Microwave plasma generation by end-on and side-on irradiation in the pressure range 0.1–10 mTorr of hydrogen

This paper describes investigations of hydrogen plasmas produced by mean of linearly polarized microwaves (f=2.45 GHz,P ₀=2.2–5.0 kW). A superimposed uniform and stationary magnetic field \(\vec B_z \) is tuned in most of the experiments to the electron cyclotron resonance. The RF is coupled to the plasma by different antennae. A conical horn is used for end-on irradiation (wave vector \(\vec k\parallel \vec B_z \) ). With regard to toroidal discharge geometries the side-on irradiation \(\vec k \bot \vec B_z \) is of particular interest. For this purpose two newT-shaped antennae were developed. In the pressure range investigated the plasma produced by the microwaves fills up the whole discharge vessel (l=200 cm,V≈10⁴cm³). The electron densities are in the range between 2.5 · 10¹⁰ and 1.5 · 10¹¹ cm^?3 and the electron temperatures between 1.2 and 5.0 eV. The plasma produced by side-on RF irradiation \((\vec k \bot \vec B_z ,\vec E\parallel \vec B_z )\) is used as a pre-ionization plasma for aZ-pinch discharge. The degree of ionization obtained in this way is ?5%. The optimum conditions for this type of preionization are evaluated from density measurements at higher cyclotron harmonics.     

Generation of vacuum ultraviolet radiation by intracavity high-harmonic generation toward state detection of single trapped ions

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation around 159 nm is obtained toward direct excitation of a single trapped \(^{115}\hbox {In}^{+}\) ion. An efficient fluoride-based VUV output coupler is employed for intracavity high-harmonic generation of a Ti:S oscillator. Using this coupler, where we measured its reflectance to be about 90 %, an average power reaching 6.4  \(\upmu\) W is coupled out from a modest fundamental power of 650 mW. When a single comb component out of 1.9  \(\times\)  10 \(^{5}\) teeth is resonant to the atomic transition, 100s of fluorescence photons per second will be detectable under a realistic condition.     

A DFG-based cavity ring-down spectrometer for trace gas sensing in the mid-infrared

Continuing studies into an all-diode laser-based 3.3 μm difference frequency generation cavity ring-down spectroscopy system are presented. Light from a 1,560 nm diode laser, amplified by an erbium-doped fibre amplifier, was mixed with 1,064 nm diode laser radiation in a bulk periodically poled lithium niobate crystal to generate 16 μW of mid-IR light at 3,346 nm with a conversion efficiency of $0.05\,\%\,{\text{W}}^{-1}\,{\text{cm}}^{-1}$ . This radiation was coupled into a 77 cm long linear cavity with average mirror reflectivities of 0.9996, and a measured baseline ring-down time of $6.07\pm 0.03\,\upmu{\rm s}$ . The potential of such a spectrometer was illustrated by investigating the $P(3)$ transition in the fundamental $\nu_{3}(F_{2})$ band of ${\text{CH}}_4$ both in a 7.5 ppmv calibrated mixture of ${\text{CH}}_4$ in air and in breath samples from methane and non-methane producers under conditions where the minimum detectable absorption coefficient ( $\alpha_{\rm min}$ ) was $2.8 \times 10^{-8}\,{\rm cm}^{-1}$ over 6 s using a ring-down time acquisition rate of 20 Hz. Allan variance measurements indicated an optimum $\alpha_{\rm min}$ of $2.9\times 10^{-9}\,{\rm cm}^{-1}$ over 44 s.     

