Dense random packing of disks with a power-law size distribution in thermodynamic limit.

The correlation properties of a random system of densely packed disks, obeying a power-law size distribution, are analyzed in reciprocal space in the thermodynamic limit. This limit assumes that the total number of disks increases infinitely, while the mean density of the disk centers and the range of the size distribution are kept constant. We investigate the structure factor dependence on momentum transfer across various number of disks and extrapolate these findings to the thermodynamic limit.

Dense random packing with a power-law size distribution: The structure factor, mass-radius relation, and pair distribution function.

We consider a dense random packing of disks with a power-law distribution of radii and investigate their correlation properties. We study the corresponding structure factor, mass-radius relation, and pair distribution function of the disk centers. A toy model of dense segments in one dimension (1D) is solved exactly.

Revised scattering exponents for a power-law distribution of surface and mass fractals.

We consider scattering exponents arising in small-angle scattering from power-law polydisperse surface and mass fractals. It is shown that a set of fractals, whose sizes are distributed according to a power law, can change its fractal dimension when the power-law exponent is sufficiently big. As a result, the scattering exponent corresponding to this dimension appears due to the spatial correlations between positions of different fractals.

The structure of deterministic mass and surface fractals: theory and methods of analyzing small-angle scattering data.

Small-angle scattering (SAS) of X-rays, neutrons or light from ensembles of randomly oriented and placed deterministic fractal structures is studied theoretically. In the standard analysis, a very few parameters can be determined from SAS data: the fractal dimension, and the lower and upper limits of the fractal range. The self-similarity of deterministic structures allows one to obtain additional characteristics of their spatial structures.

Multiscale wavelet decomposition of time-resolved X-ray diffraction signals in cyclohexadiene.

We demonstrate how the wavelet transform, which is a powerful tool for compression, filtering, and scaling analysis of signals, may be used to separate large- and short-scale electron density features in X-ray diffraction patterns. Wavelets can isolate the electron density associated with delocalized bonds from the much stronger background of highly localized core electrons. The wavelet-processed signals clearly reveal the bond formation and breaking in the early steps of the photoinduced pericyclic ring opening reaction of 1,3-cyclohexadiene, which are not resolved in the bare signal.

Macrocycle ring deformation as the secondary design principle for light-harvesting complexes.

Natural light-harvesting is performed by pigment-protein complexes, which collect and funnel the solar energy at the start of photosynthesis. The identity and arrangement of pigments largely define the absorption spectrum of the antenna complex, which is further regulated by a palette of structural factors. Small alterations are induced by pigment-protein interactions.

Power Spectrum of Long Eigenlevel Sequences in Quantum Chaotic Systems.

We present a nonperturbative analysis of the power spectrum of energy level fluctuations in fully chaotic quantum structures. Focusing on systems with broken time-reversal symmetry, we employ a finite-N random matrix theory to derive an exact multidimensional integral representation of the power spectrum. The N→∞ limit of the exact solution furnishes the main result of this study-a universal, parameter-free prediction for the power spectrum expressed in terms of a fifth Painlevé transcendent.

Small-angle scattering from the Cantor surface fractal on the plane and the Koch snowflake.

The small-angle scattering (SAS) from the Cantor surface fractal on the plane and Koch snowflake is considered. We develop the construction algorithm for the Koch snowflake, which makes possible the recurrence relation for the scattering amplitude. The surface fractals can be decomposed into a sum of surface mass fractals for arbitrary fractal iteration, which enables various approximations for the scattering intensity.

Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in thin films at reflecting substrates as a means to study nanoscale structure and dynamics at soft-matter interfaces.

Structure and dynamics at soft-matter interfaces play an important role in nature and technical applications. Optical single-molecule investigations are noninvasive and capable to reveal heterogeneities at the nanoscale. In this work we develop an autocorrelation function (ACF) approach to retrieve tracer diffusion parameters obtained from fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) experiments in thin liquid films at reflecting substrates.

Effects of far-red light on fluorescence induction in infiltrated pea leaves under diminished ΔpH and Δφ components of the proton motive force.

Chlorophyll fluorescence induction curves induced by an actinic pulse of red light follow different kinetics in dark-adapted plant leaves and leaves preilluminated with far-red light. This influence of far-red light was abolished in leaves infiltrated with valinomycin known to eliminate the electrical (Δφ) component of the proton-motive force and was strongly enhanced in leaves infiltrated with nigericin that abolishes the ΔpH component. The supposed influence of ionophores on different components of the proton motive force was supported by differential effects of these ionophores on the induction curves of the millisecond component of chlorophyll delayed fluorescence.

Integrable theory of quantum transport in chaotic cavities.

The problem of quantum transport in chaotic cavities with broken time-reversal symmetry is shown to be completely integrable in the universal limit. This observation is utilized to determine the cumulants and the distribution function of conductance for a cavity with ideal leads supporting an arbitrary number n of propagating modes. Expressed in terms of solutions to the fifth Painlevé transcendent and/or the Toda lattice equation, the conductance distribution is further analyzed in the large-n limit that reveals long exponential tails in the otherwise Gaussian curve.

Are bosonic replicas faulty?

Motivated by the ongoing discussion about a seeming asymmetry in the performance of fermionic and bosonic replicas, we present an exact, nonperturbative approach to both fermionic and bosonic zero-dimensional replica field theories belonging to the broadly interpreted beta=2 Dyson symmetry class. We then utilize the formalism developed to demonstrate that the bosonic replicas do correctly reproduce the microscopic spectral density in the QCD-inspired chiral Gaussian unitary ensemble. This disproves the myth that the bosonic replica field theories are intrinsically faulty.