Electron acceleration by a wake field forced by an intense ultrashort laser pulse

Plasmas are an attractive medium for the next generation of particle accelerators because they can support electric fields greater than several hundred gigavolts per meter. These accelerating fields are generated by relativistic plasma waves-space-charge oscillations-that can be excited when a high-intensity laser propagates through a plasma. Large currents of background electrons can then be trapped and subsequently accelerated by these relativistic waves. In the forced laser wake field regime, where the laser pulse length is of the order of the plasma wavelength, we show that a gain in maximum electron energy of up to 200 megaelectronvolts can be achieved, along with an improvement in the quality of the ultrashort electron beam.     

Theory and modeling of stereoselective organic reactions

Theoretical investigations of the transition structures of additions and cycloadditions reveal details about the geometries of bond-forming processes that are not directly accessible by experiment. The conformational analysis of transition states has been developed from theoretical generalizations about the preferred angle of attack by reagents on multiple bonds and predictions of conformations with respect to partially formed bonds. Qualitative rules for the prediction of the stereochemistries of organic reactions have been devised, and semi-empirical computational models have also been developed to predict the stereoselectivities of reactions of large organic molecules, such as nucleophilic additions to carbonyls, electrophilic hydroborations and cycloadditions, and intramolecular radical additions and cycloadditions.     

Complete photo-induced breakup of the H2 molecule as a probe of molecular electron correlation

Despite decades of progress in quantum mechanics, electron correlation effects are still only partially understood. Experiments in which both electrons are ejected from an oriented hydrogen molecule by absorption of a single photon have recently demonstrated a puzzling phenomenon: The ejection pattern of the electrons depends sensitively on the bond distance between the two nuclei as they vibrate in their ground state. Here, we report a complete numerical solution of the Schr?dinger equation for the double photoionization of H2. The results suggest that the distribution of photoelectrons emitted from aligned molecules reflects electron correlation effects that are purely molecular in origin.     

Identification of polymers as major components of atmospheric organic aerosols

Results from photooxidation of aromatic compounds in a reaction chamber show that a substantial fraction of the organic aerosol mass is composed of polymers. This polymerization results from reactions of carbonyls and their hydrates. After aging for more than 20 hours, about 50% of the particle mass consists of polymers with a molecular mass up to 1000 daltons. This results in a lower volatility of this secondary organic aerosol and a higher aerosol yield than a model using vapor pressures of individual organic species would predict.     

Phase evolution in a Kondo-correlated system

We measured the phase evolution of electrons as they traverse a quantum dot (QD) formed in a two-dimensional electron gas that serves as a localized spin. The traversal phase, determined by embedding the QD in a double path electron interferometer and measuring the quantum interference of the electron wave functions manifested by conductance oscillation as a function of a weak magnetic field, evolved by pi radians, a range twice as large as theoretically predicted. As the correlation weakened, a gradual transition to the familiar phase evolution of a QD was observed. The specific phase evolution observed is highly sensitive to the onset of Kondo correlation, possibly serving as an alternative fingerprint of the Kondo effect.     

Jupiter's Magnetosphere: Plasma Description from the Ulysses Flyby

Plasma observations at Jupiter show that the outer regions of the Jovian magnetosphere are remarkably similar to those of Earth. Bow-shock precursor electrons and ions were detected in the upstream solar wind, as at Earth. Plasma changes across the bow shock and properties of the magnetosheath electrons were much like those at Earth, indicating that similar processes are operating. A boundary layer populated by a varying mixture of solar wind and magnetospheric plasmas was found inside the magnetopause, again as at Earth. In the middle magnetosphere, large electron density excursions were detected with a 10-hour periodicity as planetary rotation carried the tilted plasma sheet past Ulysses. Deep in the magnetosphere, Ulysses crossed a region, tentatively described as magnetically connected to the Jovian polar cap on one end and to the interplanetary magnetic field on the other. In the inner magnetosphere and lo torus, where corotation plays a dominant role, measurements could not be made because of extreme background rates from penetrating radiation belt particles.     

