Tyrosyl radical, diiron center and enzyme mechanism in ribonucleotide reductase

In this minireview we will describe work where electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used as the major methodology to identify and study the function of an amino acidbased free radical in enzyme function. For many redox processes in biochemistry the interplay between redox-active metal ions and free radicals turns out to be a recurring theme. Seen in this perspective, the enzyme we will describe here, ribonucleotide reductase, is related to several other important enzyme systems, including photosystem II.     

Quantum cryptography protocols robust against photon number splitting attacks for weak laser pulse implementations

We introduce a new class of quantum key distribution protocols, tailored to be robust against photon number splitting (PNS) attacks. We study one of these protocols, which differs from the original protocol by Bennett and Brassard (BB84) only in the classical sifting procedure. This protocol is provably better than BB84 against PNS attacks at zero error.     

Ising transition driven by frustration in a 2D classical model with continuous symmetry

We study the thermal properties of the classical antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with both nearest (J1) and next-nearest (J2) exchange couplings on the square lattice by extensive Monte Carlo simulations. We show that, for J2/J1>1/2, thermal fluctuations give rise to an effective Z2 symmetry leading to a finite-temperature phase transition. We provide strong numerical evidence that this transition is in the 2D Ising universality class, and that T(c)-->0 with an infinite slope when J2/J1-->1/2.     

Precise determination of the 2s(1/2)-2p(1/2) splitting in very heavy lithiumlike ions utilizing dielectronic recombination

The 2s(1/2)-2p(1/2) energy splittings DeltaE(L) of the lithiumlike ions 19779Au76+, 20882Pb79+, and 23892U89+ have been measured at the Experimental Storage Ring, utilizing low energy dielectronic recombination. The resonance energies in total 41 different 1s(2) 2p(1/2)nl(j(')) (n > or =20) autoionizing Rydberg states populated in the dielectronic capture process have been determined. The 2s(1/2)-->2p(1/2) excitation energies have been obtained by extrapolation of these resonance energies to the associated series limits n--> infinity. The combined analysis of the experimental data for all three ions yields DeltaE(L)=216.134(96) eV for Au76+, 230.650(81) eV for Pb79+, and 280.516(99) eV for U89+.     

c-Axis optical sum rule and a possible new collective mode in La2-xSrxCuO4

We present the c-axis optical conductivity sigma(1c)(omega,T) of underdoped (x=0.12) and optimally doped (x=0.15) La2-xSrxCuO4 from 4 meV to 1.8 eV obtained by a combination of reflectivity and transmission spectra. In addition to the opening of the superconducting gap, we observe an increase of conductivity above the gap up to 270 meV with a maximal effect at about 120 meV. This may indicate a new collective mode at a surprisingly large energy scale. The Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham sum rule is violated for both doping levels. Although the relative value of the violation is much larger for the under-doped sample, the absolute increase of the low-frequency spectral weight, including that of the condensate, is higher in the optimally doped regime. Our results resemble in many respects the observations in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta).     

Phase shift experiments identifying Kramers doublets in a chaotic superconducting microwave billiard of threefold symmetry

The spectral properties of a two-dimensional microwave billiard showing threefold symmetry have been studied with a new experimental technique. This method is based on the behavior of the eigenmodes under variation of a phase shift between two input channels, which strongly depends on the symmetries of the eigenfunctions. Thereby a complete set of 108 Kramers doublets has been identified by a simple and purely experimental method. This set clearly shows Gaussian unitary ensemble statistics, although the system is time-reversal invariant.     

Phonon trigonal warping effect in graphite and carbon nanotubes

The one-dimensional structure of carbon nanotubes leads to quantum confinement of the wave vectors for the electronic states, thus making the double resonance Raman process selective, not only of the magnitude, but also of the direction of the phonon wave vectors. This additional selectivity allows us to reconstruct the phonon dispersion relations of 2D graphite, by probing individual single wall carbon nanotubes of different chiralities by resonance Raman spectroscopy, and using different laser excitation energies. In particular, we are able to measure the anisotropy, or the trigonal warping effect, in the phonon dispersion relations around the hexagonal corner of the Brillouin zone of graphite.     

UCN production in superfluid helium

Ultra-cold neutrons (UCN) are produced in superfluid helium by single- and multi-phonon excitation. The UCN production rate density R _II via multiphonons can be larger than that by one-phonon excitation R _I being due to the dependence of the incident neutron spectral flux density dφ/dλ on the wavelength λ. Received: 28 March 2002 / Accepted: 19 December 2002 / Published online: 11 March 2003 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: wschott@e18.physik.tu-muenchen.de RID="b" ID="b"On leave of absence from PNPI, Gatchina, Russia Communicated by T. Walcher