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At least 379 records · Page 21

Exploring Local Vibrational Structure in Protein-Bound Chlorophyll a: Isotope-Enrichment Experiments and Electrostatic Analysis

Local chlorophyll (Chl) vibrations play an essential role in biological photosynthesis by facilitating rapid energy transfer between pigments. In research studies, they also provide a useful spectroscopic probe of the local protein environment that surrounds each pigment. However, measuring the complete vibrational absorption spectrum of a protein-bound Chl molecule is much more difficult than, for example, Chl in neat solvent due to overlap with protein vibrations that typically drown out Chl vibrational features. Resonance Raman and fluorescence spectroscopies provide a way around this problem for Franck–Condon active vibrations, but these often rely on cryogenic measurement conditions and fail to capture vibrational signatures from, e.g., ester-group vibrations that lack coupling to a convenient electronic transition. In the present contribution, we use 13 C-enrichment of the protein backbone to shift protein background signals to lower frequency, providing a largely clean spectral window in which to study local Chl a C═O stretch modes. A room-temperature absorption spectrum for Chl a in the water-soluble chlorophyll protein (WSCP) of Lepidium virginicum is thus extracted as a difference between protein-plus-pigment and protein-only vibrational spectra. Excellent agreement in the molecular fingerprint region with the vibrational spectrum of Chl a in organic solvents confirms that the resulting spectrum represents the response of the protein-bound Chl a molecule. Furthermore, the ester group resonance is observed to shift in response to the S53P mutation that eliminates a 17 3 ester group hydrogen bond from the protein environment. Finally, we analyze these experimental results using MD-based electrostatic analysis, finding that electric-field mapping at the C atom of the ester group provides a satisfactory explanation for the observed frequency shifts between organic solvent and protein environment. MD analysis further suggests that a red-shifted ester peak observed experimentally for the S53P mutant results from solvation of the 17 3 Chl ester group due increase water penetration into the Chl-binding pocket relative to wild-type WSCP. Here, we anticipate that these results will prove useful both for benchmarking future simulation work and as a reference for interpreting Chl vibrational spectra as a probe of pigment–protein interactions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Infrared spectroscopy of RG–Co + (H 2 O) complexes (RG = Ar, Ne, He): The role of rare gas “tag” atoms

RG n –Co + (H 2 O) cation complexes (RG = Ar, Ne, He) are generated in a supersonic expansion by pulsed laser vaporization. Here, complexes are mass-selected using a time-of-flight spectrometer and studied with infrared laser photodissociation spectroscopy, measuring the respective mass channels corresponding to the elimination of the rare gas “tag” atom. Spectral patterns and theory indicate that the structures of the ions with a single rare gas atom have this bound to the cobalt cation opposite the water moiety in a near-C 2v arrangement. The O–H stretch vibrations of the complex are shifted compared to those of water because of the metal cation charge-transfer interaction; these frequencies also vary systematically with the rare gas atom attached. The efficiencies of photodissociation also vary with the rare gas atoms because of their widely different binding energies to the cobalt cation. The spectrum of the argon complex could only be measured when at least three argon atoms were attached. In the case of the helium complex, the low binding energy allows the spectra to be measured for the low-frequency H–O–H scissors bending mode and for the O–D stretches of the deuterated analog. The partially resolved rotational structure for the antisymmetric O–H and O–D stretches reveals the temperature of these complexes (6 K) and establishes the electronic ground state. The helium complex has the same 3 B 1 ground state as the tag-free complex studied previously by Metz and co-workers (2013), but the A rotational constant is contaminated by vibrational averaging from the bending motion of the helium.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Unified Wind-Wave Growth and Spectrum Functions for All Water Depths: Field Observations and Model Results

