Observation of the B meson in K−p interactions at 4.2 GeVc

A πω enhancement at 1245 MeV is observed in the reaction K^?p → Σ⁺π^?ω. Its properties agree with those of a B meson produced by natural-parity exchange thus establishing a coupling of the B to a $\text{K}\text{K}{}^1$ system.     

Polymer emissivity

The thermal emission characteristics of polypyromellitimides have been examined as a function of temperature by measurement of the power required to maintain steady-state temperatures in an evacuated system. The emissivity was derived and found to increase with increasing temperature up to a saturation limit of above 0.9 at temperatures above 475°K. The effect is explained as a thermal population of excited infrared transitions. Power emitted is dominated by the most intense bands which are common to absorption and emission spectra.     

Soft Dynamics simulation. 1. Normal approach of two deformable particles in a viscous fluid and optimal-approach strategy

Discrete simulation methods are efficient tools to investigate the behaviors of complex fluids such as dry granular materials or dilute suspensions of hard particles. By contrast, materials made of soft and/or concentrated units (emulsions, foams, vesicles, dense suspensions) can exhibit both significant elastic particle deflections (Hertz-like response) and strong viscous forces (squeezed liquid). We point out that the gap between two particles is then not determined solely by the positions of their centers, but rather exhibits its own dynamics. We provide the first ingredients of a new discrete numerical method, named Soft Dynamics, to simulate the combined dynamics of particles and contacts. As an illustration, we present the results for the approach of two particles. We recover the scaling behaviors expected in three limits: the Stokes limit for very large gaps, the Poiseuille-lubricated limit for small gaps and even smaller surface deflections, and the Hertz limit for significant surface deflections. We find that for each gap value, an optimal force achieves the fastest approach velocity. The principle of larger-scale simulations with this new method is provided. They will consitute a promising tool for investigating the collective behaviors of many complex materials.     

Noise reduction in a mode-locked semiconductor laser by coherent photon seeding

We have used coherent photon seeding to reduce the noise in an actively mode-locked extended-cavity semiconductor laser. Feedback is provided by an auxiliary cavity terminated either by a wedge plate or by a phase-conjugate mirror. Both conventional and phase-conjugate feedback can reduce the low-frequency noise components (0-5 MHz) by as much as 36 dB, hence drastically reducing the pulse fluctuations. A noise reduction of as much as 18 dB is also observed in the 0.01-3.0-GHz frequency range. We obtained these results while preserving the pulse duration (26 ps) and improving the time-bandwidth product.     

Precise mass measurement of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (309 kDa) polymerase chain reaction product by negative ion electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry

Electrospray ionization Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (ESI-FTICRMS) has been used to determine the mass of a double-stranded 500 base-pair (bp) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product with an average theoretical mass of the blunt-ended (i.e. unadenylated) species of 308 859.35 Da. The PCR product was generated from the linearized bacteriophage Lambda genome which is a double-stranded template. Utilization of ethanol precipitation in tandem with a rapid microdialysis step to purify and desalt the PCR product was crucial to obtain a precise mass measurement. The PCR product (0.8 pmol/μL) was electrosprayed from a solution containing 75% acetonitrile, 25 mM piperidine, and 25 mM imidazole and was infused at a rate of 200 nL/min. The average molecular mass and the corresponding precision were determined using the charge-states ranging from 172 to 235 net negative charges. The experimental mass and corresponding precision (reported as the 95% confidence interval of the mean) was 309 406 +/- 27 Da (87 ppm). The mass accuracy was compromised due to the fact that the PCR generates multiple products when using Taq polymerase due to the non-template directed 3'-adenylation. This results in a mixture of three PCR products with nearly identical mass (i.e. blunt-ended, mono-adenylated and di-adenylated) with unknown relative abundances that were not resolved in the spectrum. Thus, the experimental mass will be a weighted average of the three species which, under our experimental conditions, reflects a nearly equal concentration of the mono- and di-adenylated species. This report demonstrates that precise mass measurements of PCR products up to 309 kDa (500 bp) can be routinely obtained by ESI-FTICR requiring low femtomole amounts. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scaling violation and shadowing corrections at HERA

We study the value of shadowing corrections (SC) in the HERA kinematic region in the Glauber–Mueller approach. Since the Glauber–Mueller approach was proven in perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) in the double-logarithmic approximation (DLA), we develop the DLA approach for the deep inelastic structure function which takes into account the SC. Our estimates show small SC for in the HERA kinematic region while they turn out to be sizable for the gluon structure function. We compare our estimates with those for gluon distribution in leading order (LO) and next to leading order (NLO) in the DGLAP evolution equations. Received: 21 September 1998 /Published online: 14 January 1999     

Allelomimesis as escape strategy of pedestrians in two-exit confinements

We study the efficacy of allelomimesis as an escape strategy of mobile agents (pedestrians) that aim to leave a two-exit room within the shortest possible time. Allelomimesis is the act of copying one’s kindred neighbors. To escape, an agent employs one of the following strategies: (1) It chooses its own route independently (non-copying, α=0), (2) It imitates the actions of its neighbors at all times (blind copying, α=1), or (3) It either copies or acts independently according to a certain probability that is set by the copying parameter . Not more than one agent could occupy a given room location. An agent’s knowledge of the two exit locations is set by its information content . When left alone, an agent with complete knowledge of the exit whereabouts (β=1) always takes the shortest possible path to an exit. We obtain plots of the (group) evacuation time T and exit throughput Q as functions of α and β for cases where the two exits are near (on same room side) and far (on opposite sides of room) from each other. For an isolated agent, T is inversely proportional to β. The chances of escape for an isolated agent with β≤0.2 are higher with adjacent exits. However, for an agent with β>0.4 the chance is better with opposite exits. In a highly occupied room (occupancy rate R=80%) with adjacent exits, agents with β>0.8 escape more quickly if they employ a mixed strategy of copying and non-copying (0.4<α<0.6). On the other hand, blind copying (α≈1) gives agents with β<0.1 a better chance of escaping from the same room. For the same α and R values, opposite exits allow faster evacuation for agents with β<0.1 due to the likelihood of streaming and the lower probability of exit clogging. Streaming indicates an efficient utilization of an exit and it happens when the arcs that are formed are smaller and arch interference is less likely. Allelomimesis provides a simple yet versatile mechanism for studying the egress behavior of confined crowds in a multi-exit room.