亨施自述

在我们极其复杂和不断变化的世界里，知悉某些物理量能用很高的精确度来测量和预言，是一件人欣慰的事。精确测量作为物理学中最美的一个方面永远吸引着我。使用更好的测量工具，人们能够看到以前无人见过的地方。不止一次，测量值与理论值之间似乎微不足道的差异导致了基础知识领域里的重要进展。现代科学的诞生本身便是与精确的测量技术密切相关。     

Unusually strong lipophilicity of ‘fat’ or ‘super’ amino-acids,including a new reference value for glycine

Summary Lipophilic, steric, electronic, and enzyme resistance characteristics of carboranylalanine, adamantylalanine, neopentylglycine and tert-butylglycine are described. The first 2 amino-acids display lipophilicities 2 orders of magnitude higher than tryptophan.This work was supported by research grants to Prof. R. Schwyzer from the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

Correlation of physicochemical parameters and biological activity in steroids 9α-substituted cortisol derivatives

Resumen Por primera vez se han analizado las relaciones estructura-función de diez derivados del 9-cortisol substituido usando técnicas de regresión de parámetros múltiples. Se concluye que los factores electrónicos y estéricos son de mayor importancia al determinar el efecto del substituyente, y que la unión hidrofóbica también es de importante consideración. Se discute el significado de estos resultados.

---

---

This investigation was supported in part by Public Health Service Research Grants No. AM-14824 (to M.E.W.) and No. GM 07492 (to C.H.) from the National Institutes of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, and General Medical Sciences, U.S. Public Health Service.     

Measurement of the spatial coherence of a trapped Bose gas at the phase transition

The experimental realization of Bose-Einstein condensates of dilute gases has allowed investigations of fundamental concepts in quantum mechanics at ultra-low temperatures, such as wave-like behaviour and interference phenomena. The formation of an interference pattern depends fundamentally on the phase coherence of a system; the latter may be quantified by the spatial correlation function. Phase coherence over a long range is the essential factor underlying Bose-Einstein condensation and related macroscopic quantum phenomena, such as superconductivity and superfluidity. Here we report a direct measurement of the phase coherence properties of a weakly interacting Bose gas of rubidium atoms. Effectively, we create a double slit for magnetically trapped atoms using a radio wave field with two frequency components. The correlation function of the system is determined by evaluating the interference pattern of two matter waves originating from the spatially separated 'slit' regions of the trapped gas. Above the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation, the correlation function shows a rapid gaussian decay, as expected for a thermal gas. Below the critical temperature, the correlation function has a different shape: a slow decay towards a plateau is observed, indicating the long-range phase coherence of the condensate fraction.