453 research outputs found
Superficial Scald versus Ethanol Vapours: A Dose Response
Early picked "Granny Smith" apples (Malus domestica Borkh.) were stored under air or CA (controlled atmosphere at 2 kPa O2 and <1 kPa CO2) at 1°C. During the first week of storage, fruit was subjected to ethanol vapours in doses
from 0 to 8 g/kg of fruit. Ethanol at 4 g/kg protected fruit against superficial scald in
CA storage for at least 5.5 months, plus two weeks in cold air storage, plus a week at
ambient temperature. Ethanol at 6 g/kg protected fruit in cold air storage for 3
months, plus a week at ambient temperature. Effects of ethanol vapours and CA on
headspace ethylene levels are discussed. Ethanol vapours did not cause significant
off-flavours in "Granny Smith" apples (consumer panel, hedonic scale), or purpling
of the skin of Red Delicious apples (visual assessment)
Stochastic dynamics of an electron in a Penning trap: phase flips correlated with amplitude collapses and revivals
We study the effect of noise on the axial mode of an electron in a Penning
trap under parametric-resonance conditions. Our approach, based on the
application of averaging techniques to the description of the dynamics,
provides an understanding of the random phase flips detected in recent
experiments. The observed correlation between the phase jumps and the amplitude
collapses is explained. Moreover, we discuss the actual relevance of noise
color to the identified phase-switching mechanism. Our approach is then
generalized to analyze the persistence of the stochastic phase flips in the
dynamics of a cloud of N electrons. In particular, we characterize the detected
scaling of the phase-jump rate with the number of electrons.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figure
Reduced dimensionality spin-orbit dynamics of CH3 + HCl reversible arrow CH4 Cl on ab initio surfaces
A reduced dimensionality quantum scattering method is extended to the study of spin-orbit nonadiabatic transitions in the CH3 + HCl reversible arrow CH4 + Cl(P-2(J)) reaction. Three two-dimensional potential energy surfaces are developed by fitting a 29 parameter double-Morse function to CCSD(T)/IB//MP2/cc-pV(T+d)Z-dk ab initio data; interaction between surfaces is described by geometry-dependent spin-orbit coupling functions fit to MCSCF/cc-pV(T+d)Z-dk ab initio data. Spectator modes are treated adiabatically via inclusion of curvilinear projected frequencies. The total scattering wave function is expanded in a vibronic basis set and close-coupled equations are solved via R-matrix propagation. Ground state thermal rate constants for forward and reverse reactions agree well with experiment. Multi-surface reaction probabilities, integral cross sections, and initial-state selected branching ratios all highlight the importance of vibrational energy in mediating nonadiabatic transition. Electronically excited state dynamics are seen to play a small but significant role as consistent with experimental conclusions. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3592732
Time scale of forerunners in quantum tunneling
The forerunners preceding the main tunneling signal of the wave created by a
source with a sharp onset or by a quantum shutter, have been generally
associated with over-the-barrier (non-tunneling) components. We demonstrate
that, while this association is true for distances which are larger than the
penetration lenght, for smaller distances the forerunner is dominated by
under-the-barrier components. We find that its characteristic arrival time is
inversely proportional to the difference between the barrier energy and the
incidence energy, a tunneling time scale different from both the phase time and
the B\"uttiker-Landauer (BL) time.Comment: Revtex4, 14 eps figure
Time dependence of evanescent quantum waves
The time dependence of quantum evanescent waves generated by a point source
with an infinite or a limited frequency band is analyzed. The evanescent wave
is characterized by a forerunner (transient) related to the precise way the
source is switched on. It is followed by an asymptotic, monochromatic wave
which at long times reveals the oscillation frequency of the source. For a
source with a sharp onset the forerunner is exponentially larger than the
monochromatic solution and a transition from the transient regime to the
asymtotic regime occurs only at asymptotically large times. In this case, the
traversal time for tunneling plays already a role only in the transient regime.
To enhance the monochromatic solution compared to the forerunner we investigate
(a) frequency band limited sources and (b) the short time Fourier analysis (the
spectrogram) corresponding to a detector which is frequency band limited.
