Vol 107, No 2 (2018)

We investigate the ground state properties of atoms, in which substitute fermions—electrons by bosons, namely, π⁻-mesons. We perform some calculations in the frame of modified Hartree–Fock (HF) equation. The modification takes into account symmetry, instead of antisymmetry of the pair identical bosons wavefunction. The modified HF approach thus enhances (doubles) the effect of self-action for the boson case. Therefore, we accordingly modify the HF equations by eliminating the self-action terms “by hand.” The contribution of meson–meson and meson–nucleon non-Coulomb interaction is inessential at least for atoms with low and intermediate nuclear charge, which is our main subject. We found that the binding energy of pion negative ions A_π^-, pion atoms A_π, and the number of extra bound pions ΔN_π increases with the nuclear charge Z. In particular, for Xe ΔN_π = 4. As an example of a simple process with a pion atom, we consider photoionization that differs essentially from that for electron atoms. Namely, it is not monotonic decreasing from the threshold but has instead a prominent maximum above threshold. We study also elastic scattering of pions by pion atoms.

The production of transuranium nuclides in pulsed neutron fluxes from thermonuclear explosions has been studied within the kinetic model of the astrophysical r-process taking into account the time dependence of external parameters and processes accompanying the beta decay of neutron-rich nuclei. Neutron fluxes depending on the time in the range of ~10^–6 s have been simulated within the developed adiabatic binary model. The probabilities of beta-delayed processes have been calculated within the microscopic theory of finite Fermi systems. The yields of transuranium nuclides Y(A) have been calculated for three experimental thermonuclear explosions Mike (Y_M), Par (Y_P), and Barbel (Y_B) (United States). The rms deviations of the calculations from experimental data are 91, 33, and 29% for Y_M, Y_P, and Y_B, respectively. These deviations are much smaller than those for other known calculations and are comparable with the proposed exponential approximation ensuring rms deviations of 56, 86.8, and 60.2% for Y_M, Y_P, and Y_B, respectively. The even–odd anomaly in the observed yields of heavy nuclei is explained by the dominant effect of processes accompanying the beta decay of heavy neutron-rich isotopes.

By measuring room temperature infrared (40–35000 cm^–1) reflectivity of metallic LuB12 single crystals with different isotopic compositions (^natB, ¹⁰B, ¹¹B), we find that to model the spectrum we had to introduce, additionally to Drude free-carrier component, a broad excitation with unusually large dielectric contribution (Δε = 8000 ± 4000), which is characterized by a non-Lorentzian lineshape. It is suggested that the origin of the excitation is connected with cooperative dynamics of Jahn–Teller active B₁₂ molecules producing quasilocal vibrations (rattling modes) of caged lutetium ions. The coupling of the Lu³⁺ rattling motions with the charge carriers of conduction band is proposed to be the reason of strongly damped character of the excitation.

We study the emission spectrum of a qubit under deep strong driving in the high-frequency dispersive regime when the driving frequency and strength exceed significantly the qubit transition frequency. Closed-form expressions for the steady-state first-order field correlation function and the multiphoton emission spectrum are obtained. The spectrum comprises a series of narrow delta-like lines that stem from coherent processes and Lorentzian peaks that result from the incoherent scattering of photons. The oscillating dependence of the widths of the emission lines on the driving strength is predicted. We show how the features of this dependence are governed by the qubit dephasing and relaxation rates.

The vortex pinning and liquid-glass transition have been studied in BaFe_2–xNi_xAs₂ single crystals with different doping levels (x = 0.065, 0.093, 0.1, 0.14, 0.18). We found that Ni-doped Ba-122 has rather narrow vortex-liquid state region. Our results show that the temperature dependence of the resistivity as well as I−V characteristics of Ni-doped Ba-122 is consistent with 3D vortex-glass model. It was found that -pinning gives the main contribution to overall pinning in 122 Ni-doped system. The vortex phase diagrams for different doping levels were built based on the obtained data of temperature of the vortex-glass transition T_g and the upper critical magnetic field H_c2.

In the two-dimensional electron systems with strong coupling in MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures, the thermal behavior of Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets at the filling factor ν = 2 has been studied. The spin polarization of Hall ferromagnets has been detected by measuring the signal related to the inelastic light scattering by intrasubband spin excitons. A stepwise change in the spin polarization at the phase transition at the filling factors ν = 2,3, and 4 in the heterostructures with different electron densities has been observed. The thermal stability of the Hall ferromagnetic phases at ν = 2 has been studied and the Curie temperature has been estimated. It has been shown that the Curie temperature is determined by the formation energy for domain walls in the Ising quantum Hall ferromagnets.

The Fe₂VAl Heusler alloy is of great interest because ab initio calculations predict the absence of magnetization in it and a half-metal behavior with a pseudogap at the Fermi level. At the same time, experimental data (low-temperature specific heat, electrical resistivity, and magnetic properties) show that it is difficult to achieve such characteristics, and Fe₂VAl samples usually have the characteristics of a poor magnetic metal. Ab initio calculations have been performed for ordered and disordered (Fe_1–xV_x)₃Al Heusler alloys with x = 0.33. It has been shown that the alloy in a structurally ordered state (L2₁ structure) is a half-metal with a deep pseudogap at the Fermi level and does not have magnetization. At the same time, antisite defects in the iron and vanadium sublattices of the disordered alloy (D0₃ structure) lead to an increase in the conductivity and to the appearance of spin polarization and magnetization of (2.1±0.1)μ_B/f.u. The short-range order in the disordered phase has been generated by increasing the concentration of clusters characteristic of the bcc structure of α-Fe, which results in an increase in the magnetization to (2.5±0.1)μ_B/f.u.

For the first time, the CuFeO₂ single crystal has been studied by ^63,65Cu nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The measurements have been carried out in the temperature range of T = 100−350 K in the magnetic field H = 117 kOe applied along different crystallographic directions. The components of the electric field gradient tensor and the hyperfine coupling constants are determined. It is shown that electrons of copper 4s and 3d orbitals are involved in the spin polarization transfer Fe → Cu. The occupancies of these orbitals are estimated.