.25 m, and the total length of the structure produced reached 6 mm, which is longest periodic structure produced by a shot of femtosecond laser. PACS 42.62.-b; 07.60.Ly; 42.40.Eq     

Total versus single point blow-up of solutions of a semilinear parabolic equation with localized reaction

In this paper, we study the initial-boundary value problem of a semilinear parabolic equation with localized reaction,

     

Energetics and electronic structures of encapsulated C60 in a carbon nanotube

We report total-energy electronic structure calculations that provide energetics of encapsulation of C60 in the carbon nanotube and electronic structures of the resulting carbon peapods. We find that the encapsulating process is exothermic for the (10,10) nanotube, whereas the processes are endothermic for the (8,8) and (9,9) nanotubes, indicative that the minimum radius of the nanotube for the encapsulation is 6.4 A. We also find that the C(60)@(10,10) is a metal with multicarriers each of which distributes either along the nanotube or on the C60 chain. This unusual feature is due to the nearly free electron state that is inherent to hierarchical solids with sufficient space inside.     

Acoustic effects in chromatography

An acoustic field effectively affects chromatographic retention in some separation modes and, thus, can be a novel factor controlling retention. After being transmitted into the column, ultrasound energy is mostly converted into heat as a result of absorption by stationary and mobile phases. Thus, ultrasound brings about temperature increases. However, actual temperature increases measured by thermosensors are smaller than those calculated from chromatographic retention changes. In addition, larger ultrasound effects are observed in chromatographic modes involving ionic interactions. These results possibly imply that ultrasound directly influences ionic interactions involved in retention mechanisms.