On the asymmetry of a random walk in the presence of a field

Any ensemble of random walks with symmetric transition probabilities will have symmetric properties. However, any single realization of such a random walk may be asymmetric. In an earlier paper, Weiss and Weissman developed a measure of asymmetry and applied it to random walks in the absence of a field, showing that the degree of asymmetry (in the diffusion limit) is independent of time and that the most probable degree of asymmetry corresponds to the maximum possible. We show in the present paper how the presence of a symmetric field can change this result, both in making the degree of asymmetry depend on time, and driving the random walk toward a more symmetric state.     

Influence of the geometry of a porous network on the phase transition in a ferroelectric embedded in a porous matrix

A ferroelectric phase transition in a system of electrically interacting small particles is considered. The size effects in a single particle are described in terms of the Landau phenomenological model. The interaction between particles is reduced to a dipole-dipole interaction. It is shown that the interparticle interaction can lead to a substantial increase in the phase transition temperature as compared to the temperature of the ferroelectric transition in a single small particle.     

Instability of the flat surface of a magnetic fluid in a cylindrical cavity in the presence of a vertical magnetic field

The problem of a magnetic liquid which completely fills a vertical cylindrical cavity in an undeformable horizontal layer of a magnet having the same magnetic properties as the liquid is considered. The entire system is immersed in a uniform vertical magnetic field. in a linear formulation of the problem an approximate solution in the form of series is obtained for the evolution of an initial small deviation of the free surface of the liquid from its flat equilibrium shape. An experiment is performed which shows that the initially flat free surface takes on a stable domed shape as the field strength is increased (from zero) and that a further increase in the field in a certain restricted range leads to the formation of an annular corrugation. The structures observed, which are the result of the nonlinear stage in the development of the initial perturbation, are qualitatively similar to the first two modes of the solution obtained. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 68, 23–30 (January 1998)     

Dynamics of a single particle in a Paul trap in the presence of the damping force

The motion of a single charged particle in a Paul trap in the presence of the damping force is investigated theoretically and the modified stability diagrams in the parameter space are calculated. The results show that the stable regions in thea–q parameter plane are not only enlarged but also shifted. Consequently, the damping force causes instability in some cases, contrary to intuition. As a by-product of the calculation, we derive new theoretical approximate expressions for the secular-oscillation frequency. In the limiting case of no damping, these formulas are in good agreement with early measurements done by Wuerker et al.     

On the theory of the alignment of a polar molecule in a non-polar solvent

The alignment average of a dilute polar substance dissolved in a non-polar solvent may be derived from the NMR spectrum of the polar component. Likewise, the Kerr effect is related to this quantity.In this paper a series expansion of the alignment of a polar molecule in a non-polar solvent is presented for a rigid-lattice model, first introduced by Van Vleck for the dielectric constant of a very dilute solution. Different results up to second order in the dipolar interaction are obtained for a simple, a body centred, or a face centred cubic lattice and a lattice whose lattice points are uniformly distributed in a continuum. The latter formula is compared with that calculated on the basis of the Lorentz local field model and with that of Buckingham in which the interaction between the dipoles themselves is neglected.     

Nonlinear dynamics of a domain wall in the field of a sound wave propagating in the plane of the wall

A theoretical model is proposed for describing the drift of a 180° domain wall in a weak ferromagnet in the field of elastic stresses produced by a strong sound wave propagating in the plane of the wall. The dependence of the drift velocity on the frequency, amplitude, and polarization of the sound wave is found. It is predicted that drift of a striped domain structure is possible.     

On the motion of a charged particle in the field of a magnetic monopole

A quantum mechanical treatment of the motion of a charged particle in the field of a fixed magnetic monopole is given, based on a representation of the corresponding vector potential by means of a distribution. The results are closely similar to those obtained in the work of Wu and Yang, which stems from ideas borrowed from mathematical fiber bundle theory. We believe that our method follows more closely the usual quantum mechanical procedures and provides an alternative approach to that of Wu and Yang. Although the present paper deals with non-relativistic problem, it is clear that the extension to the case of a Pauli or Dirac particle can be easily done using spinor monopole harmonics.     

Change in the energy of a charged particle moving in the field of a slow electromagnetic wave

A differential equation is obtained that describes the change in the energy of a charged particle in the field of a slow wave (with phase velocity not equal to unity) as a function of the distance traversed. Analysis of this equation yields the amplitude and period of the change in the particle's energy.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 2, pp. 97–102, February, 1981.     

Excitation transfer in the plasma of a barrier discharge in a krypton-xenon mixture

Processes of excitation transfer in the plasma of a barrier discharge in a krypton-xenon mixture are studied. A kinetic diagram of energy transfer is proposed, and a system of coupled kinetic equations describing the dynamics of processes in the plasma of a barrier discharge of mixtures in pure xenon as well as in a krypton-xenon mixture is composed and solved. The effect of excitation transfer on the population distribution over vibrational levels of krypton excimers excited by a barrier discharge in a krypton-xenon mixture is studied. The deviation from the equilibrium distribution over vibrational levels is found. It can be interpreted as an indication of the activation of the mechanism of depopulation of the lowest vibrational levels of excimer states of krypton.     

Effect of the field of a nonlinear electromagnetic wave on the shape of a soliton in a semiconductor superlattice

The effect of the electric component of the field of a high-frequency (HF) nonlinear electromagnetic (EM) wave on the propagation of a solitary EM wave (soliton) in a quantum semiconductor superlattice is studied. It is noted that in the collisionless approximation, the solution of the modified sine-Gordon equation corresponding to the amplification of an EM pulse that, with allowance made for interminiband electron transitions, transforms into a dissipative soliton is possible. The effect of electron collisions with irregularities of the crystal lattice on the soliton dynamics under the action of the field of a HF nonlinear wave is considered. The condition for an increase in the traveling time of the solitary wave is found.     

