Laser nanoablation of graphite

Experimental data on laser ablation of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite by nanosecond pulsed UV ( $\lambda =193$  nm) and green ( $\lambda =532$  nm) lasers are presented. It was found that below graphite vaporization threshold $\approx $ 1 J/cm $^{2}$ , the nanoablation regime can be realized with material removal rates as low as 10 $^{-3}$  nm/pulse. The difference between physical (vaporization) and physical–chemical (heating + oxidation) ablation regimes is discussed. Special attention is paid to the influence of laser fluence and pulse number on ablation kinetics. Possibility of laser-induced graphite surface nanostructuring has been demonstrated. Combination of tightly focused laser beam and sharp tip of scanning probe microscope was applied to improve material nanoablation.     

Separation efficiency of the MASHA facility for short-lived mercury isotopes

The mass-separator MASHA built to identify Super Heavy Elements by their mass-to-charge ratios is described. The results of the off- and on-line measurements of its separation efficiency are presented. In the former case four calibrated leaks of noble gases were used. In the latter the efficiency was measured via 284 MeV $^{40}$ Ar beam and with using the hot catcher. The ECR ion source was used in both cases. The $\alpha $ -radioactive isotopes of mercury produced in the complete fusion reaction $^{40}$ Ar+ $^{144}$ Sm $\rightarrow ^{184-xn}$ Hg+xn were detected at the mass-separator focal plane. The half-lives and the separation efficiency for the short-lived mercury isotopes were measured. Potentialities of the MEDIPIX detector system have been demonstrated for future use at the mass-separator MASHA.     

Influence of temperature on the electric,dielectric and AC conductivity properties of nano-crystalline zinc substituted cobalt ferrite synthesized by solution combustion technique

Cobalt–zinc nanoferrites with formulae Co $_{1-x}$ Zn $_{x}$ Fe $_{2}$ O $_{4}$ , where x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3, have been synthesized by solution combustion technique. The variation of DC resistivity with temperature shows the semiconducting behavior of all nanoferrites. The dielectric properties such as dielectric constant ( $\varepsilon $ ’) and dielectric loss tangent (tan $\delta )$ are investigated as a function of temperature and frequency. Dielectric constant and loss tangent are found to be increasing with an increase in temperature while with an increase in frequency both, $\varepsilon $ ’ and tan $\delta $ , are found to be decreasing. The dielectric properties have been explained on the basis of space charge polarization according to Maxwell–Wagner’s two-layer model and the hopping of charge between Fe $^{2+}$ and Fe $^{3+}$ . Further, a very high value of dielectric constant and a low value of tan $\delta $ are the prime achievements of the present work. The AC electrical conductivity ( $\sigma _\mathrm{AC})$ is studied as a function of temperature as well as frequency and $\sigma _\mathrm{AC}$ is observed to be increasing with the increase in temperature and frequency.     

Pyrid-2-yl and 2-CyanoPhenyl fused heterocyclic compounds as human P2X_{3} inhibitors: a combined approach based on homology modelling,docking and QSAR analysis

P2X receptors are hetero-oligomeric proteins that function as membrane ion channels and are gated by extracellular ATP. The hP2X $_{3}$ subunit is a constituent of the channels on a subset of sensory neurons involved in pain signaling, where ATP released by damaged and inflamed tissue can initiate action potentials. Hence, the inhibition of ATP-activated P2X $_{3}$ receptor is an exciting approach for the treatment of inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Recently, the crystal structures of zebrafish P2X $_{4}$ (zP2X $_{4})$ were obtained in closed, apo state (PDB ID: 3I5D) and ATP-bound, open state (PDB ID: 4DW1). These structures were used to develop a homology model of human P2X $_{3}$ (hP2X $_{3})$ in order to identify through docking studies, the binding modes of known P2X $_{3}$ inhibitors and their key active site interactions, along with a pharmacophore-based 3D-QSAR model for a series of 136 Pyrid-2-yl and 2-CyanoPhenyl fused heterocyclic compounds. These 3D-QSAR models have been developed with different combinations of training and test set divisions obtained by random separation, Jarvis–Patrick clustering, K-means clustering and sphere exclusion methods. The best predictive 3D-QSAR model resulted in training set R $^{2 }$ of 0.75, internal test set Q $^{2}$ of 0.74, Pearson-R value of 0.87 and root mean square error of 0.37. The information generated by the pharmacophore model and docking analyses using the homology model provides valuable clues to design novel potent hP2X $_{3}$ inhibitors.     

Mössbauer spectroscopy in the investigation of new mineral–related materials

New materials based on the composition of the mineral schafarzikite, FeSb $_{2}\textit {O}_{4}$ , have been synthesised. $^{57}$ Fe- and $^{121}$ Sb- Mössbauer spectroscopy shows that iron is present as Fe $^{2+}$ and that antimony is present as Sb $^{3+}$ . The presence of Pb $^{2+}$ on the antimony sites in materials of composition FeSb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ induces partial oxidation of Fe $^{2+}_{}$ to Fe $^{3+}$ . The quasi-one-dimensional magnetic structure of schafarzikite is retained in FeSb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ and gives rise to weakly coupled non-magnetic Fe $^{2+}$ ions coexisting with Fe $^{3+}$ ions in a magnetically ordered state. A similar model can be applied to account for the spectra recorded from the compound Co $_{0.5}$ Fe $_{0.5}$ Sb $_{1.5}$ Pb $_{0.5}\textit {O}_{4}$ .     

