The response of thermally and optically stimulated luminescence from Al2O3:C to high-energy heavy charged particles

The thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) response of Al₂O₃ dosimeters to high-energy heavy charged particles (HCP) has been studied using the heavy ion medical accelarator at Chiba, Japan. The samples were Al₂O₃ single-crystal chips, of the type usually known as TLD-500, and Luxel^TM dosimeters (Al₂O₃:C powder in plastic) from Landauer Inc. The samples were exposed to ⁴He (150 MeV/u), ¹²C (400 MeV/u), ²⁸Si (490 MeV/u) and ⁵⁶Fe (500 MeV/u) ions, with linear energy transfer values covering the range from 2.26 to 189 keV/μm in water and doses from 1 to 100 mGy (to water). A ⁹⁰Sr/⁹⁰Y beta source, calibrated against a ⁶⁰Co secondary standard, was used for calibration purposes. For OSL, we used both continuous-wave OSL measurements (CW-OSL, using green light stimulation at 525 nm) and pulsed OSL measurements (POSL, using 532 nm stimulation from a Nd:YAG Q-switched laser). The efficiencies (η_HCP,γ) of the different HCPs at producing OSL or TL were observed to depend not only upon the linear energy transfer (LET) of the HCP, but also upon the sample type (single crystal chip or Luxel^TM) and the luminescence method used to define the signal—i.e. TL, CW-OSL initial intensity, CW-OSL total area, or POSL. Observed changes in shape of the decay curve lead to potential methods for extracting LET information of unknown radiation fields. A discussion of the results is given, including the potential use of OSL from Al₂O₃ in the areas of space radiation dosimetry and radiation oncology.     

微观世界探索

论文系统地阐述了从原子、原子核到基本粒子内部结构研究的历史及现状，讨论了微观物理理论和实验研究的前景和展望．论文还阐述了微观物理与宏观物理(宇宙论和天体物理等)的结合与交叉，以无可争辨的实验事实阐明了微观世界和宏观世界的无限性．     

微观世界探索(续)

论文系统地阐述了从原子、原子核到基本粒子内部结构研究的历史及现状，讨论了微观物理理论和实验研究的前景和展望．论文还阐述了微观物理与宏观物理(宇宙论和天体物理等)的结合与交叉，以无可争辨的实验事实阐明了微观世界和宏观世界的无限性．     

Rate of Convergence of a Stochastic Particle System for the Smoluchowski Coagulation Equation

By continuing the probabilistic approach of Deaconu et al. (2001), we derive a stochastic particle approximation for the Smoluchowski coagulation equations. A convergence result for this model is obtained. Under quite stringent hypothesis we obtain a central limit theorem associated with our convergence. In spite of these restrictive technical assumptions, the rate of convergence result is interesting because it is the first obtained in this direction and seems to hold numerically under weaker hypothesis. This result answers a question closely connected to the Open Problem 16 formulated by Aldous (1999).     

Particle Size Analysis by Transmission Fluctuation Spectrometry: Experimental Results Obtained with a Gaussian Beam and Analog Signal Processing

Transmission fluctuation spectrometry (TFS) is a method for the analysis of particle size distributions based on the statistical fluctuations of a transmission signal. Complete information on the PSD and particle concentration can be retrieved by a special transformation of the transmission signal, whereby the expectancy of the transmission square (ETS) is determined after the signal has been subjected to a procedure of spatial and temporal averaging. By varying the averaging parameters over a wide range, a spectrum of ETSs is obtained and introduced into a linear equation system, which yields the PSD. In the experimental realization presented here, variable temporal averaging is realized in the frequency domain with a series of low pass filters at different cutoff frequencies while spatial averaging inevitably occurs as the particles pass through a focused Gaussian beam of finite cross section. Experimental results on spherical particles (glass beads) and non‐spherical particles (SiC) are presented. The PSDs are resolved in 30 intervals within a particle size range from 1–1000 μm, employing a modified Chahine inversion algorithm. So far, the measurements are limited to moderate particle concentrations. Some influences affecting the measurements, especially for higher particle concentrations, are discussed in detail.     

Cosmological Particle Creation and Dynamical Casimir Effect

We compute particle creation for a real massive scalar field conformally coupled to a spatially closed Robertson–Walker space-time background, with time-dependent scale factor. This is a dynamical Casimir effect with moving boundaries.     

Nonequilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics of Two Dissipative Processes in Solids: Energy Losses of Channeled Particles at Low Velocities and Ultrasound Absorption by Conduction Electrons

We use methods of nonequilibrium statistical thermodynamics to investigate two dissipative processes in solids. We find the electron energy losses of a particle moving in a planar channeling regime and the sound absorption coefficient in metals under electron impurity scattering. The oscillator model is used to analyze the contribution from the effect of electron entrainment by a moving scattering center to the total dissipated energy. We investigate the frequency and temperature dependence of energy losses and also the dependence of the absorption coefficient on the sound wave vector.     

Physics in Melbourne

I survey highlights of the practice of physics and allied sciences in Melbourne,Australia, from the 1850s, soon after Europeans first settled in the area, to the present. I note recognizable sites of past and current physical-science activity that may be visited, as well as exhibits of historic items of physics apparatus. I trace the role of physics, in the course of a century and a half, in the evolution of a pioneering settlement into a large city embedded in a modern industrial economy.     

A method for determining optical constants, dimensions, and concentrations of “soft” absorbing particles in the brightening band region

We investigate the possibilities of creating a method for estimating the optical constants, dimensions, and concentrations of “soft” absorbing particles by applying a theoretical analysis of the angular dependence of the intergrated indicatrix, overall characteristics of light scattering, and absorption on the phase shift and diffraction parameter of particles in the brightening band region. We show that using the investigated optical characteristics, it is possible to determine the unknown parameters of a suspension from experimental data. Institute of Biophysics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 64, No. 6, pp. 807–812, November–December, 1997.