Magic Character Research Articles

Special features of single-particle proton spectra of nickel, zinc, and germanium isotopes in the vicinity of the proton drip line

The single-particle proton spectra of the neutron-deficient isotopes 50,52Ni, 56,58,60,62Zn, and 60,62,64Ge were calculated on the basis of the dispersive optical model whose parameters were extrapolated from the region of stable isotopes. The resulting parameter values lead to agreement between the total number of protons in bound states and the charge number Z of the respective nucleus. The results of the calculations are indicative of a weakly magic character of the 58Zn nucleus, which has a traditional magic number of N = 28 and a nearly magic number of Z = 30, and the 64Ge nucleus, for which N = Z = 32.

Theoretical study on the magic character of In6Na2 cluster

A detailed investigation on the stability and electronic properties of InnNa2 (n=4–9) clusters is performed by density functional theory, in search for unusually stable motifs. The In6Na2 cluster is characterized by an electronic shell closure with enhanced stability, a larger gap between the highest-occupied and the lowest-unoccupied molecular orbitals, a higher ionization potential, and a lower electronic affinity as compared with adjacent clusters, suggesting that In6Na2 is a magic cluster. Furthermore, the calculated vertical ionization potentials of InnNa2 agree well with available experimental data, indicating that the obtained structures are good candidates for the ground-state geometries of InnNa2.

The Reception of Sefer Yetsirah and Jewish Mysticism in the Early Middle Ages

The history of the interpretation of Sefer Yetsirah has been commonly divided in scholarship into two periods: the first one, between the 10th and the 12th centuries A.D., designated as the Philosophical-Scientific period and the second period from the end of the 12th century on which was considered to be of mystical and magical character. The main purpose of the present study is to demonstrate that already in its early period of interpretation Sefer Yetsirah was understood by many of its readers as having mythical, mystical and magical significations which left their traces and are echoed in early manuscripts of the book, in glosses that were inserted into the book and in non-Jewish testimonies.

βdecay of nuclei around90Se: Search for signatures of aN=56subshell closure relevant to therprocess

Background: Nuclear structure plays a significant role on the rapid neutron capture process (r process) since shapes evolve with the emergence of shells and subshells. There was some indication in neighboring nuclei that we might find examples of a new N=56 subshell, which may give rise to a doubly magic 3490Se56 nucleus. Purpose: β-decay half-lives of nuclei around 90Se have been measured to determine if this nucleus has in fact a doubly magic character. Method: The fragmentation of a 136Xe beam at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory at Michigan State University was used to create a cocktail of nuclei in the A=90 region. Results: We have measured the half-lives of 22 nuclei near the r-process path in the A=90 region. The half-lives of 88As and 90Se have been measured for the first time. The values were compared with theoretical predictions in the search for nuclear-deformation signatures of a N=56 subshell, and its possible role in the emergence of a potential doubly magic 90Se. The impact of such hypothesis on the synthesis of heavy nuclei, particularly in the production of Sr, Y, and Zr elements was investigated with a weak r-process network. Conclusions: The new half-lives agree with results obtained from a standard global QRPA model used in r-process calculations, indicating that 90Se has a quadrupole shape incompatible with a closed N=56 subshell in this region. The impact of the measured 90Se half-life in comparison with a former theoretical predication associated with a spherical half-life on the weak r process is shown to be strong.Received 22 December 2011DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.85.035807©2012 American Physical Society

Margaret Atwood: The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake (review)

