Screening of a moving charge in a nonequilibrium plasma

Based on the model of point sinks, we consider the problem on the screening of the charge of a moving macroparticle in a nonequilibrium plasma. The characteristic formation times of the polarization cloud around such a macroparticle have been determined by the method of a three-dimensional integral Fourier transformation in spatial variables and a Laplace transformation in time. The screening effect is shown to be enhanced with increasing macroparticle velocity. We consider the applicability conditions for the model of point sinks and establish that the domain of applicability of the results obtained expands with decreasing gas ionization rate and macroparticle size. We consider the problem of charge screening at low velocities and establish that the stationary potential of the moving charge has a dipole component that becomes dominant at large distances. We show that the direction of the force exerted on the dust particle by the induced charges generally depends on the relationship between the transport and loss coefficients of the plasma particles in a plasma. When the Langevin ion recombination coefficient β _iL = 4πeμ _i exceeds the electron-ion recombination coefficient β _ei , this force will accelerate the dust particles in the presence of sinks. In the absence of sinks or when β _ei > β _iL , this force will be opposite in direction to the dust particle velocity. We also consider the problem on the energy and force of interaction between a moving charged macroparticle and the induced charges.     

Screening of the dust-particle charge in a plasma with an external ionization source

An asymptotic theory of the screening of the dust-particle charge in a plasma with an external ionization source has been developed. It has been shown analytically that the screening of the charge of a dust particle adsorbing the charge of charged plasma particles that fall on it is not generally described by the Debye theory. The screening radius is determined by the relation between the coefficients β_ei and β_L = 4πek _i (k _i is the ion mobility) of the electron-ion and Langevin recombinations, respectively. When β_L ? β _ei , the screening radius is much larger than the electron Debye radius. It has been shown that the contribution of the ion component of an isothermal plasma to screening is equal to the electron contribution if the coefficient of the electron-ion recombination is twice or more larger than the Langevin coefficient of the ion recombination, β_ei ≥ 2β_L.     

Charge screening in a plasma with an external ionization source

An asymptotic theory for the screening of the electric field of a dust particle or a spherical probe in a plasma with an external steady and/or internal (proportional to the electron density) gas ionization source has been developed for the first time. It has been established that the screening of the charge of a spherical body adsorbing the charge of the incident plasma particles is described by a superposition of two exponentials with different screening constants. The two exponentials are retained even in the absence of nonequilibrium fluxes on the macroparticle and only in the special case of an isothermal plasma does the screening become Debye one. The screening length is determined by the ratio of the electron-ion, β_ei, and Langevin, β_L = 4πeμ_i (where μ_i is the ion mobility), recombination coefficients. If β_L ? β_ei, then it is much larger than the electron Debye length. The ions in an isothermal plasma have been found to give the same contribution to the screening as the electrons if the electron-ion recombination coefficient exceeds the Langevin ion recombination coefficient by a factor of 2 or more, β_ei ≥ 2β_L. The Vlasov equation is used to analyze the asymptotic behavior of the macroparticle potential in a collisionless plasma.     

Effect of electron emission on the charge and shielding of a dust grain in a plasma: A continuum theory

The continuum approximation is used to analyze the effect of electron emission from the surface of a spherical dust grain immersed in a plasma on the grain charge by assuming negligible ionization and recombination in the disturbed plasma region around the grain. A parameter is introduced that quantifies the emission intensity regardless of the emission mechanism (secondary, photoelectric, or thermionic emission). An analytical expression for the grain charge Z _d is derived, and a criterion for change in the charge sign is obtained. The case of thermionic emission is examined in some detail. It is shown that the long-distance asymptotic behavior of the grain potential follows the Coulomb law with a negative effective charge Z _eff, regardless of the sign of Z _d. Thus, the potential changes sign and has a minimum if Z _d > 0, which implies that attraction is possible between positively charged dust grains.     

High transverse momentum identified particle spectra in 200 GeV collisions from STAR

Significant baryon over meson enhancement was measured at RHIC in the intermediate transverse momentum range of p _T =2?4 GeV/c (“baryon-meson puzzle”). With STAR detector we were able to extend particle identification towards higher transverse momentum offering further insights into the particle production mechanisms at intermediate to high p _T . In this paper we present results on charged pion, proton and anti-proton spectra and ratios at intermediate to high p _T exploiting the relativistic rise of the specific ionization energy loss measured in the STAR Time Projection Chamber. These measurements provide valuable information about the production mechanisms of particles at intermediate p _T in relativistic heavy ion collisions, e.g. coalescence/recombination versus jet fragmentation.     

