Photolysis of Fluorinated Graphites with Embedded Acetonitrile Using a White-Beam Synchrotron Radiation

Fluorinated graphitic layers with good mechanical and chemical stability, polar C–F bonds, and tunable bandgap are attractive for a variety of applications. In this work, we investigated the photolysis of fluorinated graphites with interlayer embedded acetonitrile, which is the simplest representative of the acetonitrile-containing photosensitizing family. The samples were continuously illuminated in situ with high-brightness non-monochromatized synchrotron radiation. Changes in the compositions of the samples were monitored using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The NEXAFS N K-edge spectra showed that acetonitrile dissociates to form HCN and N2 molecules after exposure to the white beam for 2 s, and the latter molecules completely disappear after exposure for 200 s. The original composition of fluorinated matrices CF0.3 and CF0.5 is changed to CF0.10 and GF0.17, respectively. The highly fluorinated layers lose fluorine atoms together with carbon neighbors, creating atomic vacancies. The edges of vacancies are terminated with the nitrogen atoms and form pyridinic and pyrrolic units. Our in situ studies show that the photolysis products of acetonitrile depend on the photon irradiation duration and composition of the initial CFx matrix. The obtained results evaluate the radiation damage of the acetonitrile-intercalated fluorinated graphites and the opportunities to synthesize nitrogen-doped graphene materials

Belokurov-Usyukina loop reduction in non-integer dimension

Belokurov-Usyukina loop reduction method has been proposed in 1983 to reduce a number of rungs in triangle ladder-like diagram by one. The disadvantage of the method is that it works in d=4 dimensions only and it cannot be used for calculation of amplitudes in field theory in which we are required to put all the incoming and outgoing momenta on shell. We generalize the Belokurov-Usyukina loop reduction technique to non-integer d=4-2e dimensions. In this paper we show how a two-loop triangle diagram with particular values of indices of scalar propagators in the position space can be reduced to a combination of three one-loop scalar diagrams. It is known that any one-loop massless momentum integral can be presented in terms of Appell's function F_4. This means that particular diagram considered in the present paper can be represented in terms of Appell's function F_4 too. Such a generalization of Belokurov-Usyukina loop reduction technique allows us to calculate that diagram by this method exactly without decomposition in terms of the parameter e.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Pion, kaon, proton and anti-proton transverse momentum distributions from p+p and d+Au collisions at sNN=200\sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV

Identified mid-rapidity particle spectra of $\pi^{\pm}$, $K^{\pm}$, and $p(\bar{p})$ from 200 GeV p+p and d+Au collisions are reported. A time-of-flight detector based on multi-gap resistive plate chamber technology is used for particle identification. The particle-species dependence of the Cronin effect is observed to be significantly smaller than that at lower energies. The ratio of the nuclear modification factor ($R_{dAu}$) between protons $(p+\bar{p})$ and charged hadrons ($h$) in the transverse momentum range $1.2<{p_{T}}<3.0$ GeV/c is measured to be $1.19\pm0.05$(stat)$\pm0.03$(syst) in minimum-bias collisions and shows little centrality dependence. The yield ratio of $(p+\bar{p})/h$ in minimum-bias d+Au collisions is found to be a factor of 2 lower than that in Au+Au collisions, indicating that the Cronin effect alone is not enough to account for the relative baryon enhancement observed in heavy ion collisions at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. We extended the pion spectra from transverse momentum 1.8 GeV/c to 3. GeV/

Demonstration of the temporal matter-wave Talbot effect for trapped matter waves

We demonstrate the temporal Talbot effect for trapped matter waves using ultracold atoms in an optical lattice. We investigate the phase evolution of an array of essentially non-interacting matter waves and observe matter-wave collapse and revival in the form of a Talbot interference pattern. By using long expansion times, we image momentum space with sub-recoil resolution, allowing us to observe fractional Talbot fringes up to 10th order.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy at RHIC: the first and fourth harmonics

We report the first observations of the first harmonic (directed flow, v_1), and the fourth harmonic (v_4), in the azimuthal distribution of particles with respect to the reaction plane in Au+Au collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). Both measurements were done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow (v_2) generated at RHIC. From the correlation of v_2 with v_1 it is determined that v_2 is positive, or {\it in-plane}. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 6 pages with 3 figures, as accepted for Phys. Rev. Letters The data tables are at http://www.star.bnl.gov/central/publications/pubDetail.php?id=3

DBSolve Optimum: a software package for kinetic modeling which allows dynamic visualization of simulation results

