Self‐Sufficient Formaldehyde‐to‐Methanol Conversion by Organometallic Formaldehyde Dismutase Mimic

The catalytic networks of methylotrophic organisms, featuring redox enzymes for the activation of one‐carbon moieties, can serve as great inspiration in the development of novel homogeneously catalyzed pathways for the interconversion of C₁ molecules at ambient conditions. An imidazolium‐tagged arene–ruthenium complex was identified as an effective functional mimic of the bacterial formaldehyde dismutase, which provides a new and highly selective route for the conversion of formaldehyde to methanol in absence of any external reducing agents. Moreover, secondary amines are reductively methylated by the organometallic dismutase mimic in a redox self‐sufficient manner with formaldehyde acting both as carbon source and reducing agent.     

In-flight antiproton annihilation on nuclei at low energies

The results of the annihilation cross sections measurement of 5.3 MeV antiprotons on nickel, tin, platinum and Mylar targets performed by the ASACUSA Collaboration at CERN are presented and compared with the existing data and models. From the experimental point of view the presented data are the first measurement of antinucleon annihilation cross sections at low energies obtained with a pulsed beam. This results open the road for the next measurements at the very low energies of the order of 100 keV that are in progress by the ASACUSA Collaboration. The experimental method foreseen for the 100 keV measurement is illustrated.     

Emission of photons by positrons channeled in single crystals near an energy of 100 GeV

Emission by 120-GeV positrons in the channeling regime in the (011) plane of a silicon single crystal has been considered. Trajectories of positrons under different initial conditions have been calculated within the theory of nonlinear oscillations. The amplitude distribution function of channeled particles has been determined taking into account the nonlinearity of their motion. The intensity of radiation under various initial conditions has been calculated by two different methods. These results can be useful for comparison with experimental data at energies of positrons beginning with 100 GeV and higher.     

Deflection of high-energy negative particles in a bent crystal through axial channeling and multiple volume reflection stimulated by doughnut scattering

Different kinds of deflection in a silicon crystal bent along the 〈111〉 axis was observed for 150 GeV/c   negative particles, mainly π⁻${\pi }^{-}$ mesons, at one of the secondary beams of the CERN SPS. The whole beam was deflected to one side in quasi-bound states of doughnut scattering (DSB) by atomic strings with the efficiency (95.4 ± 0.2)% and with the peak position close to the bend crystal angle, α=185 μrad$\alpha =185\text{μrad}$. It was observed volume capture of π⁻${\pi }^{-}$ mesons into the DSB states with a probability higher than 7%. A beam deflection opposite to the crystal bend was observed for some orientations of the crystal axis due to doughnut scattering and subsequent multiple volume reflections of π⁻${\pi }^{-}$ mesons by different bent planes crossing the axis.     

Steering of Sub-GeV electrons by ultrashort Si and Ge bent crystals

We report the observation of the steering of 855 MeV electrons by bent silicon and germanium crystals at the MAinzer MIkrotron. Crystals with 15 \(\upmu \)m of length, bent along (111) planes, were exploited to investigate orientational coherent effects. By using a piezo-actuated mechanical holder, which allowed to remotely change the crystal curvature, it was possible to study the steering capability of planar channeling and volume reflection vs. the curvature radius and the atomic number, Z. For silicon, the channeling efficiency exceeds 35%, a record for negatively charged particles. This was possible due to the realization of a crystal with a thickness of the order of the dechanneling length. On the other hand, for germanium the efficiency is slightly below 10% due to the stronger contribution of multiple scattering for a higher-Z material. Nevertheless this is the first evidence of negative beam steering by planar channeling in a Ge crystal. Having determined for the first time the dechanneling length, one may design a Ge crystal based on such knowledge providing nearly the same channeling efficiency of silicon. The presented results are relevant for crystal-based beam manipulation as well as for the generation of e.m. radiation in bent and periodically bent crystals.     

Measurement of the antiproton-nucleus annihilation cross-section at very low energies

The ASACUSA collaboration at the Antiproton Decelerator at CERN is planning to measure the hyperfine splitting of the ground state of antihydrogen using an atomic beam line. This will be a measurement of the antiproton magnetic moment, and also a test of the CPT invariance. The planned experimental method and setup, including the radiofrequency resonance cavity, are described, and results of Monte Carlo simulations are shown. These simulations predict that the antihydrogen ground-state hyperfine splitting can be determined with a relative precision of ～10^???7.     

High-efficiency deflection of high-energy protons through axial channeling in a bent crystal

Beam deflection due to axial channeling in a silicon crystal bent along the 111 axis was observed with 400 GeV/c protons at the CERN Super Proton Synchrotron. The condition for doughnut scattering of protons by the atomic strings of the crystal was attained. Such a condition allowed one to observe a beam deflection of 50 murad with about 30% efficiency. The contribution of hyperchanneled states of protons to the observed beam deflection was less than 2% according to simulation results.     

Steering efficiency of a ultrarelativistic proton beam in a thin bent crystal

I apply FDR—a recently introduced four-dimensional approach to quantum field theories (QFTs)—to the computation of the NLO QCD corrections to $H \rightarrow gg$ in the large top mass limit. The calculation involves all key ingredients of QCD—namely ultraviolet, infrared, and collinear divergences, besides $\alpha _S$ renormalization—and paves the way for successful use of FDR in massless one-loop QFT computations. I show in detail how the correct result emerges in FDR, and discuss the translation rules to dimensional regularization.     

Experimental investigation of ≈130 keV kinetic energy antiprotons annihilation on nuclei

The recent observation of single spins flips with a single proton in a Penning trap opens the way to measure the proton magnetic moment with high precision. Based on this success, which has been achieved with our apparatus at the University of Mainz, we demonstrated recently the first application of the so called double Penning-trap method with a single proton. This is a major step towards a measurement of the proton magnetic moment with ppb precision. To apply this method to a single trapped antiproton our collaboration is currently setting up a companion experiment at the antiproton decelerator of CERN. This effort is recognized as the Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment (BASE). A comparison of both magnetic moment values will provide a stringent test of CPT invariance with baryons.