The mass spectra of aluminum isopropoxide

The mass spectra of aluminum isopropoxide show that polymers, [Al(OC₃H₇)₃]_x where x = 1 to 7, can be present in the vapor and are, therefore, probably present in the bulk sample. The polymeric composition of the vapor depends on the previous history of the sample. Exact mass measurements on many of the ions along with data on a number of metastable peaks support the proposed fragmentation mechanisms. Loss of 102 mass units between intense peaks in the mass range above 500 a.m.u. leads to the suggestion that the higher polymers may be used as high mass marking substances.     

Anharmonicity in rotational and vibrational excitation of H2 by Li+ collisions

Integral cross sections for pure rotational and vibrational-rotational excitation of H₂(X¹Σ⁺_g) by Li⁺(¹S) impact are computed by close-coupling methods at 0.2, 0.6, and 1.2 eV in the c.m. system using vibrational functions that are numerical solutions of the one-dimensional radial Schrödinger equation for harmonic, Morse, and adiabatically corrected Kolos-Wolniewicz (KW) potential functions. Comparison of results employing KW and Morse functions shows excellent agreement for all transitions studied. Findings using harmonic oscillator functions, however, differ noticeably from KW and Morse values for vibrational (0 → 1) and very large rotational (Δj = 10) transitions, but are satisfactory for lower order (0 → 2, 4, 6, 8) rotational transitions.     

Absorption spectra and photochemistry of the toluene cation and benzyl radical in solid argon

Toluene diluted in argon subjected to continuous argon discharge radiation during condensation at 21 K revealed absorptions at 310.5 and 449.6 nm due to benzyl radical, and 317 nm due to a C₇7H₉ radical. A photosensitive 430 nm band, in agreement with photodissociation spectra of the toluene parent cation, is assigned to this species.     

Stereoelectronic properties of photosynthetic and related systems: Ab initio configuration interaction calculations on the ground and lower excited singlet and triplet states of magnesium chlorin and chlorin

Ab initio configuration interaction wavefunctions and energies are reported for the ground state and many low-lying singlet and triplet states of magnesium chlorin and chlorin, and are employed in an analysis of the electronic absorption spectra of these systems.In chlorin, the calculated visible spectrum consists of two ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states, the lower energy, y-polarized state exhibiting moderate absorption intensity in contrast to the very weak absorption of the higher energy x-polarized state. The configurational composition of both states is well described by the four-orbital model. Five ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states are responsible for the Soret band envelope. A moderately intense y-state lies under the low energy edge of the band envelope, while two x-polarized states of moderate and strong intensity, respectively, are responsible for the band maximum. The final two ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states lie at the high energy edge of the Soret band and introduce a measure of asymmetry into the band envelope. Two ${}^1\text{(n, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states of very weak oscillator strength are also found in this region of the spectrum. All the Soret states are of complex configurational composition, and several of the higher lying states contain contributions from doubly excited configurations.The calculated visible spectrum of magnesium chlorin also consists of two ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states, with the weakly absorbing x-polarized state lying approximately 200 cm^?1 lower in energy than the moderately intense y-polarized state. The configurational composition of both states is well described by the four-orbital model. Four ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states constitute the bulk of the intensity in the Soret band envelope. In distinction to chlorin, the moderately intense ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ state at the low energy edge of the band envelope is x-polarized. Two intense ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states of y- and x-polarization, respectively, constitute the band maximum region, and a single x-polarized state of moderately strong intensity can be assigned to the high energy shoulder of the band envelope. Two other weakly absorbing ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states are also found in this region, along with another weakly absorbing state of mixed in-plane and out-of-plane polarization. No clearly defined ${}^1\text{(n, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states are observed. As was the case for chlorin, all the Soret states are of complex configurational composition, and some of the higher energy states contain significant contributions from doubly excited configurations.Chlorin and magnesium chlorin both possess three ${}^3\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states which lie below S₁ and a single ${}^3\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ which lies slightly above S₂. All four of the low-lying ${}^3\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states in each molecule are well described by the four-orbital model, with T₁ being essentially a single configuration in each case. The remainder of the ${}^3\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ states are clustered in the same energetic region as the comparable ${}^1\text{(π, π}{}^1\text{)}$ Soret states, with comparably complex configurational compositions.Dipole moments and charge distributions for low-lying singlet and triplet states are also reported, and are used to rationalize chemical reactivity characteristics.     

