Detection of Aliphatically Bridged Multi-Core Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Sooting Flames with Atmospheric-Sampling High-Resolution Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

This paper provides experimental evidence for the chemical structures of aliphatically substituted and bridged polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) species in gas-physe combustion environments. The identification of these single- and multicore aromatic species, which have been hypothesized to be important in PAH growth and soot nucleation, was made possible through a combination of sampling gaseous constituents from an atmospheric pressure inverse coflow diffusion flame of ethylene and high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MS-MS). In these experiments, the flame-sampled components were ionized using a continuous VUV lamp at 10.0 eV and the ions were subsequently fragmented through collisions with Ar atoms in a collision-induced dissociation (CID) process. The resulting fragment ions, which were separated using a reflectron time-of-flight mass spectrometer, were used to extract structural information about the sampled aromatic compounds. The high-resolution mass spectra revealed the presence of alkylated single-core aromatic compounds and the fragment ions that were observed correspond to the loss of saturated and unsaturated units containing up to a total of 6 carbon atoms. Furthermore, the aromatic structures that form the foundational building blocks of the larger PAHs were identified to be smaller single-ring and pericondensed aromatic species with repetitive structural features. For demonstrative purposes, details are provided for the CID of molecular ions at masses 202 and 434. Insights into the role of the aliphatically substituted and bridged aromatics in the reaction network of PAH growth chemistry were obtained from spatially resolved measurements of the flame. The experimental results are consistent with a growth mechanism in which alkylated aromatics are oxidized to form pericondensed ring structures or react and recombine with other aromatics to form larger, potentially three-dimensional, aliphatically bridged multicore aromatic hydrocarbons

The SiRi Particle-Telescope System

A silicon particle-telescope system for light-ion nuclear reactions is described. In particular, the system is designed to be optimized for level density and gamma-ray strength function measurements with the so-called Oslo method. Eight trapezoidal modules are mounted at 5 cm distance from the target, covering 8 forward angles between theta = 40 and 54 degrees. The thin front dE detectors (130 micrometer) are segmented into eight pads, determining the reaction angle for the outgoing charged ejectile. Guard rings on the thick back E detectors (1550 micrometer) guarantee low leakage current at high depletion voltage.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

Dynamic glass transition: bridging the gap between mode-coupling theory and the replica approach

We clarify the relation between the ergodicity breaking transition predicted by mode-coupling theory and the so-called dynamic transition predicted by the static replica approach. Following Franz and Parisi [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 2486 (1997)], we consider a system of particles in a metastable state characterized by non-trivial correlations with a quenched configuration. We show that the assumption that in a metastable state particle currents vanish leads to an expression for the replica off-diagonal direct correlation function in terms of a replica off-diagonal static four-point correlation function. A factorization approximation for this function results in an approximate closure for the replica off-diagonal direct correlation function. The replica off-diagonal Ornstein-Zernicke equation combined with this closure coincides with the equation for the non-ergodicity parameter derived using the mode-coupling theory.Comment: revised version; to be published in EP

Modal cut-off and the V-parameter in photonic crystal fibers

We address the long-standing unresolved problem concerning the V-parameter in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Formulate the parameter appropriate for a core-defect in a periodic structure we argue that the multi-mode cut-off occurs at a wavelength lambda* which satisfies V_PCF(lambda*)=pi. Comparing to numerics and recent cut-off calculations we confirm this result.Comment: 3 pages including 2 figures. Accepted for Optics Letter

Optimization and performance of Space Station Freedom solar cells

High efficiency, large area and low cost solar cells are the drivers for Space Station solar array designs. The manufacturing throughput, process complexity, yield of the cells, and array manufacturing technique determine the economics of the solar array design. The cell efficiency optimization of large area (8 x 8 m), dielectric wrapthrough contact solar cells are described. The results of the optimization are reported and the solar cell performance of limited production runs is reported

Pearson's random walk in the space of the CMB phases: evidence for parity asymmetry

The temperature fluctuations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) are supposed to be distributed randomly in both magnitude and phase, following to the simplest model of inflation. In this paper, we look at the odd and even multipoles of the spherical harmonic decomposition of the CMB, and the different characteristics of these, giving rise to a parity asymmetry. We compare the even and odd multipoles in the CMB power spectrum, and also the even and odd mean angles. We find for the multipoles of the power spectrum, that there is power excess in odd multipoles, compared to even ones, meaning that we have a parity asymmetry. Further, for the phases, we present a random walk for the mean angles, and find a significant separation for even/odd mean angles, especially so for galactic coordinates. This is further tested and confirmed with a directional parity test, comparing the parity asymmetry in galactic and ecliptic coordinates.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D, 10 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. Some typographical errors corrected, and further references adde

Towards first-principles understanding of the metal-insulator transition in fluid alkali metals

By treating the electron-ion interaction as perturbation in the first-principles Hamiltonian, we have calculated the density response functions of a fluid alkali metal to find an interesting charge instability due to anomalous electronic density fluctuations occurring at some finite wave vector {\bi Q} in a dilute fluid phase above the liquid-gas critical point. Since |{\bi Q}| is smaller than the diameter of the Fermi surface, this instability necessarily impedes the electric conduction, implying its close relevance to the metal-insulator transition in fluid alkali metals.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Practical dispersion relations for strongly coupled plasma fluids

Very simple explicit analytical expressions are discussed, which are able to describe the dispersion relations of longitudinal waves in strongly coupled plasma systems such as one-component plasma and weakly screened Yukawa fluids with a very good accuracy. Applications to other systems with soft pairwise interactions are briefly discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; Related to arXiv:1711.0615