The Lie–Rinehart Universal Poisson Algebra of Classical and Quantum Mechanics

The Lie–Rinehart algebra of a (connected) manifold ${\mathcal {M}}$ , defined by the Lie structure of the vector fields, their action and their module structure over ${C^\infty({\mathcal {M}})}$ , is a common, diffeomorphism invariant, algebra for both classical and quantum mechanics. Its (noncommutative) Poisson universal enveloping algebra ${\Lambda_{R}({\mathcal {M}})}$ , with the Lie–Rinehart product identified with the symmetric product, contains a central variable (a central sequence for non-compact ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ ) ${Z}$ which relates the commutators to the Lie products. Classical and quantum mechanics are its only factorial realizations, corresponding to Z  =  i z, z  =  0 and ${z = \hbar}$ , respectively; canonical quantization uniquely follows from such a general geometrical structure. For ${z =\hbar \neq 0}$ , the regular factorial Hilbert space representations of ${\Lambda_{R}({\mathcal{M}})}$ describe quantum mechanics on ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ . For z  =  0, if Diff( ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ ) is unitarily implemented, they are unitarily equivalent, up to multiplicity, to the representation defined by classical mechanics on ${{\mathcal {M}}}$ .     

Analytic Binding Energies for Two-Baryon Bound States in 2 + 1 Strongly Coupled Lattice QCD With Two-Flavors

We consider a lattice SU(3) QCD model in 2 + 1 dimensions, with two flavors and 2 × 2 spin matrices. An imaginary time functional integral formulation with Wilson’s action is used in the strong coupling regime, i.e. small hopping parameter ${0 < \kappa \ll 1}$ , and much smaller plaquette coupling ${\beta, 0 < \beta \ll \kappa}$ . In this regime, it is known that the low-lying energy-momentum spectrum contains isolated dispersion curves identified with baryons and mesons with asymptotic masses ${m\approx-3\ln\kappa}$ and ${m_m\approx-2\ln\kappa}$ , respectively. We prove the existence of two (labelled by ±) two-baryon bound states for each of the total isospin sectors I = 0,1 and we obtain, in each case, the exact binding energies ${\epsilon_{I\,\pm} }$ (of order ${\kappa^2}$ ) which extend to jointly analytic function in ${\kappa}$ and β. We also prove that these points are the only mass spectrum up to slightly above the bound state masses. Precisely, we show, for ${\alpha_0=\frac 14, \alpha_1=\frac 1{12}, \alpha_2=\frac12, \alpha_3=\frac 34}$ and small ${\delta >0 }$ , that the bound state masses ${2m-\epsilon_{I\,\pm}}$ are the only points in the mass spectrum in ${(0,2m-\epsilon_{I\,\pm}+\delta \alpha_I\kappa^2)}$ , for I = 0,1, and in ${(0,2m-(1+\delta)\alpha_I\kappa^2)}$ , for I = 2,3. These results are exact and validate our previous results obtained in a ladder approximation. The method employs suitable two- and four-point correlations with spectral representations and a lattice Bethe-Salpeter equation. For I = 0,1, a quark, antiquark space-range one potential of order ${\kappa^2}$ is found to be the dominant contribution to the two-baryon interaction and the interaction of the individual quark isospins of one baryon with those of the other is described by permanents. A novel spectral free decomposition (but spectral representation motivated, for real κ and β) of the two-point correlation, after performing a complex extension, is a key ingredient in showing the joint analyticity of the binding energy.     

