From white elephant to Nobel Prize: Dennis Gabor’s wavefront reconstruction

Dennis Gabor devised a new concept for optical imaging in 1947 that went by a variety of names over the following decade: holoscopy, wavefront reconstruction, interference microscopy, diffraction microscopy and Gaboroscopy. A well-connected and creative research engineer, Gabor worked actively to publicize and exploit his concept, but the scheme failed to capture the interest of many researchers. Gabor’s theory was repeatedly deemed unintuitive and baffling; the technique was appraised by his contemporaries to be of dubious practicality and, at best, constrained to a narrow branch of science. By the late 1950s, Gabor’s subject had been assessed by its handful of practitioners to be a white elephant. Nevertheless, the concept was later rehabilitated by the research of Emmett Leith and Juris Upatnieks at the University of Michigan, and Yury Denisyuk at the Vavilov Institute in Leningrad. What had been judged a failure was recast as a success: evaluations of Gabor’s work were transformed during the 1960s, when it was represented as the foundation on which to construct the new and distinctly different subject of holography, a re-evaluation that gained the Nobel Prize for Physics for Gabor alone in 1971. This paper focuses on the difficulties experienced in constructing a meaningful subject, a practical application and a viable technical community from Gabor’s ideas during the decade 1947-1957

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Factorization Breaking in Dijet Photoproduction with a Leading Neutron

The production of dijets with a leading neutron in ep-interactions at HERA is calculated in leading order and next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD using a pion-exchange model. Differential cross sections for deep-inelastic scattering (DIS) and photoproduction are presented as a function of several kinematic variables. By comparing the theoretical predictions for DIS dijets to recent H1 data, the pion flux factor together with the parton distribution functions of the pion is determined. The dijet cross sections in photoproduction show factorization breaking if compared to the H1 photoproduction data. The suppression factor is S = 0.48 (0.64) for resolved (global) suppression.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figure

The Stern-Gerlach Experiment Revisited

The Stern-Gerlach-Experiment (SGE) of 1922 is a seminal benchmark experiment of quantum physics providing evidence for several fundamental properties of quantum systems. Based on today's knowledge we illustrate the different benchmark results of the SGE for the development of modern quantum physics and chemistry. The SGE provided the first direct experimental evidence for angular momentum quantization in the quantum world and thus also for the existence of directional quantization of all angular momenta in the process of measurement. It measured for the first time a ground state property of an atom, it produced for the first time a `spin-polarized' atomic beam, it almost revealed the electron spin. The SGE was the first fully successful molecular beam experiment with high momentum-resolution by beam measurements in vacuum. This technique provided a new kinematic microscope with which inner atomic or nuclear properties could be investigated. The original SGE is described together with early attempts by Einstein, Ehrenfest, Heisenberg, and others to understand directional quantization in the SGE. Heisenberg's and Einstein's proposals of an improved multi-stage SGE are presented. The first realization of these proposals by Stern, Phipps, Frisch and Segr\`e is described. The set-up suggested by Einstein can be considered an anticipation of a Rabi-apparatus. Recent theoretical work is mentioned in which the directional quantization process and possible interference effects of the two different spin states are investigated. In full agreement with the results of the new quantum theory directional quantization appears as a general and universal feature of quantum measurements. One experimental example for such directional quantization in scattering processes is shown. Last not least, the early history of the `almost' discovery of the electron spin in the SGE is revisited.Comment: 50pp, 17 fig

Radioimmunotherapy of B-cell lymphoma with radiolabelled anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies

CD20 has proven to be an excellent target for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma, first for the chimeric monoclonal antibody rituximab (Rituxan™), and more recently for the radiolabelled antibodies Y-90 ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin™) and I-131 tositumomab (Bexxar™). Radiation therapy effects are due to beta emissions with path lengths of 1–5 mm; gamma radiation emitted by I-131 is the only radiation safety issue for either product. Dose-limiting toxicity for both radiolabelled antibodies is reversible bone marrow suppression. They produce response rates of 70%–90% in low-grade and follicular lymphoma and 40%–50% in transformed low-grade or intermediate-grade lymphomas. Both products produce higher response rates than related unlabelled antibodies, and both are highly active in patients who are relatively resistant to rituximab-based therapy. Median duration of response to a single course of treatment is about 1 year with complete remission rates that last 2 years or longer in about 25% of patients. Clinical trials suggest that anti- CD20 radioimmunotherapy is superior to total body irradiation in patients undergoing stem cell supported therapy for B-cell lymphoma, and that it is a safe and efficacious modality when used as consolidation therapy following chemotherapy. Among cytotoxic treatment options, current evidence suggests that one course of anti-CD20 radioimmunotherapy is as efficacious as six to eight cycles of combination chemotherapy. A major question that persists is how effective these agents are in the setting of rituximab- refractory lymphoma. These products have been underutilised because of the complexity of treatment coordination and concerns regarding reimbursement

Anti-PF4 immunothrombosis without proximate heparin or adenovirus vector vaccine exposure.

