Laser spectroscopy of the Lamb shift in muonic hydrogen

The muonic hydrogen atom in the 2s state provides the possibility of achieving high precision laser spectroscopy experiments from which a high precision value of the proton radius can be deduced. This will ultimately allow an increased precision in the test of QED in bound systems. Important progress has been made in recent years in the ability to stop muons in a low pressure gas target and in the understanding of the 2s-metastability in muonic hydrogen. As a consequence the 2s–2p laser spectroscopy experiment is now feasible and we present here the basic experimental concept considered by our collaboration. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Frictional cooling: Experimental results

The classical methods used in beam cooling are hard to be adapted for a beam of short-lived elementary particles. A novel method, the so-called frictional cooling – that is cooling a beam of low-energy charged particles by moderation in matter and acceleration in an electrostatic field – has been shown to be feasible. In our experiments performed in 1994/1995 a beam of short-lived particles was cooled for the first time ever. Utilizing frictional cooling on a beam of slow negative muons we observed increase in phase space density by about one order of magnitude. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Macrocyclic polymerization - a new approach to molecular engineering

2,2-Dibutyl-2-stanna-1,3-dioxacycloalkanes were used as cyclic initiators for the ring-opening polymerization of various lactons. This method exclusively yielded series of macrocyclic polylactones without any competition with linear polymers. Under optimized reaction conditions these macrocyclic polymerizations obey the pattern of “living polymerizations”. The living chain ends allow the syntheses of macrocyclic blockcopolymers. The macrocyclic polylactones react with carboxylic acid chlorides by ring-opening yielding telechelic oligo or polylactones. Furthermore, the tin containing macrocyclic polylactones can be used as difunctional “monomers” for polycondensations with dicarboxylic acid dichlorides.     

Plasma Induced Graft Polymerization of Three Hydrophilic Monomers on Nylon 6,6 Fabrics for Enhancing Antistatic Property

In this study, three hydrophilic monomers; 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate, diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DADMAC) were selected and their performance as an antistatic finish on nylon 6,6 fabrics was investigated. A non-thermal, high density atmospheric pressure plasma was used to graft polymerize the monomers on nylon 6,6 fabrics. Fabrics were first treated with solutions of monomer in water, air dried and then treated with helium plasma to graft polymerize the monomer on the fiber surface. Surface resistivity values were measured before and after soxhlet extraction with water. Results showed that the DADMAC monomer provided better antistatic properties to fabrics. Further studies with DADMAC monomer were made; effects of plasma post exposure time, plasma pre-exposure time, plasma power, concentration of the monomer and existence of a crosslinker were investigated. Higher plasma power, higher concentration of the monomer and longer post exposure times all gave better antistatic properties to the nylon 6,6 fabrics. Acid dye staining, UV–Vis and FT-IR measurements were conducted and results confirmed a grafted poly-DADMAC layer on the fabric surface.     

The complete multi-ζ electric dipole moment matrix of π-(C6H6) Cr(CO)3 and tests of semi-empirical MO models

First, we evaluated the complete electric dipole moment matrixeZ using a multi- AO basis on Cr, C, and O centers fortheimportant, parent organometallic molecule -C₆H₆Cr(CO)₃. Second, we generated ground state LCAO-MO eigenvectors employing five commonly used semi-empirical procedures for molecules of this size which contain transition metals. Transformation of operator matrixeZ into the MO space of each of the five methods then leads us to conclude that the empirical input of Basch, Viste and Gray is most suitable. Finally, we compare the merits of several single- basis orbitals with the multi- metal orbitals.[/p]     

Conditioning of Random Conic Systems Under a General Family of Input Distributions

We consider the conic feasibility problem associated with the linear homogeneous system Ax≤0, x≠0. The complexity of iterative algorithms for solving this problem depends on a condition number C(A). When studying the typical behavior of algorithms under stochastic input, one is therefore naturally led to investigate the fatness of the tails of the distribution of C(A). Introducing the very general class of uniformly absolutely continuous probability models for the random matrix A, we show that the distribution tails of C(A) decrease at algebraic rates, both for the Goffin–Cheung–Cucker number C _G and the Renegar number C _R . The exponent that drives the decay arises naturally in the theory of uniform absolute continuity, which we also develop in this paper. In the case of C _G , we also discuss lower bounds on the tail probabilities and show that there exist absolutely continuous input models for which the tail decay is subalgebraic. R. Hauser was supported by a grant of the Nuffield Foundation under the “Newly Appointed Lecturers” grant scheme (project number NAL/00720/G) and through grant GR/S34472 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK. The research in this paper was conducted while T. Müller was a research student at the University of Oxford. He was partially supported by EPSRC, the Oxford University Department of Statistics, Bekker-la-Bastide fonds, Dr. Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch fonds, and Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.     

Heteroleptic FeII Complexes of 2,2′‐Biimidazole and Its Alkylated Derivatives: Spin‐Crossover and Photomagnetic Behavior

Three iron(II) complexes, [Fe(TPMA)(BIM)](ClO₄)₂?0.5H₂O ( 1 ), [Fe(TPMA)(XBIM)](ClO₄)₂ ( 2 ), and [Fe(TPMA)(XBBIM)](ClO₄)₂ ?0.75CH₃OH ( 3 ), were prepared by reactions of Fe^II perchlorate and the corresponding ligands (TPMA=tris(2‐pyridylmethyl)amine, BIM=2,2′‐biimidazole, XBIM=1,1′‐(α,α′‐o‐xylyl)‐2,2′‐biimidazole, XBBIM=1,1′‐(α,α′‐o‐xylyl)‐2,2′‐bibenzimidazole). The compounds were investigated by a combination of X‐ray crystallography, magnetic and photomagnetic measurements, and Mössbauer and optical absorption spectroscopy. Complex 1 exhibits a gradual spin crossover (SCO) with T_1/2=190 K, whereas 2 exhibits an abrupt SCO with approximately 7 K thermal hysteresis (T_1/2=196 K on cooling and 203 K on heating). Complex 3 is in the high‐spin state in the 2–300 K range. The difference in the magnetic behavior was traced to differences between the inter‐ and intramolecular interactions in 1 and 2 . The crystal packing of 2 features a hierarchy of intermolecular interactions that result in increased cooperativity and abruptness of the spin transition. In 3 , steric repulsion between H atoms of one of the pyridyl substituents of TPMA and one of the benzene rings of XBBIM results in a strong distortion of the Fe^II coordination environment, which stabilizes the high‐spin state of the complex. Both 1 and 2 exhibit a photoinduced low‐spin to high‐spin transition (LIESST effect) at 5 K. The difference in the character of intermolecular interactions of 1 and 2 also manifests in the kinetics of the decay of the photoinduced high‐spin state. For 1 , the decay rate constant follows the single‐exponential law, whereas for 2 it is a stretched exponential, reflecting the hierarchical nature of intermolecular contacts. The structural parameters of the photoinduced high‐spin state at 50 K are similar to those determined for the high‐spin state at 295 K. This study shows that N‐alkylation of BIM has a negligible effect on the ligand field strength. Therefore, the combination of TPMA and BIM offers a promising ligand platform for the design of functionalized SCO complexes.