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.     

Structural evolution of nanopores and cracks as fundamental constituents of ultrashort pulse-induced nanogratings

We present an extensive study of the underlying structure of femtosecond laser-induced nanogratings in fused silica. To explore the evolution of the three-dimensional structure of the nanopores and cracks, of which the nanogratings consist, we performed small angle X-ray scattering measurements as well as focused ion beam milling and scanning electron microscopy. Our results show that cracks with dimensions of (280  $\times $  25  $\times $  380) nm $^{3}$ and nanopores with typical diameters of (30  $\times $  25  $\times $  75) nm $^{3}$ are formed independent of various illumination parameters. With increasing number of laser pulses the smaller pores fuse to larger structures. Furthermore, the data suggest a cross-sectional change of the pores from cuboidal to ellipsoidal.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy in the investigation of new mineral–related materials

New materials based on the composition of the mineral schafarzikite, FeSb $_{2}\textit {O}_{4}$ , have been synthesised. $^{57}$ Fe- and $^{121}$ Sb- Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that iron is present as Fe $^{2+}$ and that antimony is present as Sb $^{3+}$ . The presence of Pb $^{2+}$ on the antimony sites in materials of composition FeSb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ induces partial oxidation of Fe $^{2+}_{}$ to Fe $^{3+}$ . The quasi-one-dimensional magnetic structure of schafarzikite is retained in FeSb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ and gives rise to weakly coupled non-magnetic Fe $^{2+}$ ions coexisting with Fe $^{3+}$ ions in a magnetically ordered state. A similar model can be applied to account for the spectra recorded from the compound Co $_{0.5}$ Fe $_{0.5}$ Sb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ .     

Influence of temperature on the electric,dielectric and AC conductivity properties of nano-crystalline zinc substituted cobalt ferrite synthesized by solution combustion technique

Cobalt–zinc nanoferrites with formulae Co $_{1-x}$ Zn $_{x}$ Fe $_{2}$ O $_{4}$ , where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3, have been synthesized by solution combustion technique. The variation of DC resistivity with temperature shows the semiconducting behavior of all nanoferrites. The dielectric properties such as dielectric constant ( $\varepsilon $ ’) and dielectric loss tangent (tan $\delta )$ are investigated as a function of temperature and frequency. Dielectric constant and loss tangent are found to be increasing with an increase in temperature while with an increase in frequency both, $\varepsilon $ ’ and tan $\delta $ , are found to be decreasing. The dielectric properties have been explained on the basis of space charge polarization according to Maxwell–Wagner’s two-layer model and the hopping of charge between Fe $^{2+}$ and Fe $^{3+}$ . Further, a very high value of dielectric constant and a low value of tan $\delta $ are the prime achievements of the present work. The AC electrical conductivity ( $\sigma _\mathrm{AC})$ is studied as a function of temperature as well as frequency and $\sigma _\mathrm{AC}$ is observed to be increasing with the increase in temperature and frequency.     

Separation efficiency of the MASHA facility for short-lived mercury isotopes

The mass-separator MASHA built to identify Super Heavy Elements by their mass-to-charge ratios is described. The results of the off- and on-line measurements of its separation efficiency are presented. In the former case four calibrated leaks of noble gases were used. In the latter the efficiency was measured via 284 MeV $^{40}$ Ar beam and with using the hot catcher. The ECR ion source was used in both cases. The $\alpha $ -radioactive isotopes of mercury produced in the complete fusion reaction $^{40}$ Ar+ $^{144}$ Sm $\rightarrow ^{184-xn}$ Hg+xn were detected at the mass-separator focal plane. The half-lives and the separation efficiency for the short-lived mercury isotopes were measured. Potentialities of the MEDIPIX detector system have been demonstrated for future use at the mass-separator MASHA.     

Resonance Conversion as the Predominant Decay Mode of ^{229m}Th

Calculations performed within the advanced MCDF method show that the probability of decay of the 3.5-eV level of $^{229m}$ Th through the resonance electronic bridges exceeds the direct radiative nuclear decay width by a factor of around $5\cdot 10^3$ . Experimental consequences for detection of the delayed soft photons or $\alpha$ particles from the decay of the isomer are discussed.     

