Experimental studies of Bose-Einstein condensates in disorder

We review recent studies of the effects of disorder on an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). We focus particularly on our own experiments with ⁷Li BECs in laser speckle. Both the interaction, which gives rise to the nonlinearity in a BEC, and the disorder can be tuned experimentally. This opens many opportunities to study the interplay of interaction and disorder in both condensed matter physics and nonlinear science.     

The neural correlates of calculation ability in children: an fMRI study

Most studies investigating mental numerical processing involve adult participants and little is known about the functioning of these systems in children. The current study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of numeracy and the influence of age on these correlates with a group of adults and a group of third graders who had average to above average mathematical ability. Participants performed simple and complex versions of exact and approximate calculation tasks while in the magnet. Like adults, children activated a network of brain regions in the frontal and parietal lobes during the calculation tasks, and they recruited additional brain regions for the more complex versions of the tasks. However, direct comparisons between adults and children revealed significant differences in level of activation across all tasks. In particular, patterns of activation in the parietal lobe were significantly different as a function of age. Findings support previous claims that the parietal lobe becomes more specialized for arithmetic tasks with age.     

On the 0<Superscript>+</Superscript> state with the energy of 681.3 keV in <Superscript>160</Superscript>Dy

A possibility that the 0⁺ state with the energy of 681.3 keV exists in the ¹⁶⁰Dy nucleus is discussed. Calculations based on the interacting vector boson model show that in addition to the known 0⁺ states with the number of bosons n = 2, 5, 6, and 7 there should exist other states with the number of bosons n = 1, 3, 4, and 8 in ¹⁶⁰Dy. It is shown that the peak at the energy 681.3 keV, which we experimentally observed in the ¹⁶⁰Dy internal conversion electron spectrum, can be ascribed to the 0⁺ state with the number of bosons n = 1 or n = 8.     

DNA based molecular motors

Most of the essential cellular processes such as polymerisation reactions, gene expression and regulation are governed by mechanical processes. Controlled mechanical investigations of these processes are therefore required in order to take our understanding of molecular biology to the next level. Single-molecule manipulation and force spectroscopy have over the last 15 years been developed into extremely powerful techniques. Applying these techniques to the investigation of proteins and DNA molecules has led to a mechanistic understanding of protein function on the level of single molecules. As examples for DNA based molecular machines we will describe single-molecule experiments on RNA polymerases as well as on the packaging of DNA into a viral capsid—a process that is driven by one of the most powerful molecular motors.     

Feynman’s Relativistic Electrodynamics Paradox and the Aharonov-Bohm Effect

An analysis is done of a relativistic paradox posed in the Feynman Lectures of Physics involving two interacting charges. The physical system presented is compared with similar systems that also lead to relativistic paradoxes. The momentum conservation problem for these systems is presented. The relation between the presented analysis and the ongoing debates on momentum conservation in the Aharonov-Bohm problem is discussed.     

Stretch-bend combination polyads in the ÃAu state of acetylene, C2H2

Rotational analyses are reported for a number of newly-discovered vibrational levels of the S₁-trans (ùA_u) state of C₂H₂. These levels are combinations where the Franck-Condon active and vibrational modes are excited together with the low-lying bending vibrations, and . The structures of the bands are complicated by strong a- and b-axis Coriolis coupling, as well as Darling-Dennison resonance for those bands that involve overtones of the bending vibrations. The most interesting result is the strong anharmonicity in the combinations of (trans bend, a_g) and (in-plane cis bend, b_u). This anharmonicity presumably represents the approach of the molecule to the trans-cis isomerization barrier, where ab initio results have predicted the transition state to be half-linear, corresponding to simultaneous excitation of and . The anharmonicity also causes difficulty in the least squares fitting of some of the polyads, because the simple model of Coriolis coupling and Darling-Dennison resonance starts to break down. The effective Darling-Dennison parameter, K₄₄₆₆, is found to increase rapidly with excitation of , while many small centrifugal distortion terms have had to be included in the least squares fits in order to reproduce the rotational structure correctly. Fermi resonances become important where the K-structures of different polyads overlap, as happens with the 2¹3¹B¹ and 3¹B³ polyads (B = 4 or 6). The aim of this work is to establish the detailed vibrational level structure of the S₁-trans state in order to search for possible S₁-cis (¹A₂) levels. This work, along with results from other workers, identifies at least one K sub-level of every single vibrational level expected up to a vibrational energy of 3500 cm⁻¹.     

