Letter to the Editor

Dear Prof. Daux,

In your President’s Letter in Vol. 12, No. 1 (2004), you quoted from a speech of UN Secretary, Kofi Annan, who touches upon very important problems. We share Mr. Annan’s view that all independent countries should develop self-governed scientific centers in order to address questions of vital importance and immediate interest to their country and to all humanity, (such as terrorism, preservation of the environment, struggle against contagious diseases, and above all, struggle against extension and production of weapons of mass destruction).

We share your anxiety concerning these problems and your concern with the destiny of our beautiful planet.

Taking into account the importance of X-ray crystallography to advancing an understanding of science and the structure of substances and in particular the structure of crystals and also the peaceful character of crystallography and its complexity, we opened a new laboratory on our own initiative, the “X-Ray Bunch Laboratory”, for development of this science in Armenia. We hope to become a useful and important center in our region.

An article written by M. Navasardyan, entitled “Controllable variation of the intensity of diffracted X-ray beams and double modulation of such beams for transmission and reception of audio information”, published in the J. Appl. Crystallography was cited in the IUCr Newsletter, Vol. 10, No.1, p.6 (2002).

We hope to deterimine the cause of this phenomenon of “Controllable Complete Reflection”, the absolute diverting of an X-ray beam in the direction of diffraction in the presence of external influences. We shall also look for different applications for a powerful oscillating stream of X-ray and synchrotron radiation with the help of our modulator of X-rays. We ask for the support of the IUCr.

I urge members of the IUCr community from throughout the world to find ways in which they can assist crystallographers such as Drs. Hayrapetyan, Navasardyan, and Noreyan in Armenia and other developing countries to develop crystallographic capabilities with gifts of books, used instruments and research collaborations.