Measurement of the resonant d(mu)t molecular formation rate in solid HD

Measurements of muon-catalyzed dt fusion ( d(mu)t-->4He + n + mu(-)) in solid HD have been performed. The theory describing the energy dependent resonant molecular formation rate for the reaction (mu)t + HD-->[(d(mu)t)pee](*) is compared to experimental results in a pure solid HD target. Constraints on the rates are inferred through the use of a Monte Carlo model developed specifically for the experiment. From the time-of-flight analysis of fusion events in 16 and 37 microg x cm(-2) targets, an average formation rate consistent with 0.897+/-(0.046)(stat)+/-(0.166)(syst) times the theoretical prediction was obtained.     

Experimental and kinetic modeling study of oxidation of acetonitrile

Oxidation of acetonitrile has been studied in a flow reactor in the absence and presence of nitric oxide. The experiments were conducted at atmospheric pressure in the temperature range 1150–1450 K, varying the excess air ratio from slightly fuel-lean to very lean. Oxidation of CH₃CN was slow below 1300 K. Nitric oxide, hydrogen cyanide and nitrous oxide were detected as important products. A detailed chemical kinetic model for oxidation of acetonitrile was developed, based on a critical evaluation of data from literature. The rate coefficients for the reactions of CH₃CN and CH₂CN with O₂ were calculated from ab initio theory. Modeling predictions were in satisfactory agreement with experiments. Calculations were sensitive to thermal dissociation of CH₃CN and to the branching fraction for CH₃CN + OH to CH₂CN + H₂O and HOCN + CH₃, respectively. More work is desirable for these steps, as well as for reactions of CH₂CN and HCCN.     

Transient spectroscopic characterization of the ring‐opening reaction of tetrahydrochromeno[2,3‐dimethyl]indole

Tetrahydrochromeno is a structural variant of spiropyran that undergoes a reversible ring‐opening to generate a colored nitrophenolate intermediate. Earlier work confirmed this intermediate through trimethylsilyl cyanide trapping under continuous irradiation. We have performed transient absorption spectroscopy to further characterize the mechanism of the ring‐opening reaction. Excitation at 355 nm produced a transient species with an absorption maximum at 445 nm, which we assign to the nitrophenolate unit of the ring‐opened product. The transient absorption decays after ~970 ns with small optical density changes corresponding to a 0.15 quantum yield. Exposure to oxygen did not exhibit a significant deleterious effect on the photoisomerization of the chromeno dye. Time‐dependent density functional theory corroborated spectroscopic assignments of the starting chromeno and the putative ring‐opened intermediate. The excited state behavior of this system parallels the structurally similar oxazine system reported by Raymo and coworkers. The one significant difference is the longer lifetime of the photochemically generated intermediate from chromeno. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geometric nature of the environment-induced Berry phase and geometric dephasing

We investigate the geometric phase or Berry phase acquired by a spin half which is both subject to a slowly varying magnetic field and weakly coupled to a dissipative environment (either quantum or classical). We study how this phase is modified by the environment and find that the modification is of a geometric nature. While the original Berry phase (for an isolated system) is the flux of a monopole field through the loop traversed by the magnetic field, the environment-induced modification of the phase is the flux of a quadrupolelike field. We find that the environment-induced phase is complex, and its imaginary part is a geometric contribution to dephasing. Its sign depends on the direction of the loop. Unlike the Berry phase, this geometric dephasing is gauge invariant for open paths of the magnetic field.     

Directly written monolithic waveguide laser incorporating a distributed feedback waveguide-Bragg grating

We report the fabrication and performance of the first C-band directly written monolithic waveguide laser (WGL). The WGL device was created in an erbium- and ytterbium-doped phosphate glass host and consisted of an optical waveguide that included a distributed feedback Bragg grating structure. The femtosecond laser direct-write technique was used to create both the waveguide and the waveguide-Bragg grating simultaneously and in a single processing step. The waveguide laser was optically pumped at approximately 980 nm and lased at 1,537 nm with a bandwidth of less than 4 pm.     

Poisson Groups and Differential Galois Theory of Schroedinger Equation on the Circle

We combine the projective geometry approach to Schroedinger equations on the circle and differential Galois theory with the theory of Poisson Lie groups to construct a natural Poisson structure on the space of wave functions (at the zero energy level). Applications to KdV-like nonlinear equations are discussed. The same approach is applied to 2^nd order difference operators on a one-dimensional lattice, yielding an extension of the lattice Poisson Virasoro algebra.     

Advantages and Limitations of Solid Layer Experiments in Muon Catalyzed Fusion

Since the discovery that muonic deuterium at energies near a few eV could travel distances of the order of 1 mm in condensed hydrogen, and in particular that muonic tritium and muonic deuterium could emerge from the surface of a solid hydrogen layer, the advantages of solid targets have enabled the study of several processes important in muon catalyzed fusion. A review of the results is presented, emphasizing the strengths and limitations of the use of solid hydrogen layer targets. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

From quantum disorder to magnetic order in an s=1/2 kagome lattice: a structural and magnetic study of herbertsmithite at high pressure

The structural and magnetic properties of deuterated herbertsmithite have been studied by means of neutron powder diffraction and magnetic susceptibility measurements in a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The experimental data demonstrate that a phase transition from the quantum-disordered spin-liquid phase to the long-range ordered antiferromagnetic phase with the Néel temperature T(N)=6 K is induced at P=2.5 GPa. The observed decrease of T(N) upon compression correlates with the anomalies in pressure behavior of Cu-O bond length and Cu-O-Cu bond angles. The reasons for the observed spin-freezing transition are discussed within the framework of the available theoretical models and the recent observation of the field-induced spin freezing.     

Slow-light enhanced correlated photon pair generation in a silicon photonic crystal waveguide

We report the generation of correlated photon pairs in the telecom C-band at room temperature from a dispersion-engineered silicon photonic crystal waveguide. The spontaneous four-wave mixing process producing the photon pairs is enhanced by slow-light propagation enabling an active device length of less than 100?μm. With a coincidence to accidental ratio of 12.8 at a pair generation rate of 0.006 per pulse, this ultracompact photon pair source paves the way toward scalable quantum information processing realized on-chip.     

Progress in direct-drive inertial confinement fusion research at the laboratory for laser energetics

Direct-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is expected to demonstrate high gain on the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in the next decade and is a leading candidate for inertial fusion energy production. The demonstration of high areal densities in hydrodynamically scaled cryogenic DT or D₂ implosions with neutron yields that are a significant fraction of the “clean” 1-D predictions will validate the ignition-equivalent direct-drive target performance on the OMEGA laser at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). This paper highlights the recent experimental and theoretical progress leading toward achieving this validation in the next few years. The NIF will initially be configured for X-ray drive and with no beams placed at the target equator to provide a symmetric irradiation of a direct-drive capsule. LLE is developing the “polar-direct-drive” (PDD) approach that repoints beams toward the target equator. Initial 2-D simulations have shown ignition. A unique “Saturn-like” plastic ring around the equator refracts the laser light incident near the equator toward the target, improving the drive uniformity. LLE is currently constructing the multibeam, 2.6-kJ/beam, petawatt laser system OMEGA EP. Integrated fast-ignition experiments, combining the OMEGA EP and OMEGA Laser Systems, will begin in FY08.