378 research outputs found
Ultrafast Photo-Induced Charge Transfer Unveiled by Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectroscopy
The interaction of exciton and charge transfer (CT) states plays a central
role in photo-induced CT processes in chemistry, biology and physics. In this
work, we use a combination of two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2D-ES),
pump-probe measurements and quantum chemistry to investigate the ultrafast CT
dynamics in a lutetium bisphthalocyanine dimer in different oxidation states.
It is found that in the anionic form, the combination of strong CT-exciton
interaction and electronic asymmetry induced by a counter-ion enables CT
between the two macrocycles of the complex on a 30 fs timescale. Following
optical excitation, a chain of electron and hole transfer steps gives rise to
characteristic cross-peak dynamics in the electronic 2D spectra, and we monitor
how the excited state charge density ultimately localizes on the macrocycle
closest to the counter-ion within 100 fs. A comparison with the dynamics in the
radical species further elucidates how CT states modulate the electronic
structure and tune fs-reaction dynamics. Our experiments demonstrate the unique
capability of 2D-ES in combination with other methods to decipher ultrafast CT
dynamics.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figures, and Supporting informatio
Detection of Babesia divergens in southern Norway by using an immunofluorescence antibody test in cow sera
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of bovine babesiosis, caused by <it>Babesia divergens </it>(Apicomplexa: Piroplasmida) has decreased markedly since the 1930 s, but may re-emerge as a consequence of climate change and changes in legislation and pasturing practices. This is a potentially serious disease, with both economical and animal welfare consequences. Therefore, there is a need to survey the distribution of <it>B. divergens</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We tested sera from 306 healthy pastured cows from 24 farms along the southern Norwegian coast by using an indirect immunofluorescence IgG antibody test (IFAT). Fractions of seropositive cows were compared by calculating 95% CI.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results of this test showed that 27% of the sera were positive for <it>B. divergens </it>antibodies. The fraction of antibody-positive sera that we detected showed a two-humped distribution, with a high fraction of positives being found in municipalities in the western and eastern parts of the study area, while the municipalities between these areas had few or no positive serum samples.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Neither the farmers' observations nor the Norwegian Dairy Herd Recording System give an adequate picture of the distribution of bovine babesiosis. Serological testing of cows by using IFAT is a convenient way of screening for the presence of <it>B. divergens </it>in an area.</p
Geometry-dependent scattering through quantum billiards: Experiment and theory
We present experimental studies of the geometry-specific quantum scattering
in microwave billiards of a given shape. We perform full quantum mechanical
scattering calculations and find an excellent agreement with the experimental
results. We also carry out the semiclassical calculations where the conductance
is given as a sum of all classical trajectories between the leads, each of them
carrying the quantum-mechanical phase. We unambiguously demonstrate that the
characteristic frequencies of the oscillations in the transmission and
reflection amplitudes are related to the length distribution of the classical
trajectories between the leads, whereas the frequencies of the probabilities
can be understood in terms of the length difference distribution in the pairs
of classical trajectories. We also discuss the effect of non-classical "ghost"
trajectories that include classically forbidden reflection off the lead mouths.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Effects of primordial helicity on CMB
I present here a brief overview of the effects caused by parity violating
cosmological sources (such as magnetic or kinetic helicity) on the CMB
fluctuations. I discuss also primordial helicity induced relic gravitational
waves. All these effects can serve as cosmological tests for primordial
helicity detection.Comment: for Proceedings of CMB Workshop at Irvine, March 2006; references
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The Cosmic Microwave Background and Helical Magnetic Fields: the tensor mode
We study the effect of a possible helicity component of a primordial magnetic
field on the tensor part of the cosmic microwave background temperature
anisotropies and polarization. We give analytical approximations for the tensor
contributions induced by helicity, discussing their amplitude and spectral
index in dependence of the power spectrum of the primordial magnetic field. We
find that an helical magnetic field creates a parity odd component of gravity
waves inducing parity odd polarization signals. However, only if the magnetic
field is close to scale invariant and if its helical part is close to maximal,
the effect is sufficiently large to be observable. We also discuss the
implications of causality on the magnetic field spectrum.Comment: We have corrected a normalisation error which was pointed out to us
by Antony Lewis. It enhances our limits on the magnetic fields by
(2\pi)^{3/4} ~
Magnetic fields in the early universe in the string approach to MHD
There is a reformulation of magnetohydrodynamics in which the fundamental
dynamical quantities are the positions and velocities of the lines of magnetic
flux in the plasma, which turn out to obey equations of motion very much like
ideal strings. We use this approach to study the evolution of a primordial
magnetic field generated during the radiation-dominated era in the early
Universe. Causality dictates that the field lines form a tangled random
network, and the string-like equations of motion, plus the assumption of
perfect reconnection, inevitably lead to a self-similar solution for the
magnetic field power spectrum. We present the predicted form of the power
spectrum, and discuss insights gained from the string approximation, in
particular the implications for the existence or not of an inverse cascade.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure
New innovative Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) concept removes pharmaceutical from municipal wastewater using only biological polishing
The stochastic gravitational wave background from turbulence and magnetic fields generated by a first-order phase transition
We analytically derive the spectrum of gravitational waves due to
magneto-hydrodynamical turbulence generated by bubble collisions in a
first-order phase transition. In contrast to previous studies, we take into
account the fact that turbulence and magnetic fields act as sources of
gravitational waves for many Hubble times after the phase transition is
completed. This modifies the gravitational wave spectrum at large scales. We
also model the initial stirring phase preceding the Kolmogorov cascade, while
earlier works assume that the Kolmogorov spectrum sets in instantaneously. The
continuity in time of the source is relevant for a correct determination of the
peak position of the gravitational wave spectrum. We discuss how the results
depend on assumptions about the unequal-time correlation of the source and
motivate a realistic choice for it. Our treatment gives a similar peak
frequency as previous analyses but the amplitude of the signal is reduced due
to the use of a more realistic power spectrum for the magneto-hydrodynamical
turbulence. For a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition, the signal
is observable with the space interferometer LISA.Comment: 46 pages, 17 figures. Replaced with revised version accepted for
publication in JCA
Full characterization of vibrational coherence in a porphyrin chromophore by two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy
In this work we present experimental and calculated two-dimensional electronic spectra for a 5,15-bisalkynyl porphyrin chromophore. The lowest energy electronic Qy transition couples mainly to a single 380 cmâ1 vibrational mode. The two-dimensional electronic spectra reveal diagonal and cross peaks which oscillate as a function of population time. We analyze both the amplitude and phase distribution of this main vibronic transition as a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Even though Feynman diagrams provide a good indication of where the amplitude of the oscillating components are located in the excitation-detection plane, other factors also affect this distribution. Specifically, the oscillation corresponding to each Feynman diagram is expected to have a phase that is a function of excitation and detection frequencies. Therefore, the overall phase of the experimentally observed oscillation will reflect this phase dependence. Another consequence is that the overall oscillation amplitude can show interference patterns resulting from overlapping contributions from neighboring Feynman diagrams. These observations are consistently reproduced through simulations based on third order perturbation theory coupled to a spectral density described by a Brownian oscillator model
Primordial Magnetic Fields and Causality
We discuss the implications of causality on a primordial magnetic field. We
show that the residual field on large scales is much more suppressed than
usually assumed and that a helical component is even more reduced. Due to this
strong suppression, even maximal primordial fields generated at the electroweak
phase transition can just marginally seed the fields in clusters, but they
cannot leave any detectable imprint on the cosmic microwave background.Comment: New version accepted for publication in JCAP, modified and improved,
conclusions unchange
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