Assignment of conformation-sensitive near-infrared bands in high-spin ferrous haemoproteins. Low-temperature magnetic circular dichroism data

An assignment of the near-infrared bands in the 600–800 nm spectral region observed in magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra of high-spin ferrous haemoproteins is presented. The assignment is based on a relative energy level scheme for iron d-electrons, a comparison of predicted and measured temperature dependences of MCD intensity, a sign of MCD bands and a group theoretical analysis of allowed transitions. The proposed assignment is consistent with the ∼15-nm red shift of the ∼760 nm band on breakage of the Fe-His bond in deoxy-myoglobin at low pH, with low-temperature photolysis experiments available for CO complexes of several haemoproteins. In accordance with the observations, the intensity of the MCD bands for proteins with a sulphur anion of cysteine as proximal haemligand (cytochrome P450 and chloroperoxidase) is predicted to be diminished by at least one order of magnitude compared to that for proteins with an imidazole of a histidine as a protein-derived haemligand (i.e. myoglobin, haemoglobin and horseradish peroxidase). Received: 4 February 1997 / Accepted: 1 May 1997     

Spatial Vector Solitons in Nonlinear Photonic Crystal Fibers

We study spatial vector solitons in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) made of a material with the focusing Kerr nonlinearity. We show that such two-component localized nonlinear waves consist of two mutually trapped components confined by the PCF linear and the self-induced nonlinear refractive indices, and they bifurcate from the corresponding scalar solitons. We demonstrate that, in a sharp contrast with an entirely homogeneous nonlinear Kerr medium where both scalar and vector spatial solitons are unstable and may collapse, the periodic structure of PCF can stabilize the otherwise unstable two-dimensional spatial optical solitons. We apply the matrix criterion for stability of these two-parameter solitons, and verify it by direct numerical simulations.     

Optical properties of polarization-dependent geometric phase elements with partially polarized light

The behavior of geometric phase elements illuminated with partially polarized monochromatic beams is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. The element discussed in this paper is composed of wave plates with π-retardation and a space-variant orientation angle. We found that a beam emerging from such an element comprises two polarization orders; right-and left-handed circularly polarized states with conjugate geometric phase modification. This phase equals twice the orientation angle of the space-variant wave plate comprising the element. Apart from the two polarization orders, the emerging beam coherence polarization matrix includes a “vectorial interference matrix” which contains information concerning the correlation between the two orthogonal, circularly polarized portions of the incident beam. In this paper we measure this correlation by a simple interference experiment. In addition, we found that the equivalent mutual intensity of the emerging beam is modulated according to the geometric phase induced by the element. Other interesting phenomena concerning propagation will be discussed theoretically and demonstrated experimentally. The experiment made use of a spherical geometric phase element that was realized by use of a space-variant subwavelength grating illuminated with CO₂ laser radiation of 10.6 μm wavelength.     

Loss in a rectangular optical waveguide induced by the crossover of a second waveguide

We calculate the loss induced in a single-mode rectangular optical waveguide by the presence of a second waveguide, perpendicular to the first, which crosses over the first waveguide at a variable distance d. Our calculation is applied to the analysis of several doped silica waveguides of practical importance for optical circuit design.     

Symmetries of flat rank two distributions and sub-Riemannian structures

Flat sub-Riemannian structures are local approximations -- nilpotentizations -- of sub-Riemannian structures at regular points. Lie algebras of symmetries of flat maximal growth distributions and sub-Riemannian structures of rank two are computed in dimensions 3, 4, and 5.

     

Quantum Stabilization and Decay of Correlations in Anharmonic Crystals

Letters in Mathematical Physics -     

U-statistics in danach spaces

U-statistics in Banach spaces are considered and thoroughly investigated. The martingale structure, estimates of moments, the law of large numbers, the central limit theorem, the invariance principle, estimates of the rate of convergence, and large deviations are established     

Scanning probe microscopy studies of PbS surfaces oxidized in air and etched in aqueous acid solutions

Natural n-type PbS single crystals have been studied using AFM, STM and STS after long-term oxidation in air at ambient temperatures and extensive etching in aqueous acid solutions, in contrast to previous work devoted to initial corrosion of fresh surfaces. The exposure of PbS to atmosphere at high relative humidity for several days yields widespread loose oxidation products; the process is much slower at low humidity. Surface morphologies diverge after the treatment in 1 M perchloric and hydrochloric acid solutions at room temperature and become widely different at elevated temperatures, displaying commonly etch pits up to several micrometers in size and depth along with rather uniformly distributed 20-100 nm protrusions of PbS phase. The changes both in topography and semiconducting properties of PbS found by tunneling spectroscopy have been explained in terms of the non-uniform distribution of donor- and acceptor-type defects D⁺/D⁻ in the metal depleted surface layer, which are generated by chemical reactions and, in turn, determine the rates of the PbS corrosion. In particular, the D⁻ centers exhibit a self-catalyzing effect on the non-oxidative local dissolution of PbS in HCl media, resulting in the deep etch pits.     

On Le’s and Bugeaud’s Papers about the Equation ax 2?+ b 2m?1 ?=?4 c p

 We correct an inaccuracy in the papers of Le, Mignotte, and Bugeaud on the generalized Ramanujan-Nagell equation. Received June 23, 2001