Neither of these two methods leads to a precise determination of the traversal
time. However, if they are limited to determine the traversal time only with a
precision of the traversal time itself both methods are successful: In this
case the transient behavior of the evanescent waves is at a time of the order
of the traversal time followed by a monochromatic wave which reveals the
frequency of the source.Comment: 16 text pages and 9 postscript figure
Quantum-wave evolution in a step potential barrier
By using an exact solution to the time-dependent Schr\"{o}dinger equation
with a point source initial condition, we investigate both the time and spatial
dependence of quantum waves in a step potential barrier. We find that for a
source with energy below the barrier height, and for distances larger than the
penetration length, the probability density exhibits a {\it forerunner}
associated with a non-tunneling process, which propagates in space at exactly
the semiclassical group velocity. We show that the time of arrival of the
maximum of the {\it forerunner} at a given fixed position inside the potential
is exactly the traversal time, . We also show that the spatial evolution
of this transient pulse exhibits an invariant behavior under a rescaling
process. This analytic property is used to characterize the evolution of the
{\it forerunner}, and to analyze the role played by the time of arrival,
, found recently by Muga and B\"{u}ttiker [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 62},
023808 (2000)].Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev. A (2002
Tunneling dynamics in relativistic and nonrelativistic wave equations
We obtain the solution of a relativistic wave equation and compare it with
the solution of the Schroedinger equation for a source with a sharp onset and
excitation frequencies below cut-off. A scaling of position and time reduces to
a single case all the (below cut-off) nonrelativistic solutions, but no such
simplification holds for the relativistic equation, so that qualitatively
different ``shallow'' and ``deep'' tunneling regimes may be identified
relativistically. The nonrelativistic forerunner at a position beyond the
penetration length of the asymptotic stationary wave does not tunnel;
nevertheless, it arrives at the traversal (semiclassical or
B\"uttiker-Landauer) time "tau". The corresponding relativistic forerunner is
more complex: it oscillates due to the interference between two saddle point
contributions, and may be characterized by two times for the arrival of the
maxima of lower and upper envelops. There is in addition an earlier
relativistic forerunner, right after the causal front, which does tunnel.
Within the penetration length, tunneling is more robust for the precursors of
the relativistic equation
Collisional depolarization of NO(A) by He and Ar studied by quantum beat spectroscopy
Zeeman and hyperfine quantum beat spectroscopies have been used to measure the total elastic plus inelastic angular momentum depolarization rate constants at 300 K for NO (A 2 σ+) in the presence of He and Ar. In the case of Zeeman quantum beats it is shown how the applied magnetic field can be used to allow measurement of depolarization rates for both angular momentum orientation and alignment. For the systems studied here, collisional loss of alignment is more efficient than loss of orientation. In the case of NO (A) with He, and to a lesser extent NO (A) with Ar, collisional depolarization is found to be a relatively minor process compared to rotational energy transfer, reflecting the very weak long-range forces in these systems. Detailed comparisons are made with quantum mechanical and quasiclassical trajectory calculations performed on recently developed potential energy surfaces. For both systems, the agreement between the calculated depolarization cross sections and the present measurements is found to be very good, suggesting that it is reasonable to consider the NO (A) bond as frozen during these angular momentum transferring collisions. A combination of kinematic effects and differences in the potential energy surfaces are shown to be responsible for the differences observed in depolarization cross section with He and Ar as a collider. © 2009 American Institute of Physics
Composite absorbing potentials
The multiple scattering interferences due to the addition of several
contiguous potential units are used to construct composite absorbing potentials
that absorb at an arbitrary set of incident momenta or for a broad momentum
interval.Comment: 9 pages, Revtex, 2 postscript figures. Accepted in Phys. Rev. Let
Time-of-arrival distribution for arbitrary potentials and Wigner's time-energy uncertainty relation
A realization of the concept of "crossing state" invoked, but not
implemented, by Wigner, allows to advance in two important aspects of the time
of arrival in quantum mechanics: (i) For free motion, we find that the
limitations described by Aharonov et al. in Phys. Rev. A 57, 4130 (1998) for
the time-of-arrival uncertainty at low energies for certain mesurement models
are in fact already present in the intrinsic time-of-arrival distribution of
Kijowski; (ii) We have also found a covariant generalization of this
distribution for arbitrary potentials and positions.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, 2 eps figures include
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