Search by mariner 10 for electrons and protons accelerated in association with venus

The University of Chicago instrumnents on board the Mariner 10 spacecraft bound for Mercury have measured energy spectra and fluxes of electrons from 0.18 to 30 million electron volts and protons from 0.5 to 68 million electron volts along the plasma wake and in the bow shock regions associated with Venus. Unusually quiet solar conditions and improved instrumentation made it possible to search for much lower fluxes of protons and electrons in similar energy regions as compared to earlier Mariner missions to Venus-that is, lower by a factor of 10(2) for protons and 10(3) for electrons. We found no evidence for electrons or protons either in the form of increases of intensity or energy spectral changes in the vicinity of the planet, nor any evidence of bursts of radiation in or near the observed bow shock where bursts of electrons might have been expected in analogy with the bow shock at the earth. The importance of these null results for determining the necessary and sufficient conditions for particle acceleration is discussed with respect to magnetometer evidence that Venus does not have a magnetosphere.     

Permethylpolysilanes: Silicon Analogs of Hydrocarbons: Cyclic polysilanes resemble aromatic hydrocarbons in electronic and chemical properties

Studies of the spectra of cyclopolysilanes have led to several significant conclusions. These molecules possess both easily ionized Si-Si bonding electrons and low energy delocalized antibonding orbitals, and can therefore serve either as electron donors or acceptors. This model explains the similarity in properties between cyclopolysilanes and aromatic hydrocarbons. Further investigations of cyclopolysilanes seem likely to provide the key to understanding of controversial questions of bonding in metalloid compounds even as studies of their carbon analogs, the cyclic and cage hydrocarbons, have been crucial to present knowledge of organic stereochemistry and reaction mechanisms. The reactions of cyclopolysilanes are not only interesting in themselves, but have opened the way to the synthesis of complex polysilanes and thus to whole new areas of study. Improved methods of synthesis and isolation are needed, but the number and kinds of compounds that can be prepared seem almost limitless. Perhaps a polymetal chemistry comparable in breadth and variety to carbon chemistry is now developing.     

Saturnian trapped radiation and its absorption by satellites and rings: the first results from pioneer 11

Electrons and protons accelerated and trapped in a Saturnian magnetic field have been found by the University of Chicago experiments on Pioneer 11 within 20 Saturn radii (Rs) of the planet. In the innermost regions, strong absorption effects due to satellites and ring material were observed, and from approximately 4 Rs inwards to the outer edge of the A ring at 2.30 Rs (where the radiation is absorbed), the intensity distributions of protons (>/= 0.5 million electron volts) and electrons (2 to 20 million electron volts) were axially symmetric, consistent with a centered dipole aligned with the planetary rotation axis. The maximum fluxes observed for protons (> 35 million electron volts and for electrons < 3.4 million electron volts) were 3 x 10(4) and 3 x 10(6) per square centimeter per second, respectively. Absorption of radiation by Mimas provides a means of estimating the radial diffusion coefficient for charged particle transport. However, the rapid flux increases observed between absorption features raise new questions concerning the physics of charged particle transport and acceleration. An absorption feature near 2.5 Rs has led to the discovery of a previously unknown satellite with a diameter of approximately 200 kilometers, semimajor axis of 2.51 Rs, and eccentricity of 0.013. Radiation absorption features that suggest a nonuniform distribution of matter around Saturn have also been found from 2.34 to 2.36 Rs, near the position of the F ring discovered by the Pioneer imaging experiment. Beneath the A, B, and C rings we continued to observe a low flux of high-energy electrons. We conclude that the inner Saturn magnetosphere, because of its near-axial symmetry and the many discrete radiation absorption regions, offers a unique opportunity to study the acceleration and transport of charged particles in a planetary magnetic field.     