An electron microscopic study of the archaeal feast/famine regulatory protein 5. Fourier filtration of images

Microcrystals of the feast/famine regulatory protein (FFRP) pot0434017 (FL11) were prepared by sonicating larger crystals. Using the microcrystals a cryo-electron micrograph was obtained, which showed a hexagonal packing of cylinder-like assemblies of FL11. This micrograph was processed by selecting, in the Fourier space, spots reflecting the crystal lattice, thereby removing the noise. The microcrystal was not totally free from distortion, and cylinders in local clusters adopted slightly different orientations. Thus, 25 hexagonal units closest to the ideal, each containing a cylinder at the center surrounded by six others, were manually selected. The averaged image was further processed to yield a perfect six-fold symmetry. These processed images, and some of the original images too, show bridges connecting cylinders, each corresponding to two pairs of N-domains, protruding from the two cylinders and contacting between them in the X-ray structure.     

Synthesis and Spectral Study of Several Solid M3[Eu(2,6-Pyridinedicarboxylate)3] Salts (M=Li+, Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, NH4 +, and Pyridinium+)

Abstract

Salts of the [Eu(2,6-pyridinedicarboxylate)₃]^3- complex anion and various monovalent inorganic and organic counterions (Li⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Rb⁺, Cs⁺, NH₄ ⁺, and pyridinium⁺) have been synthesized and studied by emission spectroscopy. The Eu³⁺ ion emission spectra exhibited by these salts have been observed with high resolution (less than 1.0 cm^?1) and at low temperature (77 K). The emission spectra of these compounds indicate that changing the attached counterion does not affect the site symmetry observed by the europium ion beyond slight distortions indicated by small shifts in the energies of the Eu³⁺ electronic levels.     

Are Words the Quanta of Human Language? Extending the Domain of Quantum Cognition

In previous research, we showed that ‘texts that tell a story’ exhibit a statistical structure that is not Maxwell–Boltzmann but Bose–Einstein. Our explanation is that this is due to the presence of ‘indistinguishability’ in human language as a result of the same words in different parts of the story being indistinguishable from one another, in much the same way that ’indistinguishability’ occurs in quantum mechanics, also there leading to the presence of Bose–Einstein rather than Maxwell–Boltzmann as a statistical structure. In the current article, we set out to provide an explanation for this Bose–Einstein statistics in human language. We show that it is the presence of ‘meaning’ in ‘texts that tell a story’ that gives rise to the lack of independence characteristic of Bose–Einstein, and provides conclusive evidence that ‘words can be considered the quanta of human language’, structurally similar to how ‘photons are the quanta of electromagnetic radiation’. Using several studies on entanglement from our Brussels research group, we also show, by introducing the von Neumann entropy for human language, that it is also the presence of ‘meaning’ in texts that makes the entropy of a total text smaller relative to the entropy of the words composing it. We explain how the new insights in this article fit in with the research domain called ‘quantum cognition’, where quantum probability models and quantum vector spaces are used in human cognition, and are also relevant to the use of quantum structures in information retrieval and natural language processing, and how they introduce ‘quantization’ and ‘Bose–Einstein statistics’ as relevant quantum effects there. Inspired by the conceptuality interpretation of quantum mechanics, and relying on the new insights, we put forward hypotheses about the nature of physical reality. In doing so, we note how this new type of decrease in entropy, and its explanation, may be important for the development of quantum thermodynamics. We likewise note how it can also give rise to an original explanatory picture of the nature of physical reality on the surface of planet Earth, in which human culture emerges as a reinforcing continuation of life.