Interaction of dirac particle AMM with Coulomb field of a superheavy nucleus: Perturbative and nonperturbative aspects

The interaction ΔU_AMM of the Dirac particle anomalous magnetic moment (AMM) with the Coulomb field of a nucleus and its effect on the low-lying atomic levels are studied for Zα > 1 using both perturbative and essentially nonperturbative approaches. The Zα dependence of particle wavefunctions (WFs) is fully taken into account from the beginning. In deriving the ΔU_AMM contribution, the nucleus is viewed either as a uniformly charged extended Coulomb source or as a distributed system formed by pointlike u and d quarks. When estimated nonperturbatively, the ΔU_AMM-induced effects in the Dirac equation framework prove to be identical for these two cases. At the same time, the ΔU_AMM-induced effect is specific in that its perturbative and nonperturbative estimates are very different for Δg ? const and practically identical as soon as the dynamical screening of AMM at short distances is taken into account in the Dirac equation.     

Light scattering by an inhomogeneous spherical particle with intermediate layers

A model of a radially inhomogeneous multilayer spherical particle with a continuously varying refractive index in the intermediate layers between the shells of the particle and between the particle and the surroundings is proposed. Such a particle scatters light much like a dust particle with a rough and ragged surface of the layers, which is simulated with the help of the discrete dipole approximation method. For dust particles whose surface shape deviates from the spherical one, the refractive index profile and the behavior of the extinction Q _ext(x) and absorption Q _abs(x) efficiency factors with increasing thickness of the intermediate layers are studied. Properties of such particles in dependence on the number of layers are also studied. It is revealed that, as the number of shells increases, the order of the relative position of substances ceases to play a role, as is also the case for a multilayer spherical particle without intermediate layers. It is shown that, upon an increase in the number of shells at the same percentages of substances in the intermediate layers, the difference of the values of Q _ext(x) and Q _abs(x) from the corresponding values calculated with the model without intermediate layers decreases.     

Microwave photoresistance of a two-dimensional electron gas in a ballistic microbar

The effect of millimeter microwave radiation on the electron transport of two-dimensional (2D) ballistic microbars formed on the basis of individual GaAs quantum wells at a temperature of T = 4.2 K in magnetic fields B < 0.6 T has been investigated. Differences have been revealed in the magnetic field dependences of the microwave photoresistance of a 2D electron gas in Hall bars with a length L and a width W for the cases L, W > l _p and L, W < l _p , where l _p is the electron mean free path for momentum. The microwave photoresistance in macroscopic bars (L, W > l _p ) is a periodic alternating function of the inverse magnetic field; in microbars (L, W < l _p ), it is a periodic positive function of 1/B. The experimental results indicate that the mechanisms of the microwave photoresistance of a 2D electron gas are different for macroscopic and microscopic bars.     

Analytical model of a Brownian motor with a fluctuating potential

We propose a model of a Brownian motor that performs a useful work against a load force F in an asymmetric periodic potential V(x) = V(x + 2L) that undergoes random shifts by a half period L with a frequency γ. An arbitrarily shaped potential profile is repeated with an energy shift ΔV in both half-periods L, while the periodicity of the function V(x) is ensured by its jumps at x = 0 and x = L. The boundary condition at x = 0 for the distribution function of a Brownian particle allows us to introduce a high and narrow potential barrier V₀ that blocks the reverse current and leads to high efficiency of the motor (the ratio of the useful work done against the load force F to the energy imparted to the particle through the potential shifts). Based on this model, we derived exact analytical expressions for the current J and the efficiency η. In the special case of piecewise-linear potentials, J and η were plotted against F and γ for various values of the parameters ΔV and V₀. We discuss the influence of the potential shape and fluctuation frequency on the main characteristics of the motor.     

