Notes on number density fluctuations and the scattering cross section for electromagnetic waves scattered from a thermal nonequilibrium plasma

The scattering cross section and the Doppler spectrum for electromagnetic waves scattered by the electron density fluctuations of a plasma, where the mean kinetic temperature of the electronsT _e may differ from that of the ionsT _i , has been obtained among others byFejer, Buneman, Renau, Camnitz andFlood, andSalpeter. These authors use different methods of approach to calculate the autocovariance of the electron number-density fluctuations (from the mean) and then obtain the scattering cross section. Because of the differing results, the methods, concepts, and derivations of the scattering cross section are carefully examined in this paper. It is shown that the short-time dynamical considerations incorporated in the formulation of the statistical theory of the electron number-density fluctuations of the plasma as used by several authors (for instanceFejer, Buneman, Salpeter,) leads to results of limited validity. In addition, a fundamental error in calculating the electron density fluctuations leads these latter authors to an incorrect scattering cross section. The theory of scattering of electromagnetic waves from a plasma, where the electrons arenot in thermal equilibrium with the ions but statistical equilibrium exists, is developed in a general way. The covariance of the number-density fluctuations from the mean of the charged species of the plasma and the scattering cross sectionσ(q) are obtained. In particular it is shown that for a wavelength λ much greater than the effective Debye lengthd, the backscattering cross section increases and approaches complete incoherent scattering asT _e /T _i increases. This result is explained by noting that in the case of thermal equilibrium, the predicted value of the back-scattering cross section is smaller than that of the backscattering cross section from completely uncorrelated electron density fluctuations because the electrostatic interaction between the charged particles of the plasma, which is a function ofT _e andT _i , introduces a certain amount of organization in otherwise completely uncorrelated electron density fluctuations. When the mean temperature of the electrons increases relative to that of the ions, the organization introduced in the fluctuations diminishes because of the increasing thermal agitation of the electrons relative to that of the ions, and the backscattering process approaches that of incoherent backscattering (Thomson-type scattering). The spectrum function of incoherent scattering of electromagnetic waves from a nonequilibrium plasma is obtained and some cases of current interest are plotted.     

Photoinduced Local Nonequilibrium States in Superconductors: Hot Spot Model

The so-called hot spot model is often used to study problems concerning the local heating of electrons and phonons and local suppression of superconductivity by electromagnetic radiation. This model implies that the dynamics of a system in a certain time interval can be described by a locally equilibrium electron distribution function, but the electron temperature T_e differs from the equilibrium value. Such an assumption makes it possible to use the heat equation to study the temporal and spatial dynamics of T_e and significantly simplifies the study of the dynamic response of a superconductor. Examples of the use of this model to describe nonequilibrium effects occurring in systems with different types of superconducting pairing under electromagnetic irradiation have been presented in this work.     

Probing the sign-changeable interaction between dark energy and dark matter with current observations

We consider the models of vacuum energy interacting with cold dark matter in this study, in which the coupling can change sigh during the cosmological evolution. We parameterize the running coupling b by the form b(a) = b_0 a + b_e(1-a), where at the earlytime the coupling is given by a constant b_e and today the coupling is described by another constant b_0. We explore six specific models with(i) Q = b(a)H_0ρ_0,(ii) Q = b(a)H_0ρ_(de),(iii) Q = b(a)H_0ρ_c,(iv) Q = b(a)Hρ_0,(v) Q = b(a)Hρ_(de), and(vi) Q = b(a)Hρ_c.The current observational data sets we use to constrain the models include the JLA compilation of type Ia supernova data, the Planck 2015 distance priors data of cosmic microwave background observation, the baryon acoustic oscillations measurements,and the Hubble constant direct measurement. We find that, for all the models, we have b_0 0 and b_e 0 at around the 1σ level,and b_0 and b_e are in extremely strong anti-correlation. Our results show that the coupling changes sign during the evolution at about the 1σ level, i.e., the energy transfer is from dark matter to dark energy when dark matter dominates the universe and the energy transfer is from dark energy to dark matter when dark energy dominates the universe.     

Calogero–Sutherland system with two types interacting spins

The dynamics of low-temperature (T = 5 K) photoluminescence spectra of Si/Si_1-x Ge _x /Si heterostructures (x = 0.045) under the influence of a stream of nonequilibrium phonons (heat pulses) propagating in the structure is investigated. The rapid evaporation of the electron–hole liquid in the quantum well of the structure is observed as the liquid is heated by nonequilibrium phonons. It is established that an increase in the exciton-gas density in the quantum well is caused by the evaporation of the electron–hole liquid and by an increase in the rate of exciton capture by the quantum well. It is shown that the interaction with nonequilibrium phonons results in the dissociation of bound-exciton complexes in the Si layers, which is accompanied by an increase in the exciton concentration and lifetime.     