On Gravitational Effects in the Schrödinger Equation

The Schrödinger  equation for a particle of rest mass $m$ and electrical charge $ne$ interacting with a four-vector potential $A_i$ can be derived as the non-relativistic limit of the Klein–Gordon  equation $\left( \Box '+m^2\right) \varPsi =0$ for the wave function $\varPsi $ , where $\Box '=\eta ^{jk}\partial '_j\partial '_k$ and $\partial '_j=\partial _j -\mathrm {i}n e A_j$ , or equivalently from the one-dimensional  action $S_1=-\int m ds +\int neA_i dx^i$ for the corresponding point particle in the semi-classical approximation $\varPsi \sim \exp {(\mathrm {i}S_1)}$ , both methods yielding the equation $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2m}\eta ^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + m + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ in Minkowski  space–time  , where $\alpha ,\beta =1,2,3$ and $\phi =-A_0$ . We show that these two methods generally yield equations  that differ in a curved background  space–time   $g_{ij}$ , although they coincide when $g_{0\alpha }=0$ if $m$ is replaced by the effective mass $\mathcal{M}\equiv \sqrt{m^2-\xi R}$ in both the Klein–Gordon  action $S$ and $S_1$ , allowing for non-minimal coupling to the gravitational  field, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar and $\xi $ is a constant. In this case $\mathrm {i}\partial _0\varPsi \approx \left( \frac{1}{2\mathcal{M}'} g^{\alpha \beta }\partial '_{\alpha }\partial '_{\beta } + \mathcal{M}\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} + n e\phi \right) \varPsi $ , where $\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} =\sqrt{g_{00}}$ and $\mathcal{M}'=\mathcal{M}/\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ , the correctness of the gravitational  contribution to the potential having been verified to linear order $m\phi ^{(\mathrm g)} $ in the thermal-neutron beam interferometry experiment due to Colella et al. Setting $n=2$ and regarding $\varPsi $ as the quasi-particle wave function, or order parameter, we obtain the generalization of the fundamental macroscopic Ginzburg-Landau equation of superconductivity to curved space–time. Conservation of probability and electrical current requires both electromagnetic gauge and space–time  coordinate conditions to be imposed, which exemplifies the gravito-electromagnetic analogy, particularly in the stationary case, when div ${{\varvec{A}}}=\hbox {div}{{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)}=0$ , where ${{\varvec{A}}}^{\alpha }=-A^{\alpha }$ and ${{\varvec{A}}}^{(\mathrm g)\alpha }=-\phi ^{(\mathrm g)}g^{0\alpha }$ . The quantum-cosmological Schrödinger  (Wheeler–DeWitt) equation is also discussed in the $\mathcal{D}$ -dimensional  mini-superspace idealization, with particular regard to the vacuum potential $\mathcal V$ and the characteristics of the ground state, assuming a gravitational  Lagrangian   $L_\mathcal{D}$ which contains higher-derivative  terms up to order $\mathcal{R}^4$ . For the heterotic superstring theory  , $L_\mathcal{D}$ consists of an infinite series in $\alpha '\mathcal{R}$ , where $\alpha '$ is the Regge slope parameter, and in the perturbative approximation $\alpha '|\mathcal{R}| \ll 1$ , $\mathcal V$ is positive semi-definite for $\mathcal{D} \ge 4$ . The maximally symmetric ground state satisfying the field equations is Minkowski  space for $3\le {\mathcal {D}}\le 7$ and anti-de Sitter  space for $8 \le \mathcal {D} \le 10$ .     

Poisson Algebras of Block-Upper-Triangular Bilinear Forms and Braid Group Action

In this paper we study a quadratic Poisson algebra structure on the space of bilinear forms on ${\mathbb{C}^{N}}$ C N with the property that for any ${n, m \in \mathbb{N}}$ n , m ∈ N such that n m = N, the restriction of the Poisson algebra to the space of bilinear forms with a block-upper-triangular matrix composed from blocks of size ${m \times m}$ m × m is Poisson. We classify all central elements and characterise the Lie algebroid structure compatible with the Poisson algebra. We integrate this algebroid obtaining the corresponding groupoid of morphisms of block-upper-triangular bilinear forms. The groupoid elements automatically preserve the Poisson algebra. We then obtain the braid group action on the Poisson algebra as elementary generators within the groupoid. We discuss the affinisation and quantisation of this Poisson algebra, showing that in the case m = 1 the quantum affine algebra is the twisted q-Yangian for ${\mathfrak{o}_{n}}$ o n and for m = 2 is the twisted q-Yangian for ${(\mathfrak{sp}_{2n})}$ ( sp 2 n ) . We describe the quantum braid group action in these two examples and conjecture the form of this action for any m > 2. Finally, we give an R-matrix interpretation of our results and discuss the relation with Poisson–Lie groups.     

