Investigation of Microscopic Structures in the Low-Energy Electric Dipole Response of 120Sn using Consistent Experimental and Theoretical Observables and Digital Signal Processing for Nuclear Physics Experiments

This thesis consists of two parts which deal with the low-energy electric dipole response (LEDR) of atomic nuclei and the development and commissioning of a digital data acquisition system for nuclear-structure experiments, respectively. A term commonly found in the literature for the overall LEDR of atomic nuclei is Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR), which was historically used to imply the picture of a neutron-skin oscillation. Since the underlying mechanisms in the LEDR region have been found to be diverse, the term PDR was avoided within this thesis, unless referring explicitly to a neutron-skin oscillation. Part I tries to uncover the generating nuclear-structure features at play in the LEDR of 120Sn below the neutron-separation threshold via two complementary experiments and their theoretical comprehension. The conducted 120Sn(a,a'g) and 119Sn(d,pg) experiments are presented and nuclear-structure calculations performed within the Quasiparticle-Phonon-Model (QPM) are introduced, together with two corresponding reaction-theory approaches. The alpha-scattering experiment was performed at the Research Center for Nuclear Physics in Osaka, Japan, utilizing the combined particle and gamma-ray spectrometer setup CAGRA+GR. Experimental results indicate the presence of isoscalar excitations with a surface-mode character in the LEDR of 120Sn, resembling a neutron-skin oscillation. The 119Sn(d,pg) transfer experiment was performed with the SONIC@HORUS setup at the University of Cologne and constitutes a novel tool to study the microscopic character of individual LEDR states. The remarkable agreement between theoretically obtained (d,pg) cross sections and the experimental data allows to benchmark the predictive power of the QPM and therein employed Energy-Density-Functional calculations. Furthermore, the QPM reproduces the key structural aspects of the LEDR in 120Sn suggested by previous experiments, including the summed B(E1) strength and a transition to more complex configurations at higher excitation energies. It was enforced that theory and experiment are consistently compared via identical observables and striking agreement is found for several experimentally accessible values on a quantitative level. The microscopic information, obtained for the first time in this thesis, complements the knowledge on the relevant nuclear-structure phenomena present in the LEDR of 120Sn. Part II covers a state-of-the-art digital data acquisition system which was designed and commissioned within this thesis. The flexible system exhibits significantly reduced dead time and reaches excellent energy resolution for gamma-ray spectroscopy. It fully replaces the predecessor system and is suitable for all nuclear-physics experiments performed today and in the near future at the 10 MV FN-Tandem accelerator laboratory of the University of Cologne

Giant periodic pseudo-magnetic fields in strained kagome magnet FeSn epitaxial films on SrTiO3_3(111) substrate

Quantum materials, particularly Dirac materials with linearly dispersing bands, can be effectively tuned by strain-induced lattice distortions leading to a pseudo-magnetic field that strongly modulates their electronic properties. Here, we grow kagome magnet FeSn films, consisting of alternatingly stacked Sn$_2$ honeycomb (stanene) and Fe$_3$Sn kagome layers, on SrTiO$_3$(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. Using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy, we show that the Sn honeycomb layer can be periodically deformed by epitaxial strain for film thickness below 10 nm, resulting in differential conductance peaks consistent with Landau levels generated by a pseudo-magnetic field greater than 1000 T. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of strain engineering the electronic properties of topological magnets at the nanoscale.Comment: 46 page

Extreme accumulation of nucleotides in simulated hydrothermal pore systems

We simulate molecular transport in elongated hydrothermal pore systems influenced by a thermal gradient. We find extreme accumulation of molecules in a wide variety of plugged pores. The mechanism is able to provide highly concentrated single nucleotides, suitable for operations of an RNA world at the origin of life. It is driven solely by the thermal gradient across a pore. On the one hand, the fluid is shuttled by thermal convection along the pore, whereas on the other hand, the molecules drift across the pore, driven by thermodiffusion. As a result, millimeter-sized pores accumulate even single nucleotides more than 108-fold into micrometer-sized regions. The enhanced concentration of molecules is found in the bulk water near the closed bottom end of the pore. Because the accumulation depends exponentially on the pore length and temperature difference, it is considerably robust with respect to changes in the cleft geometry and the molecular dimensions. Whereas thin pores can concentrate only long polynucleotides, thicker pores accumulate short and long polynucleotides equally well and allow various molecular compositions. This setting also provides a temperature oscillation, shown previously to exponentially replicate DNA in the protein-assisted PCR. Our results indicate that, for life to evolve, complicated active membrane transport is not required for the initial steps. We find that interlinked mineral pores in a thermal gradient provide a compelling high-concentration starting point for the molecular evolution of life