The electromagnetic effects in <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">e</Emphasis>4</Subscript> decay

The final-state interaction of pions in K _e4 decay allows to obtain the value of the isospin and angular-momentum-zero ππ scattering length a ₀ ⁰ .We take into account the electromagnetic interaction of pions and isospin-symmetry-breaking effects caused by different masses of neutral and charged pions and estimate the impact of these effects on the procedure of scattering-length extraction from K _e4 decays.     

Population Dynamics of Excited Atoms in Dissipative Cavities

Population dynamics of excited atoms in dissipative cavities is investigated in this work. We present a method of controlling populations of excited atoms in dissipative cavities. For the initial state |ee〉_AB|00〉_ab, the repopulation of excited atoms can be obtained by using atom-cavity couplings and non-Markovian effects after the atomic excited energy decays to zero. For the initial state |gg〉_AB|11〉_ab, the two atoms can also be populated to the excited states from the initial ground states by using atom-cavity couplings and non-Markovian effects. And the stronger the atom-cavity coupling or the non-Markovian effect is, the larger the number of repopulation of excited atoms is. Particularly, when the atom-cavity coupling or the non-Markovian effect is very strong, the number of repopulation of excited atoms can be close to one in a short time and will tend to a steady value in a long time.     

Galvanomagnetic properties of atomically disordered Sr<Subscript>2</Subscript>RuO<Subscript>4</Subscript> single crystals

The effect of neutron-bombardment-induced atomic disorder on the galvanomagnetic properties of Sr₂RuO₄ single crystals has been experimentally studied in a broad range of temperatures (1.7–380 K) and magnetic fields (up to 13.6 T). The disorder leads to the appearance of negative temperature coefficients for both the in-plane electric resistivity (ρ_a) and that along the c axis (ρ_c), as well as the negative magnetoresistance Δρ, which is strongly anisotropic to the magnetic field orientation (H ∥ a and H ∥ c), with the easy magnetization direction along the c axis and a weak dependence on the probing current direction in the low-temperature region. The experimental ρ_a(T) and ρ_c(T) curves obtained for the initial and radiation-disordered samples can be described within the framework of a theoretical model with two conductivity channels. The first channel corresponds to the charge carriers with increased effective masses (～10m _e , where m _e is the electron mass) and predominantly electron-electron scattering, which leads to the quadratic temperature dependences of ρ_a and ρ_c. The second channel corresponds to the charge carriers with lower effective masses exhibiting magnetic scattering at low temperatures, which leads to the temperature dependence of the ρ_{a, c}(T) ∝ 1/T type.     

Pressure-produced ionization of nonideal plasma in a megabar range of dynamic pressures

The low-frequency electrical conductivity of strongly nonideal hydrogen, helium, and xenon plasmas was measured in the megabar range of pressures. The plasmas in question were generated by the method of multiple shock compression in planar and cylindrical geometries, whereby it was possible to reduce effects of irreversible heating and to implement a quasi-isentropic regime. As a result, plasma states at pressures in the megabar range were realized, where the electron concentration could be as high as n _e ≈2×0²³ cm^?3, which may correspond to either a degenerate or a Boltzmann plasma characterized by a strong Coulomb Γ _D =1–10) and a strong interatomic Γ _a =r _a n _a ^1/3 ～1) interaction. A sharp increase (by three to five orders of magnitude) in the electrical conductivity of a strongly nonideal plasma due to pressure-produced ionization was recorded, and theoretical models were invoked to describe this increase. Experimental data available in this region and theoretical models proposed by various authors are analyzed. The possibility of a first-order “phase transition” in a strongly nonideal plasma is indicated.     

Partial virial theorems for atomic-molecular systems

New virial relations for three-and four-particle atomic-molecular systems are proposed. Using operators of extension or squeezing of interparticle distances, it is shown that, for all pairs of j and k particles in S states of these systems, the following partial virial relations are valid: 〈2T _jk 〉+〈 V _jk 〉=0, where 〈V _jk 〉 is the average Coulomb interaction energy for a pair of particles and 〈T _jk 〉 is a part of the average kinetic energy of the system. There are three and six such relations for three-and four-particle systems, respectively. The conventional virial theorem (〈 2T〉+〈V〉=0) for the average total kinetic and potential energies of the system (〈 T〉 and 〈V〉, respectively) corresponds to the summation of partial virial relations over all pairs of particles. It is shown by an example of variational calculations of the helium atom ⁴He²⁺ e ^? e ^? and the helium muon-electron mesoatom ⁴He²⁺μ^? e ^? that partial virial relations are a highly sensitive indicator of the accuracy of wave functions.     