The N = 16 Spherical Shell Closure in 24O

The unbound excited states of the most neutron-rich dripline oxygen isotope, ²⁴O, have been investigated by using the ²⁴O(p,p′)²⁴O^* reaction at the beam energy of 62 MeV/nucleon in inverse kinematics. The first and second unbound excited states of ²⁴O have been observed at ${E_{\rm x}= 4.63_{-0.14}^{+0.30}}$  MeV and ${E_{\rm x}= 5.13_{-0.24}^{+0.19}}$  MeV (preliminary) along with the evidence for another higher lying state at around 7.3 MeV. The quadrupole deformation parameter ${\beta_{2^+}}$ was deduced to be ${0.15_{-0.03}^{+0.08}}$ (preliminary) for the first time. The systematics of the ${\beta_{2^+}}$ and the ${E_{\rm x}(2_1^+)}$ in the Z = 8 isotopes shows the N = 16 spherical shell closure in ²⁴O.     

Efimov Spectrum in Bosonic Systems with Increasing Number of Particles

It is well-known that three-boson systems show the Efimov effect when the two-body scattering length a is large with respect to the range of the two-body interaction. This effect is a manifestation of a discrete scaling invariance (DSI). In this work we study DSI in the N-body system by analysing the spectrum of N identical bosons obtained with a pairwise gaussian interaction close to the unitary limit. We consider different universal ratios such as \({E_N^0/E_3^0}\) and \({E_N^1/E_N^0}\) , with \({E_N^i}\) being the energy of the ground (i = 0) and first-excited (i = 1) state of the system, for \({N \leq16}\) . We discuss the extension of the Efimov radial law, derived by Efimov for N = 3, to general N.     

Diode-pumped Yb:CaF_2 multipass amplifier producing 50 mJ with dynamic analysis for high repetition rate operation

The dynamic thermal issues of the Yb:CaF \(_{2}\) crystals within a multi-tens-mJ-energy multipass amplifier operating in the 20–100 Hz repetition rate range and pumped in quasi-cw regime have been studied at different timescales. Thermal response times of the system have been precisely investigated and analyzed, for the first time to our best knowledge in such amplifiers. This study includes a dual timescale analysis: in the long-time-scale (second) with direct thermography mapping and in the millisecond range with thermal lensing in a pump-probe configuration. Very atypical positive lens behavior with fluorites will also be presented and discussed. This complete analysis is used to demonstrate the capability of \(\hbox {Yb:CaF}_{2}\) multipass amplifier systems for operating the amplifier at 20 Hz with 57 mJ and 100 Hz with 32-mJ stable regime. Indeed, high repetition rate multipass amplifier has been realized for the first time with \(\hbox {Yb:CaF}_{2}\) and for this energy. The results have been analyzed precisely to take into account the thermal issues and excellent beam quality, with a \(M^2\) of 1.1. The pointing stability of 20 μrad has been measured documenting the reliability of the high repetition rate mJ amplifier.     

Coupling constant in dispersive model

The average of the moments for event shapes in e ^?+? e??→hadrons within the context of next-to-leading order (NLO) perturbative QCD prediction in dispersive model is studied. Moments used in this article are $\langle {1-T}\rangle$ , $\langle \rho\rangle$ , $\langle {B_{\rm T}}\rangle$ and $\langle {B_{\rm W} }\rangle$ . We extract α _s, the coupling constant in perturbative theory and α ₀ in the non-perturbative theory using the dispersive model. By fitting the experimental data, the values of $\alpha_{\rm s} ({M_{\rm Z^0} })=0.1171\pm 0.00229$ and $\alpha_0 \left( {\mu_{\rm I} =2\,{\rm GeV}} \right)=0.5068\pm 0.0440$ are found. Our results are consistent with the above model. Our results are also consistent with those obtained from other experiments at different energies. All these features are explained in this paper.     

All-carbon detector with buried graphite pillars in CVD diamond

A diamond detector of 3D architecture without any metallization is developed for spectroscopy of ionizing radiation and single particles detection. The carbon electrode system was fabricated using a femtosecond infrared laser ( $\lambda $ = 1,030 nm) to induce graphitization on the surface and inside 4.0  $\times $  4.0  $\times $  0.4 mm $^{3}$ single-crystal chemical vapor deposition diamond slab, resulting in an array of 84 buried graphite pillars of 30  $\upmu $ m diameter formed orthogonally to the surface and connected by surface graphite strips. Sensitivity to ionizing radiation with $^{90}$ Sr $\upbeta $ -source has been measured for the 3D detector and high charge collection efficiency is demonstrated.     

