Ac Stark Effects and Harmonic Generation in Periodic Potentials

The ac Stark effect can shift initially nonresonant minibands in semiconductor superlattices into multiphoton resonances. This effect can result in strongly enhanced generation of a particular desired harmonic of the driving laser frequency, at isolated values of the amplitude.Comment: RevTeX, 10 pages (4 figures available on request), Preprint UCSBTH-93-2

Refractive elastic scattering of carbon and oxygen nuclei: The mean field analysis and Airy structures

The experimental data on the $^{16}$O$+^{12}$C and $^{18}$O$+^{12}$C elastic scatterings and their optical model analysis are presented. Detailed and complete elastic angular distributions have been measured at the Strasbourg Vivitron accelerator at several energies covering the energy range between 5 and 10 MeV per nucleon. The elastic scattering angular distributions show the usual diffraction pattern and also, at larger angles, refractive effects in the form of nuclear rainbow and associated Airy structures. The optical model analysis unambiguously shows the evolution of the refractive scattering pattern. The observed structure, namely the Airy minima, can be consistently described by a nucleus-nucleus potential with a deep real part and a weakly absorptive imaginary part. The difference in absorption in the two systems is explained by an increased imaginary (mostly surface) part of the potential in the $^{18}$O$+^{12}$C system. The relation between the obtained potentials and those reported for the symmetrical $^{16}$O$+^{16}$O and $^{12}$C$+^{12}$C systems is drawn.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Phys. rev. C in pres

Vanishing spin alignment : experimental indication of triaxial 28Si+28Si\bf ^{28}Si + {^{28}Si} nuclear molecule

Fragment-fragment-$\gamma$ coincidences have been measured for $\rm ^{28}Si + {^{28}Si}$ at an energy corresponding to the population of a conjectured resonance in $^{56}$Ni. Fragment angular distributions as well as $\gamma$-ray angular correlations indicate that the spin orientations of the outgoing fragments are perpendicular to the orbital angular momentum. This differs from the $\rm ^{24}Mg+{^{24}Mg}$ and the $\rm ^{12}C+{^{12}C}$ resonances, and suggests two oblate $\rm ^{28}Si$ nuclei interacting in an equator-to-equator molecular configuration.Comment: 14 pages standard REVTeX file, 3 ps Figures -- Accepted for publication in Physical Review C (Rapid Communication

Deformation effects in 56^{56}Ni nuclei produced in 28^{28}Si+28^{28}Si at 112 MeV

Velocity and energy spectra of the light charged particles (protons and $\alpha$-particles) emitted in the $^{28}$Si(E$_{lab}$ = 112 MeV) + $^{28}$Si reaction have been measured at the Strasbourg VIVITRON Tandem facility. The ICARE charged particle multidetector array was used to obtain exclusive spectra of the light particles in the angular range 15 - 150 degree and to determine the angular correlations of these particles with respect to the emission angles of the evaporation residues. The experimental data are analysed in the framework of the statistical model. The exclusive energy spectra of $\alpha$-particles emitted from the $^{28}$Si + $^{28}$Si compound system are generally well reproduced by Monte Carlo calculations using spin-dependent level densities. This spin dependence approach suggests the onset of large deformations at high spin. A re-analysis of previous $\alpha$-particle data from the $^{30}$Si + $^{30}$Si compound system, using the same spin-dependent parametrization, is also presented in the framework of a general discussion of the occurrence of large deformation effects in the A$_{CN}$ ~ 60 mass region.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figure

A lattice model for the kinetics of rupture of fluid bilayer membranes

We have constructed a model for the kinetics of rupture of membranes under tension, applying physical principles relevant to lipid bilayers held together by hydrophobic interactions. The membrane is characterized by the bulk compressibility (for expansion), the thickness of the hydrophobic part of the bilayer, the hydrophobicity and a parameter characterizing the tail rigidity of the lipids. The model is a lattice model which incorporates strain relaxation, and considers the nucleation of pores at constant area, constant temperature, and constant particle number. The particle number is conserved by allowing multiple occupancy of the sites. An equilibrium ``phase diagram'' is constructed as a function of temperature and strain with the total pore surface and distribution as the order parameters. A first order rupture line is found with increasing tension, and a continuous increase in proto-pore concentration with rising temperature till instability. The model explains current results on saturated and unsaturated PC lipid bilayers and thicker artificial bilayers made of diblock copolymers. Pore size distributions are presented for various values of area expansion and temperature, and the fractal dimension of the pore edge is evaluated.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Ascomycetous yeast species recovered from grapes damaged by honeydew and sour rot

Aims: To identify ascomycetous yeasts recovered from sound and damaged grapes by the presence of honeydew or sour rot. Methods and Results: In sound grapes, the mean yeast counts ranged from 3.20 ± 1.04 log CFU g-1 to 5.87 ± 0.64 log CFU g-1. In honeydew grapes, the mean counts ranged from 3.88 ± 0.80 log CFU g-1 to 6.64 ± 0.77 log CFU g-1. In sour rot grapes counts varied between 6.34 ± 1.03 and 7.68 ± 0.38 log CFU g-1. Hanseniaspora uvarum was the most frequent species from sound samples. In both types of damage, the most frequent species were Candida vanderwaltii, H. uvarum and Zygoascus hellenicus. The latter species was recovered in high frequency because of the utilization of the selective medium DBDM (Dekkera ⁄ Brettanomyces differential medium). The scarce isolation frequency of the wine spoilage species Zygosaccharomyces bailii (in sour rotten grapes) and Zygosaccharomyces bisporus (in honeydew affected grapes) could only be demonstrated by the use of the selective medium ZDM (Zygosaccharomyces differential medium). Conclusions: The isolation of several species only from damaged grapes indicates that damage constituted the main factor determining yeast diversity. The utilization of selective media is required for eliciting the recovery of potentially wine spoilage species. Significance and Impact of the Study: The impact of damaged grapes in the yeast ecology of grapes has been underestimate

HI in the Outskirts of Nearby Galaxies

The HI in disk galaxies frequently extends beyond the optical image, and can trace the dark matter there. I briefly highlight the history of high spatial resolution HI imaging, the contribution it made to the dark matter problem, and the current tension between several dynamical methods to break the disk-halo degeneracy. I then turn to the flaring problem, which could in principle probe the shape of the dark halo. Instead, however, a lot of attention is now devoted to understanding the role of gas accretion via galactic fountains. The current $\rm \Lambda$ cold dark matter theory has problems on galactic scales, such as the core-cusp problem, which can be addressed with HI observations of dwarf galaxies. For a similar range in rotation velocities, galaxies of type Sd have thin disks, while those of type Im are much thicker. After a few comments on modified Newtonian dynamics and on irregular galaxies, I close with statistics on the HI extent of galaxies.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figures, invited review, book chapter in "Outskirts of Galaxies", Eds. J. H. Knapen, J. C. Lee and A. Gil de Paz, Astrophysics and Space Science Library, Springer, in pres