Electroweak tests with τ leptons at LEP

We report on two sensitive tests of lepton universality carried out by the 4 LEP experiments at the Z⁰ pole. From measurements of the τ polarization in e⁺ e^?→τ ⁺ τ ^?, the ratios of the vector and axial vector coupling constants of the electron and the tau lepton to the weak neutral current are obtained to beg _{v e} /g _{a e} =0.066±0.015 andg _{V τ} /g _{A τ} =0.070±0.009 respectively. From measurement of the τ lifetime and the τ leptonic branching ratios, the ratio of the coupling constants describing weak leptonic decays of the τ and the μ is measured to beG _τ /G _μ =0.996±0.008.     

Quantenstatistik eines Gases mit verschiedener Bahn- und Spintemperatur

A system of particles with spin in a magnetic field may possess an orbital temperatureT _o different from the spin temperatureT _s (?0), if it is possible to neglect the energetic interaction between the orbital and the spin system. The calculation of the quantum statistical most probable distribution of identical independent particles on the orbital and spin energy levels yields the introduction of three Lagrange multipliers—according to the fact that the orbital and the spin energy and the number of particles are fixed—representing the orbital and spin temperature and a generalizedPlanck's “characteristic function”. Apart from the Boltzmann-approximation being valid in the case of small spin values forT _o ?T _e (T _e =customary degeneration temperature) and arbitraryT _s ?0, the distributions and the orbital and the spin energy depend onboth the temperaturesT _o andT _s coming from the principle of exclusion forFermi resp.Bose particles. The equations of state are discussed. There are four heat capacities, which possess characteristic peaks. In stead of the well-known temperature independence of the paramagnetism of degenerated conducting electrons one obtains χ～T _o /T _s . The behaviour of the Einstein-condensation of aBose gas is considered.     

Electron gas induced in SrTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

This mini-review is dedicated to the 85th birthday of Prof. L.V. Keldysh, from whom we have learned so much. In this paper, we study the potential and electron density depth profiles in surface accumulation layers in crystals with a large and nonlinear dielectric response such as SrTiO₃ (STO) in the cases of planar, spherical, and cylindrical geometries. The electron gas can be created by applying an induction D₀ to the STO surface. We describe the lattice dielectric response of STO using the Landau–Ginzburg free energy expansion and employ the Thomas–Fermi (TF) approximation for the electron gas. For the planar geometry, we arrive at the electron density profile n(x) ∝ (x + d)^–12/7, where d ∝ D₀^–12/7. We extend our results to overlapping electron gases in GTO/STO/GTO heterojunctions and electron gases created by spill-out from NSTO (heavily n-type doped STO) layers into STO. Generalization of our approach to a spherical donor cluster creating a big TF atom with electrons in STO brings us to the problem of supercharged nuclei. It is known that for an atom with a nuclear charge Ze where Z > 170, electrons collapse onto the nucleus, resulting in a net charge Zn < Z. Here, instead of relativistic physics, the collapse is caused by the nonlinear dielectric response. Electrons collapse into the charged spherical donor cluster with radius R when its total charge number Z exceeds the critical value Z_c ≈ R/a, where a is the lattice constant. The net charge eZ_n grows with Z until Z exceeds Z* ≈ (R/a)^9/7. After this point, the charge number of the compact core Z_n remains ≈ Z*, with the rest Z* electrons forming a sparse TF atom with it. We extend our studies of collapse to the case of long cylindrical clusters as well.     

Nonequilibrium energy of Rayleigh waves in half-limited crystals with hot electrons close to the defect surface

Nonequilibrium energies of surface (Rayleigh) lattice oscillations in half-limited crystals with static defects and a two-dimensional layer of hot Fermi and Boltzmann electrons close to the stress free surface were calculated. Substances with electrons heated by an external field retaining their intrinsic temperature for a certain time, T _e ? T, where T is the temperature of the lattice, were considered. As shown earlier, the thermodynamic characteristics of thin films can then be determined by nonequilibrium energy of Rayleigh waves (R-phonons) caused by their interaction with hot electrons. This energy decreases as the widths of the energy spectrum of R-phonons increase. In this work, the earlier calculated spectrum widths are used. These widths are caused by the scattering of R-phonons by electrons and static defects close to the surface (point and extended surface defects, edge dislocations perpendicular to the surface and emerging to it, and random lattice grooves in the lattice plane). In all the calculations, the Keldysh diagram technique transformed for half-limited media was used.     