Abstract Wind-wave development is governed by the fetch- or duration-limited growth principle that is expressed as a pair of similarity functions relating the dimensionless elevation variance (wave energy) and spectral peak frequency to fetch or duration. Combining the pair of similarity functions, the fetch or duration variable can be removed to form a dimensionless function of elevation variance and spectral peak frequency, which is interpreted as the wave energy evolution with wave age. The relationship is initially developed for quasi-neural stability and quasi-steady wind forcing conditions. Further analyses show that the same fetch, duration, and wave-age similarity functions are applicable to unsteady wind forcing conditions, including rapidly accelerating and decelerating mountain gap wind episodes and tropical cyclone (TC) wind fields. Here it is shown that with the dimensionless frequency converted to dimensionless wavenumber using the surface wave dispersion relationship, the same similarity function is applicable in all water depths. Field data collected in shallow to deep waters and mild to TC wind conditions and synthetic data generated by spectrum model computations are assembled to illustrate the applicability. For the simulation work, the finite-depth wind-wave spectrum model and its shoaling function are formulated for variable spectral slopes. Given wind speed, wave age, and water depth, the measured and spectrum-computed significant wave heights and the associated growth parameters are in good agreement in forcing conditions from mild to TC winds and in all depths from deep ocean to shallow lake. Significance Statement This paper presents a growth function and spectrum model to describe wind-wave development in all water depths. Their applicability covers a wide range of wind forcing conditions including steady, accelerating, decelerating, and tropical cyclone events. Support for the unified spectrum model and growth function is presented with field observations and numerical computations.

Hwang, Paul A.↗

Quasilinear Analysis in the Source Region of Jovian Hectometric Emission Associated With Upward Electron Beams

Abstract Intense upward electron beams were measured by the Juno JADE instrument in the northern hemisphere, low‐latitude auroral zone source region. In this study we report on how these electron beams interact with plasma near and within the Jovian hectometric (HOM) emission (1 MHz 5 MHz) source region. Within the source region large upward loss cones are observed in the northern polar region at radial distances of 2Rj, magnetic latitude of . Intense, narrow electron beams ( 3 keV) are then observed, but within one second wave‐particle scattering is observed, filling the loss cone to energies 50 keV. These energies persist for several seconds before fading, leaving an empty loss cone again. The loss cone provides a free‐energy source for HOM emission resulting from the cyclotron maser instability. We use quasilinear analysis to examine the generation of HOM and the dynamics of wave‐particle interaction of the electron beams with HOM, and the generation via Landau interaction of whistler mode emission. The dynamic spectrum of the HOM emission generated by the loss‐cone electrons as well as that of the low‐frequency whistler‐mode waves generated by the up‐going electron beam can be constructed by quasilinear theory, which compare well with observation. The saturated state of the energetic electron velocity distribution function constructed via quasilinear theory also compare reasonably with observation.

Yoon, P. H. [Institute for Physical Science and Te↗

Discovery of a z ∼ 0.8 ultra steep spectrum radio halo in the MeerKAT-South Pole Telescope Survey

Radio haloes are diffuse synchrotron sources that trace the turbulent intracluster medium (ICM) of galaxy clusters. However, their origin remains unknown. Two main formation models have been proposed: the hadronic model, in which relativistic electrons are continuously injected by cosmic-ray protons; and the leptonic turbulent re-acceleration model, where cluster mergers re-energize electrons in situ. A key discriminant between the two models would be the existence of ultra-steep spectrum radio haloes (USSRHs), which can only be produced through turbulent re-acceleration. Here, we report the discovery of an USSRH in the galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ2337–5942 at redshift $z = 0.78$ in the MeerKAT-South Pole Telescope 100 deg$^2$ UHF (0.58–1.09 GHz) survey. This discovery is noteworthy for two primary reasons: it is the highest redshift USSRH system to date; and the close correspondence of the radio emission with the thermal ICM as traced by Chandra X-ray observations, further supporting the leptonic re-acceleration model. The halo is underluminous for its mass, consistent with a minor merger origin, which produces steep-spectrum, lower luminosity haloes. This result demonstrates the power of wide-field, high-fidelity, low-frequency ($\lesssim 1$ GHz) surveys like the MeerKAT-SPT 100 deg$^2$ programme to probe the origin and evolution of radio haloes over cosmic time, ahead of the Square Kilometre Array.