Reviewed by: Margaret Atwood: The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake Heather Duerre Humann Bouson, J. Brooks , ED. Margaret Atwood: The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake. New York: Continuum, 2011. viii + 203 pp. $29.95 Margaret Atwood: The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, Oryx and Crake, edited by J. Brooks Bouson, was recently released as part of the Continuum Studies in Contemporary North American Fiction series, a series that offers a range of original interpretations of novels published after 1990. The collection comprises three parts, each of which focuses on a different Atwood novel. In the Introduction, Bouson addresses Atwood's importance and discusses how she has "evolved from a Canadian cult figure and celebrity into an internationally acclaimed writer with a wide popular and academic following" (1). Bouson also explains the logic behind the decision to group these three novels together for this collection; she argues that The Robber Bride, The Blind Assassin, and Oryx and Crake all "grow out of the thematic preoccupations that have long driven Atwood's art even as they showcase her remarkable range and evolving complexity as novelist" (15). The first part of the collection centers on The Robber Bride (1993), a novel set in the early 1990s that tells the stories of three middle-aged women—Tony, Charis, and Roz—and their respective friendships and betrayals by a fourth woman, Zenia, [End Page 508] a "seductress and sexual rival who has threatened the[ir] happiness and security" (Bouson 15) by stealing their men. Bouson argues that readers of this novel are forced to "grapple with the mysterious and ever-changing Zenia" (19) in order to make sense of her character and how she functions in the narrative. Ultimately, Zenia proves to be, as Bouson contends, a "multiple and forever shape-shifting character" (21). Indeed, the various contributors who examine The Robber Bride all offer their insightful individual readings of her character. In "Magical Realism in The Robber Bride and Other Texts," Sharon R. Wilson contends that, although critics and readers often view Atwood as a realistic writer, The Robber Bride is not a work of realism, nor is Zenia a realistic character. Instead, she argues that Zenia is a magical realist character and suggests that the fact that readers of the novel first see her image "reflected in a smoky mirror" (Wilson 29) is just the first of many clues that she is supposed to be read this way. In "Parodic Border Crossings in The Robber Bride," Hilde Staels posits that the novel is an example of postmodern parody. She interprets the character of Zenia as an example of a female trickster figure as well as a "'bad girl' who subverts culturally prescribed codes of morality and propriety" (Staels 43). In "You're History: Living with Trauma in The Robber Bride," Laurie Vickroy interprets the novel as a trauma narrative and views Zenia as a traumatic stressor, "the catalyst for new and re-emergent traumas" (52) in the other characters' lives. Although these three contributors differ in their views about how Zenia functions in the novel, their essays nonetheless share a common thread: they all compellingly illustrate the ways Atwood critiques gender politics and the complex power relations that often characterize female friendships. The second part of the collection highlights different perspectives on The Blind Assassin (2000), a novel comprised of three competing yet related narrative strands. Atwood tells the story of two sisters, Iris and Laura, at the same time as she offers a retrospective view of women's treatment in twentieth-century Canada. The Blind Assassin functions, as contributor Fiona Tolan notes, as "a milestone in Atwood's canon" (76). Tolan points out that the novel can be "contextualized by concurrent developments in the feminist movement, in particular, the rise of postfeminism." Viewing the novel in this light is key to understanding Iris's desire for "individuation from her sister" (Tolan 77), a struggle that reflects the postfeminist urge toward individualism rather than a collective sisterhood. In "Narrative Multiplicity and the Multi-layered Self in The Blind Assassin," Magali Cornier Michael discusses how, through the narrator of Iris, the novel centers on a "central character who...

La sculpture africaine dans les ecrits sur l'art d'André Malraux

Qu'advient-il du sacré dans notre monde profane? Partant de la scène mythique dans laquelle Picasso, au musée du Trocadéro, ressent le caractère magique des masques, Malraux s'interroge sur la relation agonistique qui existe entre formes et forces. Contre la vulgate qui tend à voir dans l'esthétique une relève du sacré - ce qui conduirait à une clôture dans l'immanence -, peut-être doit-on tout à la fois refuser l'illusion d'une empathie et affirmer le caractère inachevable de la métamorphose des fétiches en œuvres d'art - inachèvement que Malraux désigne par les termes d'empreinte ou d'aura.

Enhanced collectivity in 74Ni

The neutron-rich nucleus 74Ni was studied with inverse-kinematics inelastic proton scattering using a 74Ni radioactive beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target at a center-of-mass energy of 80 MeV. From the measured de-excitation γ rays, the population of the first 2+ state was quantified. The angle-integrated excitation cross section was determined to be 14(4) mb. A deformation length of δ=1.04(16) fm was extracted in comparison with distorted wave theory, which suggests that the enhancement of collectivity established for 70Ni continues up to 74Ni. A comparison with results of shell model and quasi-particle random phase approximation calculations indicates that the magic character of Z=28 or N=50 is weakened in 74Ni.

Testing the doubly magic character of tin-132

Adding an extra neutron to a nucleus with magic numbers of both neutrons and protons, and watching how it settles in, tests the shell model and can help elucidate the creation of heavy elements in supernovae.

