Optical activity in the scattering of structured light

We observe that optical activity in light scattering can be probed using types of illuminating light other than single plane (or quasi plane) waves and that this introduces new possibilities for the study of molecules and atoms. We demonstrate this explicitly for natural Rayleigh optical activity which, we suggest, could be exploited as a new form of spectroscopy for chiral molecules through the use of illuminating light comprised of two plane waves that are counter propagating

Energy conservation and the constitutive relations in chiral and non-reciprocal media

We consider the possibility that the chirality parameters and the non-reciprocity parameters appearing in the constitutive relations for the displacement and magnetic induction fields in a bi-isotropic medium might not be equal and thereby shed light on the physical significance of the fact that they are the same. We find, in particular, that they must be equal in order to retain the local conservation of energy

Reply to comment on `Energy conservation and the constitutive relations in chiral and non-reciprocal media'

We respond to the comment by Mackay and Lakhtakia on our paper. These authors have missed the simple point that our chirality and non-reciprocity parameters are real. The 'inconsistency' claimed by them emerges from their incorrect attempt to apply our results instead to complex chirality and non-reciprocity parameters

An Interview with Franco Modigliani

These are the page proofs of the interview of Franco Modigliani by William A. Barnett and Robert Solow. The interview was published in the journal, Macroeconomic Dynamics, in 2000. Since William Barnett is one of the two interviewers, he now is permitted, by Cambridge University Press, to make the interview available as a 'working paper.' This interview contains some astonishing revelations about the life of Franco Modigliani, beginning with details of the circumstances regarding his move from Italy to France during the Second World War and his subsequent move to the United States.history of economic thought, Modigliani, Solow, macroeconomics, finance

Gold nanowires and their chemical modifications

Equilibrium structure, local densities of states, and electronic transport in a gold nanowire made of a four-atom chain supported by two gold electrodes, which has been imaged recently by high-resolution electron microscopy, and chemical modification of the wire via the adsorption of a methylthiol molecule, are investigated with ab-initio local density functional simulations. In the bare wire at the imaged geometry the middle two atoms dimerize, and the structure is strongly modified by the adsorption of the molecule with an accompanying increase of the ballistic conductance through the wire.Comment: To appear as Letter in Oct 21,1999, issue of J. Phys. Chem. B. (RevTex, 4 gif figures

Improving the Accuracy of CT-derived Attenuation Correction in Respiratory-Gated PET/CT Imaging

The effect of respiratory motion on attenuation correction in Fludeoxyglucose (18F) positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) was investigated. Improvements to the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) derived attenuation correction were obtained through the alignment of the attenuation map to each emission image in a respiratory gated PET scan. Attenuation misalignment leads to artefacts in the reconstructed PET image and several methods were devised for evaluating the attenuation inaccuracies caused by this. These methods of evaluation were extended to finding the frame in the respiratory gated PET which best matched the CT. This frame was then used as a reference frame in mono-modality compensation for misalignment. Attenuation correction was found to affect the quantification of tumour volumes; thus a regional analysis was used to evaluate the impact of mismatch and the benefits of compensating for misalignment. Deformable image registration was used to compensate for misalignment, however, there were inaccuracies caused by the poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in PET images. Two models were developed that were robust to a poor SNR allowing for the estimation of deformation from very noisy images. Firstly, a cross population model was developed by statistically analysing the respiratory motion in 10 4DCT scans. Secondly, a 1D model of respiration was developed based on the physiological function of respiration. The 1D approach correctly modelled the expansion and contraction of the lungs and the differences in the compressibility of lungs and surrounding tissues. Several additional models were considered but were ruled out based on their poor goodness of fit to 4DCT scans. Approaches to evaluating the developed models were also used to assist with optimising for the most accurate attenuation correction. It was found that the multimodality registration of the CT image to the PET image was the most accurate approach to compensating for attenuation correction mismatch. Mono-modality image registration was found to be the least accurate approach, however, incorporating a motion model improved the accuracy of image registration. The significance of these findings is twofold. Firstly, it was found that motion models are required to improve the accuracy in compensating for attenuation correction mismatch and secondly, a validation method was found for comparing approaches to compensating for attenuation mismatch