X-rays: galaxies↗

Nonequilibrium dynamics of two-level systems directly after cryogenic alternating bias

Two-level systems (TLSs) are a dominant decoherence mechanism in superconducting qubits, microwave kinetic inductance detectors, and quantum dots. TLSs are tunneling states commonly found in amorphous materials and interfaces, which interact electromechanically, leading to energy loss. Fluctuations in the frequency of the TLSs are a significant problem for qubit operation and force recalibration every few hours. In this study, we probe the effect of alternating bias at cryogenic temperatures on TLSs in a purpose-built LC oscillator. When an in situ alternating bias is applied, the steady-state spectra of the TLSs disappear. Spectroscopy reveals transient behavior, in which the TLS frequency fluctuates on the order of minutes. Thermal cycling above 10 K reverses these effects, restoring the TLS spectrum to its original state. Importantly, the intrinsic loss tangent of the LC oscillator remains unchanged before and after the application of the alternating bias. We propose that the disappearance of the steady-state spectrum is caused by nonequilibrium energy buildup from strain in the oxide film introduced by the pulsed voltage-bias sequence. Understanding this nonequilibrium energy could shed light on TLS fluctuations and reduce the calibration requirements for qubits.

general physics↗

Two-Tone Spectroscopy of 3D SRF Cavities to Understand Two-Level System Loss

So-called two-level system (TLS) defects are among the most detrimental sources of loss and decoherence in superconducting quantum devices, and their microscopic nature still poorly understood. We develop a two-tone spectroscopy technique to characterize the spectral line width of TLS. This knowledge will help to distinguishes various types of TLS defects. In our experiments we use the fundamental TM010 pass band modes of 9-cell elliptical SRF cavities to probe spectral properties of TLS in native niobium oxide formed on the inside walls of the resonator. We pump one of the modes (4¿/9 through 8¿/9) with continuous high-power to saturate TLSs that couple to this frequency, and we probe the Q-factor of the ¿-mode. We observe increase of the quality factor of the probed ¿-mode when one of the neighboring modes is pumped. Extremely high quality factors of the pass band modes and their relative proximity in the frequency space allow us to estimate the width of the spectral hole burned in the TLS bath absorption spectrum which is related to the line spectral width of the TLS defects.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Quasiclassical Computations of Compton-Scattered Spectra

Quality X-ray sources are crucial to fundamental physics research, medical radiology, humanities research, and materials science. While synchrotron radiation (SR) facilities produce the state-of-the-art emissions with respect to brilliance and frequency tunability, the great expense required to build, maintain, and operate these structures greatly limits their accessibility to researchers. Much of the research conducted at SR facilities, however, may be conducted with inverse Compton sources (ICS). Accelerator-based Compton scattering light sources generate high-energy, high-brilliance emissions. Compton scattering is the process by which a photon scatters o? an electron. ICS offer an affordable, in-lab alternative to SR facilities. Even though SR facilities produce greater intensity emissions, Compton sources provide the same frequency tunability at the intensities suitable for the purposes of many researchers currently fighting for time at SR facilities, i.e., ICS provides intensities suitable for contrast imaging, X-ray fluorescence, X-ray-diffraction, and X-ray spectroscopy. The focus of this work is to create computational models to simulate Compton-scattered spectra. These models have been used to build a theoretical basis for methods of improving the quality of future Compton sources and to preform diagnostic analysis of existing light sources. The theoretical basis of each model is derived from first principles. The numerical methods employed by each model are defined. A full description of the various functionalities of each code will be addressed. Furthermore, an in-depth analysis of spectral bandwidth sources is discussed. The complex physics arising from an extremely high-intensity, nonlinear laser pulse is explored in detail. Methods of frequency modulation of the incident laser, i.e., a method for correcting the nonlinear broadening effects on the scattered spectrum, will also be discussed. The work will conclude with a an exploration of the ongoing research efforts regarding regimes of operation outside of the limits of these current models.

Johnson, Erik↗

What do far-infrared spectra of solitary water in “water-in-solvent” systems reveal about water’s solvation and dynamics?