Cinethetic Racism: White Redemption and Black Stereotypes in "Magical Negro" Films

Recent research on African American media representations describes a trend of progressive, antiracist film production. Specifically, "magical negro" films (cinema highlighting lower-class, uneducated, and magical black characters who transform disheveled, uncultured, or broken white characters into competent people) have garnered both popular and critical acclaim. I build upon such evidence as a cause for both celebration and alarm. I first examine how notions of historical racism in cinema inform our comprehension of racial representations today. These understandings create an interpretive environment whereby magical black characters are relationally constructed as both positive and progressive. I then advance a production of culture approach that examines 26 films that resonate with mainstream audiences' understanding of race relations and racialized fantasies. I find that these films constitute "cinethetic racism"—a synthesis of overt manifestations of racial cooperation and egalitarianism with latent expressions of white normativity and antiblack stereotypes. "Magical negro" films thus function to marginalize black agency, empower normalized and hegemonic forms of whiteness, and glorify powerful black characters in so long as they are placed in racially subservient positions. The narratives of these films thereby subversively reaffirm the racial status quo and relations of domination by echoing the changing and mystified forms of contemporary racism rather than serving as evidence of racial progress or a decline in the significance of race.

On the origin of the anomalous behaviour of [formula omitted] excitation energies in the neutron-rich Cd isotopes

Recent experimental results obtained using β decay and isomer spectroscopy indicate an unusual behaviour of the energies of the first excited 2 + states in neutron-rich Cd isotopes approaching the N = 82 shell closure. To explain the unexpected trend, changes of the nuclear structure far-off stability have been suggested, namely a quenching of the N = 82 shell gap already in 130Cd, only two proton holes away from doubly magic 132Sn. We study the behaviour of the 2 + energies in the Cd isotopes from N = 50 to N = 82 , i.e. across the entire span of a major neutron shell using modern beyond mean field techniques and the Gogny force. We demonstrate that the observed low 2 + excitation energy in 128Cd close to the N = 82 shell closure is a consequence of the doubly magic character of this nucleus for oblate deformation favoring thereby prolate configurations rather than spherical ones.

Human Rights and the Magic of Jus Cogens

There is an almost intrinsic relationship between jus cogens and human rights. Peremptory human rights norms, as projections of the individual and collective conscience, materialize as powerful collective beliefs. As such, they inherently possess an extraordinary force of social attraction that has an almost magical character. This article investigates the legal effects of peremptory human rights norms at both the systemic and contextual levels. If these norms have been successful in providing the societal body with a set of identity values, they have dramatically failed to operate as an ordering factor of social practices. To wonder why this is so and to see what can be done (and by whom) to enhance their impact on the contextual level is the main goal of this article.

Excitation levels and magic numbers of small parahydrogen clusters (N⩽40)

The excitation energies of parahydrogen clusters have been systematically calculated by the diffusion Monte Carlo technique in steps of 1molecule from 3to40molecules. These clusters possess a very rich spectra, with angular momentum excitations arriving up to L=13 for the heavier ones. No regular pattern can be guessed in terms of the angular momenta and the size of the cluster. Clusters with N=13 and 36 are characterized by a peak in the chemical potential and a large energy gap of the first excited level, which indicate the magical character of these clusters. From the calculated excitation energies, the partition function has been obtained, thus allowing for an estimate of thermal effects. An enhanced production is predicted for cluster sizes of N=13, 31, and 36, which is in agreement with the experiment.

A study of bimetallic Cu–Ag, Au–Ag and Pd–Ag clusters adsorbed on a double-vacancy-defected MgO(100) terrace

Binary M2Ag6, M2Ag7, M1Ag7 and M1Ag8 clusters (M = Cu, Au, Pd) adsorbed on an MgO(100) terrace presenting a double vacancy (DV) neutral defect are investigated through a combination of density-functional (DF) biased searches and global optimizations. Alloying allows one to probe the adsorption characteristics of the DV-defected surface. It is found that Au1Ag7 and Au2Ag6 are core-shell magic clusters, in analogy with the pure silver case. The magic character is reduced for Cu1Ag7 and Cu2Ag6, because the shortening of Cu-Ag distances is counteracted by a double-frustration effect due to the DV, and is practically absent for Pd1Ag7 and Pd2Ag6, because the requirements of the metallic bond conduction electron count are in conflict with the metal-surface interaction. However, fluxionality is enhanced for Pd-Ag clusters with respect to the pure silver case, which could influence their catalytic properties.

From acting to communicating: The analysis of a boy with a pathological organization

The author presents the analysis of an 8 year‐old boy prematurely born after a high‐risk pregnancy, then hospitalized for two weeks. He was never breastfed and presented vomiting, intense activity and inadequate behaviour as symptoms. His highly dysfunctional family is composed of a non‐productive father and a homely, though aggressive, mother. The patient displayed a rigid defensive structure with perverse aspects and a cruel superego. His constant interest in magical characters frequently disguises an avoidance of reality. By means of transference interpretations, a trustworthy link with the analyst now allows him his own mental space, where hidden psychotic states come to light. In the clinical material, this boy's skills for insight mingle with oscillations from severely defensive states to integration and vice versa. The analytic relationship in this often hostile scenario has become strong. The analysis is hampered by constant demands from family and school‐both expect the analyst to prevent his frequent acting out. Whereas some perverse polymorphism is part of childhood and may persist throughout life, it is likely that the patient's pathological organization may yield to reality and facilitate reparation, relinquishing the world of make‐believe as well as the intense projective mental functioning.

