Vol 72, No 4 (2017)

In this paper, we review the results of studies on the decay channels of the standard Higgs boson: H → f + f̅, H → Z + f + f̅, H → W + f + f̅′, H → γ + γ, H → γ + Z and H → g + g. Here ff̅ or ff̅′are the fundamental fermions pair (leptons, quarks). Within the framework of the Standard Model analytical expressions for the partial widths of the indicated decays were obtained and their dependence on the mass of the Higgs boson was studied.

The structure of an operator that determines the partial conditions of radiation in the scalar problem of diffraction theory is considered. Nonlocal boundary conditions are determined by a series setting a certain integro-differential operator. The principal part of this operator is presented in the explicit form of a hyper-singular operator and its components with lower-order singularities. The remaining rapidly converging part of the functional series determines an integral operator with a continuous kernel.

Brillouin scattering in an infinite medium is anisotropic, in this case the threshold of absolute instability is caused by attenuation of scattered waves. If the collision attenuation mechanism prevails, the minimum threshold value is observed during backward scattering. For a scattering region limited in the longitudinal direction (parallel to the direction of pumping wave propagation), the backward scattering threshold will be greater than for an infinite medium due to convective loss associated with energy removal by scattered waves. In this paper, the scattering of a wide wave beam in plasma is considered, whose dimension in the transverse direction to the pumping wave propagation substantially exceeds the dimension in the longitudinal direction. It was revealed that in this case, during angle scattering the instability threshold can be less than the threshold for backward scattering due to the increased time of radiation removal from the interaction region. This effect was not taken into account previously. In turn, the decrease of the threshold leads to increasing the radiation loss, which is important in plasma heating problems. The results can also be used for plasma diagnostics.

Abstract—Two main factors which limit the power conversion efficiency of solar cells are light absorption and recombination processes. In photovoltaic (PV) devices, low energy photons cannot be absorbed and excite electrons from valance band to conduction band, hence do not contribute to the current. On the other hand, high energy photons cannot be efficiently used due to a poor match to the energy gap. Existence of charge recombination in PV devices causes the low conversion performance, which is indicated by the low open-circuit voltage (V_OC). Using a blocking layer in system could effectively reduce the recombination of charge carriers. In this study, we simulated a solar cell with ITO/ZnO/P3HT&PCBM/Ag structure. To prevent the charge recombination, a ZnS QD layer was used which acts as a light absorbing and a recombination blocking layer in the ITO/ZnO film/ZnS QD/P3HT&PCBM/Ag structure. The simulated J–V characteristics of solar cells showed a close match with the experimental results. Simulate data showed an increase of conversion efficiency in ZnS QDSSC from 1.71 to 3.10%, which is relatively 81.28% increase.

The process of the reduction spherical Co₃O₄ particles to metallic Co in a continuous H₂ flow at the temperature interval (200–350°C) was studied using the XRD method. The phase analysis of the reduced particles showed their non-single state (the coexistence of α-Co and β-Co). The β-Co concentration increases with an increase in the reduction temperature.

The binding to Lon protease through biotinylated aptamers whose structures contain G-quadruplex fragments with magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) functionalized by streptavidin was investigated. The conditions of binding of target aptamers to MNPs are met. The resulting complexes are proposed for detection of Lon protease in different biological sources and for constructing a novel biomagnetic nanosensor immunoassay system.

The lateral mobility of protons and mobile electron carriers (plastoquinone and plastocyanin) is subjected to diffusion limitations; the effect of these limitations on the kinetics of photoinduced pH_i changes has been investigated in the present work for metabolic states 3 (conditions of intensive ATP synthesis) and 4 (the state of photosynthetic control). Computer simulations were based on a mathematical model of electron and proton transport in chloroplasts developed earlier by the authors. Non-uniform distribution of electron carriers and ATP synthase complexes in the membranes of grana and intergranal thylakoids was taken into account in the model. The kinetics of intrathylakoid pH_i changes and the lateral profiles of distribution of the mobile electron transporters in granal and intergranal thylakoids were studied. The formation of non-uniform pH_i profiles (with lumen acidification in the central parts of the grana being substantially slower than in the stromal thylakoids) was shown to occur under the conditions of ATP synthesis. Variation of the diffusion coefficients of intrathylakoid hydrogen ions and mobile electron carriers (plastoquinone and plastocyanin) can have substantial effects on the lateral pH_i profiles and the redox state of the mobile electron carriers.

Solution of the inverse problem for Parker’s one-dimensional mean-field dynamo model in a thin spherical layer is considered. The method allows the spatial distribution of energy sources, the α- and Ω-effects, to be found provided specified constraints occur on the solution. The highest ratio of the magnetic energies for the Northern and Southern hemispheres is discussed as such a constraint. The method is a modification of the Monte-Carlo technique; it is convenient for parallel computations and based on minimization of the cost function that characterizes the deviation of the model solution properties from the desired ones. The calculations show that the ratio of the energies in the hemispheres may exceed an order of magnitude for both poloidal and toroidal components of the magnetic energy. The ratio depends on the distance of the effective zone of the generation of the magnetic field from the equator and the number of harmonics in the spectrum. The greater this distance is and the higher the number of harmonics is, the stronger the magnetic field asymmetry can be.

It is shown that due to the relativistic transformation law of angles, a laser pulse reflected from a moving retroreflector propagates not strictly back, but at a small angle to the direction of the laser station. For this reason, the ray located on the periphery of a pulse reaches the receiving telescope of the laser station instead of the central ray of a pulse. As a result, the flux of electromagnetic energy received by the laser station is certainly less than the flux of energy in the vicinity of the central ray. The energy flux attenuation coefficient is assessed on the basis of numerical analysis. It is shown that if the receiving telescope is separated from the laser station in order to be mobile and is moving along the Earth’s surface so that the center of each spot formed by a pulse of the reflected light hits the telescope, then the electromagnetic energy flux during laser probing of the satellite will be higher by more than 100 times in comparison with the energy flux received by the stationary telescope of the laser station. From our study it follows that the maximum speed of motion of the centers of spots on the Earth’s surface does not exceed 8 km/h.

The classic problem of linear wave-packet propagation in a dispersive medium is considered. Asymptotic equations of the Cauchy problem for two-dimensional Gaussian wave packets are constructed in terms of Fourier integrals. These asymptotic solutions are regular at the caustics and describe new physical features of wave-packet propagation: rotation in space and formation of a wave front with anomalously slow dispersion (quasi-dispersive).