Classical molecular dynamics simulations of water in ionic and dipolar solvents were used to interpret the far-infrared (FIR) rotation/libration spectra of “solitary water” in terms of water’s rotational dynamics and interactions with solvents. Seven solvents represented by nonpolarizable all-atom force fields and a series of idealized variable-charge solvents were used to span the range of solvent polarities (hydrogen bonding) studied experimentally. Simulated spectra capture the solvent dependence observed, as well as the relationship between the frequencies of water libration (νL) and OH stretching bands (νOH). In more strongly interacting solvents, simulated νL are ∼20% higher than those of experiment. In all solvents, the simulated spectra are composites of rotational motions about the two axes perpendicular to water’s dipole moment, and the different frequencies of these two motions are responsible for the breadth of the libration band and the bimodal shape observed in halide ionic liquids. Simulations overestimate the separation of these two components in most solvents. The character of water rotational motions changes markedly with solvent polarity, from quasi-free rotation in nonpolar and weakly polar solvents to highly constrained libration in strongly hydrogen bonding environments. The changeover to librational motions dominating the spectrum occurs between solvents such as benzene (νL ∼ 250 cm−1) and acetonitrile (νL ∼ 400 cm−1). For solvents in the latter category, the mean frequency of the experimental FIR band provides a direct measure of mean-squared torques and, therefore, force constants associated with interactions constraining water’s librational motion.

Chemistry↗

Coupled surface plasmon–phonon polariton nanocavity arrays for enhanced mid-infrared absorption

Abstract Resonant optical cavities are essential components in mid-infrared applications. However, typical film-type cavities require multilayer stacks with a micron-thick spacer due to mid-infrared wavelengths, and their performance is limited by narrow frequency tunability and angular sensitivity. We propose and experimentally demonstrate the subwavelength-scale (≈ λ 0 /150) resonant nanocavity arrays that enhance the absorption spectrum of the device in the mid-infrared (10–12 microns) via excitation of coupled surface plasmon–phonon polaritons. The proposed metal–insulator–polar dielectric (gold–silicon–silicon carbide) structure supports a guided mode of the coupled surface polaritons in the lateral direction while vertically confining the mid-infrared wave within the 80 nm thick dielectric spacer. In particular, the subwavelength-scale (≈ λ 0 /10) gratings are imposed to form Fabry–Pérot cavity arrays displaying angle-insensitive and frequency-tunable absorption of up to 80% of the optical power in the mid-infrared. Our work should benefit diverse mid-infrared applications and novel designs of polariton-based photonic devices.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Surface Hydration and Hydroxyl Configurations of Gibbsite and Boehmite Nanoplates

Discontinuation of the bulk structure at the interface between metal oxide particles and water leads to altered bonding characteristics and unique facet-dependent molecular environments. Surface hydration and consequent hydroxylation adds further complexity to the interface, details that for metal (oxy)hydroxides are especially difficult to isolate from the background signal of bulk structural hydroxyls. Here we probe for the first time the hydroxylation and hydration structures on basal surfaces of gibbsite (?-Al(OH)3) and boehmite (?-AlOOH) nanoplates at ambient conditions, using the interface-sensitive technique vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy (VSFG). Hydroxyl stretching modes at the interfaces with adsorbed water layers compared directly to Raman and infrared bulk modes show that while gibbsite surface frequencies were sharp and nearly identical to those in the bulk, boehmite surface hydroxyls displayed a very different broad spectrum of states. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of both basal surfaces with and without hydration waters reveal that gibbsite surface hydroxyls interact only weakly with overlying hydration waters remaining essentially unperturbed, whereasthose on boehmite can interact more strongly facilitated by higher configurational degrees of freedom at the interface. The findings clearly unveil substantial differences in the hydrated interfacial dynamics of these two otherwise similar materials, with implications for their interfacial chemistry and wettability.

