Optimization of selenium determination in plant samples by hydride generation and axial view inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry

The use of hydride generation coupled with axial view inductively couple plasma atomic emission spectrometry was presented for the determination of selenium in plant samples. The chemical factors affecting potentially the hydride generation efficiency (hydrochloric acid, sodium borohydride and sodium hydroxide concentrations) were assessed through investigation of chemical interference, accuracy and repeatability. The accuracy of measurements was not affected by elements present in high concentration in the plant matrix (K, Ca, Mg, and P). No interference was also observed with transition metals. Using a real sample (maize) with standard additions, decreases of recoveries were sometimes observed for 0.1% (m/v) NaOH, and attained 13.8% in the most unfavourable case. The final accuracy of the method was verified by using two certified reference materials: CRM 402 (white clover) and CRM 279 (sea lettuce). No statistically significant differences were obtained between the measured concentrations and the certified values. The optimized method was found sensitive (detection limit 0.15 μg l⁻¹), reliable and repeatable (R.S.D. between 1.3% and 4.0%).     

Novel quantum phases and mesoscopic physics in quantum gases

Among many notable jubilees brought by the year 2012, the one of a special importance for the community of statistical physicists was the 140th birth anniversary of Marian Smoluchowski (Maryan Ritter von Smolan Smoluchowski, 28.05.1872 - 5.09.1917), who was one of the pioneers of statistical physics and, on a larger scale, one of those who shaped modern physical science as a whole. The present issue of EPJ ST entitled From Brownian motion to self-avoiding walks and Lévy flights aims to reflect the evolution of Smoluchowski’s ideas in the field of statistics of interacting random and self-avoiding walks, stochastic equations for many-particle systems, physics of glass-forming and noise driven systems. Majority of papers in this issue were presented at the international conference in statistical physics that took place in Lviv (Ukraine) on July 3-6, 2012.     

Superfluidity and Anderson localisation for a weakly interacting Bose gas in a quasiperiodic potential

Using exact diagonalisation and Density Matrix Renormalisation group (DMRG) approach we analyse the transition to a localised state of a weakly interacting quasi-1D Bose gas subjected to a quasiperiodic potential. The analysis is performed by calculating the superfluid fraction, density profile, momentum distribution and visibility for different periodicities of the second lattice and in the presence (or not) of a weak repulsive interaction. It is shown that the transition is sharper towards the maximally incommensurate ratio between the two lattice periodicities, and shifted to higher values of the second lattice strength by weak repulsive interactions. We also relate our results to recent experiments.     

Improved Composition for Sol-Gel Rare-Earth Doped Planar Waveguides

A multilayer sol-gel process has been developed in order to make highly doped rare-earth planar waveguides on silica or silicon substrates.Starting with a small range of constituents, such as SiO₂, TiO₂, P₂O₅ and Al₂O₃, we show that a large variety of gel compositions, with different spectroscopic behaviour, can be made when doped with rare-earths.We have doped the sol-gel films with neodymium and we have optimized their compositions by measuring the neodymium fluorescence lifetime. For a composition with 10 atom% of phosphorous, the lifetime evolution with neodymium concentration was studied and a quenching concentration was found at 1% of neodymium. We have also shown the strong influence of phosphorous or aluminium in the sol composition on the fluorescence lifetime, for a given neodymium concentration. First results on similar planar waveguides, doped with erbium, are also presented.The stability of the fluorescence lifetime over a long period of time is an other important point to be checked for these new materials: the lifetime evolution over a 9 months measurement period is presented.     

