Improved signal-to-noise ratio in spectral-domain compared with time-domain optical coherence tomography

A signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis is presented for optical coherence tomography (OCT) signals in which time-domain performance is compared with that of the spectral domain. A significant SNR gain of several hundredfold is found for acquisition in the spectral domain. The SNR benefit is demonstrated experimentally in a hybrid time-domain-spectral-domain OCT system.     

Radiative decay ofJ/ψ into γ π+ π−

The radiative decayJ/ψ → γ π⁺ π^? has been studied using the 8.6 millionJ/ψ produced in the DM2 experiment at the DCIe ⁺e^? storage rings at Orsay. The π⁺ π^? mass spectrum shows a cleanf ₂ (1270) signal, and the possible presence of two other states at thef ₂ (1720) andf ₄ (2030) masses. For thef ₂ (1270), the branching ratio BR(J/ψ →γf)xBR(f→π⁺ π^?) is measured to be (7.50±0.30±1.12)×10^?4, and the spin analysis prefers theJ=2 assignment, with helicity parametersx=0.83±0.06 andy=0.01±0.06. The existence of higher mass states is discussed.     

Zement

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Detection efficiency calculations using Geant4 for a broad-energy germanium gamma spectrometer

In assistance of radionuclide measurements at Canada’s Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) laboratory, a Geant4 Monte Carlo application has been developed in simulating a broad-energy germanium detector and calculating detection efficiencies. The detector model was optimized in a reliable and non-biased manner through simultaneous tuning on gap distance and detector dimension, and was validated over various realistic measurement scenarios. All work is based on a series of experiments which covers the typical energy range of gamma radiation in environmental analysis, and considers the variety of the CTBT sample type, dimension and distance-to-detector. In all cases, the predicted efficiencies are consistent with the empirical ones within 5%, with a typical deviation of 3% in majority.     

Elementary Symmetric Functions

This section appears in nearly every issue. Send submissions to R. C. Thompson, at the Department of Mathematics, University of California, Stanta Barbara, CA 93106, U.S.A.     

Book review

Topics in Matrix Analysis, Roger A. Horn and Charles R. Johnson, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1991, viii+607 pages. ISBN 0-521-30587-X     

Evolution of a reactive surface via subsurface defect dynamics

We find that the topography and composition of a reactive surface can evolve during epitaxy via motion of point and line defects within the material. We observe the response of a NiAl surface to an Al atom flux with low-energy electron microscopy. Initially, new NiAl layers grow as Al atoms exchange with bulk Ni atoms. When the surface is critically enriched in Al, condensation occurs at dislocations. They dissociate, move linearly, and leave tracks of altered composition and new atomic steps. We show how these dynamics depend on the identity and quantity of point defects near the surface.