Sassi, Michel JPC↗

Directional Variations in Tidal Flow Multifractality and Intermittency

We explored distinct directional variations of multifractal and intermittent characteristics of ebb and flood flow velocities at nodule point, WA, tidal energy site, and complementary inspection on the East River, NY using scaling exponents of the structure function, distribution flatness, detrending moving average (DMA) analysis, multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA), and high-order spectral moments. Our findings reveal that tidal flow presents higher long-range dependence (LRD) and intermittent levels for the ebb flow sections, whereas the flood flow sections exhibit a higher degree of multifractality and greater sensitivity to larger magnitude of turbulent fluctuations. We demonstrate that long-range dependence predominantly contributes to multifractal behavior in both ebb and flood flows, as evidenced by the significantly reduced multifractal spectrum width for temporally randomly permuted time series. Moreover, spectral kurtosis analysis uncovers a higher intermittent level across all frequency scales for ebb flow sections and reveals a distinct pattern of tidal flow intermittency differing from the monotonically increasing intermittent level observed in wall-bounded and grid turbulence. Finally, we demonstrate that DMA, MF-DFA, and high-order spectral moments provide more comprehensive insights than structure function scaling exponents and PDF flatness methods.

Cheng, Shyuan [Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champai↗

Diffuse sources, clustering, and the excess anisotropy of the radio synchrotron background

ABSTRACT We present the largest low frequency (120 MHz) arcminute resolution image of the radio synchrotron background (RSB) to date, and its corresponding angular power spectrum of anisotropies (APS) with angular scales ranging from 3° to 0.3 arcmin. We show that the RSB around the north celestial pole has a significant excess anisotropy power at all scales over a model of unclustered point sources based on source counts of known source classes. This anisotropy excess, which does not seem attributable to the diffuse Galactic emission, could be linked to the surface brightness excess of the RSB. To better understand the information contained within the measured APS, we model the RSB varying the brightness distribution, size, and angular clustering of potential sources. We show that the observed APS could be produced by a population of faint clustered point sources only if the clustering is extreme and the size of the Gaussian clusters is ≲1 arcmin. We also show that the observed APS could be produced by a population of faint diffuse sources with sizes ≲1 arcmin, and this is supported by features present in our image. Both of these cases would also cause an associated surface brightness excess. These classes of sources are in a parameter space not well probed by even the deepest radio surveys to date.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Enhancement of the photon emission rate near the QCD critical point

We compute photon emission rate enhancement near the QCD critical point using an effective theory of dynamic critical phenomena and derive a universal photon spectrum. The emission rate scales similar to conductivity, increasing with the correlation length (𝜉), diverging at the critical point. The spectrum exhibits 𝜔⁢𝑑⁢𝑁 𝛾 /𝑑 3 ⁢𝑘 ∝ 𝜔 −1/2 in the scaling regime, with the transition occurring at a frequency comparable to shear damping rate 𝜔 ∼ 𝛾 𝜂 /𝜉 2 , reflecting the nonequilibrium properties of the near-critical liquid.

dynamic critical phenomena↗

Rapid method for computing the mechanical resonances of irregular objects

A solid object's geometry, density, and elastic moduli completely determine its spectrum of normal modes. Solving the inverse problem—determining a material's elastic moduli given a set of resonance frequencies and sample geometry—relies on the ability to compute resonance spectra accurately and efficiently. Established methods for calculating these spectra are either fast but limited to simple geometries, or are applicable to arbitrarily shaped samples at the cost of being prohibitively slow. Here, we describe a method to rapidly compute the normal modes of irregularly shaped objects using entirely open-source software. Our method's accuracy compares favorably with existing methods for simple geometries and shows a significant improvement in speed over existing methods for irregular geometries.

Acoustics↗

Constraining Cosmic Microwave Background Temperature Evolution With Sunyaev–Zel’Dovich Galaxy Clusters from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope

The Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (SZ) effect introduces a specific distortion of the blackbody spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation when it scatters off hot gas in clusters of galaxies. The frequency dependence of the distortion is only independent of the cluster redshift when the evolution of the CMB radiation is adiabatic. Here, using 370 clusters within the redshift range 0.07 ≲ z ≲ 1.4 from the largest SZ-selected cluster sample to date from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, we provide new constraints on the deviation of CMB temperature evolution from the standard model $\alpha ={0.017}_{-0.032}^{+0.029}$, where $T(z)={T}_{0}{\left(1+z\right)}^{1-\alpha }$. This result is consistent with no deviation from the standard adiabatic model. Combining it with previous, independent data sets we obtain a joint constraint of α = –0.001 ± 0.012. Attributing deviation from adiabaticity to the decay of dark energy, this result constrains its effective equation of state ${w}_{\mathrm{eff}}=-{0.998}_{-0.010}^{+0.008}$.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Single Carrier Modulation Resource Allocation for Massive MIMO with Virtual Antennas