Laser nanoablation of graphite

Experimental data on laser ablation of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite by nanosecond pulsed UV ( $\lambda =193$  nm) and green ( $\lambda =532$  nm) lasers are presented. It was found that below graphite vaporization threshold $\approx $ 1 J/cm $^{2}$ , the nanoablation regime can be realized with material removal rates as low as 10 $^{-3}$  nm/pulse. The difference between physical (vaporization) and physical–chemical (heating + oxidation) ablation regimes is discussed. Special attention is paid to the influence of laser fluence and pulse number on ablation kinetics. Possibility of laser-induced graphite surface nanostructuring has been demonstrated. Combination of tightly focused laser beam and sharp tip of scanning probe microscope was applied to improve material nanoablation.     

Charmonium rescattering effects in \psi(2S) \rightarrow \gamma \eta_{c}^{} decay

Charmonium rescattering effects in the M1 transition of $ \psi$ (2S) $ \rightarrow$ $ \gamma$ $ \eta_{c}^{}$ are investigated by modeling a $ \chi_{{cJ}}^{}$ or J/ $ \psi$ rescattering into a $ \eta_{c}^{}$ final state. The absorptive and dispersive part of the transition amplitudes for the rescattering loops of $ \eta$ $ \psi$ ( $ \gamma^{{\ast}}_{}$ ) and $ \gamma$ $ \chi$ ( $ \psi$ ) are separately evaluated. The numerical results show that the contribution from the $ \gamma$ $ \chi$ ( $ \psi$ ) rescattering process is negligible. Compared with the virtual D $ \bar{{D}}$ (D ^*) rescattering processes, the $ \eta$ $ \psi$ ( $ \gamma^{{\ast}}_{}$ ) process may be regarded as the next-leading order of the hadronic loop mechanism, which only offers the partial decay width of ～ 0.045 keV to the $ \psi$ (2S) $ \rightarrow$ $ \gamma$ $ \eta_{c}^{}$ .     

Waveguide laser modelling of Erbium/Ytterbium activated monoclinic double tungstates

Using the overlapping integral method, a rib waveguide laser of monoclinic potassium double tungstate, KRE $(\text{ WO}_{4})_{2}$ , co-doped with Erbium and Ytterbium has been modelled. The laser operation at 1.5 $\upmu $ m is based on an efficient pump scheme via the energy transfer from Yb $^{3+}$ to Er $^{3+}$ ions. The numerical simulation requires spectroscopic parameters of the ions involved and the waveguide geometry and index profiles. This model allows determining the laser power as a function of controllable parameters such as ions doping level, pump power, cavity length or reflectance of the input/output mirrors. It has been found that, for the standard doping level used in this matrix, the optimum cavity length is only few millimeters. Overall, using simulation tools is possible to optimize fabrication parameters, and thus saving effort in the development of experimental prototypes.     

Reaction pp \rightarrow pp \pi \pi \pi as a background for hadronic decays of the \eta^{{\prime}}_{} meson

Isospin violating hadronic decays of the $ \eta$ and $ \eta{^\prime}$ mesons into 3 $ \pi$ mesons are driven by a term in the QCD Lagrangian proportional to the mass difference of the d and u quarks. The source giving large yield of the mesons for such decay studies are pp interactions close to the respective kinematical thresholds. The most important physics background for $ \eta$ , $ \eta{^\prime}$ $ \rightarrow$ $ \pi$ $ \pi$ $ \pi$ is coming from direct three-pion production reactions. In case of the $ \eta$ meson the background for the decays is relatively low ( $ \approx$ 10% . The purpose of this article is to provide an estimate of the direct pion production background for the $ \eta{^\prime}$ $ \rightarrow$ 3 $ \pi$ decays. Using the inclusive data from the COSY-11 experiment we have extracted the differential cross-section for the pp $ \rightarrow$ pp -multipion production reactions with the invariant mass of the pions equal to the $ \eta{^\prime}$ meson mass and estimated an upper limit for the signal to background ratio for studies of the $ \eta{^\prime}$ $ \rightarrow$ $ \pi^{+}_{}$ $ \pi^{-}_{}$ $ \pi^{0}_{}$ decay.     

