Hydrogen bonding in the hexagonal ice surface

A recently developed technique in sum frequency generation spectroscopy, polarization angle null (or PAN-SFG), is applied to two orientations of the prism face of hexagonal ice. It is found that the vibrational modes of the surface are similar in different faces. As in the basal face, the prism face of ice contains five dominant resonances: 3096, 3146, 3205, 3253, and 3386 cm(-1). On the basal face, the reddest resonance occurs at 3098 cm(-1); within the bandwidth, the same as the prism face. On both the prism and basal faces, this mode contains a significant quadrupole component and is assigned to the bilayer stitching hydrogen bonds. The bluest of the resonances, 3386 cm(-1), occurs slightly blue-shifted at 3393 cm(-1) in the basal face. The prism face has two orientations: one with the optic or c axis in the input plane (the plane formed by the surface normal and the interrogating beam propagation) and one with the c axis perpendicular to the input plane. The 3386 cm(-1) mode has significant intensity only with the c axis in the input plane. On the basis of these orientation characteristics, the 3386 cm(-1) mode is assigned to double-donor molecules in either the top half bilayer or in the lower half bilayer. On the basis of frequency considerations, it is assigned to double-donor molecules in the top half bilayer. These are water molecules containing a nonbonded lone pair. In addition to identification of the components of the broad hydrogen-bonded region, PAN-SFG measures the tangential vs longitudinal content of the vibrational modes. In accord with previous suggestions, the lower frequency modes are predominantly tangential, whereas the higher frequency modes are mainly longitudinal. On the prism face, the 3386 cm(-1) mode is entirely longitudinal.     

Oxygen transfer processes in (La,Sr)MnO3/Y2O3-stabilized ZrO2 cathodes: an impedance spectroscopy study

Impedance spectroscopy was used to study the oxygen reaction kinetics of La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (LSM)-based electrodes on Y₂O₃-stabilized ZrO₂ (YSZ) electrolytes. Three types of electrodes were studied: pure LSM, LSM–YSZ composites, and LSM/LSM–YSZ bilayers. The electrodes were formed by spin coating and sintering on single-crystal YSZ substrates. Measurements were taken at temperatures ranging from 550 to 850°C and oxygen partial pressures from 1×10⁻³ to 1 atm. An arc whose resistance R_el had a high activation energy, E_a=1.61±0.05 eV, and a weak oxygen partial pressure dependence, (P_O2)^−1/6, was observed for the LSM electrodes. A similar arc was observed for LSM–YSZ electrodes, where R_el(P_O2)^−0.29 and the activation energy was 1.49±0.02 eV. The combination of a high activation energy and a weak P_O2 dependence was attributed to oxygen dissociation and adsorption rate-limiting steps for both types of electrodes. LSM–YSZ composite cathodes showed substantially lower overall interfacial resistance values than LSM, but exhibited an additional arc attributed to the resistance of YSZ grain boundaries within the LSM–YSZ. At 850°C and low P_O2, an additional arc was observed with size varying as (P_O2)^−0.80 for LSM and (P_O2)^−0.57 for LSM–YSZ, suggesting that diffusion had become an additional rate limiting step. Bilayer LSM/LSM–YSZ electrodes yielded results intermediate between LSM and LSM–YSZ. The results showed that most of the improvement in electrode performance was achieved for a LSM–YSZ layer only ≈2 μm thick. However, a decrease in the grain-boundary resistance would produce much better performance in thicker LSM–YSZ electrodes.     

Non-Markovian thermalisation of a two-level atom

We consider thermalisation and spontaneous decay of a two-level atom beyond the Markovian approximation. While the standard elimination of the continuum of radiation modes results in exponential decay represented by a Lindblad equation of motion, we use a simple toy model that takes into account the finite relaxation rate of the environment and present an exact non-Markovian master equation of the Nakajima-Zwanzig form. Because the exact derivation of non-Markovian equations has proved very difficult for all more realistic (and hence much more complicated) models, we analyze the master equation obtained and also discuss difficulties that are likely to arise with non-Markovian evolution operators.     

Ultimate quantum limits for resolution of beam displacements

We compare two high sensitivity techniques which are used to measure very small displacements of physical objects by optical techniques: the interferometric devices, measuring longitudinal phase shifts, and the devices used to monitor transverse displacement of light beams. We detail the differences and the similarities for the quantum limits on the resolution of both systems. In both cases squeezed light can be used to resolve beyond the standard quantum limit and number correlated states allow us to reach the “Heisenberg” limit. Received 12 September 2002 Published online 21 January 2003     

Gyrotron travelling wave amplifier: I. Analysis of oscillations

The operation of the gyrotron travelling wave amplifier is based on the convective cyclotron maser instability. It is found that this convective instability may become absolute (nonconvective) at a sufficiently high current level, resulting in oscillation instead of amplification. This threshold current for the transition depends sensitively on the applied magnetic field. The axial wavelength and the characteristic frequency of oscillation at the onset of absolute instability are given. It is found that momentum spread has virtually no effect on the threshold current. A small amount of resistive wall loss, however, raises the threshold current significantly. Oscillations due to partial reflection at the ends of the system are also examined. Preliminary experimental results on both types of oscillations are reported and are found to be in good agreement with the theory.     

The source of trimuon events in neutrino scattering

A comprehensive study indicates that equally likely sources for trimuon events neutrino scattering are (a) charged heavy lepton production (with decay to three muons) and (b) simultaneous production of a neutral lepton (with decay to two muons) and a heavy quark (with decay to one muon). The sequential decay of a heavy quark to two muons is less likely. An intriguing model yielding simultaneous M⁰ and b quark production is proposed.     

Crystal structures of 1,1′-di(methylacetato)- and 1,1′-di(chloroethoxyethyl)-2,2′-biimidazole

1,1′-Di(methylacetato)-2,2′-biimidazole, C₁₂H₁₄N₄O₄, crystallizes from methanol in the space groupP2 ₁/c, wherea=9.535(2),b=13.385(2),c=5.1208(8) Å,V=652.2(2) ų, andZ=4.1,1′-Di(chloroethoxyethyl)-2,2′-biimidazole, C₁₄H₂₀Cl₂N₄O₂, crystallizes from cyclohexane in the space groupPbca, wherea=12.372(2),b=8.959(2),c=14.840(2) Å,V=1644.9(5) ų, andZ=8. The structures were refined toR=0.041 (1380 observed reflections) andR=0.043 (3243 observed reflections), respectively. Both molecules crystallize with coplanar rings and the substituents assume atrans configuration with a center of inversion between the bridging carbon atoms.     

Photon noise limitations on the recovery of stellar images by speckle interferometry

The signal-to-noise ratio in steliar speckle interferometry is estimated by direct application of photon counting formulae. This treatment demonstrates that the limiting observable magnitudes are dependent on object size.