Quasistatic and kinetic studies of the infrared CO stretch bands of carbonmonoxymyoglobin show that proteins and glasses share essential characteristics, in particular metastability below a transition temperature and relaxation processes that are nonexponential in time and non-Arrhenius in temperature.

The problems involved in the determination of operator-product coefficients in nondiagonal conformal field theories are explained. The methods of Dotsenko and Fateev are used to derive formulas which allow one to compute these coefficients. A careful treatment of the issue of uniqueness of the results proves to be necessary.

Measurements of the combined differential cross sections dσ/dy for ${\nu }_{\mu }$ and ν${¯}_{\mu }$ scattering by electrons yield the value ${\sin }^2$${\mathrm{\theta }}_{\mathrm{W}}$=0.195±0.018±0.013. This value, at $Q^2$≃1×${10}^{\mathrm{-}3}$ (GeV/c${)}^2$, is more precise than and in good agreement with our determination from the ratio of the total cross sections for the same reaction. It is consistent with, but lower than, the value determined from deep-inelastic neutrino scattering.

We present evidence for the non-Abelian nature of QCD from a study of multijet events produced in $e^{+}$$e^{\mathrm{-}}$ annihilations from √s =50 to 57 GeV in the AMY detector at the KEK storage ring TRISTAN. A comparison of the three-jet event fraction at TRISTAN to the fraction of the DESY storage ring PETRA shows that the QCD coupling strength ${\alpha }_s$ decreases with increasing $Q^2$. In addition, measurements of the angular distributions of four-jet events show evidence for the triple-gluon vertex.

Using the Tagged Photon Spectrometer and a high-energy photon beam, we have searched for excited states of charm in Fermilab experiment E691. We have found evidence for a state of mass 2459±3 (stat.) ±2 (syst.) MeV/$c^2$ and width 20±10±5 MeV/$c^2$ which decays to $D^{+}$${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$. The fraction of $D^{+}$ coming from $D^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{*}0}$(2459) is 0.07±0.02±0.02. We also confirm the $D^{\mathrm{*}\mathrm{*}0}$(2420)→$D^{\mathrm{*}+}$${\pi }^{\mathrm{-}}$ decay observed previously in $e^{+}$$e^{\mathrm{-}}$ experiments and present evidence for its charged counterpart.

Using a sample of approximately 120 ${\Lambda }_c^{+}$→${\mathrm{pK}}^{\mathrm{-}}$${\pi }^{+}$ decays reconstructed in photoproduction experiment E691 at Fermilab, we have searched for ${\Sigma }_c$ production and decay into ${\Lambda }_c$π. A signal of 14±4 ${\Sigma }_c^0$ decays is observed. The ${\Sigma }_c^0$-${\Lambda }_c^{+}$ mass difference is measured to be 168.4±1.0±0.3 MeV/$c^2$. We also report on the relative fraction of ${\Sigma }_c$ production as compared to inclusive ${\Lambda }_c$ production at an average photon energy of 145 GeV.

It is demonstrated that the spin distribution in the nucleon surface determines the value of $g_A$/$g_V$. This ratio is shown to be scale invariant; it is sensitive to the surface thickness and to the type of quark confinement (Dirac-scalar or -vector) and vanishes for pure vector confinement. A phase transition is found from confinement to deconfinement when the ratio of vector to scalar confinement falls below a critical value (-1.0). Experiments to probe a Dirac-vector component in the (free or bound) nucleon are proposed in the light of the CPT theorem.

Quasielastic-scattering cross sections of ${}_{}{}^{28}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Si}$${+}^{58}$,64Ni have been measured in the energy range $E_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.\mathrm{}}$=50.0–76.5 MeV. The transfer channels with a large cross section produce a considerable effect on the elastic scattering for ${}_{}{}^{28}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Si}$${+}^{64}$Ni, while the effect is small for ${}_{}{}^{28}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Si}$${+}^{58}$Ni because of the small transfer yield. A coupled-channels calculation including one neutron transfer and inelastic excitation explains well not only the energy dependence but also the isotope dependence of the quasielastic scattering with a single energy- and isotope-independent bare potential.

The stopping power for antiprotons has been measured for the first time. The antiproton stopping power of silicon is found to be 3%–19% lower than for equivelocity protons over the energy range 3.01 to 0.538 MeV. The ‘‘$Z_1^3$ contribution’’ to the stopping power (the Barkas effect) is deduced by comparing the stopping power for protons and antiprotons.

The energy dependences of the differential cross sections for the electron impact excitation of the higher vibrational levels (v=2 and v=3) of HF and HCl have been measured. Besides the threshold peak a resonance structure has been observed in the v=3 excitation functions of HF below the cusp structure at the opening of the v=4 channel. This resonance structure is the first experimental proof for the existence of the nuclear-excited Feshbach resonances which are interpreted to be the origin of the threshold peaks in the vibrational excitation channels.

