Photoelectron diffraction study of a catalytically active overlayer: C2H2 on Pd{111}

A quantitative structure determination of a newly discovered (2×2) adsorption phase of acetylene chemisorbed on Pd{111} has been performed by scanned-energy mode photoelectron diffraction: this phase corresponds to the threshold coverage for the catalytic conversion of acetylene to benzene. The carbon atoms in the C₂H₂ molecule are located almost over bridge sites with a C–C bond length of 1.34+0.10 Å, the centre of the molecule being positioned almost over a hollow site. Of the two hollow sites the hcp site (directly above a second layer Pd atom) is favoured, particularly by a subset of the data most sensitive to this aspect of the structure, but the full analysis indicates that the fcc site (above a third layer Pd atom) cannot formally be excluded. The adsorption site adopted by acetylene in the higher coverage phase on Pd{111} is essentially identical. This is the dominant structure in the coverage regime which is catalytically active for the conversion of acetylene to benzene. The implications of these findings for acetylene coupling reactions over Pd{111} are discussed.     

Lower bounds for resonance widths in potential and obstacle scattering

Explicit lower bounds are given for the size of the imaginary parts of resonances for Schrödinger operators with non-trapping or trapping potentials, and for the Dirichlet Laplacian in the exterior of a star-shaped obstacle, both acting in three dimensions.Work partially supported by DiUC/FONDECYT (Chile)Work partially supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grant DMS 8705610     

Dark matter results from 100 live days of XENON100 data

We present results from the direct search for dark matter with the XENON100 detector, installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, Italy. XENON100 is a two-phase time-projection chamber with a 62 kg liquid xenon target. Interaction vertex reconstruction in three dimensions with millimeter precision allows the selection of only the innermost 48 kg as the ultralow background fiducial target. In 100.9 live days of data, acquired between January and June 2010, no evidence for dark matter is found. Three candidate events were observed in the signal region with an expected background of (1.8 ± 0.6) events. This leads to the most stringent limit on dark matter interactions today, excluding spin-independent elastic weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) nucleon scattering cross sections above 7.0 × 10(-45) cm(2) for a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c(2) at 90% confidence level.     

Chirped-pulse oscillators: a route to high-power femtosecond pulses without external amplification

We demonstrate a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator that generates 130-nJ, 26-fs and 220-nJ, 30-fs pulses at a repetition rate of 11 MHz. The generation of stable broadband, high-energy pulses from an extended-cavity oscillator is achieved by the use of chirped multilayer mirrors to produce a small net positive dispersion over a broad spectral range. The resultant chirped picosecond pulses are compressed by a dispersive delay line that is external to the laser cavity. The demonstrated peak powers, in excess of 5 MW, are to our knowledge the highest ever achieved from a cw-pumped laser and are expected to be scalable to tens of megawatts by an increase in the pump power and (or) a decrease in the repetition rate. The demonstrated source permits micromachining of any materials under relaxed focusing conditions.     

Isotopic production cross sections of residues in reactions induced by relativistic heavy ions with protons and deuterons

The isotopic production cross sections of heavy residues in relativistic heavy-ion collisions have been investigated in inverse kinematics. The primary reaction products were fully identified in mass and atomic number prior to beta decay using the fragment separator FRS. The huge collection of data obtained helps in the understanding of the two main reaction mechanisms involved: fragmentation and fission. These data provide basic information for future radioactive ion beam facilities and for technical applications like intense neutron sources by means of spallation targets.     

Study of molecular surface coating on the stability of maghemite nanoparticles

In this study γ-Fe₂O₃ nanoparticle, surface-coated with increasing amount of oleic acid, have been prepared while the stability against particle degradation under laser excitation intensity was investigated. Maghemite nanoparticle was obtained via oxidation of magnetite nanoparticle, the latter synthesized by co-precipitation of Fe (II) and Fe (III) ions in alkaline medium. By varying the experimental conditions of surface-coating maghemite nanoparticles with oleic acid, samples with different grafting coefficient were obtained and investigated using X-ray diffraction and different spectroscopic techniques, namely Raman, Mössbauer, and infrared. The amount of oleic acid adsorbed on the maghemite surface was estimated via the carbon content obtained from elemental analysis.     

Frobenius Modules and Hodge Asymptotics

We exhibit a direct correspondence between the potential defining the H^1,1 small quantum module structure on the cohomology of a Calabi-Yau manifold and the asymptotic data of the A-model variation of Hodge structure. This is done in the abstract context of polarized variations of Hodge structure and Frobenius modules. E. Cattani was partially supported by NSF Grant DMS-0099707     

Effect of the temperature on the synthesis of (K,Na)NbO<Subscript>3</Subscript>-modified nanoparticles by a solid state reaction route

(Na_0.5K_0.5)NbO₃ (KNN)-modified nano-particulated powders, based on variations of sodium–potassium niobate, were synthesised by solid state reaction from carbonate starting materials. The nanoparticles were attained by an optimization of the raw materials particle size and particle refinement of the carbonates during their decomposition. Particle sizes between 50 and 200 nm have been obtained as a function of calcination (decomposition) temperature. The obtained powders showed a co-existence between a tetragonal phase and an orthorhombic phase. The optimization of the raw materials particle size and the particle refinement of the carbonates during their decomposition play a key role in the formation of the KNN-modified nano particles. The developed method is well suited for the production of KNN-modified nano powders at low cost for mass production.     

Experimental evidence for a light and broad scalar resonance in D(+) --> pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) decay

From a sample of 1172 +/- 61 D(+)-->pi(-)pi(+)pi(+) decays, we find gamma(D(+)-->pi(-)pi(+)pi(+))/gamma(D(+)-->K-pi(+)pi(+)) = 0.0311 +/- 0.0018(+0.0016)(-0.0026). Using a coherent amplitude analysis to fit the Dalitz plot of these decays, we find strong evidence that a scalar resonance of mass 478(+24)(-23) +/- 17 MeV/c(2) and width 324(+42)(-40) +/- 21 MeV/c(2) accounts for approximately half of all decays.