P–V criticality of topological black holes in Lovelock–Born–Infeld gravity

To understand the effect of third order Lovelock gravity, $P$ – $V$ criticality of topological AdS black holes in Lovelock–Born–Infeld gravity is investigated. The thermodynamics is further explored with some more extensions and in some more detail than the previous literature. A detailed analysis of the limit case $\beta \rightarrow \infty $ is performed for the seven-dimensional black holes. It is shown that, for the spherical topology, $P$ – $V$ criticality exists for both the uncharged and the charged cases. Our results demonstrate again that the charge is not the indispensable condition of $P$ – $V$ criticality. It may be attributed to the effect of higher derivative terms of the curvature because similar phenomenon was also found for Gauss–Bonnet black holes. For $k=0$ , there would be no $P$ – $V$ criticality. Interesting findings occur in the case $k=-1$ , in which positive solutions of critical points are found for both the uncharged and the charged cases. However, the $P$ – $v$ diagram is quite strange. To check whether these findings are physical, we give the analysis on the non-negative definiteness condition of the entropy. It is shown that, for any nontrivial value of $\alpha $ , the entropy is always positive for any specific volume $v$ . Since no $P$ – $V$ criticality exists for $k=-1$ in Einstein gravity and Gauss–Bonnet gravity, we can relate our findings with the peculiar property of third order Lovelock gravity. The entropy in third order Lovelock gravity consists of extra terms which are absent in the Gauss–Bonnet black holes, which makes the critical points satisfy the constraint of non-negative definiteness condition of the entropy. We also check the Gibbs free energy graph and “swallow tail” behavior can be observed. Moreover, the effect of nonlinear electrodynamics is also included in our research.     

Analysis of the vertexes \Xi_{Q}^{*}′QV , \Sigma_{Q}^{*} \Sigma_{Q}^{}V and radiative decays \Xi_{Q}^{*} \rightarrow ′Q \gamma , \Sigma_{Q}^{*} \rightarrow \Sigma_{Q}^{} \gamma

In this article, we study the vertexes $ \Xi_{Q}^{*}$ ′_Q V and $ \Sigma_{Q}^{*}$ $ \Sigma_{Q}^{}$ V with the light-cone QCD sum rules, then assume the vector meson dominance of the intermediate $ \phi$ (1020) , $ \rho$ (770) and $ \omega$ (782) , and calculate the radiative decays $ \Xi_{Q}^{*}$ $ \rightarrow$ ′_Q $ \gamma$ and $ \Sigma_{Q}^{*}$ $ \rightarrow$ $ \Sigma_{Q}^{}$ $ \gamma$ .     

Large N approach to Kaon decays and mixing 28 years later: \Delta I=1/2 rule, \hat{B}_K,and \Delta M_K

We review and update our results for $K\rightarrow \pi \pi $ decays and $K^0$ – $\bar{K}^0$ mixing obtained by us in the 1980s within an analytic approximate approach based on the dual representation of QCD as a theory of weakly interacting mesons for large $N$ , where $N$ is the number of colors. In our analytic approach the Standard Model dynamics behind the enhancement of $\hbox {Re}A_0$ and suppression of $\hbox {Re}A_2$ , the so-called $\Delta I=1/2$ rule for $K\rightarrow \pi \pi $ decays, has a simple structure: the usual octet enhancement through the long but slow quark–gluon renormalization group evolution down to the scales $\mathcal{O}(1\, {\hbox { GeV}})$ is continued as a short but fast meson evolution down to zero momentum scales at which the factorization of hadronic matrix elements is at work. The inclusion of lowest-lying vector meson contributions in addition to the pseudoscalar ones and of Wilson coefficients in a momentum scheme improves significantly the matching between quark–gluon and meson evolutions. In particular, the anomalous dimension matrix governing the meson evolution exhibits the structure of the known anomalous dimension matrix in the quark–gluon evolution. While this physical picture did not yet emerge from lattice simulations, the recent results on $\hbox {Re}A_2$ and $\hbox {Re}A_0$ from the RBC-UKQCD collaboration give support for its correctness. In particular, the signs of the two main contractions found numerically by these authors follow uniquely from our analytic approach. Though the current–current operators dominate the $\Delta I=1/2$ rule, working with matching scales $\mathcal{O}(1 \, {\hbox { GeV}})$ we find that the presence of QCD-penguin operator $Q_6$ is required to obtain satisfactory result for $\hbox {Re}A_0$ . At NLO in $1/N$ we obtain $R=\hbox {Re}A_0/\hbox {Re}A_2= 16.0\pm 1.5$ which amounts to an order of magnitude enhancement over the strict large $N$ limit value $\sqrt{2}$ . We also update our results for the parameter $\hat{B}_K$ , finding $\hat{B}_K=0.73\pm 0.02$ . The smallness of $1/N$ corrections to the large $N$ value $\hat{B}_K=3/4$ results within our approach from an approximate cancelation between pseudoscalar and vector meson one-loop contributions. We also summarize the status of $\Delta M_K$ in this approach.     

