Magnetic flux distribution in the bulk of the pure type-II superconductor niobium measured with positive muons

The spin precession of positive muons in ultra-pure Nb single crystals of high perfection, cooled down in transverse magnetic fields 0.68B _c2≤B _appl≤0.84B _c2 (B _c2=upper critical field) from temperatures well above the superconducting transition temperatureT _c=9.25 K, has been investigated in the temperature range 2.6 K≤T≤8.0 K. The experiments confirm the periodic fieldB(r) of triangular flux-line lattices as calculated from numerical solutions of the microscopic BCS-Gor'kov theory. The observed broadening of the van Hove singularities in the field distribution is discussed in terms of the combined effects of muon diffusion and random perturbations of the flux-line lattice.     

CD Spectroscopic Study of Absolute Conformation and Configuration of Some 4-Hydroxychromans

CD data of the optically active 4-hydroxy (1–5) and 4-acetoxy chromans (6–8) were analyzed by two different approaches. The Snatzke-Antus treatment of chiraly perturbed chromane chromophore revealed M absolute conformation and 4S absolute configuration of the alcohols, i.e. P absolute conformation and 4R absolute configuration of the acetates. The proposed absolute configuration of the optically active alcohols was confirmed for 1 and 2 by the chiral excitone coupling method applied on their benzoates 9 and 10.     

Magnetic conveyor belt transport of ultracold atoms to a superconducting atomchip

We report the realization of a robust magnetic transport scheme to bring >3 × 10⁸ ultracold ⁸⁷Rb atoms into a cryostat. The sequence starts with standard laser cooling and trapping of ⁸⁷Rb atoms, transporting first horizontally and then vertically through the radiation shields into a cryostat by a series of normal- and superconducting magnetic coils. Loading the atoms in a superconducting microtrap paves the way for studying the interaction of ultracold atoms with superconducting surfaces and quantum devices requiring cryogenic temperatures.     

Valence Photoionization of Thymine: Ionization Energies,Vibrational Structure,and Fragmentation Pathways from the Slow to the Ultrafast

The photoionization of thymine has been studied by using vacuum ultraviolet radiation and imaging photoelectron photoion coincidence spectroscopy after aerosol flash vaporization and bulk evaporation. The two evaporation techniques have been evaluated by comparison of the photoelectron spectra and breakdown diagrams. The adiabatic ionization energies for the first four electronic states were determined to be 8.922±0.008, 9.851±0.008, 10.30±0.02, and 10.82±0.01 eV. Vibrational features have been assigned for the first three electronic states with the help of Franck–Condon factor calculations based on density functional theory and wave function theory vibrational analysis within the harmonic approximation. The breakdown diagram of thymine, as supported by composite method ab initio calculations, suggests that the main fragment ions are formed in sequential HNCO-, CO-, and H-loss dissociation steps from the thymine parent ion, with the first step corresponding to a retro-Diels–Alder reaction. The dissociation rate constants were extracted from the photoion time-of-flight distributions and used together with the breakdown curves to construct a statistical model to determine 0 K appearance energies of 11.15±0.16 and 11.95±0.09 eV for the m/z 83 and 55 fragment ions, respectively. These results have allowed us to revise previously proposed fragmentation mechanisms and to propose a model for the final, nonstatistical H-loss step in the breakdown diagram, yielding the m/z 54 fragment ion at an appearance energy of 13.24 eV.     

Proton NMR studies of the NaAlH4 structure

Advanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques were applied to study the local environments of hydrogen in NaAlH₄. Through a combined application of the magic echo (ME) and the magic Hahn echo (MHE) sequences the hetero- and homonuclear contributions to the dipolar second moment (M₂) were determined separately. The obtained values are compared with the second moments calculated by the van Vleck formulae, using structural data determined by neutron scattering on NaAlD₄. This comparison indicates structural differences between NaAlH₄ and NaAlD₄. A model is suggested for the orientation of the [AlH₄]⁻ tetrahedra in NaAlH₄, for which the calculated second moments are in good agreement with the experimentally observed values.     

Positive mouns in iron: Dipolar fields at tetrahedral sites and jump frequencies at low temperatures

On polycrystalline and monocrystalline iron muon-spin precession frequencies and transverse relaxation rates have been measured down to 0.5 K. In the polycrystalline sample two distinct precession frequencies were observed at and below 1.4 K. They are attributed to the different dipolar fields at magnetically inequivalent tetrahedral interstices seen by muons moving locally around impurities. By contrast, in monocrystalline iron we observed only one precession frequency in monocrystalline iron with a damping rate which increased with decreasing temperature down to 0.5 K. We attribute the difference between the monocrystalline and the polycrystalline sample to different impurity contents. The single-crystal data are discussed in terms of μ⁺ diffusion by hopping between interstitial sites of tetragonal symmetry. The answer to several open questions is expected from an extension of the measurements to lower temperatures.     

On Sets without Tangents in Galois Planes of Even Order

We show that the cardinality of a nonempty set of points without tangents in the desarguesian projective plane PG(2, q), q even, is at least q + 1 + $ \sqrt {q/6} $ provided that the set is not of even type.