Generation of tunable 16 μm radiation from CO2 by cascade lasing

In this paper we propose a scheme to generate tunable 16 μm radiation from CO₂ molecules by cascade lasing. The stimulating 9.5 μm radiation is generated internally by the fast rotating mirror Q-switching technique. The optical scheme proposed by us uses an intracavity prism to separate the 9.5 μm and the 16 μm beams. This facilitates independent tuning of the two beams if required. In the present configuration, only the 16 μm cavity is dispersive. The 9.5 μm beam grows spontaneously in a stable semiconfocal resonator. We have developed a theoretical model to simulate the proposed scheme. The model predicts the energy and power of 16 μm radiation. The calculated values are much higher than the previously obtained experimental values. The results point out the feasibility of developing a laser system based on the theoretical design parameters presented in this paper. Such laser systems can find application in uranium isotope separation studies.     

Ring and jet study on the azimuthal substructure of pions at CERN SPS energy

We have presented an investigation on the ring- and jet-like azimuthal angle substructures in the emission of secondary charged hadrons coming from ³²S–Ag/Br interactions at 200 A GeV/c. Nuclear photographic emulsion technique has been employed to collect the experimental data. The presence of such substructures, their average behaviour, their size, and their position of occurrence have been examined. The experimental results have also been compared with the results simulated by Monte-Carlo method. The analysis strongly indicates the presence of ring- and jet-like structures in the experimental distributions of particles beyond statistical noise. The experimental results are in good agreement with I M Dremin idea, that the phenomenon is similar to the emission of Cherenkov electromagnetic radiation.     

A new approach to model CW CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> laser using rate equations

Two popular methods to analyse the operation of CW CO ₂ lasers use the temperature model and the rate equation model. Among the two, the latter model directly calculates the population densities in the various vibrational levels connected with the lasing action, and provides a clearer illustration of the processes involved. Rate equation models used earlier grouped a number of vibration levels together, on the basis of normal modes of vibrations of CO ₂. However, such grouping has an inherent disadvantage as it requires that these levels be in thermal equilibrium. Here we report a new approach for modelling CW CO ₂ lasers wherein the relevant vibration levels are identified and independently treated. They are connected with each other through the processes of excitation, relaxation and radiative transitions. We use the universally accepted rate coefficients to describe these processes. The other distinguishing feature of our model is the methodology adopted for carrying out the calculations. For instance, the CW case being a steady state, all the rate equations are thus equated to zero. In the prior works, researchers derived analytical expressions for the vibration level population densities, that becomes quite a tedious task with increasing number of levels. Grouping of the vibration levels helped in restricting the number of equations and this facilitated the derivation of these analytical expressions. We show that in steady state, these rate equations form a set of linear algebric equations. Instead of deriving analytical expressions, these can be elegantly solved using the matrix method. The population inversion calculated in this manner along with the relaxation rate of the upper laser level determines the output power of the laser. We have applied the model to an experimental CW laser reported in literature. Our resutls match the experimentally reported power.     

Rapidity dependence of multiplicity fluctuations and correlations in high-energy nucleus–nucleus interactions

The multiplicity fluctuations of the produced pions were studied using scaled variance method in ¹⁶O–AgBr interactions at 2.1 AGeV, ²⁴Mg–AgBr interactions at 4.5 AGeV, ¹²C–AgBr interactions at 4.5 AGeV, ¹⁶O–AgBr interactions at 60 AGeV and ³²S–AgBr interactions at 200 AGeV at two different binning conditions. In the first binning condition, the rapidity interval was varied in steps of one centring about the central rapidity until it reached 14. In the second case, the rapidity interval was increased in steps of 1.6 up to 14.4. Multiplicity distributions and their scaled variances were presented as a function of the dependence on the rapidity width for both the binning conditions. Multiplicity fluctuations were found to increase with the increase of rapidity interval and later found to saturate at larger rapidity window for all the interactions and in both the binning conditions. Multiplicity fluctuations were found to increase with the energy of the projectile beam. The values of the scaled variances were found to be greater than one in all the cases in both the binning conditions indicating the presence of correlation during the multiparticle production process in high-energy nucleus–nucleus interactions. Experimental results were compared with the results obtained from the Monte Carlo simulated events for all the interactions. The Monte Carlo simulated data showed very small values of scaled variance suggesting very small fluctuations for the simulated events. Experimental results obtained from ¹⁶O–AgBr interactions at 60 AGeV and ³²S–AgBr interactions at 200 AGeV were compared with the events generated by Lund Monte Carlo code (FRITIOF model). FRITIOF model failed to explain the multiplicity fluctuations of pions emitted from ¹⁶O–AgBr interactions at 60 AGeV for both the binning conditions. However, the experimental data agreed well with the FRITIOF model for ³²S–AgBr interactions at 200 AGeV.     

Benefits of cryogenic cooling on the operation of a pulsed CO2 laser

The paper presents results of a theoretical model of a pulsed electron beam controlled CO₂ laser (EBCL) to investigate the effect of cooling on the laser gas mixture. It is shown that cryogenic cooling can significantly improve the performance of the laser. The efficiency of an EBCL improved from 20% to 25.3% by cooling it to 200 K. The improvement is mainly due to the decrease of thermal population of the CO₂ (0 1 0) vibration level.     

IMPACTS OF WATER SUPPLY UNCERTAINTY AND STORAGE ON EFFICIENT IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGY ADOPTION

In the framework of a stochastic dynamic programming model, the paper investigates the impact of water supply uncertainty and storage at farm level on adoption of efficient irrigation technologies under a flexible water price regime. We find that even a flexible water pricing cannot guarantee higher adoption of efficient irrigation technology in all cases. Results of the paper indicate that if a farmer invests in water storage capacity, then the value of efficient usage of water increases, and the rate of adoption of efficient irrigation technology will be higher. It establishes a complementarity relationship between investments in storage capacity and adoption of efficient irrigation technology. The relationship becomes stronger with increasing variance in water supply. In a situation without any option to store water at the farm level, we find a negative relationship between investment in efficient irrigation technology and water variability. However, numerical analysis results suggest that a risk averse farmer may invest more in efficient irrigation only if the variance in water supply is very high.     

CLIMATE CHANGE AND COOPERATION IN TRANSBOUNDARY WATER SHARING: AN APPLICATION OF STOCHASTIC STACKELBERG DIFFERENTIAL GAMES IN VOLTA RIVER BASIN

Abstract As multiple countries share a river, the likelihood of conflicts over distributing water resources increases, particularly under the effects of climate change. In this paper, we demonstrate how countries can cooperate in sustainable transboundary water sharing under such conditions. We examine the case of water distribution in the Volta Basin of West Africa between the upstream country, Burkina Faso, and the downstream country, Ghana. The latter faces an additional tradeoff between the production of hydropower in the south, close to the outlet of the basin, and agricultural water use in the reservoir’s catchment area in the north. In the framework of a stochastic Stackelberg differential game, we show how sustainable water‐sharing agreements can be achieved by linking transboundary flows to hydropower exports. Our results indicate that, through cooperation, Ghana will have an opportunity to increase its water abstraction for agriculture, which has remained largely restricted. We also find that the equilibrium strategies for the long‐run distribution are stable even with increasing variances of water flow.