Quantum Cherenkov radiation at the motion of a small neutral particle parallel to the surface of a transparent dielectric

Quantum Cherenkov radiation and quantum friction at the motion of a small neutral particle parallel to the surface of a transparent dielectric with the refractive index n have been studied in a fully relativistic theory. Radiation appears at velocities above the threshold value, v > v _c = c/n. The friction force in the particle–plate configuration has been derived from the friction force in the plate–plate configuration under the assumption that one of the plates is significantly decharged. A decrease in the kinetic energy of the particle near the threshold velocity is due to its radiation and near the speed of light is determined by the heat power absorbed by the particle in the rest frame. The powers of quantum and classical Cherenkov radiation can be comparable in the relativistic case.     

Squeezing of Relative and Center-of-Orbit Coordinates of a Charged Particle by Step-Wise Variations of a Uniform Magnetic Field with an Arbitrary Linear Vector Potential

We consider a quantum charged particle moving in the xy plane under the action of a time-dependent magnetic field described by means of the linear vector potential A = H(t) [?y(1 + β), x(1 ? β)] /2 with a fixed parameter β. The systems with different values of β are not equivalent for nonstationary magnetic fields due to different structures of induced electric fields, whose lines of force are ellipses for |β| < 1 and hyperbolas for |β| > 1. Using the approximation of the stepwise variation of the magnetic field H(t), we obtain explicit formulas describing the evolution of the principal squeezing in two pairs of noncommuting observables: the coordinates of the center of orbit and relative coordinates with respect to this center. Analysis of these formulas shows that no squeezing can arise for the circular gauge (β = 0). On the other hand, for any nonzero value of β, one can find the regimes of excitations resulting in some degree of squeezing in the both pairs. The maximum degree of squeezing can be obtained for the Landau gauge (|β| = 1) if the magnetic field is switched off and returns to the initial value after some time T, in the limit T → ∞.     

Screening properties of multiply connected ferromagnet–superconductor hybrid structures

Superconducting phase transition temperature T _c of a ferromagnet/superconductor (SF) hybrid structure consisting of a hollow superconducting (S) cylinder (shell) with the central part (core) filled with a ferromagnetic (F) metal has been analyzed on the basis of linearized Usadel equations. It has been shown that the proximity effect between the S and F metals, as well as the exchange interaction, may induce an inhomogeneous superconducting state with Δ ~ exp(iLθ + ipz), which is characterized by nonzero circulation of phase L and wavenumber p describing the Larkin–Ovchinnikov–Fulde–Ferrell (LOFF) instability along the cylinder axis. The transitions between the states with different values of L and p, which are accompanied by a nonmonotonic dependence of superconducting transition temperature T _c and effective magnetic field penetration depth Λ into the SF structure on the characteristic size of the ferromagnetic region, have been investigated.     

Singular Resonance in Fluctuation-Induced Electromagnetic Phenomena at the Rotation of a Nanoparticle near the Surface of a Condensed Medium

It has been shown that the rotation of a spherical nanoparticle with the radius R near the surface of a semi-infinite homogeneous medium can result in singular resonance in fluctuation-induced electromagnetic phenomena (Casimir force, Casimir friction, and radiative heat generation). Fluctuation electromagnetic effects increase strongly near this resonance even in the presence of dissipation in the system. The resonance occurs at distances of the particle from the surface d < d₀R(3/4ε″₁(ω₁)ε″₂ (ω₂))^1/3 (where ε″_i(ω_i) is the imaginary part of the dielectric function of the particle or the medium at the frequency of a surface phonon or plasmon polariton ω_i), when the rotation frequency coincides with poles in the photon generation rate at Ω ≈ ω₁ + ω₂. These poles are due to the multiple scattering of electromagnetic waves between the particle and surface under conditions of the anomalous Doppler effect. These poles exist even in the presence of dissipation. At d < d₀, depending on the particle rotation frequency, the Casimir force can change sign; i.e., the attraction of the particle to the surface changes to repulsion. The results can be important for the development of experimental methods for the detection of quantum friction.     

Phase Diagram of a Generalized ABC Model on the Interval

We study the equilibrium phase diagram of a generalized ABC model on an interval of the one-dimensional lattice: each site i=1,…,N is occupied by a particle of type α=A,B,C, with the average density of each particle species N _α /N=r _α fixed. These particles interact via a mean field nonreflection-symmetric pair interaction. The interaction need not be invariant under cyclic permutation of the particle species as in the standard ABC model studied earlier. We prove in some cases and conjecture in others that the scaled infinite system N→∞, i/N→x∈[0,1] has a unique density profile ρ _α (x) except for some special values of the r _α for which the system undergoes a second order phase transition from a uniform to a nonuniform periodic profile at a critical temperature \(T_{c}=3\sqrt{r_{A} r_{B} r_{C}}/2\pi\).     

