Bilirubin degradation in methanol induced by continuous UV-B irradiation: a UHPLC--ESI-MS study.

Degradation of bilirubin in aerobic methanol solution by continuous UV-B irradiation has been investigated in this work. The purpose of this study was to shed more light on bilirubin interaction with the UV-B component of natural sunlight, since bilirubin is a very efficient UV-B absorber located in the skin epidermis. The degradation products have been detected and studied by a combined method of Ultra High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-MS). Bilirubin, a toxic pigment which itself is a product of (hemoglobin) degradation in organisms, undergoes its own degradation under aerobic conditions of UV-B continuous irradiation (e.g. photooxidation) that can be partly self-sensitized. Two dipyrrolic structures have been identified as a result of the bilirubin degradation, not including the bilirubin derivative biliverdin whose increase in the irradiated system is synchronous with a time dynamics of bilirubin degradation. It appears that one of dipyrrolic products originates directly from bilirubin and biliverdin molecules, while the other one is probably connected to bilirubin self-sensitized degradation. The precursor role of biliverdin in the degradation process--related to the detected dipyrroles--has not been confirmed.

Rydberg trimers and excited dimers bound by internal quantum reflection.

In a combined experimental and theoretical effort we report on two novel types of ultracold long-range Rydberg molecules. First, we demonstrate the creation of triatomic molecules of one Rydberg atom and two ground-state atoms in a single-step photoassociation. Second, we assign a series of excited dimer states that are bound by a so far unexplored mechanism based on internal quantum reflection at a steep potential drop. The properties of the Rydberg molecules identified in this work qualify them as prototypes for a new type of chemistry at ultracold temperatures.

Local blockade of Rydberg excitation in an ultracold gas.

In the laser excitation of ultracold atoms to Rydberg states, we observe a dramatic suppression caused by van der Waals interactions. This behavior is interpreted as a local excitation blockade: Rydberg atoms strongly inhibit excitation of their neighbors. We measure suppression, relative to isolated atom excitation, by up to a factor of 6.4. The dependences of this suppression on both laser irradiance and atomic density are in good agreement with a mean-field model. These results are an important step towards using ultracold Rydberg atoms in quantum information processing.

Dissociation energies of molecular hydrogen and the hydrogen molecular ion.

We have obtained improved values for the dissociation energies of molecular hydrogen and its ion by using a high-resolution pulse-amplified laser to probe the second dissociation limit. The onset of the vibrational continuum is observed by state-selective detection of the atomic products of dissociation, and several auxiliary measurements link the results to the ground state. The dissociation energies are accurate to 0.010-0.026 cm(-1), improving previous measurements by a factor of 3-7. Agreement with ab initio calculations is good for H2, D2, and their ions, but not for HD and HD+.

Long-range molecular resonances in a cold Rydberg gas.

We present evidence for molecular resonances in a cold dense gas of rubidium Rydberg atoms. Single UV photon excitation from the 5s ground state to np Rydberg states (n=50-90) reveals resonances at energies corresponding to excited atom pairs (n-1)d+ns. We attribute these normally forbidden transitions to avoided crossings between the long-range molecular potentials of two Rydberg atoms. These strong van der Waals interactions result in avoided crossings at extremely long range, e.g., approximately 58 000 times the Bohr radius (a(0)) for n=70.