Beam propagation in a randomly inhomogeneous medium

An integrodifferential equation describing the angular distribution of beams is analyzed for a medium with random inhomogeneities. Beams are trapped because inhomogeneities give rise to wave localization at random locations and random times. The expressions obtained for the mean square deviation from the initial direction of beam propagation generalize the “3/2 law.”     

DX<Superscript>−</Superscript> center formation in planar-doped GaAs:Si in strong electric fields

The kinetics of current decay and partial restoration in planar doped GaAs:Si due to the formation of DX^? centers in strong electric fields has been experimentally studied. The existence of thresholds with respect to the field strength and donor concentration is explained. A model of the DX^? center formation is proposed, which is based on the notions about variation of the depth and width of a potential well created by planar doping, caused by the redistribution of hot electrons between quantum confinement subbands. As a result, the energy level of DX^? centers, which is situated above the potential well depth in the absence of strong field, decreases and falls within the potential well. This makes possible the DX^? center formation, provided that hot electrons, occupying the resonance electron levels in the conduction band, simultaneously excite local vibrational modes.     

Collision operator for relativistic electrons in a cold gas of atomic particles

The collision operator of relativistic electrons with a cold gas of atomic particles is derived consistently taking into account elastic interactions, excitation of electron shells, and ionization. The creation of secondary electrons is described accurately. In the range of energies exceeding the binding energy of atomic electrons, the operator implicates only the angular scattering by nuclei and the ionization integral that automatically allows for scattering by atomic electrons. The collision operator used earlier for studying the kinetics of avalanches of relativistic runaway electrons is analyzed. A more exact operator derived in the present study is simpler in form and saves time in computer calculations.     

Simulation of mass transfer in systems with isotropic pair correlation of particles

Results of a numerical analysis of mass transfer in systems of macroscopic particles with various isotropic interaction potentials are presented. Parameters that determine transport properties of nonideal dissipative systems are obtained for a broad class of model potentials. An approximate expression for the diffusivity of interacting particles is proposed. The relationship between diffusivity and viscosity is analyzed for strongly nonideal systems.     

Characteristics of high-power radiating imploding discharge with cold start

A qualitative model of the dynamics of a multiterawatt radiating Z-pinch with cold start and high rate of current rise is proposed. The model is used to analyze discharges with currents I ～ 2–5 MA (with dI/dt > 10¹³ A/s) through uniform or structured plasma-producing loads, including wire arrays. The most important consequence of cold start is that spatially nonuniform plasma production is prolonged to almost the entire current rise time. Under these conditions, the Ampére force begins to play a dominant role in the plasma dynamics before the plasma-producing load is completely transformed into an accelerated plasma. The results of computations of wire-array vaporization are presented. A formula is proposed for estimating the highest attainable velocity of plasma flow into a heterogeneous liner driven by the Ampére force. It is shown that local imbalance between radial motion of the produced plasma and supply of the plasma-producing substance to be ionized leads to axially nonuniform breakthrough of magnetic flux into the liner, which precedes plasma collapse. The magnetic-flux breakthrough gives rise to a chaotic azimuthal-axial plasma structure consisting of radial plasma jets of relatively small diameter, which is called a radial plasma rainstorm. The breaking-through azimuthal magnetic flux obstructs further current flow in the breakthrough region. Analyses of Z-pinch implosion based on the theory of Rayleigh-Taylor instability or the snowplow model are incorrect under the plasma-rainstorm conditions. The processes taking place in a stagnant Z-pinch include conversion of the energy carried by the current-generated magnetic field into turbulent MHD flow of the ion component of the plasma, its convective mixing with magnetic field, heating, energy transfer from ions to electrons, and emission from the plasma. Under typical experimental conditions, emission plays a key role in the energy balance in an imploding pinch. Z-pinch is modeled by an electric-circuit component that has a time-dependent nonlinear impedance and consumes the magnetic energy supplied by a generator through a magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL). The peak power reached in the circuit is comparable to the peak soft X-ray power output emitted by the pinch in terms of magnitude and timing. Optimum matching conditions are formulated for the generator-MITL-pinch circuit.     

Diffusion and clustering of sedimenting tracers in random hydrodynamic flows

The analysis presented in [1, 2] is extended to sedimenting low-inertia tracers advected by random divergence-free hydrodynamic flows. The key feature of the process is the clustering of the tracers due to the divergence of tracer-velocity field. This phenomenon has probability one; i.e., it takes place in almost every realization of the process. Both spatial diffusivity and diffusivity in the density space (responsible for clustering) are calculated. The low inertia of the tracers does not affect the spatial diffusivity. The indispensable use of a finite velocity correlation time leads to an anisotropic spatial diffusivity. The calculations performed in the study are based on a diffusion approximation.     

Vacuum stability in Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models

In Nambu-Jona-Lasinio models for a dynamical breakdown of chiral symmetry, unrenormalized divergences hinder a direct comparison of vacuum energies of different solutions. The choice of a stable vacuum in the presence of several solutions to the equations for fermion masses can nevertheless be performed since, for unstable states, tachyons appear in the spectrum of composite scalar bosons.     

New method for calculating the potential energy of deformed nuclei within the liquid-drop model

The method that we previously developed for going over from double volume integrals to double surface integrals in calculating the Coulomb energy of nuclei that have a sharp surface is generalized to the case of nuclei where the range of nuclear forces is finite and where the nuclear surface is diffuse. New formulas for calculating the Coulomb and the nuclear energy of deformed nuclei are obtained within this approach. For a spherically symmetric nucleus, in which case there is an analytic solution to the problem in question, the results are compared with those that are quoted in the literature, and it is shown that the respective results coincide identically. A differential formulation of the method developed previously by Krappe, Nix, and Sierk for going over from double volume integrals to double surface integrals is proposed here on the basis of the present approach.