Dimensional regularization of massless quantum electrodynamics in spherical spacetime

The quantization and renormalization of massless electrodynamics in a spacetime of constant curvature are discused. A formalism is presented which is valid in an arbitrary number of dimensions and therefore allows the use of dimensional regularization. In the discussion of the photon propagator it is found that anomalous mass terms dependent on the curvature arise, although these vanish in four dimensions. Further, the gauge-fixing term in the Lagrangian has the unconventional feature of not being a perfect square. The renormalizability of the theory is then demonstrated to one loop order, and the renormalization constants are shown to retain their flat spacetime values. Finally, expansions for the renormalized electron and photon propagators in terms of appropriate spherical harmonics are derived.     

Gold-film-catalysed hydrosilylation of alkynes by microwave-assisted, continuous-flow organic synthesis (MACOS)

Thin gold films on the surface of glass capillaries have proven to be highly active catalysts for the rapid hydrosilylation of alkynes that are flowed through the reactor while being heated by microwave irradiation. The films are able to be reused at least five times with no loss of activity and with no detectable levels of gold showing up in the hydrosilylated products.     

Optically induced spatial instability in twin-stripe-geometry lasers

The use of light injection to modify the lateral gain profile in twin-stripe injection lasers is described and consequent movement of the lasing optical field is demonstrated. A method of quantifying the sensitivity of the device to light injection is described and used to examine the dependence of optical instability upon injection current.     

Rapid adiabatic passage without level crossing

We present a method for achieving complete population transfer in a two-state quantum system via adiabatic time evolution in which, contrary to conventional rapid adiabatic passage produced by chirped pulses, there occurs no crossing of diabatic energy curves: there is no sign change of the detuning. Instead, we use structured pulses, in which, in addition to satisfying conditions for adiabatic evolution, there occurs a sign change of the Rabi frequency when the detuning is zero. We present simulations that offer simple geometrical interpretation of the two-dimensional motion of the Bloch vector for this system, illustrating how both complete population inversion and complete population return occur for different choices of structured pulses.     

Synthesis and characterization of sulfide, sulfide-sulfonium, and bissulfide derivatives of [B12H12]2-. Additivity of Me2S and MeS- substituent effects in 11B NMR spectra of disubstituted icosahedral boron clusters

The 1,2-, 1,7-, and 1,12-isomers of (Me2S)2B12H10 (O, M, and P) react with potassium phthalimide in DMF or EtSNa in CH3CN/EtOH upon reflux producing the corresponding isomers of [(MeS)(Me2S)B12H10]- (O1-, M1-, P1-). If excess of either nucleophile is used, [Me2SB12H11]- (1) and O, M, P can be converted into dianions [MeSB12H11]2- (2) and [(MeS)2B12H10]2- (O2-, M2-, P2-). The use of EtSNa is recommended since it facilitates the isolation of products compared to the potassium phthalimide method. When 1 or O, M, P are treated with an excess of an alkali metal (Na, K) in liquid ammonia at -40 degrees C, sulfide 2 or bissulfide dianions O2-, M2-, P2- are obtained cleanly and almost instantly. While both the nucleophilic substitution and alkali metal reduction methods are useful for the synthesis of dianions 2, O2-, M2-, and P2-, only the former method is suitable for the synthesis of the sulfide-sulfonium anions O1-, M1-, P1-. The analysis of the 11B NMR spectra of 1, O, M, P and anions derived from them demonstrated that the spectra of the disubstituted species can be predicted qualitatively, keeping in mind the simple substituent effects obtained from the spectra of monosubstituted anions 1 and 2. Some evidence is found for small partial double bond character of the B-SMe bonds in anions. [MePPh3]+ salts of [MeSB12H11]2- (2) and [1-(MeS)-7-(Me2S)B12H10]- (M1-) are structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Crystal data: [MePPh3]2[MeSB12H11], P2(1) (No. 4), a = 9.243(1) A, b = 18.272(1) A, c = 12.548(1) A, beta = 103.17(1) degrees, Z = 2; [MePPh3][1-(MeS)-7-(Me2S)B12H10], P1 (No. 2), a = 9.278(2) A, b = 12.003(5) A, c = 14.819(7) A, alpha = 112.18(4) degrees, beta = 105.61(3) degrees, gamma = 92.91(3) degrees, Z = 2.