Spin flip due to the spin–orbit interaction of colliding slow charged particles

The scattering amplitudes of point charged particles is calculated analytically taking into account the spin–orbit interaction. We have considered two cases typical of a hydrogen-like plasma: scattering of an electron by a heavy ion and scattering of an electron by a free electron. The results have been obtained taking into account the ranges of low collision energies smaller than α² m _e c ², where α is the fine structure constant.     

X-ray study of [N(CH<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>4</Subscript>]<Subscript>2</Subscript>ZnCl<Subscript>4</Subscript> at low temperatures

The unit cell parameters a, b, and c of [N(CH₃)₄]₂ZnCl₄ have been measured by x-ray diffraction in the temperature range 80–293 K. Temperature dependences of the thermal expansion coefficients α_a, α_b, and α_c along the principal crystallographic axes and of the unit cell thermal expansion coefficient α_V were determined. It is shown that the a=f(T), b=f(T), and c=f(T) curves exhibit anomalies in the form of jumps at phase transition temperatures T₁=161 K and T₂=181 K and that the phase transition occurring at T₃=276 K manifests itself in the a=f(T) and b=f(T) curves as a break. A slight anisotropy in the coefficient of thermal expansion of the crystal was revealed. The phase transitions occurring at T₁=161 K and T₂=181 K in [N(CH₃)₄]₂ZnCl₄ were established to be first-order.     

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.     

Experimentelle Untersuchung von Elektronen-Photonen-Kaskaden in Blei-Szintillator-Anordnungen für Primärenergien zwischen 100 und 440 MeV

Showers generated by electrons of 200 and 440 MeV energy in single lead plates of 2, 5, and 10 radiation lengths are measured in scintillator material (NE 102 A) varying between 1.24 and 10.5 g/cm². The mean energy deposited in a scintillator is derived fromNagel's Monte-Carlo calculations. The photon contributionn _γ to the total pulseheight is of the order 15% near shower maximum t_max, it dominates the electron contributionn _e in a 3 cm thick scintillator for shower depthst ≧ 4.2 · t_max. The slope of the total ionizationn _e+n _γ behind the shower maximum can be approximated byn(t) ～ exp(?0.264t). The shower absorption in scintillator depends on the thicknessx (g/cm²) as exp (?0.068x). An arrangement of counter trays, scintillators and lead plates is calibrated with electrons between 100 and 440 MeV energy. A suitably defined track-lengthS is shown to give minimum error in energy measurement and to depend linearly on electron energy. The track-length constant of 22 MeV/r.l. is compared with the results of other authors.     

Electron–phonon heat exchange in quasi-two-dimensional nanolayers

We study the heat power P transferred between electrons and phonons in thin metallic films deposited on free-standing dielectric membranes. The temperature range is typically below 1 K, such that the wavelengths of the excited phonon modes in the system is large enough so that the picture of a quasi-two-dimensional phonon gas is applicable. Moreover, due to the quantization of the components of the electron wavevectors perpendicular to the metal film’s surface, the electrons spectrum forms also quasi two-dimensional sub-bands, as in a quantum well (QW). We describe in detail the contribution to the electron–phonon energy exchange of different electron scattering channels, as well as of different types of phonon modes. We find that heat flux oscillates strongly with thickness of the film d while having a much smoother variation with temperature (T _e for the electrons temperature and T _ph for the phonons temperature), so that one obtains a ridge-like landscape in the two coordinates, (d, T _e ) or (d, T _ph ), with crests and valleys aligned roughly parallel to the temperature axis. For the valley regions we find P ∝ T _e ^3.5 – T _ph ^3.5 . From valley to crest, P increases by more than one order of magnitude and on the crests P cannot be represented by a simple power law. The strong dependence of P on d is indicative of the formation of the QW state and can be useful in controlling the heat transfer between electrons and crystal lattice in nano-electronic devices. Nevertheless, due to the small value of the Fermi wavelength in metals, the surface imperfections of the metallic films can reduce the magnitude of the oscillations of P vs. d, so this effect might be easier to observe experimentally in doped semiconductors.     

Kinetic processes in a nonideal Rydberg matter

A kinetic model is developed to describe ultracold nonideal Rydberg plasmas, which allows all stages of the generation and decay of such a plasma to be sequentially traced. The plasma kinetics is considered on the basis of available experimental data corresponding to a nonideality parameter of γ ～ 1. The results of theoretical analysis are in good agreement with experiment. Calculations show evidence of a significantly decreased recombination rate and, hence, of the possible formation of a metastable structure in the plasma under consideration. The distribution of the number of excited atoms is determined for the plasma with N_e = N_i = 7 × 10⁵ and E_e = 9 K. The observed behavior of the number and density of particles as functions of the time and principal quantum number is explained. It is suggested that the distribution of excited atoms for the given parameters has a maximum for the state with k = 25.