Platelet-activating anti-platelet factor 4 (PF4)/heparin antibodies and anti-PF4 antibodies cause heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and vaccine-induced immune thrombocytopenia and thrombosis (VITT), respectively. Diagnostic and treatment considerations differ somewhat between HIT and VITT. We identified patients with thrombocytopenia and thrombosis without proximate heparin exposure or adenovirus-based vaccination who tested strongly positive by PF4/polyanion enzyme-immunoassays and negative/weakly positive by heparin-induced platelet activation (HIPA) test but strongly positive by PF4-induced platelet activation (PIPA) test (ie, VITT-like profile). We tested these patients by a standard chemiluminescence assay that detects anti-PF4/heparin antibodies found in HIT (HemosIL AcuStar HIT-IgG(PF4-H)) as well as a novel chemiluminescence assay for anti-PF4 antibodies found in VITT. Representative control sera included an exploratory anti-PF4 antibody-positive but HIPA-negative/weak cohort obtained before 2020 (n = 188). We identified 9 patients with a clinical-pathological profile of a VITT-like disorder in the absence of proximate heparin or vaccination, with a high frequency of stroke (arterial, n = 3; cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, n = 4), thrombocytopenia (median platelet count nadir, 49 × 109/L), and hypercoagulability (greatly elevated D-dimer levels). VITT-like serological features included strong reactivity by PIPA (aggregation <10 minutes in 9/9 sera) and positive testing in the novel anti-PF4 chemiluminescence assay (3/9 also tested positive in the anti-PF4/heparin chemiluminescence assay). Our exploratory cohort identified 13 additional patient sera obtained before 2020 with VITT-like anti-PF4 antibodies. Platelet-activating VITT-like anti-PF4 antibodies should be considered in patients with thrombocytopenia, thrombosis, and very high D-dimer levels, even without a proximate exposure to heparin or adenovirus vector vaccines

Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B->eta' K and Search for B->eta'pi+

We report measurements for two-body charmless B decays with an eta' meson in the final state. Using 11.1X10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector, we find BF(B^+ ->eta'K^+)=(79^+12_-11 +-9)x10^-6 and BF(B^0 -> eta'K^0)=(55^+19_-16 +-8)x10^-6, where the first and second errors are statistical and systematic, respectively. No signal is observed in the mode B^+ -> eta' pi^+, and we set a 90% confidence level upper limit of BF(B^+-> eta'pi^+) eta'K^+- decays is investigated and a limit at 90% confidence level of -0.20<Acp<0.32 is obtained.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters

Observation of Cabibbo-suppressed and W-exchange Lambda_c^+ baryon decays

We present measurements of the Cabibbo-suppressed decays Lambda_c^+ --> Lambda0 K+ and Lambda_c^+ --> Sigma0 K+ (both first observations), Lambda_c^+ --> Sigma+ K+ pi- (seen with large statistics for the first time), Lambda_c^+ --> p K+ K- and Lambda_c^+ --> p phi (measured with improved accuracy). Improved branching ratio measurements for the decays Lambda_c^+ --> Sigma+ K+ K- and Lambda_c^+ --> Sigma+ phi, which are attributed to W-exchange diagrams, are shown. We also present the first evidence for Lambda_c^+ --> Xi(1690)^0 K+ and set an upper limit on the non-resonant decay Lambda_c^+ --> Sigma+ K+ K-. This analysis was performed using 32.6 fb^{-1} of data collected by the Belle detector at the asymmetric e+ e- collider KEKB.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Lett. B. v2: A small correction to the Authorlist was made. An earlier version of this analysis was released as BELLE-CONF-0130, hep-ex/010800

Determination of |Vcb| using the semileptonic decay \bar{B}^0 --> D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu}

We present a measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element |Vcb| using a 10.2 fb^{-1} data sample recorded at the \Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^- storage ring. By extrapolating the differential decay width of the \bar{B}^0 --> D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu} decay to the kinematic limit at which the D^{*+} is at rest with respect to the \bar{B}^0, we extract the product of |Vcb| with the normalization of the decay form factor F(1), |Vcb |F(1)= (3.54+/-0.19+/-0.18)x10^{-2}, where the first error is statistical and the second is systematic. A value of |Vcb| = (3.88+/-0.21+/-0.20+/-0.19)x10^{-2} is obtained using a theoretical calculation of F(1), where the third error is due to the theoretical uncertainty in the value of F(1). The branching fraction B(\bar{B}^0 --> D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu}) is measured to be (4.59+/-0.23+/-0.40)x10^{-2}.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, elsart.cls, submitted to PL

Search for Charmless Two-body Baryonic Decays of B Mesons

We report the results of a search for the rare baryonic decays $B^0 \to p\bar{p}$, $\Lambda\bar{\Lambda}$, and $B^+ \to p\bar{\Lambda}$. The analysis is based on a data set of $31.7\times 10^6 B\bar{B}$ events collected by the Belle detector at the KEKB $e^+e^-$ collider. No statistically significant signals are found, and we set branching fraction upper limits ${\mathcal B}(B^0 \to p\bar{p}) < 1.2 \times 10^{-6}$, ${\mathcal B}(B^0 \to \Lambda\bar{\Lambda}) < 1.0 \times 10^{-6}$, and ${\mathcal B}(B^+ \to p\bar{\Lambda}) < 2.2 \times 10^{-6}$ at the 90% confidence level.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures and 1 table. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D Rapid Communication