Verbrückte Phosphorverbindungen als Flammschutzmittel in Epoxidharzen

Verbindungen des Phosphors spielen eine Schlüsselrolle als Flammschutzmittel FSM)für Polymere und Coatings, da sie aufgrund der chemischen Vielseitigkeit von Phosphor, aus Gründen der Nachhaltigkeit und nicht zuletzt einer hohen Effektivität auch bei niedrigen Beladungen zunehmend halogenierte FSM substituieren. Das Ziel dieser Dissertation war die Entwicklung neuer phosphorbasierter FSM für Epoxidharze, die über mindestens zwei Phosphoratome mit idealerweise unterschiedlichen Substitutionsmustern verfügen, sodass wichtige Struktur-Eigenschaftsbeziehungen hergestellt werden können. Dazu wurden vor allem Derivate des 9,10-Dihydro-10-oxa-phosphaphenanthren-10-oxids (DOPO), einem wichtigen gasphasenaktiven FSM, dargestellt. Das erste Synthesekonzept beinhaltete zunächst die Darstellung N-phosphorylierter Iminophosphorane mittels Staudinger-Reaktion durch die Umsetzung von Phosphoryla- ziden mit verschiedenen trivalenten Phosphorverbindungen (Phosphine, Phosphonite und Phosphite). Die thermischen Stabilitäten betreffende Untersuchungen bestätigten, dass phosphin-basierte N-phosphorylierte Iminophosphorane wie z.B. DOPO-N=PPh3 thermisch stabiler sind als deren phosphitstämmige Analoga wie z.B. DOPO-N=P(OPh)3. Diese zunehmende thermische Stabilität spiegelt sich in den entsprechenden Winkeln und Abständen der N-phosphorylierten Iminophosphorane wider. Das zweite Synthesekonzept hatte die Erweiterung der Staudinger-Reaktion von DOPO-N3 mit pentavalenten Phosphorverbindungen des Typs RR‘(O)P-H zum Ziel. Mit Hilfe der Röntgenkristallstrukturanalyse wurden den Produkten Imidodiphosphorstrukturen (R2(O)P-NH-P(O)R2) zugewiesen. In einem dritten Synthesekonzept wurden ausgehend vom Vinylphosphonsäuredimethylester (VPADME) und unterschiedlichen P-H-Verbindungen zunächst mittels Phospha-Michael-Addition Phosphonsäureester dargestellt. Diese wurden zu den entsprechenden freien Phosphonsäuren hydrolysiert und anschließend in die korrespondie- renden Melaminsalze überführt. Zur Untersuchung der FSM-Wirkung wurden ausgewählte Verbindungen dieser Stoffklassen in unterschiedliche Epoxidharze eingearbeitet - einem Diglycidylether von Bisphenol A (DGEBA) und einem glycidierten Phenolnovolak (DEN 438) und jeweils mit Dicyandiamid (D) als Härter sowie Fenuron (F) als Beschleuniger ausgehärtet. Dabei wurde die Reaktivität gegenüber der Oxirangruppe eingehend untersucht. Es wurde gezeigt, dass sich alle VPADME-stämmigen ethylenverbrückten Bisphosphorverbindungen, die Iminophosphorane DOPO-N=P(OMe)3 und DOPO-N=P(OPh)3 sowie die Imidodiphosphorverbindung DOPO-NH-DOPO reaktiv in die Epoxidharzmatrix einarbeiten lassen. Alle flammgeschützten Epoxidharze wurden auf ihre Materialeigenschaften und Brennbarkeit untersucht und unter Berücksichtigung der Substitutionsmuster an den Phosphoratomen bewertet. Zusätzlich wurden die Flammschutzmechanismen ausgewählter FSM in DGEBA/D/F und DEN 438/D/F mittels Cone-Kalorimetrie untersucht. Die Flammschutztests ergaben, dass die DOPO-stämmigen N-phosphorylierten Iminophosphorane vor allem in dem Harzsystem DEN 438/D/F einen guten Flammschutz bewirken. Allen voran bewirkte DOPO-N=PPh3 aufgrund seiner primären Gasphasenaktivität in diesem Harzsystem den besten Flammschutz, der sämtliche Referenzverbindungen übertraf. In DGEBA/D/F zeigte der ethylenverbrückte Bisphosphonsäurester (EBBPE) aufgrund seiner primären Aktivität in der kondensierten Phase sehr gute Flammschutzeigenschaften, die denen gängiger Referenzverbindungen entsprechen. Mit dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass sich phosphororganische Verbindungen, die über mindestens zwei Phosphoratome mit unterschiedlichen Substitutionsmustern verfügen, in einer Eintopfreaktion in guten Ausbeuten herstellbar sind und sehr gute Brandschutzergebnisse in unterschiedlichen Epoxidharzen erzielen