Analysis of the {3\over 2}^{+} heavy and doubly heavy baryon states with QCD sum rules

In this article, we study the ${3\over 2}^{+}$ heavy and doubly heavy baryon states $\varXi^{*}_{cc}$ , $\varOmega^{*}_{cc}$ , $\varXi^{*}_{bb}$ , $\varOmega^{*}_{bb}$ , $\varSigma_{c}^{*}$ , $\varXi_{c}^{*}$ , $\varOmega_{c}^{*}$ , $\varSigma_{b}^{*}$ , $\varXi_{b}^{*}$ and $\varOmega_{b}^{*}$ by subtracting the contributions from the corresponding ${3\over 2}^{-}$ heavy and doubly heavy baryon states with the QCD sum rules, and we make reasonable predictions for their masses.     

Dilaton gravity, (quasi-) black holes,and scalar charge

Electrically charged dust is considered in the framework of Einstein–Maxwell–dilaton gravity with a Lagrangian containing the interaction term \(P(\chi )F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\) , where \(P(\chi )\) is an arbitrary function of the dilaton scalar field \(\chi \) , which can be normal or phantom. Without assumption of spatial symmetry, we show that static configurations exist for arbitrary functions \(g_{00} = \exp (2\gamma (x^{i}))\) ( \(i=1,2,3\) ) and \(\chi =\chi (\gamma )\) . If \(\chi = \mathrm{const}\) , the classical Majumdar–Papapetrou (MP) system is restored. We discuss solutions that represent black holes (BHs) and quasi-black holes (QBHs), deduce some general results and confirm them by examples. In particular, we analyze configurations with spherical and cylindrical symmetries. It turns out that cylindrical BHs and QBHs cannot exist without negative energy density somewhere in space. However, in general, BHs and QBHs can be phantom-free, that is, can exist with everywhere nonnegative energy densities of matter, scalar and electromagnetic fields.     

Structure of some FeII − III hydroxysalt green rusts (carbonate, oxalate, methanoate) from Mössbauer spectroscopy

The abundances of Fe^II and Fe^III environments within green rusts one, GR1s, that intercalate carbonate, oxalate and methanoate (formate) anions are found from Mössbauer spectra for compositions corresponding to [Fe $^{\rm II}_{6}$ Fe $^{\rm III}_{2}$ (OH)₁₆]^2?+??[CO $_{3}^{2-}$ ?5H₂O]^2???, [Fe $^{\rm II}_{4}$ Fe $^{\rm III}_{2}$ (OH)₁₂]^2?+??[CO $_{3}^{2-}$ ?3H₂O]^2???, [Fe $^{\rm II}_{6}$ Fe $^{\rm III}_{2}$ (OH)₁₆]^2?+??[C₂O $_{4}^{2-}$ ?4H₂O]^2??? and [Fe $^{\rm II}_{5}$ Fe $^{\rm III}_{2}$ (OH)₁₄]^2?+??[2HCOO^????3H₂O]^2???. These formulae correspond to orders α, β and γ where cation distances are (2 × a ₀), ( $\surd 3$ × a ₀) or a mixture of both leading to (7 × a ₀), where ratio x = {[Fe^III]/[Fe_total]} = 1/4, 1/3 and 2/7, respectively. Anion distributions within interlayers are also devised and long-range orders determined accordingly.     