Competition of disorder and interchain hopping in a two-chain Hubbard model

We study the interplay of Anderson localization and interaction in a two chain Hubbard ladder allowing for arbitrary ratio of disorder strength to interchain coupling. We obtain three different types of spin gapped localized phases depending on the strength of disorder: a pinned 4k _F Charge Density Wave (CDW) for weak disorder, a pinned 2k _F CDW^π for intermediate disorder and two independently pinned single chain 2k _F CDW for strong disorder. Confinement of electrons can be obtained as a result of strong disorder or strong attraction. We give the full phase diagram as a function of disorder, interaction strength and interchain hopping. We also study the influence of interchain hopping on localization length and show that localization is enhanced by a small interchain hopping but suppressed by a large interchain hopping. Received 6 April 2001     

Silica-based sol-gel films doped with active elements

The preparation of glassy films doped with rare earth ions is important for planar waveguide fabrication in active integrated optic devices. The sol-gel process is a promising route for the preparation of such films and the eventual overcoming of the problem of rare earth clustering. In the present work, both SiO₂ and 90SiO₂-10TiO₂ films were prepared by spin coating on silica glass or single crystal silicon substrates and they were doped with neodymium in a Nd/Si atomic ratio up to 15%, using NdCl₃ as precursor. These films were subjected to selected heat treatments and their thickness and infrared spectra were measured. The refractive index and porosity were also determined for some of the samples. Visible absorption spectra were then measured in bulk gels, due to the insufficient optical path of the films.     

Atom-molecule coherence in a one-dimensional system

We study a model of one-dimensional fermionic atoms with a narrow Feshbach resonance that allows them to bind in pairs to form bosonic molecules. We show that at low energy, a coherence develops between the molecule and fermion Luttinger liquids. At the same time, a gap opens in the spin excitation spectrum. The coherence implies that the order parameters for the molecular Bose-Einstein condensation and the atomic BCS pairing become identical. Moreover, both bosonic and fermionic charge density wave correlations decay exponentially, in contrast with a usual Luttinger liquid. We exhibit a Luther-Emery point where the systems can be described in terms of noninteracting pseudofermions. At this point we discuss the threshold behavior of density-density response functions.     

Influence of Solvent Concentration on the Microstructure of SiO2-TiO2 Sol-Gel Films

Spin-coating is one of the possible methodsfor the fabrication of optical planar waveguides. These have several applications in integrated optical devices, provided that their optical losses are below ≈1 dB/cm. The attenuation is caused in part by surface and bulk scattering. The latter depends on the microstructure of the films and, more particularly, the porosity, which is studied here. A series of SiO₂−TiO₂ films were prepared from solutions containing different concentrations of ethanol. The influence of the ethanol/(Si+Ti)_alkoxides volume ratio on the porosity was investigated by Ellipsometry, Infrared Spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. The porosity volume fraction was found to reach a minimum when the ethanol volume ratio is near 4.     

Arsenic Determination in Plant Samples by Hydride Generation and Axial View Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry

The present work describes a study on the determination of arsenic in plant samples with hydride generation coupled with an axial view inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometer. The accuracy of the measurements was not affected by elements present in high concentrations in the plant matrix (K, Ca, Mg, and P). Interference from transition metals was not observed either. When using real samples (maize and oak leaves) with standard additions, a decrease in the recoveries was sometimes observed when using KI to reduce As(V) to As(III), which reached 13.5% in the most unfavourable case. The use of a mixture containing KI and ascorbic acid is recommended. The accuracy of the method was verified using three certified reference materials. No statistically significant differences were observed between the measured concentrations and the certified values. The optimized method was found to be sensitive (detection limit: 0.1 μg L⁻¹) and reliable. The results obtained under routine conditions over a period of several months also demonstrated its reproducibility.     

Controlling Luttinger liquid physics in spin ladders under a magnetic field

We present a 14N nuclear magnetic resonance study of a single crystal of CuBr4(C5H12N)2 (BPCB) consisting of weakly coupled spin-1/2 Heisenberg antiferromagnetic ladders. Treating ladders in the gapless phase as Luttinger liquids, we are able to fully account for (i) the magnetic field dependence of the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate T1(-1) at 250 mK and for (ii) the phase transition to a 3D ordered phase occurring below 110 mK due to weak interladder exchange coupling. BPCB is thus an excellent model system where the possibility to control Luttinger liquid parameters in a continuous manner is demonstrated and the Luttinger liquid model tested in detail over the whole fermion band.