Hydration energies in the gas phase of select (MX)mM+ ions, where M+ = Na+, K+, Rb+, Cs+, NH4+ and X- = F-, Cl-, Br-, I-, NO2-, NO3-. Observed magic numbers of (MX)mM+ ions and their possible significance.

The sequential hydration energies and entropies with up to four water molecules were obtained for MXM(+) = NaFNa(+), NaClNa(+), NaBrNa(+), NaINa(+), NaNO(2)Na(+), NaNO(3)Na(+), KFK(+), KBrK(+), KIK(+), RbIRb(+), CsICs(+), NH(4)BrNH(4)(+), and NH(4)INH(4)(+) from the hydration equilibria in the gas phase with a reaction chamber attached to a mass spectrometer. The MXM(+) ions as well as (MX)(m)M(+) and higher charged ions such as (MX)(m)M(2)(2+) were obtained with electrospray. The observed trends of the hydration energies of MXM(+) with changing positive ion M(+) or the negative ion X(-) could be rationalized on the basis of simple electrostatics. The most important contribution to the (MXM-OH(2))(+) bond is the interaction of the permanent and induced dipole of water with the positive charge of the nearest-neighbor M(+) ion. The repulsion due to the water dipole and the more distant X(-) has a much smaller effect. Therefore, the bonding in (MXM-OH(2))(+) for constant M and different X ions changes very little. Similarly, for constant X and different M, the bonding follows the hydration energy trends observed for the naked M(+) ions. The sequential hydration bond energies for MXM(H(2)O)(n)(+) decrease with n in pairs, where for n = 1 and n = 2 the values are almost equal, followed by a drop in the values for n = 3 and n = 4, that again are almost equal. The hydration energies of (MX)(m)M(+) decrease with m. The mass spectra with NaCl, obtained with electrospray and observed in the absence of water vapor, show peaks of unusually high intensities (magic numbers) at m = 4, 13, and 22. Experiments with variable electrical potentials in the mass spectrometer interface showed that some but not all of the ion intensity differentiation leading to magic numbers is due to collision-induced decomposition of higher mass M(MX)(m)(+) and M(2)(MX)(m)(2+) ions in the interface. However, considerable magic character is retained in the absence of excitation. This result indicates that the magic ions are present also in the saturated solution of the droplets produced by electrospray and are thus representative of particularly stable nanocrystals in the saturated solution. Hydration equilibrium determinations in the gas phase demonstrated weaker hydration of the magic ion (NaCl)(4)Na(+).

Solvation Dynamics of Large van der Waals Aniline−Arn Clusters: Experiment and Theory

An experimental and theoretical study of large van der Waals aniline−Arn clusters (n = 7−35) has been carried out. The van der Waals shift of the S1 ← S0 electronic transition and of the vertical ionization potential have been recorded by mass-resolved resonant two-photon two-color ionization techniques. Minimum energy configurations and isomerization processes have been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. In particular, a careful analysis of the solvation structures at temperatures close to the experimental conditions has been performed by using appropriate global geometrical parameters. This approach allows a deep understanding of the evolution with size arising from the spectroscopic data. A new interpretation of the magic character of the aniline−Ar22 cluster observed in the resonant two-photon ionization mass spectrum is proposed.

Superheavy nuclei in a relativistic effective Lagrangian model

Isotopic and isotonic chains of superheavy nuclei are analyzed to search for spherical double shell closures beyond $Z=82$ and $N=126$ within the new effective field theory model of Furnstahl, Serot, and Tang for the relativistic nuclear many-body problem. We take into account several indicators to identify the occurrence of possible shell closures, such as two-nucleon separation energies, two-nucleon shell gaps, average pairing gaps, and the shell correction energy. The effective Lagrangian model predicts $N=172$ and $Z=120$ and $N=258$ and $Z=120$ as spherical doubly magic superheavy nuclei, whereas $N=184$ and $Z=114$ show some magic character depending on the parameter set. The magicity of a particular neutron (proton) number in the analyzed mass region is found to depend on the number of protons (neutrons) present in the nucleus.