Self-Avoiding Walk is Sub-Ballistic

We prove that self-avoiding walk on ${\mathbb{Z}^d}$ is sub-ballistic in any dimension d ≥ 2. That is, writing ${\| u \|}$ for the Euclidean norm of ${u \in \mathbb{Z}^d}$ , and ${\mathsf{P_{SAW}}_n}$ for the uniform measure on self-avoiding walks ${\gamma : \{0, \ldots, n\} \to \mathbb{Z}^d}$ for which γ ₀ = 0, we show that, for each v > 0, there exists ${\varepsilon > 0}$ such that, for each ${n \in \mathbb{N}, \mathsf{P_{SAW}}_n \big( {\rm max}\big\{\| \gamma_k \| : 0 \leq k \leq n\big\} \geq vn \big) \leq e^{-\varepsilon n}}$ .     

Renormalizable Models in Rank {d \geq 2} Tensorial Group Field Theory

Classes of renormalizable models in the Tensorial Group Field Theory framework are investigated. The rank d tensor fields are defined over d copies of a group manifold \({G_D=U(1)^D}\) or \({G_D= SU(2)^D}\) with no symmetry and no gauge invariance assumed on the fields. In particular, we explore the space of renormalizable models endowed with a kinetic term corresponding to a sum of momenta of the form \({p^{2a}, a\in (0,1]}\) . This study is tailored for models equipped with Laplacian dynamics on G _D (case a = 1) but also for more exotic nonlocal models in quantum topology (case 0 < a < 1). A generic model can be written \({(_{\dim G_D}\Phi^{k}_{d}, a)}\) , where k is the maximal valence of its interactions. Using a multi-scale analysis for the generic situation, we identify several classes of renormalizable actions, including matrix model actions. In this specific instance, we find a tower of renormalizable matrix models parametrized by \({k \geq 4}\) . In a second part of this work, we study the UV behavior of the models up to maximal valence of interaction k = 6. All rank \({d \geq 3}\) tensor models proved renormalizable are asymptotically free in the UV. All matrix models with k = 4 have a vanishing β-function at one-loop and, very likely, reproduce the same feature of the Grosse–Wulkenhaar model (Commun Math Phys 256:305, 2005).     

Coset Constructions of Logarithmic (1, p) Models

One of the best understood families of logarithmic onformal field theories consists of the (1, p) models (p =  2, 3, . . .) of central charge c _{1, p} =1 ? 6(p ? 1)²/p. This family includes the theories corresponding to the singlet algebras ${\mathcal{M}(p)}$ and the triplet algebras ${\mathcal{W}(p)}$ , as well as the ubiquitous symplectic fermions theory. In this work, these algebras are realised through a coset construction. The ${W^{(2)}_n}$ algebra of level k was introduced by Feigin and Semikhatov as a (conjectured) quantum hamiltonian reduction of ${\widehat{\mathfrak{sl}}(n)_k}$ , generalising the Bershadsky–Polyakov algebra ${W^{(2)}_3}$ . Inspired by work of Adamovi? for p = 3, vertex algebras ${\mathcal{B}_p}$ are constructed as subalgebras of the kernel of certain screening charges acting on a rank 2 lattice vertex algebra of indefinite signature. It is shown that for p≤5, the algebra ${\mathcal{B}_p}$ is a quotient of ${W^{(2)}_{p-1}}$ at level ?(p ? 1)²/p and that the known part of the operator product algebra of the latter algebra is consistent with this holding for p> 5 as well. The triplet algebra ${\mathcal{W}(p)}$ is then realised as a coset inside the full kernel of the screening operator, while the singlet algebra ${\mathcal{M}(p)}$ is similarly realised inside ${\mathcal{B}_p}$ . As an application, and to illustrate these results, the coset character decompositions are explicitly worked out for p =  2 and 3.     