Lamb wave detection of limpet mines on ship hulls

This paper describes the use of ultrasonic guided waves for identifying the mass loading due to underwater limpet mines on ship hulls. The Dynamic Wavelet Fingerprint Technique (DFWT) is used to render the guided wave mode information in two-dimensional binary images because the waveform features of interest are too subtle to identify in time domain. The use of wavelets allows both time and scale features from the original signals to be retained, and image processing can be used to automatically extract features that correspond to the arrival times of the guided wave modes. For further understanding of how the guided wave modes propagate through the real structures, a parallel processing, 3D elastic wave simulation is developed using the finite integration technique (EFIT). This full field, technique models situations that are too complex for analytical solutions, such as built up 3D structures. The simulations have produced informative visualizations of the guided wave modes in the structures as well as mimicking directly the output from sensors placed in the simulation space for direct comparison to experiments. Results from both drydock and in-water experiments with dummy mines are also shown.     

Modeling the gas flow upstream and in the sampling nozzle of the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer via the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo algorithm

The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo algorithm has been applied to the flow of neutral argon gas through the first vacuum stage of the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer. Good agreement is found between the simulation results and the equations of fluid dynamics, including the approximate hemispherical sink model of Douglas and French. The simulation reveals details of boundary layer formation in the nozzle, including a reduction in the total flow through the nozzle of about 15% from the ideal value calculated by Douglas and French.     

Synthesis and EPR Studies of 2′‐Deoxyuridines with Alkynyl,Rodlike Linkages

Sonogashira coupling of diacetyl 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine with diacetyl 5‐iodo‐2′‐deoxyuridine gave the acylated ethynediyl‐linked 2′‐deoxyuridine dimer ( 3 b ; 63 %), which was deprotected with ammonia/methanol to give ethynediyl‐linked 2′‐deoxyuridines ( 3 a ; 79 %). Treatment of 5‐ethynyl‐2′‐deoxyuridine ( 1 a ) with 5‐iodo‐2′‐deoxyuridine gave the furopyrimidine linked to 2′‐deoxyuridine (78 %). Catalytic oxidative coupling of 1 a (O₂, CuI, Pd/C, N,N‐dimethylformamide) gave butadiynediyl‐linked 2′‐deoxyuridines ( 4 ; 84 %). Double Sonogashira coupling of 5‐iodo‐2′‐deoxyuridine with 1,4‐diethynylbenzene gave 1,4‐phenylenediethynediyl‐bridged 2′‐deoxyuridines ( 5 ; 83 %). Cu‐catalyzed cycloisomerization of dimers 4 and 5 gave their furopyrimidine derivatives. One‐electron addition to 1 a , 3 a , and 4 gave the anion radical, the EPR spectra of which showed that the unpaired electron is largely localized at C6 of one uracil ring (17 G doublet) at 77 K. The EPR spectra of the one‐electron‐oxidized derivatives of ethynediyl‐ and butadiynediyl‐linked uridines 3 a and 4 at 77 K showed that the unpaired electron is delocalized over both rings. Therefore, structures 3 a and 4 provide an efficient electronic link for hole conduction between the uracil rings. However, for the excess electron, an activation barrier prevents coupling to both rings. These dimeric structures could provide a gate that would separate hole transfer from electron transport between strands in DNA systems. In the crystal structure of acylated dimer 3 b , the bases were found in the anti position relative to each other across the ethynyl link, and similar anti conformation was preserved in the derived furopyrimidine–deoxyuridine dinucleoside.