Laser spectroscopy of the 1s HFS of H-like ions at a bunched beam in the storage ring ESR

The investigation of the 1s HFS provides a good possibility for testing QED effects in a combination of a strong electric and magnetic field. Here, we report about the laserspectroscopic measurements of the ground state hyperfine splitting in ²⁰⁷Pb⁸¹⁺. To handle this M1-transition in the infrared optical regime with its long lifetime, we developed a new detection technique using a bunched ion beam. For the observation of fluorescence light, a new mirror system is adapted to the emission characteristics from an ion beam at relativistic velocities. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Global expression analysis of CESA and CSL genes in Arabidopsis

We have used Affymetrix gene chips to measure the expression of 10 CESA and 29 CSL genes of Arabidopsis in different developmental stages or organs. These measurements reveal that many of the genes exhibit different levels of expression in the various organs. While several CESA genes are highly expressed in all the tissues examined, very few CSL genes approach such high levels of expression. This suggests that the CSL genes either encode enzymes for the synthesis of minor components of cell walls or are expressed only in specific cell types. The expression data also highlights the potential importance of the CESA genes for primary and secondary cell wall formation during different developmental stages and in the different organs examined.     

Laser systems specialized for laser spectroscopy at storage rings

Laser spectroscopy at storage rings often suffers from a limited resolution due to Doppler-broadened resonances. Broadening is caused by the velocity spread of the ions stored in the beam. In the following, the present status of our work on laser systems specialized on the specific needs of laser spectroscopy at storage rings is reported. Two pulsed laser systems were developed. One is a dye laser whose spectral bandwidth can be switched by inserting different Littrow-prisms into the resonator. An increase in bandwidth up to a factor of 45 was achieved. This laser was used for fast qualitative scans and high resolution measurements. The other laser system is a Nd : YAG laser pumped optical parametric oscillator. It is a tunable laser system covering the spectral range from 410 to 4000 nm. Furthermore, a continuous wave laser with a frequency shifted feedback cavity is described. It shows broadband emission with an adjustable bandwidth of up to 4.5 GHz. This laser can be advantageous for laser cooling of ion beams. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Crystal field and magnetic properties of the tetragonal TbNi2Si2 compound

The magnetic properties of a TbNi₂Si₂ single crystal have been investigated experimentally by specific heat, anisotropy of the susceptibility and magnetization, and inelastic neutron scattering, leading to the determination of its fundamental coupling parameters. The lowest crystalline electric field states are two singlets close to each other, that explains the different magnetic structures evidenced in TbNi₂Si₂: an amplitude modulated structure, close to T _N , a simple antiferromagnetic one at low temperature and an antiphase one when an external magnetic field is applied along the c direction.     

Dynamics in molecular crystals: An application of proton NMR to selectively protonated biphenyl. Do the rings flip together or independently?

The synthesis of a specific isotopomer, C₆D₄H(ortho)-H(ortho)D₄C₆ of biphenyl is reported. The intramolecular dipolar coupling of the protons leads to a well-resolved single-crystal proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum and allows one to study the dynamics of the phenyl rings in a unique way. At room temperature and above, the most conspicuous dynamical mode consists of 180° ring flips. The present data together with previous measurements of the total flip rate allow us to conclude that the rings flip almost exclusively independently of each other. Between the incommensurate (IC) phase transition of biphenyl at 38 K andT=250 K, the prominent namical mode consists of oscillatory twists ϕ(t) of the two rings. The data allow us to infer the mean square, (φ²), of these twists. (φ²) is found to grow linearly withT for 50<T<200 K. From the slope of (φ²) vs.T the frequency (the wave number[(v)\tilde]\tilde v) is derived. The result is[(v)\tilde] = 20\tilde v = 20 cm⁻¹. ForT<38 K, the spectra give direct evidence of the IC phase transition and its nature (stripelike rather than quiltlike). The temperature dependence of the magnitude of the order parameter of the IC phase is obtained.     

The effect of olefinic terminal chains on the mesomorphic properties of 4,4'-disubstituted diphenyldiacetylenes

New diphenyldiacetylenes of the type with A, B = H and/or F; m = 0, 1; n = 1-4; and X = C n H 2n + 1 , F, CF 3 or CN were synthesized and their mesomorphic properties determined by hot stage polarizing microscopy and DSC. When m = 0, all of these compounds showed only a nematic phase except when X = CF 3 when both nematic and smectic A phases were seen. Both clearing and melting temperatures were higher than those reported for substitution with the corresponding alkyl chains but the much larger increase in clearing temperatures produced considerably wider nematic phases. Eutectic mixtures of a few of these olefins yielded nematic materials also having much wider temperature ranges and higher clearing temperatures than the eutectic mixtures of the alkyl compounds, while retaining their high birefringence and low viscosities. Such materials are of interest for beam-steering devices.

Four of the diacetylenes with m = 1 ( A, B = H) were also prepared ( X = C 6 H 13 , F, n = 2, 3). When X was C 6 H 13 ( n = 2), the nematic range was smaller in the 2- than in the 1-olefin but wider than in the alkyl series. When X = F, either no nematic phase or a monotropic one was observed, whereas the 1-olefins gave a much wider nematic phase. Both transition temperatures were lower than those for the corresponding 1-olefin and alkyl analogues. The compound with X = C 6 H 13 and n = 2 had a melting temperature below room temperature.     

Point load determination of static elastic moduli using laser speckle interferometry

Electronic speckle interferometry (ESPI) is used to determine the Young's modulus E and Poisson ratio ν of an isotropic material. Micron scale deformations of the surface of the block of polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA) are induced by normal application of a known near-point force. These deformations are recorded in speckle interferometric fringe patterns. An iterative minimum error inversion technique is developed to obtain the elastic properties from the positions of fringe peaks and troughs observed in the fringe patterns. Sensitivity tests of the method on calculated fringe patterns using measured experimental uncertainties suggest the technique will provide measures of the elastic moduli to better than 5%. In an experimental test on a bloc of PMMA (acrylic) the technique gave values of E and ν that differed from corresponding measures obtained using more conventional strain-gauge methods by less than 4%.     

Stability of translating solutions to mean curvature flow

We prove stability of rotationally symmetric translating solutions to mean curvature flow. For initial data that converge spatially at infinity to such a soliton, we obtain convergence for large times to that soliton without imposing any decay rates. The authors are members of SFB 647/B3 “Raum – Zeit – Materie: Singularity Structure, Long-time Behaviour and Dynamics of Solutions of Non-linear Evolution Equations”.