On the Neutron Method of Transmutation of Nuclear Wastes

Accumulation of radioactive nuclear wastes all over the world is among the most severe ecological problems that must be solved without delay. In this regard, of great interest is the neutron method of transmutation of nuclear wastes using neutron fluxes from reactors. The neutron method of fusion of new elements is based on the successive capture of neutrons by the initial cores. The cores that absorbed neutrons undergo β-decay. As a result, new cores with masses and charges exceeding the initial ones are created. Interest in the neutron method arose in 1966, when a group of American physicists from the Los-Alamos National Laboratory performed underground experiments on thermonuclear fusion of transuranium elements in Nevada [1]. U and Am targets were irradiated by neutron fluxes produced during explosions of thermonuclear charges. The heaviest transuranium element they obtained was Fm. They tried to detect Fm and Md elements among the irradiation products, but did not succeeded. This failure was explained in 1980, when American physicists from the Los-Alamos and Livermore National Laboratories succeeded in fusion of Fm in the reaction Fm(t, p) Fm. The Fm half-life for spontaneous fission was T = 1.5 s. This is almost 10 times less than Т = 131 year for Fm [2]. Analogous decrease in Т with increasing number of neutrons in a fissionable nucleus was revealed in fusion of Fm in the reaction Fm(d, p) Fm [3]. For Fm, Т = 380 ± 60 μs, which is almost 10 times less than Т = 160 min for Fm [4]. The authors of these experiments explained this sharp destabilization of heavy fermium isotopes undergoing spontaneous fission by the shell structure of fragments. The latter become more and more close to the doubly magic nucleus Sn with Z = 50 and N = 82 as the number of neutrons in the fissionable nucleus increases. It should be noted that fragments of the heavy Fm isotopes – magic and nearly margic Sn–Sn isotopes – are weakly active cores. After a series of β-decays with half-lives from 2.2 min to 77.4 h they are transformed into stable Te or Xe cores [5]. Thus, the magic character of fragments of heavy fermium isotopes was a reason for their rapid spontaneous decay. Therefore, new transuranium elements with Z > 100 were not fused by the neutron method. The mendelevium element with Z = 101 was first discovered in USA in 1955 in the course of the nuclear reaction Еs(α, n) Md. The next elements with Z > 101 were fused in nuclear reactions with accelerated heavy ions [6]. Unsuccessful attempts to fuse the far transuranium elements [1] were caused by the unique obstacle – the predisposition of heavy fermium isotopes to spontaneous fission. This property could be useful for transmutation of nuclear wastes. There are grounds to believe that cores of radioactive wastes, including actinides and fission fragments, will gradually approach the fermium precipice in the process of neutron absorption and will end their existence in the form of weakly active Sn isotopes. These isotopes must be removed from the mixture of cores. Otherwise, the Sn isotopes can also start to absorb neutrons, new radionuclides will be accumulated, and the process as a whole will be reminiscent of the Sisyphys work. This work can be useful for the experts evaluating perspectives for the neutron method of transmutation of radioactive wastes.

Further evidence for magic neutron number N=16 in neutron-rich nuclei

The properties of light exotic neutron-rich nuclei far from beta-stability have been found to differ substantially from the well known properties of nuclei near the valley of beta-stability. A very principal drastic changes can be seen in the locations of magic nucleon numbers that are of fundamental importance in nuclear physics as they form the basis of nuclear shell structure. We present an analysis of experiments performed at GANIL resulting in an appearance of a neutron magic number, N=16, in very neutron-rich nuclei. The behavior of the two neutron separation energies S 2 n gives a very clear evidence for the existence of the new shell closure N=16 for Z=9 and 10 appearing between 2 S 1 2 and 1 d 3 2 orbitals. Moreover, the analysis of its derivate, confirms the magic character of N=16 in the region 6⩽Z⩽10, while the shell closure at N=20 tends to disappear for Z⩽13.

"Teodorica" and women ball in Novi Sad

"Teodorica" and women ball are social customs (with preserved old ritual elements) od Serbian rural women in Novi Sad. They have both entertaining and magic character, where the latter seems slightly more expressed. As single pre-Christian customs (as the author suspects), they have undergone various changes, some of which are noted in this study. Both "Teodorica" and women ball had survived in Novi Sad until the Sixties, when they were replaced by a "new female holiday - the 8th of March. The saying that "Teodorica is particularly merry when it falls on the 8th of March" belongs to the times when the memories of "Teodorica" were still fresh. However they no longer are.