Die Anlagerung von radioaktiven Atomen und Ionen an Aerosolteilchen

The attachment of radioactive atoms and ions to spherical aerosol particles has been studied theoretically. For uncharged atoms the deposition is considered to be solely governed by thermal diffusion. With calculations based on the “limiting-sphere”-method ofArendt-Kallman it is found, that the attached activity is proportional toΦ ² for aerosol particle diametersΦ smaller than 0.1 μm, and proportional toΦ forΦ greater than 1 μm. For charged ions the diffusion process is modified by the influence of electrostatic forces between the diffusing ions and the aerosol particles. In the frequently occurring case of a symmetrically bipolar charged aerosol this influence can be expressed by a functionG _p(Φ), which depends on the diameterΦ and the effective numberp of elementary charges on the aerosol particle. For an aerosol particle diameterΦ greater than 0.1 μm the attached activity is proportional toΦ ^1.1, and forΦ smaller than 0.01 μm it is proportional toΦ ^1.55. The effects of neglecting various terms in the calculation are considered. The distribution of natural radioactivity on atmospheric aerosols has been calculated for various particle size distributions according toJunge. The calculation shows that about 90% of the total natural activity should be attached to particles smaller thanΦ=0.5 μm, and about 35% to particles smaller thanΦ=0.1 μm. The time T_1/2, in which the concentration of the radioactive particles decreases to half the initial value, depends on the concentration of the aerosol particles and on their size distribution. For 10⁴ aerosol particles per cm³ and the size distributions mentioned,T _1/2 varies between 15 and 30 seconds for radioactive ions. For radioactive atomsT _1/2 is greater than it is for ions in the range of aerosol particle diameters belowΦ=0.25 μm, and smaller ifΦ greater than 0.25 μm.     

High-order harmonic generation by atoms in a two-color laser field: Phase control of recombination radiation spectrum and duration

The feasibility of phase control over above-threshold tunnel ionization and subsequent recombination emission in two-frequency laser fields is studied. It is shown that, in such fields, we can control the instants of ionization t₀ (within optical cycle T) and recombination t _k . The conditions that minimize the characteristic times δt₀?T and δt _k ?T, within which effective ionization and recombination occur, were found. Phase control allows recombination radiation to be generated with the selection of a narrow spectral range, while additional high-frequency “background illumination” sets up high harmonic “amplification” conditions. It was shown that special two-frequency pumping with elliptically polarized radiation can generate coherent electromagnetic pulses of attosecond width. The width of the pulses decreases as the intensity of pumping increases and can reach subattosecond values. Experimental generation of such pulses may lead to a breakthrough in the development of new methods for femto-and attosecond diagnostics of fast processes.     

On the question of supersymmetric particles production in <Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>+</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis><Superscript>−</Superscript> annihilation

Some aspects of supersymmetric particles pair production in e ⁺ e ^?-annihilation in processes \(e^ + + e^ - \to \tilde l^ + + \tilde l^ -\), \(e^ + + e^ - \to \tilde \chi ^ + + \tilde \chi ^ -\) are studied. Aparatus, in which long-lived charged particles deceleraition and accumulation take place, is considered. Binding energy of a negatively charged particle with nucleus is obtained. Probability of β-decay of a nucleus bounded with a long-lived negatively charged particle is considered.     

Ionization potential of a metal cluster containing vacancies

A consistent procedure for determining the ionization potential of a large metal cluster of radius R _{N, v} , consisting of N atoms and N _v vacancies, is proposed. The perturbation theory in small parameters R _v /R _{N, v} and L _v /R _v (Rv and L _v are average distance between vacancies and the length of electron scattering on vacancies, respectively) is constructed in the effective-medium approximation for the electron ground state energy. The effective vacancy potential profile, the electron scattering phase and length are calculated by the Kohn–Sham method for a macroscopic metal in the stable jelly model. The obtained analytical dependences can be useful to analyze the results of photoionization experiments and to determine the size dependence of the vacancy concentration, including that near the melting temperature.