Dynamical and thermal aspects of relativistic heavy-ion collisions

Within a covariant BUU-approach we simulate heavyion collisions at various bombarding energies from 400 MeV/u to 1 GeV/u. We evaluate locally the energymomentum tensorT ^v (x), and extract pressures, energydensities and temperatures. The connection of these thermodynamical quantities to experimental observables and their sensitivity to the equation of state is discussed. Furthermore, we investigate the question of local equilibration and evaluate the entropy produced in these reactions.Dedicated to Prof. Dr. P. Kienle on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Work supported by BMFT and GSI Darmstadt     

Miniaturization of a thalliumiodide photodissociation laser

We report on the operation of a thallium photodissociation laser with an active medium in the form of a thin layer on a quartz wall. Laser emission has been obtained with layer thicknesses below 100 m. This gas laser seems to be feasible with an active volume as small as 10^–1 to 10^–2 mm³.     

DNA-binding of semirigid binuclear ruthenium complex delta,delta-[mu-(11,11'-bidppz)(phen)(4)ru(2)](4+): extremely slow intercalation kinetics

We here report a remarkably slow rearrangement of binding modes for a binuclear ruthenium(II) complex upon interaction with DNA. It has been previously shown that Delta,Delta-[mu-(11,11'-bidppz)(phen)4Ru2]4+ binds to DNA in one of the grooves. However, we find that this is only an initial, metastable, binding mode, which is extremely slowly reorganized into an intercalative binding geometry. The slow rearrangement and dissociation, revealed by flow linear dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, are concluded to be a result from the complex being threaded through the DNA, with one of the bridging aromatic dppz ligands intercalated between the base pairs of the DNA, placing one metal center in the minor groove and one in the major groove. A negative LD, a high luminescence quantum yield, and long luminescence lifetimes, similar to the intercalating complex Delta-[Ru(phen)2dppz]2+, indicate intercalation of the bidppz moiety. The unique slow dissociation of the complex in its final DNA-binding mode suggests that this class of threading, partially intercalated binuclear complexes may be interesting in the context of cancer therapy. Also, their unique optical and photophysical properties could make such complexes, either alone or scaffolded by DNA structures, of interest for the development of nanometer-sized molecular optoelectronic devices.     

Resonant two photon ionization of phenanthrene via its transientS 2 state

We report the vibrationally resolved photoelectron spectrum of phenanthrene obtained by two photon ionization via theS ₂ electronic state. The experiments were performed with picosecond laser pulses with a bandwidth sufficiently large to span a significant fraction of the intermediate resonance state. Therefore the photoelectron spectrum is dominated by signal corresponding to the unrelaxed intermediate resonance, in spite of this state's 420 fs lifetime.     

Atomic and molecular fluorescence with long radiative decay times from laser excited Na2

Na₂ is excited (B¹Π_u←X¹Σ _g ⁺ ) in the presence of noble gases (20–700 Torr). The Na₂ fluorescence decay shows two lifetimes: a short component which corresponds to the well known lifetime of Na₂ in the B¹Π_u state [1], and a long component with a lifetime of about 0,1 μs which depends strongly on the noble gas density [2]. The same long lived radiative decay is also seen via the Na resonance fluorescence Na(3²S)←Na(3²P).     

Boundary value problems for nonuniformly elliptic equations with measurable coefficients

Summary Let A be a symmetric N × N real-matrix-valued function on a connected region in Rⁿ, with A positive definite a.e. and A, A⁻¹ locally integrable. Let b and c be locally integrable, non-negative, real-valued functions on Ω, with c positive a.e. Put a(u, v) = = ((A∇u, ∇v) + buv) dx. We consider in X the weak boundary value problem a(u, v) = = fvcdx, all v ε X; where X is a suitable Hilbert space contained in H _loc ^1,1 (Ω). Criteria are given in order that the Green's operator for this problem have an integral representation and bounded eigenfunctions; in addition, criteria for compactness are given. Entrata in Redazione il 21 giugno 1975. Research was partially supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant GP-28377A2.     

Vessel effects in organic chemical reactions; a century-old,overlooked phenomenon

One of the most intriguing aspects of synthetic chemistry is the interplay of numerous dependent and independent variables en route to achieve a successful, high-yielding chemical transformation. The experienced synthetic chemist will probe many of these variables during reaction development and optimization, which will routinely involve investigation of reaction temperature, solvent, stoichiometry, concentration, time, choice of catalyst, addition sequence or quenching conditions just to name some commonly addressed variables. Remarkably, little attention is typically given to the choice of reaction vessel material as the surface of common laboratory borosilicate glassware is, incorrectly, assumed to be chemically inert. When reviewing the scientific literature, careful consideration of the vessel material is typically only given during the use of well-known glass-etching reagents such as HF, which is typically only handled in HF-resistant, polyfluorinated polymer vessels. However, there are examples of chemical transformations that do not involve such reagents but are still clearly influenced by the choice of reaction vessel material. In the following review, we wish to condense the most significant examples of vessel effects during chemical transformations as well as observations of container-dependent stability of certain molecules. While the primary focus is on synthetic organic chemistry, relevant examples from inorganic chemistry, polymerization reactions, atmospheric chemistry and prebiotic chemistry are also covered.

One of the most intriguing aspects of synthetic chemistry is the interplay of numerous dependent and independent variables en route to achieve a successful, high-yielding chemical transformation.