The Absolute Configuration of Y-Mcthyl-E-caprolactam (5-Methyl-azacycloheptanon-2)

( + )-y-Methy l-E-caprol actam was synthesized from optically active a-methyl-y-phthalimidobutyric acid by two successive ArndtEistert syntheses. The configuration of the title compound was thus proved to be (S) ( + )

Generalized Fokker-Planck equation, Brownian motion, and ergodicity

Microscopic theory of Brownian motion of a particle of mass $M$ in a bath of molecules of mass $m\ll M$ is considered beyond lowest order in the mass ratio $m/M$. The corresponding Langevin equation contains nonlinear corrections to the dissipative force, and the generalized Fokker-Planck equation involves derivatives of order higher than two. These equations are derived from first principles with coefficients expressed in terms of correlation functions of microscopic force on the particle. The coefficients are evaluated explicitly for a generalized Rayleigh model with a finite time of molecule-particle collisions. In the limit of a low-density bath, we recover the results obtained previously for a model with instantaneous binary collisions. In general case, the equations contain additional corrections, quadratic in bath density, originating from a finite collision time. These corrections survive to order $(m/M)^2$ and are found to make the stationary distribution non-Maxwellian. Some relevant numerical simulations are also presented

Spontaneous emission and lifetime modification caused by an intense electromagnetic field

We study the temporal evolution of a three-level system (such as an atom or a molecule), initially prepared in an excited state, bathed in a laser field tuned at the transition frequency of the other level. The features of the spontaneous emission are investigated and the lifetime of the initial state is evaluated: a Fermi "golden rule" still applies, but the on-shell matrix elements depend on the intensity of the laser field. In general, the lifetime is a decreasing function of the laser intensity. The phenomenon we discuss can be viewed as an "inverse" quantum Zeno effect and can be analyzed in terms of dressed states.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

A new perturbative expansion of the time evolution operator associated with a quantum system

A novel expansion of the evolution operator associated with a -- in general, time-dependent -- perturbed quantum Hamiltonian is presented. It is shown that it has a wide range of possible realizations that can be fitted according to computational convenience or to satisfy specific requirements. As a remarkable example, the quantum Hamiltonian describing a laser-driven trapped ion is studied in detail.Comment: 32 pages; modified version with examples of my previous paper quant-ph/0404056; to appear on the J. of Optics B: Quantum and Semiclassical Optics, Special Issue on 'Optics and Squeeze Transformations after Einstein

Actigraphy in Human African Trypanosomiasis as a Tool for Objective Clinical Evaluation and Monitoring: A Pilot Study

The clinical picture of the parasitic disease human African trypanosomiasis (HAT, also called sleeping sickness) is dominated by sleep alterations. We here used actigraphy to evaluate patients affected by the Gambiense form of HAT. Actigraphy is based on the use of battery-run, wrist-worn devices similar to watches, widely used in middle-high income countries for ambulatory monitoring of sleep disturbances. This pilot study was motivated by the fact that the use of polysomnography, which is the gold standard technology for the evaluation of sleep disorders and has greatly contributed to the objective identification of signs of disease in HAT, faces tangible challenges in resource-limited countries where the disease is endemic. We here show that actigraphy provides objective data on the severity of sleep-wake disturbances that characterize HAT. This technique, which does not disturb the patient's routine activities and can be applied at home, could therefore represent an interesting, non-invasive tool for objective HAT clinical assessment and long-term monitoring under field conditions. The use of this method could provide an adjunct marker of HAT severity and for treatment follow-up, or be evaluated in combination with other disease biomarkers in body fluids that are currently under investigation in many laboratories

Fluorescence spectrum of a two-level atom driven by a multiple modulated field

We investigate the fluorescence spectrum of a two-level atom driven by a multiple amplitude-modulated field. The driving held is modeled as a polychromatic field composed of a strong central (resonant) component and a large number of symmetrically detuned sideband fields displaced from the central component by integer multiples of a constant detuning. Spectra obtained here differ qualitatively from those observed for a single pair of modulating fields [B. Blind, P.R. Fontana, and P. Thomann, J. Phys. B 13, 2717 (1980)]. In the case of a small number of the modulating fields, a multipeaked spectrum is obtained with the spectral features located at fixed frequencies that are independent of the number of modulating fields and their Rabi frequencies. As the number of the modulating fields increases, the spectrum ultimately evolves to the well-known Mellow triplet with the sidebands shifted from the central component by an effective Rabi frequency whose magnitude depends on the initial relative phases of the components of the driving held. For equal relative phases, the effective Rabi frequency of the driving field can be reduced to zero resulting in the disappearance of fluorescence spectrum, i.e., the atom can stop interacting with the field. When the central component and the modulating fields are 180 degrees out of phase, the spectrum retains its triplet structure with the sidebands located at frequencies equal to the sum of the Rabi frequencies of the component of the driving field. Moreover, we shaw that the frequency of spontaneous emission can be controlled and switched from one frequency to another when the Rabi frequency or initial phase of the modulating fields are varied

Saturation of a two-level atom in polychromatic fields

The response of a two-level atom in a strong polychromatic field composed of a large number of equidistant frequency components is investigated. We calculate numerically, as well as analytically,:the stationary population inversion and show that the saturation of the atomic transition strongly depends on whether or not there is a central (resonant) frequency component in the driving field. We find that, in the presence of the central component, the atom can remain in the ground state even for a strong Rabi frequency of the driving field. In addition, we find that the inversion is sensitive to the relative phase between the frequency components. When the central component is suppressed, the atomic transition saturates with the Rabi frequency independent of the relative phase