Volume 61, Nº 4 (2016)

The problem of formulating the generalization of the Bennett equilibrium condition is considered for a relativistic electron beam propagating in the Ohmic plasma channel, as well as in the ion focusing regime in the presence of an external longitudinal uniform magnetic field. We assume that the electron component of the background plasma is not completely removed from the region occupied by the beam. This equilibrium condition is derived using the mass and momentum transport equations obtained for a paraxial monoenergetic beam from the Fokker–Planck kinetic equation.

A recurrence procedure for a sequential construction of kernels \(G_{{l_1},{l_2}}^l\) (c, c₁, c₂) appearing upon the expansion of a nonlinear collision integral of the Boltzmann equation in spherical harmonics is developed. The starting kernel for this procedure is kernel G_0,0⁰ (c, c₁, c₂) of the collision integral for the distribution function isotropic with respect to the velocities. Using the recurrence procedure, a set of kernels \(G_{{l_1},{l_2}}^{ + l}\) (c, c₁, c₂) for a gas consisting of hard spheres and Maxwellian molecules is constructed. It is shown that the resultant kernels exhibit similarity and symmetry properties and satisfy the relations following from the conservation laws.

A dispersion relation is analytically derived for gravitational waves in an ideal incompressible threelayer liquid with a free surface in the presence of a velocity field tangential discontinuity between the layers. The discontinuity results from the motion of the middle layer. The instability of the tangential discontinuity is shown to depend on the relative velocity of contacting layers, which, in turn, depends on the ratio of their densities. The closer the density ratio to unity, the lower the moving layer velocity causing instability. In the given case, instability involves internal waves arising at the second and third interfaces in accordance with the Kelvin–Helmholtz concept of instability development. Internal waves with wavelengths far exceeding the thickness of the middle layer are found to interact with each other. Surface waves only change their frequencies.

We describe the results of experiments on initiation of an electric discharge in air in a quasi-optical microwave beam by an electromagnetic vibrator fixed above the screen. This method for initiating the electrical breakdown makes it possible to obtain a discharge at a level of the electric field component in the microwave, which two orders of magnitude lower than the minimal critical field of the electrodeless breakdown of air. In our experiments, the threshold value of the air pressure determining the low- and high-temperature forms of the microwave discharge are determined depending on the field level.

We report on the results of hybrid particle-in-cell simulation of shock waves (SWs) in the cosmic plasma with admixture of heavy weakly charged ions. The dependence of ion relaxation and the SW structure on the angle between the magnetic field and the normal to the wavefront is analyzed. The conditions for invariability of the anisotropic ion velocity distribution behind the front of quasi-transverse SWs are indicated on scales substantially exceeding the width of the collisionless SW front (up to the Coulomb relaxation length). The obtained results are essential for determining the effectiveness of heating of heavy ions and observation diagnostic of collisionless SWs in the cosmic plasma.

Spatial distortions of the director field and magnetization of a ferronematic (suspension of magnetic nanoparticles in a nematic liquid crystal) that are induced by simultaneous action of electric and magnetic fields are studied with allowance for the flexoelectric polarization of the liquid-crystalline matrix. Soft coupling of liquid crystal and magnetic particles and layer boundaries is considered. The dependence of the phase lag of the transmitted light on the external magnetic field is analyzed.

The effect of gallium alloying on the structure, the phase composition, and the properties of quasibinary Ni₅₀Mn_50–zGa_z (0 ⩽ z ⩽ 25 at %) alloys is studied over a wide temperature range. The influence of the alloy composition on the type of crystal structure in high-temperature austenite and martensite and the critical martensitic transformation temperatures is analyzed. A general phase diagram of the magnetic and structural transformations in the alloys is plotted. The temperature–concentration boundaries of the B2 and L2₁ superstructures in the austenite field, the tetragonal L1₀ (2M) martensite, and the 10M and 14M martensite phases with complex multilayer crystal lattices are found. The predominant morphology of martensite is shown to be determined by the hierarchy of the packets of thin coherent lamellae of nano- and submicrocrystalline crystals with planar habit plane boundaries close to {011}_B2. Martensite crystals are twinned along one of the 24 \(24\left\{ {011} \right\}{\left\langle {01\bar 1} \right\rangle _{B2}}\) “soft” twinning shear systems, which provides coherent accommodation of the martensitic transformation–induced elastic stresses.