Dimensionality control of electronic phase transitions in nickel-oxide superlattices

The competition between collective quantum phases in materials with strongly correlated electrons depends sensitively on the dimensionality of the electron system, which is difficult to control by standard solid-state chemistry. We have fabricated superlattices of the paramagnetic metal lanthanum nickelate (LaNiO(3)) and the wide-gap insulator lanthanum aluminate (LaAlO(3)) with atomically precise layer sequences. We used optical ellipsometry and low-energy muon spin rotation to show that superlattices with LaNiO(3) as thin as two unit cells undergo a sequence of collective metal-insulator and antiferromagnetic transitions as a function of decreasing temperature, whereas samples with thicker LaNiO(3) layers remain metallic and paramagnetic at all temperatures. Metal-oxide superlattices thus allow control of the dimensionality and collective phase behavior of correlated-electron systems.     

Observation of atomic diffusion at twin-modified grain boundaries in copper

Grain boundaries affect the migration of atoms and electrons in polycrystalline solids, thus influencing many of the mechanical and electrical properties. By introducing nanometer-scale twin defects into copper grains, we show that we can change the grain-boundary structure and atomic-diffusion behavior along the boundary. Using in situ ultrahigh-vacuum and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, we observed electromigration-induced atomic diffusion in the twin-modified grain boundaries. The triple point where a twin boundary meets a grain boundary was found to slow down grain-boundary and surface electromigration by one order of magnitude. We propose that this occurs because of the incubation time of nucleation of a new step at the triple points. The long incubation time slows down the overall rate of atomic transport.     

Nonlinear Optics in Relativistic Plasmas and Laser Wake Field Acceleration of Electrons

When a terawatt-peak-power laser beam is focused into a gas jet, an electron plasma wave, driven by forward Raman scattering, is observed to accelerate a naturally collimated beam of electrons to relativistic energies (up to 10(9) total electrons, with an energy distribution maximizing at 2 megaelectron volts, a transverse emittance as low as 1 millimeter-milliradian, and a field gradient of up to 2 gigaelectron volts per centimeter). Electron acceleration and the appearance of high-frequency modulations in the transmitted light spectrum were both found to have sharp thresholds in laser power and plasma density. A hole in the center of the electron beam may indicate that plasma electrons were expelled radially.     

Resonant formation of DNA strand breaks by low-energy (3 to 20 eV) electrons

Most of the energy deposited in cells by ionizing radiation is channeled into the production of abundant free secondary electrons with ballistic energies between 1 and 20 electron volts. Here it is shown that reactions of such electrons, even at energies well below ionization thresholds, induce substantial yields of single- and double-strand breaks in DNA, which are caused by rapid decays of transient molecular resonances localized on the DNA's basic components. This finding presents a fundamental challenge to the traditional notion that genotoxic damage by secondary electrons can only occur at energies above the onset of ionization, or upon solvation when they become a slowly reacting chemical species.     

Reactions of solvated electrons initiated by sodium atom ionization at the vacuum-liquid interface

Solvated electrons are powerful reagents in the liquid phase that break chemical bonds and thereby create additional reactive species, including hydrogen atoms. We explored the distinct chemistry that ensues when electrons are liberated near the liquid surface rather than within the bulk. Specifically, we detected the products resulting from exposure of liquid glycerol to a beam of sodium atoms. The Na atoms ionized in the surface region, generating electrons that reacted with deuterated glycerol, C(3)D(5)(OD)(3), to produce D atoms, D(2), D(2)O, and glycerol fragments. Surprisingly, 43 ± 4% of the D atoms traversed the interfacial region and desorbed into vacuum before attacking C-D bonds to produce D(2).     