Direct measurement of the delay time for a neutron in a crystal in the case of the Laue diffraction

The dynamical Laue diffraction has been studied for a direct beam diffracted from a thin (～3.5 cm) α-quartz crystal at the Bragg angles close to 90°. It is shown that diffraction occurs at Bragg angles up to 87°. The time-of-flight method is used to measure the time of the neutron presence in the crystal under the diffraction conditions. The time delay for a scattered neutron inside the crystal predicted earlier for the Bragg angles close to 90° confirmed experimentally. The effective velocity of the neutron propagation in a crystal measured at the incident-neutron velocity of 810 m/s and the diffraction angle of 87° equals (43±1) m/s. The result obtained confirms the possibility of increasing, by an order of magnitude, the sensitivity of the diffraction method of determining the dipole moment of a neutron at Bragg angles close to 90° predicted earlier theoretically.     

Anisotropy of the oscillation dynamics of a breather on a trap in the electroconvective twist structure of a nematic

The oscillation dynamics of dislocations with a dissociated nucleus in the electroconvective twist structure of a nematic liquid crystal has been studied. The initial state of the roll twist structure is unstable. One of the origins of this is the helical flows of the nematic in the neighboring rolls with the antiparallel axial velocity components. As a result, oscillating or “breathing” defects are formed, which have the properties of breathers and are described by the sine-Gordon equation. It has been demonstrated that the space-time anisotropy of the character of motion of the dislocations in opposite directions orthogonal to the roll structure takes place in such a nonstationary system.     

Decrease in the group velocity of a light pulse in the Bose-Einstein condensate of a dilute gas

A semiclassical theory of electromagnetically induced transparency in a Bose-Einstein condensate is considered. A nonlinear Schrödinger equation that describes the interaction of the Bose-Einstein condensate with an electromagnetic field is derived. An analysis of the obtained solutions to this equation demonstrates a decrease in the group velocity of the light pulse.     

Motion of a particle in a gravitational field in the special theory of relativity

The equations of motion for a particle moving in a gravitational field considered in planar spacetime are derived. A simplified form of these equations is obtained for the particular case of a centrosymmetric field subject to a simplifying assumption concerning the structure of the potential of a field with this sort of symmetry. Under this assumption the displacement of the perigee of the planets amounts to five-sixths of the value given by the general theory of relativity.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 48–52, March, 1977.     

Sound propagation in a planar channel in the presence of a two-layer flow

Expressions describing the field of a point source in a planar channel with admittance walls enclosing a two-layer nonuniform flow are obtained. The dispersion equation that determines the eigenvalues in a wide range of flow velocities in the layers (including supersonic velocities) is studied. The effect of the admittance of the channel walls on the growth rate of unstable disturbances is considered for different frequencies. It is established that the effect of the admittance of the channel walls on the growth rate of the instability waves decreases with increasing frequency and essentially depends on the type of admittance. It is shown that, in the presence of the admittance, new unstable disturbances are formed with a growth rate that can exceed that of the Kelvin—Helmholtz instability wave.     

Effect of the electric field on the shape of a bubble in a conducting liquid

Technical Physics - It is found that a bubble in a conducting liquid is stretched in the direction of the electric field. Expressions are derived for the extension coefficient of the bubble as a...     

Flow of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a quasi-one-dimensional channel under the action of a piston

The problem of the flow of a Bose—Einstein condensate in a channel under the action of a piston is considered. Problems of this kind are topical in connection with experiments on condensate flow control in quasi-one-dimensional (cigar-shaped) traps, in wh ich the repulsive potential produced by a laser beam focused across the trap acts as a piston. A dispersive shock wave characterized by rapid oscillations of the condensate density and flow velocity is shown to be formed in the condensate flow after some instant of time for an arbitrary law of piston motion. The Whitham averaging method is used to obtain a solution for the main parameters of the dispersive shock wave in the case of a uniformly accelerated piston motion. The evolution of the dispersive shock wave immediately after the breaking time, when the dispersionless solution is well approximated by a cubic parabola for the coordinate dependence of the density, is analyzed in the case of an arbitrary piston motion. Comparison shows good agreement of the numerical calculation with the approximate analytical theory. The developed theory complements the previously considered case of a piston moving with a constant velocity and is important for describing the condensate transport in atomic chips.     

Study of the parameters of a difference image in the presence of a linear phase shift

The spatial filtering in the localization range of the holographic lateral shearing interferograms of a solid object shows that the effect of the subtraction of the compared original data arrays is realized in the presence of a filtering aperture in the center of a dark fringe [1, 2]. Methods for the holographic subtraction of the images involving the detection and spatial filtering in the Fourier plane of the optical system are proposed and realized in [3–5]. Thus, the difference data can be reconstructed with a narrow (unexpanded) laser beam. However, a relatively high level of speckle noise in the difference image is caused by the spatial filtering with a small aperture (laser beam) in the minimum of the superposition field in the Fourier hologram plane. The detection of double-exposed Fourier holograms with a linear phase shift and the effect of the size of the filtering reconstructing beam on the resolution of the difference image are studied. In addition, the application of the multiple exposure for the broadening of the interference maxima is analyzed.     

Expansion of a shock plasma in the accelerating field of a parallel-plate capacitor in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer

We have solved the problem of expansion of a multicomponent shock plasma (initiated by an impact of a fast microprojectile against a solid target) to vacuum in the electric field of a parallel-plate capacitor. The results of calculations can be used in the development of a dust impact mass spectrometer for studying the elemental composition of micrometeorites.