Finding the optimum activation energy in DNA breathing dynamics: A Simulated Annealing approach

We demonstrate how the stochastic global optimization scheme of Simulated Annealing can be used to evaluate optimum parameters in the problem of DNA breathing dynamics. The breathing dynamics is followed in accordance with the stochastic Gillespie scheme with the denaturation zones in double stranded DNA studied as a single molecule time series. Simulated Annealing is used to find the optimum value of the activation energy for which the equilibrium bubble size distribution matches with a given value. It is demonstrated that the method overcomes even large noise in the input surrogate data.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, iop article package include

Optimal operating conditions and characteristics of acetone/CaF_2 detector for inverse photoemission spectroscopy

Performance and characteristics of a band-pass photon detector using acetone gas and CaF_2 window (acetone/CaF_2) have been studied and compared with an ethanol/MgF_2 detector. The optimal operating conditions are found to be 4 mbar acetone pressure and 745+/-20 V anode voltage. The count rate obtained by us is about a factor of 3 higher than what has been reported earlier for the acetone detector. Unlike other gas filled detectors, this detector works in the proportional region with very small dead time (4 micro sec). A detector band-pass of 0.48+/-0.01 eV FWHM is obtained.Comment: Review of Scientific Instruments 76, 066102 (2005

Low-Mass Dileptons at the CERN-SpS: Evidence for Chiral Restoration?

Using a rather complete description of the in-medium $\rho$ spectral function - being constrained by various independent experimental information - we calculate pertinent dilepton production rates from hot and dense hadronic matter. The strong broadening of the $\rho$ resonance entails a reminiscence to perturbative $q\bar q$ annihilation rates in the vicinity of the phase boundary. The application to dilepton observables in Pb(158AGeV)+Au collisions - incorporating recent information on the hadro-chemical composition at CERN-SpS energies - essentially supports the broadening scenario. Possible implications for the nature of chiral symmetry restoration are outlined.Comment: 6 pages ReVTeX including 5 eps-figure

Influence of Ni doping on the electronic structure of Ni_2MnGa

The modifications in the electronic structure of Ni_{2+x}Mn_{1-x}Ga by Ni doping have been studied using full potential linearized augmented plane wave method and ultra-violet photoemission spectroscopy. Ni 3d related electron states appear due to formation of Ni clusters. We show the possibility of changing the minority-spin DOS with Ni doping, while the majority-spin DOS remains almost unchanged. The total magnetic moment decreases with excess Ni. The total energy calculations corroborate the experimentally reported changes in the Curie temperature and the martensitic transition temperature with x.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted in Phys. Rev.

Fabrication of an inverse photoemission spectrometer to study unoccupied electronic states

We discuss the performance of an inverse photoemission spectrometer that has been recently fabricated in our laboratory. The photon detector is of band-pass type with acetone gas filling and CaF2 window (acetone/ CaF2). We determine the optimal operating conditions of the detector to be 4 mbar acetone pressure and 745 ± 20 V anode voltage. At these operating conditions, the count rate is improved by a factor of three to what has been reported earlier by Funnemann and Merz. We show that unlike other gas-filled detectors, acetone/CaF2 detector works in the proportional region. Its dead time is negligible and addition of multiplier gas like argon worsens its performance. The performance of this detector has been compared with an ethanol/MgF2 detector. High count rate, reasonable resolution, negligible dead time, no requirement of multiplier or quench gas, satisfactory stability, and ease of handling make the acetone/CaF2 detector an attractive candidate for use in inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES). A low-energy electron gun of Stoffel-Johnson type has been fabricated and the beam current profile has been determined as a function of electron kinetic energy. The IPES spectra of polycrystalline Ag and Ta are shown and compared with data in the literature. By fitting the IPES Fermi edge of Ag, we find the overall resolution of the spectrometer to be 0.55 eV and the band-pass of acetone/CaF2 detector to be 0.48 eV FWHM

Observation and analysis of Fano-like lineshapes in the Raman spectra of molecules adsorbed at metal interfaces

Surface enhanced Raman spectra from molecules (bipyridyl ethylene) adsorbed on gold dumbells are observed to become increasingly asymmetric (Fano-like) at higher incident light intensity. The electronic temperature (inferred from the anti-Stokes (AS) electronic Raman signal increases at the same time while no vibrational AS scattering is seen. These observations are analyzed by assuming that the molecule-metal coupling contains an intensity dependent contribution (resulting from light-induced charge transfer transitions as well as renormalization of the molecule metal tunneling barrier). We find that interference between vibrational and electronic inelastic scattering routes is possible in the presence of strong enough electron-vibrational coupling and can in principle lead to the observed Fano-like feature in the Raman scattering profile. However the best fit to the observed results, including the dependence on incident light intensity and the associated thermal response is obtained from a model that disregards this coupling and accounts for the structure of the continuous electronic component of the Raman scattering signal. The temperatures inferred from the Raman signal are argued to be only of qualitative value.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure