Ab initio and DFT calculations for the structure and vibrational spectra of cyclopentene and its isotopomers

Ab initio calculations using the MP2/cc-pVTZ basis set do an excellent job of predicting the inversion barrier (247 vs. 232 cm⁻¹) and dihedral angle (26°) of cyclopentene. DFT calculations also do an excellent job of predicting the vibrational frequencies of the d₀, d₁, d₄, and d₈ isotopomers. They have also allowed the reassignments of several of the vibrational frequencies.     

Aspect-ratio dependent oscillatory thermocapillary convection in the floating half zone

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection.The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio,and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several mil...     

Non-Gravitational Effects with Density-Matching in Evaluating the Influence of Sedimentation on Colloidal Coagulation

The method of density matching between the solid and liquid phases is often adopted to effectively eliminate the effect of sedimentation of suspensions in studies on dynamic behaviour of a colloidal system. However, the associated changes in the solvent composition may bring side effects to the properties investigated and therefore might lead to a faulty conclusion if the relevant correction is not made. To illustrate the importance of this side effect, we present an example of the sedimentation influence on the coagulation rate of suspensions of 2μm （diameter） polystyrene. The liquid mixtures, in the proper proportions of water （H2O）, deuterium oxide （D2O） and methanol （MeOH） as the liquid phase, density-matched and unmatched experiments are performed. Besides the influence of viscosity, the presence of methanol in solvent media, used to enhance the sedimentation effect, causes significant changes （reduction） in rapid coagulation rates compared to that in pure water. Without the relevant corrections for those non-gravitational factors it seems that gravitational sedimentation would retard the coagulation. The magnitude of the contribution from the non-gravitational factor is quantitatively determined, making the relevant correction possible. After necessary the influence of the sedimentation on coagulation rates at corrections for all factors, our experiments show that the initial stage of the coagulation is not observable.     

Spin squeezing and quantum correlations

We discuss the notion of spin squeezing considering two mutually exclusive classes of spin-s states, namely, oriented and non-oriented states. Our analysis shows that the oriented states are not squeezed while non-oriented states exhibit squeezing. We also present a new scheme for construction of spin-s states using 2s spinors oriented along different axes. Taking the case of s=1, we show that the ‘non-oriented’ nature and hence squeezing arise from the intrinsic quantum correlations that exist among the spinors in the coupled state.     

Substituent effects on structural stability of formyl ketene and analysis of vibrational spectra of formyl haloketenes and formyl methylketene.

The conformational behavior and the structural stability of formyl fluoroketene, formyl chloroketene and formyl methylketene were investigated by utilizing quantum mechanical DFT calculations at B3LYP/6-31I + + G** and ab initio calculations at MP2/6-311 + + G** levels. The three molecules were predicted to have a planar s-cis<-->s-trans conformational equilibrium. From the calculations, the direction of the conformational equilibrium was found to be dependent on the nature of the substituting group. In formyl haloketenes, the cis conformation, where the C=O group eclipses the ketenic group, was expected to be of lower energy than the trans conformer. In the case of formyl methylketene the conformational stability was reversed and the trans form (the aldehydic hydrogen eclipsing the ketenic group) was calculated to be about 2 kcal mol(-1) lower in energy than the cis form. The calculated cis-trans energy barrier was found to be in the order: fluoride (15.3 kcal mol(-1)) > chloride (13.1 kcal mol(-1)) > methyl (11.7 kcal mol(-1). Full optimization was performed at the ground and the transition states of the molecules. The vibrational frequencies for the stable conformers of the three ketenic systems were computed at the DFT-B3LYP level, and the zero-point corrections were included into the calculated rotational barriers. Complete vibrational assignments were made on the basis of both normal coordinate calculations and comparison with experimental results of similar molecules.