Quark-Model Baryon-Baryon Interaction and its Applications to Hypernuclei

The quark-model baryon-baryon interaction fss2, proposed by the Kyoto-Niigata group, is a unified model for the complete baryon octet (B_8=N, Lambda, Sigma and Xi), which is formulated in a framework of the (3q)-(3q) resonating-group method (RGM) using the spin-flavor SU_6 quark-model wave functions and effective meson-exchange potentials at the quark level. Model parameters are determined to reproduce properties of the nucleon-nucleon system and the low-energy cross section data for the hyperon-nucleon scattering. Due to the several improvements including the introduction of vector-meson exchange potentials, fss2 has achieved very accurate description of the NN and YN interactions, comparable to various one-boson exchange potentials. We review the essential features of fss2 and our previous model FSS, and their predictions to few-body systems in confrontation with the available experimental data. Some characteristic features of the B_8 B_8 interactions with the higher strangeness, S=-2, -3, -4, predicted by fss2 are discussed. These quark-model interactions are now applied to realistic calculations of few-body systems in a new three-cluster Faddeev formalism which uses two-cluster RGM kernels. As for the few-body systems, we discuss the three-nucleon bound states, the Lambda NN-Sigma NN system for the hypertriton, the alpha alpha Lambda system for 9Be Lambda, and the Lambda Lambda alpha system for 6He Lambda Lambda.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, 18th Nishinomiya Yukawa Memorial Symposium on Strangeness in Nuclear Matter, 4 - 5 December 2003, Nishinomiya, Japan. (to be published in Prog. Theor. Phys. Suppl.

Negative thermal expansion in the Prussian Blue analog Zn3[Fe(CN)6]2: X-ray diffraction and neutron vibrational studies

The cubic Prussian Blue (PB) analog, Zn3 [Fe(CN)6]2, has been studied by X-ray powder diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering (INS). X-ray data collected at 300 and 84 K revealed negative thermal expansion (NTE) behaviour for this material. The NTE coefficient was found to be -31.1 x 10-6 K-1. The neutron vibrational spectrum for Zn3[Fe(CN)6]2.xH2O, was studied in detail. The INS spectrum showed well-defined, well-separated bands corresponding to the stretching of and deformation modes of the Fe and Zn octahedra, all below 800 cm-1.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Living with Oxygen

Work on the electronic structures of metal–oxo complexes began in Copenhagen over 50 years ago. This work led to the prediction that tetragonal multiply bonded transition metal–oxos would not be stable beyond the iron–ruthenium–osmium oxo wall in the periodic table and that triply bonded metal–oxos could not be protonated, even in the strongest Brønsted acids. In this theory, only double bonded metal–oxos could attract protons, with basicities being a function of the electron donating ability of ancillary ligands. Such correlations of electronic structure with reactivity have gained importance in recent years, most notably owing to the widespread recognition that high-valent iron–oxos are intermediates in biological reactions critical to life on Earth. In this Account, we focus attention on the oxygenations of inert organic substrates by cytochromes P450, as these reactions involve multiply bonded iron–oxos. We emphasize that P450 iron–oxos are strong oxidants, so strong that they would destroy nearby amino acids if substrates are not oxygenated rapidly; it is our view that these high-valent iron–oxos are such dangerous reactive oxygen species that Nature surely found ways to disable them. Looking more deeply into this matter, mainly by examining many thousands of structures in the Protein Data Bank, we have found that P450s and other enzymes that require oxygen for function have chains of tyrosines and tryptophans that extend from active-site regions to protein surfaces. Tyrosines are near the heme active sites in bacterial P450s, whereas tryptophan is closest in most human enzymes. High-valent iron–oxo survival times taken from hole hopping maps range from a few nanoseconds to milliseconds, depending on the distance of the closest Trp or Tyr residue to the heme. In our proposed mechanism, multistep hole tunneling (hopping) through Tyr/Trp chains guides the damaging oxidizing hole to the protein surface, where it can be quenched by soluble protein or small molecule reductants. As the Earth’s oxygenic atmosphere is believed to have developed about 2.5 billion years ago, the increase in occurrence frequency of tyrosine and tryptophan since the last universal evolutionary ancestor may be in part a consequence of enzyme protective functions that developed to cope with the environmental toxin, O_2

Disk-Halo Model for Flat-Spectrum T Tauri Stars

We explore the origin of the flat spectrum seen in some T Tauri stars by considering a three-component structure: a central star, a circumstellar disk, and a dusty halo. The radiative energy transport is faithfully treated by solving the angle- and frequency-dependent radiative transfer equation in two space dimensions assuming axisymmetry, and hence the radiative equilibrium temperature in the disk and halo is determined simultaneously. The disk is effectively heated by the scattering and reprocessing of stellar radiation through the halo. The large mid- to far-infrared excess originates from the photosphere of the warmed disk, resulting in a flat spectrum, as observed. The halo which we consider is observed as a compact reflection nebula, and is discriminated from extended, disk-like envelopes around flat-spectrum T Tauri stars. We show that the overall spectral shape of flat-spectrum T Tauri stars can be reproduced by the present disk-halo model.Comment: 10 pages including 9 figure

Near-infrared Brightness of the Galilean Satellites Eclipsed in Jovian Shadow: A New Technique to Investigate Jovian Upper Atmosphere

We have discovered that Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are bright around 1.5 {\mu}m even when not directly lit by sunlight, based on observations from the Hubble Space Telescope and the Subaru Telescope. The observations were conducted with non-sidereal tracking on Jupiter outside of the field of view to reduce the stray light subtraction uncertainty due to the close proximity of Jupiter. Their eclipsed luminosity was $10^{-6}$-$10^{-7}$ of their uneclipsed brightness, which is low enough that this phenomenon has been undiscovered until now. In addition, Europa in eclipse was <1/10 of the others at 1.5 {\mu}m, a potential clue to the origin of the source of luminosity. Likewise, Ganymede observations were attempted at 3.6 {\mu}m by the Spitzer Space Telescope but it was not detected, suggesting a significant wavelength dependence. The reason why they are luminous even when in the Jovian shadow is still unknown, but forward-scattered sunlight by haze in the Jovian upper atmosphere is proposed as the most plausible candidate. If this is the case, observations of these Galilean satellites while eclipsed by the Jovian shadow provide us a new technique to investigate Jovian atmospheric composition, and investigating the transmission spectrum of Jupiter by this method is important for investigating the atmosphere of extrasolar giant planets by transit spectroscopy.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, accepted to Ap