Investigation of conductivity of adhesive layer including indium tin oxide particles for multi-junction solar cells

We report connection conductivity ( \(C_{\rm c}\) ) of adhesive which including \(\hbox {In}_2\hbox {O}_3\) – \(\hbox {SnO}_2\) (ITO) particles developed for fabrication of stacked-type-multi-junction solar cells. The commercial 20- \(\upmu \) m sized ITO particles were heated in vacuum at temperature ranging from 800 to 1,300  \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) for 10 min to increase \(C_{\rm c}\) . 6.2 wt% ITO particles were dispersed in commercial Cemedine adhesive gel to form 100 samples structured with n-type Si/adhesive/n-type Si (n-Si sample) and p-type Si/adhesive/p-type Si (p-Si sample). Current density as a function of voltage (J–V) characteristics gave \(C_{\rm c}\) . It ranged from 4.3 to 1.0 S/cm \(^2\) for the n-Si sample with 800 \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) heat-treated ITO particles. Its standard deviation was 0.59 S/cm \(^2\) . On the other hand, it ranged from 2.0 to 0.6 S/cm \(^2\) for the p-Si sample with 800  \(^{\circ }{\rm C}\) heat-treated ITO particles. Its standard deviation was 0.22 S/cm \(^2\) . The distribution of \(C_{\rm c}\) mainly resulted from contact efficiency of ITO particles to substrate. We theoretically estimated that present \(C_{\rm c}\) achieved a low loss of the power conversion efficiency ( \(E_{\rm ff}\) ) lower than 0.3 % in the application of fabrication of multi-junction solar cell with an intrinsic \(E_{\rm ff}\) of 30 % and an open circuit voltage above 1.9 V.     

Formation and crystallization kinetics of Nd–Fe–B-based bulk amorphous alloy

In order to improve the glass-forming ability (GFA) of Nd–Fe–B ternary alloys to obtain fully amorphous bulk Nd–Fe–B-based alloy, the effects of Mo and Y doping on GFA of the alloys were investigated. It was found that the substitution of Mo for Fe and Y for Nd enhanced the GFA of the Nd–Y–Fe–Mo–B alloys. It was also revealed that the GFA of the samples was optimized by 4 at.% Mo doping and increased with the Y content. The fully amorphous structures were all formed in the Nd $_{6-{x}}$ Y $_{{x}}$ Fe $_{68}$ Mo $_{4}$ B $_{22}$ (x $=$ 1–5) alloy rods with 1.5 mm-diameter. After subsequent crystallization, the devitrified Nd $_{3}$ Y $_{3}$ Fe $_{68}$ Mo $_{4}$ B $_{22}$ alloy rod exhibited a uniform distribution of grains with a coercivity of 364.1 kA/m. The crystallization behavior of Nd $_{3}$ Y $_{3}$ Fe $_{68}$ Mo $_{4}$ B $_{22}$ BMG was investigated in isothermal situation. The Avrami exponent n determined by JAM plot is lower than 2.5, implying that the crystallization is mainly governed by a growth of particles with decreasing nucleation rate.     

Evolution under thermal annealing of Mn-doped iron disilicides obtained by ball milling

Phase formation in the Mn doped $\upbeta $ -FeSi₂ system (Fe_1???x Mn _x Si₂, with 0.00 ≤?x?≤ 0.24) was studied using X-ray diffraction and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Samples were prepared by the simultaneous mill of pure Si, Mn and Fe under Ar atmosphere followed by an annealing at 1,123 K during 4 h at 1 × 10^???7 Torr. After milling, an admixture of $\upbeta $ -FeSi₂, $\upalpha $ -FeSi₂ and $\upvarepsilon $ -FeSi phases was present while $\upalpha $ -FeSi₂ disappeared after annealing, resulting $\upbeta $ -FeSi₂ the main phase. Depending on Mn concentration, small amounts of $\upvarepsilon $ -FeSi and Si segregation were also observed. A preferential substitution of Fe atoms by Mn ones in the Fe_II site of the $\upbeta $ -FeSi₂ regular lattice was inferred from the Mössbauer results.