"Eclipse" effect in the scattering of weakly bound helium clusters

The total cross sections of the helium dimer, trimer, and tetramer for scattering from Kr atoms have been measured for cluster beam velocities between 250 and 820 m/s. The dimer cross section is twice that of the atom within 5% indicating that the Kr atoms scatter from the He atoms independently, which is consistent with the large dimer bond distance of about 50 A. The trimer and tetramer cross sections are somewhat larger and can be described by an impulse approximation with a multiple "eclipse" correction, extending ideas of Glauber for high energy collisions with the deuteron.     

Symmetry and electronic structure of noble-metal nanoparticles and the role of relativity

We present high resolution UV-photoelectron spectra of cold mass selected Cun-, Agn-, and Aun- with n=53-58. The observed electron density of states is not the expected simple electron shell structure, but is strongly influenced by electron-lattice interactions. Only Cu55- and Ag55- exhibit highly degenerate states. This is a direct consequence of their icosahedral symmetry, as is confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Neighboring sizes exhibit perturbed electronic structures, as they are formed by removal or addition of atoms to the icosahedron and therefore have lower symmetries. Gold clusters in the same size range show completely different spectra with almost no degeneracy, which indicates that they have structures of much lower symmetry. This behavior is related to strong relativistic bonding effects in gold, as demonstrated by ab initio calculations for Au55-.     

On the Continuity of Inversion in Countably Compact Inverse Topological Semigroups

Let S be a countably compact Hausdorff space endowed with a continuous semigroup operation turning S into an inverse semigroup. It is shown that the inversion inv : x x^-1 in S is continuous provided one of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) the space S is sequential, (2) the semigroup S is Clifford, inversely regular, and topologically periodic, (3) the semigroup S is Clifford, topologically periodic and the square S × S is regular and countably compact. These results are close to the best possible since there is an example of a quasi-regular sequentially compact commutative inverse topological semigroup with discontinuous inversion.     

Frictional dynamics of fluorine-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers

The frictional dynamics of fluorine-terminated alkanethiol (S(CH2)8CF3) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on gold are studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulations treat the interactions between two SAMs on flat surfaces. The structure and frictional behavior are investigated as a function of applied pressure (200 MPa to 1 GPa) for a shear velocity of 2 m/s and compared to methyl-terminated alkanethiol SAMs. The maximum adhesive pressure between the SAMs is 220 MPa for both end groups. In agreement with experiments on the molecular scale, the shear stress and the coefficient of friction for CF3-terminated alkanethiols are larger than for CH3-terminated alkanethiols. The main source for the difference is primarily the tighter packing of the fluorinated terminal group resulting in a higher degree of order. The molecular scale coefficient of friction is correlated with the degree of order among all the systems.     

Evidence for a bound HeH2 halo molecule by diffraction from a transmission grating

The HeH2 van der Waals complex has been identified in a molecular beam produced by a cryogenic (T0=24.7 K) free jet expansion of a 1% H2 mixture in 99% 4He gas. The weakly bound HeH2 complexes in the beam are identified via their first order diffraction angles after passing through a 100 nm period transmission grating. An electron impact mass spectrometer analysis of the diffraction patterns is used to discriminate against ion fragments of the constituent gas clusters.     

A finite temperature linear tetrahedron method for electronic structure calculations of periodic systems

A finite-temperature linear tetrahedron method for electronic structure calculations of periodic systems is developed. When compared to widely used simple temperature broadening, the number of k points necessary for accurate integration at finite temperatures is reduced. The utility of the method is demonstrated with benchmark calculations on 1D, 2D, and 3D systems.     

Facile oxidative addition of N-C and N-H bonds to monovalent rhodium and iridium

An investigation of room-temperature oxidative addition of N-C and N-H bonds to RhI and IrI in solution and in the solid state is presented. The rigid, product-adapted framework of the pincer bis(ortho-phosphinoaryl)amine (PNP) ligand may contribute to the ease of the N-C and N-H cleavage. The migration of Me from N of the coordinated amine moiety to Rh proceeds with near-zero entropy of activation in solution. In the solid state, this transformation is a crystal-to-crystal reaction, transforming only one of the two independent molecules of (PN(Me)P)RhCl into (PNP)Rh(Me)Cl.     

Bubble dynamics in double-stranded DNA

We report the first measurement of the dynamics of bubble formation in double-stranded DNA. Fluctuations of fluorescence of a synthetic DNA construct, internally tagged with a fluorophore and a quencher, are monitored by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. The relaxation dynamics follow a multistate relaxation kinetics, with a characteristic time scale of 50 microseconds. A simple model of bubble dynamics based on constant zipping-unzipping rates is proposed to account for our experimental data. The role of different secondary structures stabilizing the open bubble is tested.     

Elastic wave thermal fluctuations,ultrasonic waveforms by correlation of thermal phonons

It is widely recognized that acoustic degrees of freedom coupled to a thermal bath have amplitudes which fluctuate with a mean square proportional to temperature; this is the basis for the Debye theory of the heat capacity of insulating solids. It is shown here that these elastic wave thermal phonons have correlation functions identical to the system's ultrasonic Green's function, and furthermore that thermal noise in ultrasonic detectors should have correlation functions equivalent to conventional waveforms obtained by active transmission and reception. This suggests the possibility of doing ultrasonics without a source. Theory for the identity is presented, and several room temperature laboratory confirmations are conducted in the frequency range 0.1-1.0 MHz. The thermal nature of the origin of these correlations is established by comparing their strength with theoretical expectations. Applications are discussed.     

Specific Interaction of Coproporphyrin I with Antibodies in Water and Reverse Micelles: Dimerization of Antibodies Affects Antigen Binding Site

The antigen-antibody interaction between coproporphyrin I and anti-coproporphyrin antibodies was studied by a fluorescence method in water and a reverse micellar system: n-octane/Aerosol OT. Coproporphyrin fluorescence was quenched, and coproporphyrin emission maximum was shifted to the long-wavelength region after binding to the antibodies or Fab-fragments. The mechanism of this quenching is static, most probably, by a tryptophan residue (or maybe lysine or methionine). Apparent dynamic quenching, in this case, arises from protein backbone motion. A special kind of antibody Fab-Fab dimerization was proposed.