We have measured projectile Auger electrons emitted after collisions of H-like F with ${\mathrm{H}}_2$. The cross sections for emission of KLL, KLM, KLN, and KLO Auger electrons show maxima as a function of the projectile energy. One maximum in the KLL emission cross section is due to resonant transfer and excitation. A second maximum in the cross section for KLL emission as well as the maxima in the emission cross section for the higher-n Auger electrons are attributed to a new transfer and excitation process. This involves excitation of a projectile electron by one target electron accompanied by the capture of a second target electron.

Shortly after Hawking’s prediction of thermal radiation from black holes, it became apparent that observers in accelerating frames should see a Planck distribution of electromagnetic radiation (Unruh radiation). Since an acceleration g=980 cm/${\sec }^2$ produces a radiation temperature of only ∼4×${10}^{\mathrm{-}20}$ K, the detection of such thermal radiation is a major challenge. A nonlinear optical medium whose index of refraction is changing rapidly with time accelerates zero-point quantum fluctuations. The sudden ionization of a gas or a semiconductor crystal to generate a plasma on a subpicosecond time scale can produce a reference frame accelerating at ∼${10}^{20}$g relative to an inertial frame.

We show that a new class of optical solitons is possible in nonlinear periodic structures. These waves can propagate undistorted even though their power spectra lie well within the frequency band gap of the periodic structure and even though their carrier frequency is very close to the Bragg resonance. Analysis shows that these Bragg solitons can exhibit velocities which are orders of magnitude lower than the speed of light in the unperturbed medium.

In a θ pinch discharge satellites to Δn=1 transitions between high-lying levels are observed for the ions Si ix, Si x, and Si xi, but not for Si xii. They are identified as Δn=1 transitions between the corresponding levels of doubly excited systems. At high densities, the series of Rydberg levels above their respective thermal limit are collisionally coupled to their ionization limit: The intensity ratio of a transition to that of its satellite thus offers the unique possibility of measuring the ratio of the population density in the ground energy level of the next ionization stage to that in the lowest excited levels of this ion.

Using Lagrangian transformation, the nonlinear evolution of Rayleigh-Taylor instability is investigated in magnetic fluids. We show that the formation of bubbles on the interface can be inhibited by using magnetic fluids of higher permeabilities or increasing the strength of the applied magnetic field. The model developed here successfully explains qualitatively the trend observed experimentally by Rosensweig.

By molecular-dynamics simulation, we investigate the possible existence of a crumpling transition for a model of tethered membranes, where the particles are tethered by a continuous potential. For distant-neighbor interactions, the potential is repulsive and contains a variable hard-core diameter parameter. By varying this parameter, we are able to study in detail the effect of self-avoidance. Our results suggest the interpretation that self-avoiding two-dimensional tethered membranes are asymptotically flat, even without an explicit bending rigidity, and that there is no crumpling transition except for ‘‘phantom’’ membranes.

In an attempt to resolve the long lasting controversy about the magnitude of the direct-force valence of impurities in the theory of electromigration, the effective valence, ${\mathrm{Z}}^{\mathrm{*}}$, for interstitial hydrogen has been determined in concentrated disordered ${\mathrm{Nb}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathrm{y}}$${\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{y}}$ alloys. ${\mathrm{Z}}^{\mathrm{*}}$ is found to be almost equal to unity independent of temperature and alloy composition. The important implication of these results is that for hydrogen in ${\mathrm{Nb}}_{1\mathrm{-}\mathrm{y}}$${\mathrm{V}}_{\mathrm{y}}$ alloys the direct-force valence ${\mathrm{Z}}_{\mathrm{d}}$=+1, equal to the charge of the unscreened proton, in agreement with the recent theory of Lodder.

The dynamics of the interface between an ordered phase, characterized by an order parameter, ψ, and a disordered phase where ψ=0 provide a promising, powerful tool to distinguish between continuous or second-order and weakly first-order phase transitions. We apply this idea to the nematic–smectic-A transition and find that this transition is weakly first order even when the latent heat is too small to measure.

We report high-resolution x-ray scattering results on the relaxation behavior of a glass-forming intercalate, ${\mathrm{HNO}}_3$-graphite. Isothermal annealing following a shallow quench is found to proceed via a sequence of discrete metastable states with modulated structures and appears to be a cooperative process.

We study a lattice gas with repulsive nearest-neighbor interactions driven to steady state by an external electric field E. Using Monte Carlo techniques on a two-dimensional system, we find, in the E-T plane, a line of second-order transitions joining a line of first-order ones, at a point which is probably tricritical. From a field theoretical model, we show that the operator associated with E is naively irrelevant for critical behavior. This expectation is borne out by the Monte Carlo result β=(1/8.