轮叶党参的种子形态及发芽情况

对轮叶党参种子的形态结构和发芽情况进行了研究，结果表明轮叶党参的种子是由种皮、胚芽、胚轴、胚根、子叶和胚乳组成的具翼种子。在不同处理的发芽试验中，赤霉素处理效果最好，特别是400ppm处理。种子未发芽的原因除种子未完全打破休眠外，用赤霉素处理的未萌发的种子中产生的一种黄色、黄褐色或褐色的物质，可抑制种子的正常发芽。     

Orbital physics in transition-metal oxides

An electron in a solid, that is, bound to or nearly localized on the specific atomic site, has three attributes: charge, spin, and orbital. The orbital represents the shape of the electron cloud in solid. In transition-metal oxides with anisotropic-shaped d-orbital electrons, the Coulomb interaction between the electrons (strong electron correlation effect) is of importance for understanding their metal-insulator transitions and properties such as high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance. The orbital degree of freedom occasionally plays an important role in these phenomena, and its correlation and/or order-disorder transition causes a variety of phenomena through strong coupling with charge, spin, and lattice dynamics. An overview is given here on this "orbital physics," which will be a key concept for the science and technology of correlated electrons.     

对微观客体本性的探讨

用光束就是光子流的观点不能够解释光的干涉,用电子束就是电子流的观点也不能解释电子的干涉,唯有用微观粒子的几率幅能够圆满地解释其干涉.因而,干涉可以理解为是两个几率幅之间的干涉.所以,从干涉实验来看,量子理论的最基本的概念,或者说,微观粒子的本性,应当是几率幅,而不是波粒二象性.     

Trapped free radicals and electrons in organic glasses

Free radicals, hydrogen atoms, and electrons produced in rigid organic glasses at sufficiently low temperatures have lifetimes of minutes to years. They can be studied by their electron spin resonance spectra and, in the case of electrons, by their optical spectra, recombination luminescence, and electrical conductivity. The decay kinetics of these reaction intermediates serve to distinguish those trapped as geminate pairs or in spurs of high concentration from those formed with random distributions. Electron spin resonance studies of relaxation times and of the spectra of radical pairs provide further evidence on geometrical distributions. The decay rates of radicals combining with reactive geminate partners are dependent on the size and shape of the radical, the temperature, and the nature of the matrix. Decay is much slower in deuterated matrices than in protiated matrices. The factors that control the physical trapping of electrons in organic glasses are under intensive investigation. There is evidence that many electrons trapped relatively weakly during irradiations at 4 degrees K deepen their traps by orientation of dipoles when the matrix is warmed; that most electrons are trapped in the field of the geminate positive ion; that in some matrices the traps have a bound excited state to which the electron can be promoted without detrapping; and that trapped electrons can tunnel to solute molecules with a higher electron affinity than the trap depth.     

Sculpting horizons in organic chemistry

Organic chemistry as a discipline derives from and impacts on the biological and abiological world in which we live. Its challenges lie in the areas of structure, reactivity, techniques, and concepts. Powerful structural tools reveal structures from biology that range from control of insect development and behavior to whole new metabolic pathways in humans. Unnatural products create beautiful new molecular shapes whose properties cannot be predicted as well as catalysts that function with enzyme-like control. From structure flows reactivity. Exploration of known reactions points to new directions, and development of new reactions offers the opportunity of streamlined synthetic design. Emerging new techniques offer new dimensions for performing and studying reactions as well as the hope for developing new ones. Merging disparate facts into unified concepts increases predictive capabilities. The extraordinary difficulty of finding the resultant of many small effects may obscure the presence of general theories, creates the art in the practice of the science, and challenges the practitioner. From these general themes derives the quest for selectivity--chemo-, regio-, diastereo-, and enantio-. An examination of the fundamental underpinnings of the applications of organic chemistry reveals that, while impressive strides have been made, the science is best described as being between infancy and childhood. The cross-fertilization between organic chemistry and molecular biology vividly illustrates a merging of chemistry and biology.     

有机化学教学中寓教于乐的几点探索

从学生日常生活的具体事例切入,寓教于学生感兴趣的事物和多彩的课外活动中,应用多媒体教学,尽可能使抽象的有机化学变得具体而有趣,从而激发学生学习的兴趣和主动性,提高教学效果和质量。