Steel 09G2S specimens are subjected to cyclic tests, and real-time monitoring of the initiation of a fatigue crack and its growth kinetics is performed by dynamic speckle interferometry. The time averaging of speckles are used to reveal a relation between the parameters that characterize random and deterministic changes in the relief height and speckle images of the surface near the notch during crack initiation.

The ZnSe/Al₂O₃ nanocomposite films synthesized by laser evaporation followed by heat treatment are studied. X-ray diffraction and electron-microscopic investigations of the as-deposited films demonstrate the presence of ZnSe crystallites in an Al₂O₃ amorphous matrix. Annealing changes the structures of ZnSe and Al₂O₃, increases the ZnSe crystallite size, and causes the appearance of the ZnSeO₄ phase. The presence of aluminum oxide layers decreases the phase transformation temperature of zinc selenide.

Laser irradiation of thin molybdenum films with a thickness of less than 100 nm is studied. An experimental hypothesis in accordance with which films of refractory metals can be laser-ablated owing to the formation of an intermediate oxide phase is experimentally proven. A threefold decrease in the thickness of the ablation region under the action of scanning laser radiation is interpreted.

Using quantum and semiclassical approaches, the energy excitation threshold for induced Raman scattering is estimated and a relationship between the excitation threshold and the concentration of optically active molecules in a bilayer microresonator is established. Estimates are made during the formation of specially configured optical fields: internal and external photonic nanojets. Based on the amount of stored energy per mode and the value of the threshold intensity, an additional generalized selection rule for whispering gallery modes is suggested. It is shown that the bilayer microresonator can focus incident radiation (laser pumping) into a submicron focal volume at a low threshold intensity.

The 1D internal (core) temperature profiles for the model object (plasticine) and the human hand are reconstructed using the passive acoustothermometric broadband probing data. Thermal acoustic radiation is detected by a broadband (0.8–3.5 MHz) acoustic radiometer. The temperature distribution is reconstructed using a priori information corresponding to the experimental conditions. The temperature distribution for the heated model object is assumed to be monotonic. For the hand, we assume that the temperature distribution satisfies the heat-conduction equation taking into account the blood flow. The average error of reconstruction determined for plasticine from the results of independent temperature measurements is 0.6 K for a measuring time of 25 s. The reconstructed value of the core temperature of the hand (36°C) generally corresponds to physiological data. The obtained results make it possible to use passive broadband acoustic probing for measuring the core temperatures in medical procedures associated with heating of human organism tissues.

We describe the structure of the high-voltage test bench for checking individual insulators and their assemblies with separate control of leakage currents in each insulator. The test bench is mainly intended for preparing the high-voltage block of the spectrometer for the search for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron. The main part of the bench is the high-voltage source with controllable polarity and voltages up to 200 kV with complex control over parameters. An analogous converter is used in experiment on measuring the EDM of the neutron. We report on the results of testing the new design of the storage chambers of the EDM spectrometer operating with a high voltage; we also test the maximal potentialities of the converter under nearly working conditions; its optimization and calibration are performed.

We analyze the physical reason for own rotation of dust particles. We propose from analysis of literature data and our previous studies that own rotation of dust particles is due to azimuth-symmetric flow of ions to the particle surface, which is associated with a nonuniform distribution of the surface charge. This assumption is in conformity with the results of experiments in which the plasma flow is changed by introducing particles in the horizontal plane (horizontal cluster) and particles aligned along the discharge current (vertical cluster) and with the observation of the rotation threshold for the discharge current and the magnetic field. The experiments are performed with spherical particles using the coordinate tracing method. Our results make it possible to construct a model of spinning of charged dust tops for describing magnetic properties of a complex plasma.

The influence of Ar⁺ bombardment on the composition and the structure of the SiO₂/Si surface is studied. A thin Si film is found to form on the SiO₂ surface subjected to high-dose ion bombardment.

We report on the results of analysis of acoustic emission (AE) under thermal action on a triglycine sulfate (NH₂CH₂COOH)₃ ⋅ H₂SO₄ crystal. The triglycine sulfate single crystals grown from solution and not subjected to mechanical treatment are heated to a temperature above the Curie point (T_C = 49°C). During natural cooling of the crystal, a transition from the paraelectric to ferroelectric phase is accompanied by intense AE. In the temperature range ∼28–30°C, an anomalous drop of the mean-square voltage in the AE signal is observed against the background of monotonic accumulation of AE events.