Today’s Massive MIMO cellular operation is dominated by orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation. One of the advantages of OFDM is the flexibility to carve up the available spectrum into resource blocks (RBs) that can operate adjacent to one another. Massive MIMO adds spatial multiplexing layers on top of the RBs, enabling the simultaneous operation of dozens of UEs. Cyclic prefixed single carrier modulation (CP-SCM) is an alternative to OFDM that also benefits from massive MIMO and is useful as an OFDM alternative in specific scenarios. However, until recently, no resource allocation method has been proposed for CP-SCM. In this paper, we present a CP-SCM resource allocation scheme using virtual antennas in a massive MIMO time domain duplexed scenario. By creating several virtual antennas for each physical antenna, the benefits of massive MIMO are achieved with a smaller physical antenna count. Resources are quantized into data streams, and each user can be assigned a variable number of simultaneous streams. This paper presents a detailed development and analysis of multi-stream processing (MSP) for both uplink detection and downlink precoding. We also introduce heterogeneous MSP, where CP-SCM and OFDM signals can be processed in the same MSP framework.

5G and beyond communications↗

A Novel Measurement of the Anomalous Muon Spin Precession Frequency in the Muon $g-2$ Experiment at Fermilab

The Muon $g-2$ Experiment operated at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL, or Fermilab) between 2018 and 2023 to produce the world's most precise measurement of the muon's \textit{anomalous magnetic moment}, $a_\mu = \frac{g_\mu - 2}{2}$, which expresses the relative deviation in the muon's $g$-factor from a baseline theoretical expectation that $g_\mu = 2$. In the Standard Model of particle physics, $g_\mu > 2$ and hence $a_\mu > 0$ by a calculable amount that depends on all possible interactions between the muon and all other fundamental particles, including any potentially undiscovered interactions beyond the Standard Model. For this reason, measurements of the electron anomaly $a_e$ and later the muon anomaly $a_\mu$ have helped guide the development of the Standard Model since the inception of quantum field theory, and the measured value of $a_\mu$ provides a valuable constraint for new hypotheses that extend the Standard Model. As of 2006, the leading measurement and Standard Model prediction for $a_\mu$ exhibited tension at the level of about three standard deviations, motivating an improved measurement at Fermilab that could test the tension more precisely. The experiment functions by storing a polarized beam of $\mu^+$ in a uniform magnetic field, which simultaneously induces circular motion and spin precession. As the stored muons undergo the Michel decay $\mu^+ \to e^+ + \nu_e + \bar{\nu}_\mu$, mediated by the parity-violating weak interaction, the rest-frame $e^+$ emission direction is correlated with the parent $\mu^+$ spin orientation. Boosting into the laboratory frame encodes this correlation in the decay $e^+$ energy, which is higher when the emission (i.e. $\mu^+$ spin direction) is aligned with the $\mu^+$ momentum, and lower when opposite. Detectors then count the rate of high-energy decay $e^+$, which modulates at the difference between the $\mu^+$ revolution and spin precession frequencies. This observed frequency, called the \textit{anomalous spin precession frequency} $\omega_a$, is directly proportional to $a_\mu$. The extraction of $\omega_a$ proceeds by fitting the time spectrum of detected $e^+$, which requires precise modeling of the $\omega_a$ oscillation as well as any perturbations from beam dynamics and detector acceptance. Using the $\omega_a$ analysis presented in this work, based on Runs 4 -- 6 of the Muon $g-2$ Experiment at Fermilab, we find that $a_\mu = 0.001\,165\,920\,738(162)$ with a relative uncertainty of 139 parts per billion.

Barrett, Tyler [Cornell U.]↗