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Systems biology research and applications require creation, validation, extensive usage of mathematical models and visualization of simulation results by end-users. Our goal is to develop novel method for visualization of simulation results and implement it in simulation software package equipped with the sophisticated mathematical and computational techniques for model development, verification and parameter fitting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present mathematical simulation workbench DBSolve Optimum which is significantly improved and extended successor of well known simulation software DBSolve5. Concept of "dynamic visualization" of simulation results has been developed and implemented in DBSolve Optimum. In framework of the concept graphical objects representing metabolite concentrations and reactions change their volume and shape in accordance to simulation results. This technique is applied to visualize both kinetic response of the model and dependence of its steady state on parameter. The use of the dynamic visualization is illustrated with kinetic model of the Krebs cycle.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>DBSolve Optimum is a user friendly simulation software package that enables to simplify the construction, verification, analysis and visualization of kinetic models. Dynamic visualization tool implemented in the software allows user to animate simulation results and, thereby, present them in more comprehensible mode. DBSolve Optimum and built-in dynamic visualization module is free for both academic and commercial use. It can be downloaded directly from <url>http://www.insysbio.ru</url>.</p

Strong reduction of the off-momentum halo in crystal assisted collimation of the SPS beam

A study of crystal assisted collimation has been continued at the CERN SPS for different energies of stored beams using 120 GeV/. c and 270 GeV/. c protons and Pb ions with 270 GeV/. c per charge. A bent silicon crystal used as a primary collimator deflected halo particles using channeling and directing them into the tungsten absorber. A strong correlation of the beam losses in the crystal and off-momentum halo intensity measured in the first high dispersion (HD) area downstream was observed. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with nuclei is significantly reduced in comparison with the non-oriented crystal. A maximal reduction of beam losses in the crystal larger than 20 was observed with 270 GeV/. c protons. The off-momentum halo intensity measured in the HD area was also strongly reduced in channeling conditions. The reduction coefficient was larger than 7 for the case of Pb ions. A strong loss reduction was also detected in regions of the SPS ring far from the collimation area. It was shown by simulations that the miscut angle between the crystal surface and its crystallographic planes doubled the beam losses in the aligned crystal.peer-reviewe

Comparative results on collimation of the SPS beam of protons and Pb ions with bent crystals

New experiments on crystal assisted collimation have been carried out at the CERN SPS with stored beams of 120 GeV/. c protons and Pb ions. Bent silicon crystals of 2 mm long with about 170 μrad bend angle and a small residual torsion were used as primary collimators. In channeling conditions, the beam loss rate induced by inelastic interactions of particles with the crystal nuclei is minimal. The loss reduction was about 6 for protons and about 3 for Pb ions. Lower reduction value for Pb ions can be explained by their considerably larger ionization losses in the crystal. In one of the crystals, the measured fraction of the Pb ion beam halo deflected in channeling conditions was 74%, a value very close to that for protons. The intensity of the off-momentum halo leaking out from the collimation station was measured in the first high dispersion area downstream. The particle population in the shadow of the secondary collimator-absorber was considerably smaller in channeling conditions than for amorphous orientations of the crystal. The corresponding reduction was in the range of 2-5 for both protons and Pb ions.peer-reviewe

Observation of parametric X-rays produced by 400 GeV/c protons in bent crystals

Spectral maxima of parametric X-ray radiation (PXR) produced by 400 GeV/c protons in bent silicon crystals aligned with the beam have been observed in an experiment at the H8 external beam of the CERN SPS. The total yield of PXR photons was about 10-6 per proton. Agreement between calculations and the experimental data shows that the PXR kinematic theory is valid for bent crystals with sufficiently small curvature as used in the experiment. The intensity of PXR emitted from halo protons in a bent crystal used as a primary collimator in a circular accelerator may be considered as a possible tool to control its crystal structure, which is slowly damaged because of irradiation. The intensity distribution of PXR peaks depends on the crystal thickness intersected by the beam, which changes for different orientations of a crystal collimator. This dependence may be used to control crystal collimator alignment by analyzing PXR spectra produced by halo protons.peer-reviewe

Design, Performance, and Calibration of CMS Hadron-Barrel Calorimeter Wedges

Extensive measurements have been made with pions, electrons and muons on four production wedges of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) hadron barrel (HB) calorimeter in the H2 beam line at CERN with particle momenta varying from 20 to 300 GeV/c. Data were taken both with and without a prototype electromagnetic lead tungstate crystal calorimeter (EB) in front of the hadron calorimeter. The time structure of the events was measured with the full chain of preproduction front-end electronics running at 34 MHz. Moving-wire radioactive source data were also collected for all scintillator layers in the HB. These measurements set the absolute calibration of the HB prior to first pp collisions to approximately 4%