M line–deficient titin causes cardiac lethality through impaired maturation of the sarcomere

Titin, the largest protein known to date, has been linked to sarcomere assembly and function through its elastic adaptor and signaling domains. Titin's M-line region contains a unique kinase domain that has been proposed to regulate sarcomere assembly via its substrate titin cap (T-cap). In this study, we use a titin M line–deficient mouse to show that the initial assembly of the sarcomere does not depend on titin's M-line region or the phosphorylation of T-cap by the titin kinase. Rather, titin's M-line region is required to form a continuous titin filament and to provide mechanical stability of the embryonic sarcomere. Even without titin integrating into the M band, sarcomeres show proper spacing and alignment of Z discs and M bands but fail to grow laterally and ultimately disassemble

Bilinear noise subtraction at the GEO 600 observatory

We develop a scheme to subtract off bilinear noise from the gravitational wave strain data and demonstrate it at the GEO 600 observatory. Modulations caused by test mass misalignments on longitudinal control signals are observed to have a broadband effect on the mid-frequency detector sensitivity ranging from 50 Hz to 500 Hz. We estimate this bilinear coupling by making use of narrow-band signal injections that are already in place for noise projection purposes. A coherent bilinear signal is constructed by a two-stage system identification process where the involved couplings are approximated in terms of stable rational functions. The time-domain filtering efficiency is observed to depend upon the system identification process especially when the involved transfer functions cover a large dynamic range and have multiple resonant features. We improve upon the existing filter design techniques by employing a Bayesian adaptive directed search strategy that optimizes across the several key parameters that affect the accuracy of the estimated model. The resulting post-offline subtraction leads to a suppression of modulation side-bands around the calibration lines along with a broadband reduction of the mid-frequency noise floor. The filter coefficients are updated periodically to account for any non-stationarities that can arise within the coupling. The observed increase in the astrophysical range and a reduction in the occurrence of non-astrophysical transients suggest that the above method is a viable data cleaning technique for current and future gravitational wave observatories

High power and ultra-low-noise photodetector for squeezed-light enhanced gravitational wave detectors

Current laser-interferometric gravitational wave detectors employ a self-homodyne readout scheme where a comparatively large light power (5–50 mW) is detected per photosensitive element. For best sensitivity to gravitational waves, signal levels as low as the quantum shot noise have to be measured as accurately as possible. The electronic noise of the detection circuit can produce a relevant limit to this accuracy, in particular when squeezed states of light are used to reduce the quantum noise. We present a new electronic circuit design reducing the electronic noise of the photodetection circuit in the audio band. In the application of this circuit at the gravitational-wave detector GEO 600 the shot-noise to electronic noise ratio was permanently improved by a factor of more than 4 above 1 kHz, while the dynamic range was improved by a factor of 7. The noise equivalent photocurrent of the implemented photodetector and circuit is about 5 µA/ √\ud Hz above 1 kHz with a maximum detectable photocurrent of 20 mA. With the new circuit, the observed squeezing level in GEO 600 increased by 0.2 dB. The new circuit also creates headroom for higher laser power and more squeezing to be observed in the future in GEO 600 and is applicable to other optics experiments