Two-to-one Auger decay of a double L vacancy in argon

We have observed L223−M3 Auger decay in argon where a double vacancy is filled by two valence electrons and a single electron is ejected from the atom. A well-resolved spectrum of these two-to-one electron transitions is compared to the result of the second-order perturbation theory and its decay branching ratio is determined

High-resolution x-ray-emission study of 1s4p and 1s3d two-electron photoexcitations in Kr

High-energy-resolution photoexcited KN2,3 x-ray-emission measurements were carried out on krypton with the excitation energy tuned around the 1s4p and 1s3d double-excitation thresholds. Comprehensive two-dimensional resonant inelastic x-ray-scattering maps were recorded for the range of excitation and emission energies corresponding to both types of double excitations. The double-excitation signal could be clearly resolved from the dominant 1s ionization signal. The latter was subtracted from the measured maps, yielding isolated 1s4p and 1s3d photoexcitation spectra. Both two-electron excitation spectra are well described by a model spectrum built of consecutive bound-bound discrete transitions and shake-up and shake-off channels giving precise energies and intensities of the corresponding contributions. The obtained results are compared with other existing experimental values based on x-ray-absorption measurements and theoretical predictions

4d-inner-shell ionization of Xe+ ions and subsequent Auger decay

We have studied Xe+4d inner-shell photoionization in a direct experiment on Xe+ ions, merging an ion and a photon beam and detecting the ejected electrons with a cylindrical mirror analyzer. The measured 4d photoelectron spectrum is compared to the 4d core valence double ionization spectrum of the neutral Xe atom, obtained with a magnetic bottle spectrometer. This multicoincidence experiment gives access to the spectroscopy of the individual Xe2+4d−15p−1 states and to their respective Auger decays, which are found to present a strong selectivity. The experimental results are interpreted with the help of ab initio calculations.1\. Auflag

Auger shake-up assisted electron recapture

The presence of doubly excited states (DESs) above the core-hole ionization threshold nontrivially modulates the x-ray absorption because the participator Auger decay couples DESs to the underlying low-energy core-hole continuum. We show that coupling also affects the high-energy continuum populated by the spectator Auger decay of DESs. For the K−L223 Auger decay of the 1s−13p−14s21P state in argon, the competing nonresonant path is assigned to the recapture of the 1s photoelectron caused by emission of the fast electron from the shake-up K−L223 decay of the 1s−1 ion

Near-threshold photoelectron angular distributions from two-photon resonant photoionization of He

Two-photon resonant photoionization of helium is investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Ground state helium atoms are excited to the 1s4p, 1s5p and 1s6p 1P states by synchrotron radiation and ionized by a synchronized infrared pulsed picosecond laser. The photoelectron angular distributions of the emitted electrons are measured using a velocity map imaging (VMI) spectrometer. The measured asymmetry parameters of the angular distribution allow the phase differences and the ratios of the dipole matrix elements of the 1sϵs and 1sϵd channels to be determined. The experimental results agree with the calculated values obtained in a configuration–interaction calculation with a Coulomb–Sturmian basis set. The effects of the radiative decay of the intermediate state and the static electric field of the VMI spectrometer on the measurements are discussed

Potential Energy Surface Reconstruction and Lifetime Determination of Molecular Double-Core-Hole States in the Hard X-Ray Regime

A combination of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering and resonant Auger spectroscopy provides complementary information on the dynamic response of resonantly excited molecules. This is exemplified for CH3I, for which we reconstruct the potential energy surface of the dissociative I 3d−2 double- core-hole state and determine its lifetime. The proposed method holds a strong potential for monitoring the hard x-ray induced electron and nuclear dynamic response of core-excited molecules containing heavy elements, where ab initio calculations of potential energy surfaces and lifetimes remain challenging

A comprehensive structural, biochemical and biological profiling of the human NUDIX hydrolase family

The NUDIX enzymes are involved in cellular metabolism and homeostasis, as well as mRNA processing. Although highly conserved throughout all organisms, their biological roles and biochemical redundancies remain largely unclear. To address this, we globally resolve their individual properties and inter-relationships. We purify 18 of the human NUDIX proteins and screen 52 substrates, providing a substrate redundancy map. Using crystal structures, we generate sequence alignment analyses revealing four major structural classes. To a certain extent, their substrate preference redundancies correlate with structural classes, thus linking structure and activity relationships. To elucidate interdependence among the NUDIX hydrolases, we pairwise deplete them generating an epistatic interaction map, evaluate cell cycle perturbations upon knockdown in normal and cancer cells, and analyse their protein and mRNA expression in normal and cancer tissues. Using a novel FUSION algorithm, we integrate all data creating a comprehensive NUDIX enzyme profile map, which will prove fundamental to understanding their biological functionality