Characterization of blade Bragg grating modeling with different incident angle profiles for strain sensor applications

This paper presents the design, realization and measurement of a thin lightweight absorbing material for space applications. Absorber design is based on high impedance surfaces loaded with resistors and known as a resistive high impedance surface (RHIS). The behavior of RHIS is analyzed at normal and oblique incidences for TE and TM polarizations. Prototypes have been realized and measured. Final design has a reflection coefficient less than $-$ 15 dB in S-Band (2–2.3 GHz) at normal incidence and till an angular dispersion of 40 $^\circ $ for waves in TE polarization, and 35 $^\circ $ for waves in TM polarization. Simulation results are validated by measurement.     

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 $8 \le \mathcal {D} \le 10$ .     

Spectroscopic properties of Ho 3 + -doped K–Sr–Al phosphate glasses

Trivalent holmium-doped K–Sr–Al phosphate glasses ( $\mathrm{P}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{5}$ – $\mathrm{K}_{2}\mathrm{O}$ –SrO– $\mathrm{Al}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ – $\mathrm{Ho}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ ) were prepared, and their spectroscopic properties have been evaluated using absorption, emission, and excitation measurements. The Judd–Ofelt theory has been used to derive spectral intensities of various absorption bands from measured absorption spectrum of 1.0 mol% $\mathrm{Ho}_{2}\mathrm{O}_{3}$ -doped K–Sr–Al phosphate glass. The Judd–Ofelt intensity parameters ( $\varOmega_{\lambda}$ , $\times10^{-20}~\mathrm{cm}^{2}$ ) have been determined of the order of $\varOmega_{2} = 11.39$ , $\varOmega_{4} = 3.59$ , and $\varOmega_{6} = 2.92$ , which in turn used to derive radiative properties such as radiative transition probability, radiative lifetime, branching ratios, etc. for excited states of $\mathrm{Ho}^{3+}$ ions. The radiative lifetimes for the ${}^{5}F_{4}$ , ${}^{5}S_{2}$ , and ${}^{5}F_{5}$ levels of $\mathrm{Ho}^{3+}$ ions are found to be 169, 296, and 317 μs, respectively. The stimulated emission cross-section for 2.05-μm emission was calculated by the McCumber theory and found to be $9.3\times10^{-2 1}~\mathrm{cm}^{2}$ . The wavelength-dependent gain coefficient with population inversion rate has been evaluated. The results obtained in the titled glasses are discussed systematically and compared with other $\mathrm{Ho}^{3+}$ -doped systems to assess the possibility for visible and infrared device applications.     

Structure of neutron-rich nuclei around the N = 126 closed shell; the yrast structure of 205Au126 up to spin-parity I^{\pi} = (19/2+)

Heavy neutron-rich nuclei have been populated through the relativistic fragmentation of a $\ensuremath ^{208}_{\ 82}{\rm Pb}$ beam at $\ensuremath E/A = 1$ GeV on a $\ensuremath 2.5 {\rm g/cm^2}$ thick Be target. The synthesised nuclei were selected and identified in-flight using the fragment separator at GSI. Approximately 300 ns after production, the selected nuclei were implanted in an $\ensuremath \sim 8$ mm thick perspex stopper, positioned at the centre of the RISING $\ensuremath \gamma$ -ray detector spectrometer array. A previously unreported isomer with a half-life $\ensuremath T_{1/2} = 163(5)$ ns has been observed in the N = 126 closed-shell nucleus $\ensuremath ^{205}_{\ 79}{\rm Au}$ . Through $ \gamma$ -ray singles and $ \gamma$ - $ \gamma$ coincidence analysis a level scheme was established. The comparison with a shell model calculation tentatively identifies the spin-parity of the excited states, including the isomer itself, which is found to be $\ensuremath I^{\pi} = (19/2^+)$ .