Resonance Conversion as the Predominant Decay Mode of ^{229m}Th

Calculations performed within the advanced MCDF method show that the probability of decay of the 3.5-eV level of $^{229m}$ Th through the resonance electronic bridges exceeds the direct radiative nuclear decay width by a factor of around $5\cdot 10^3$ . Experimental consequences for detection of the delayed soft photons or $\alpha$ particles from the decay of the isomer are discussed.     

Resonance ionisation mass spectrometry of krypton and its applications in planetary science

A new resonance ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometer for determining krypton isotope ratios in extraterrestrial samples is presented. Laser heating is used to extract gas from mg-size samples. A cryogenic sample concentrator is employed. Atoms continuously condense on a 75 K stainless steel substrate at the back plate of a Wiley-McLaren laser ion source from where they are desorbed by a pulsed 1064 nm laser and resonantly ionized in the plume. A three-colour (116.5 nm, 558.1 nm and 1064 nm) excitation scheme is used. Tuneable coherent Vacuum Ultraviolet (vuv) radiation near 116.5 nm is generated by four-wave sum frequency mixing of 252.5 nm and 1507 nm pulsed dye laser beams in a binary mixture of negatively and positively dispersive gases (Xe and Ar). Isotope effects have been observed that reduce the reproducibility of isotope ratio measurements between odd-mass, non-zero nuclear spin isotopes and even-mass, zero nuclear spin isotopes. This can be minimised and stabilised by controlling the laser fluences, experimental geometry, and the population of the magnetic sub-levels of the excited atomic states used in the ionisation process. Once stability is achieved, sample-standard bracketing (during which the known isotope ratios of a standard are determined before and after the measurements of the sample under the same conditions) allows precision and reproducibility of $\sim $ 1 % for the major isotope ratios to be achieved in samples $\sim 10^{6}$ krypton atoms. Detection limits of $<1000$ atoms/isotope have been demonstrated, ratios of $^{81}$ Kr in meteorites have been made with $\sim $ 5–10 % precision. Applications of the instrument in various areas of planetary science are also discussed.     

Study of Alpha Decay Chains of Superheavy Nuclei and Magic Number Beyond Z = 82 and N = 126

We study various $\alpha $ -decay chains on the basis of the preformed cluster decay model. Our work targets the superheavy elements, which are expected to show extra stability at shell closure. Our computations identify the following combinations of proton and neutron numbers as the most stable nuclei: $Z=112$ , $N=161, 163$ ; $Z=114$ , $N=171, 178, 179$ ; and $Z=124$ , $N=194$ . We also investigate the alternative of heavy cluster emissions in the decay chain of ³⁰¹120, instead of $\alpha $ decay. Our study of cluster radioactivity shows that the half-life for ¹⁰Be decay in ²⁸⁹114 is larger, indicating enhanced stability at $Z=114$ , $N=175$ . Similar calculations concerning the emission of $\ ^{14}{\rm C}$ and $\ ^{34}{\rm Si}$ from ³⁰¹120 find the more stable combinations $Z=114$ , $N=173$ , and $Z=106$ , $N=161$ , respectively. From the same parent, ³⁰¹120, the emission of a $\ ^{49-51}{\rm Ca}$ cluster yielding a $Z=100$ , $N=152$ daughter is the most probable.     

BN thin film as thermal interface mateiral for high power LED: thermal resistance and optical analysis

Over heat in junction temperature of an LED can impact the luminous performance of the lighting system. The more heat extracted from the system, the easier the LEDs can be driven; resulting in more light output and possibly a reduction in the number of LEDs needed to achieve the desired level of light output. Consequently, thin film based thermal interface mateiral (TIM) has been suggested and BN thin film was prepared on Cu substrate which is used as TIM. The 3W green LED was tested with BN thin film interface and observed low $T_{J}$ and total thermal resistance (R $_\mathrm{th-tot})$ value at 700 mA. The $\Delta T_{J}$ was 3.79  $^\circ $ C which was high compared to bare Cu. Overall, BN thin films was performed well on maintaining both the $T_{J}$ and the optical output considerably and could be an alternative for commersial thermal paste.     

Asymptotic Behavior for a Version of Directed Percolation on the Triangular Lattice

We consider a version of directed bond percolation on the triangular lattice such that vertical edges are directed upward with probability $y$ , diagonal edges are directed from lower-left to upper-right or lower-right to upper-left with probability $d$ , and horizontal edges are directed rightward with probabilities $x$ and one in alternate rows. Let $\tau (M,N)$ be the probability that there is at least one connected-directed path of occupied edges from $(0,0)$ to $(M,N)$ . For each $x \in [0,1]$ , $y \in [0,1)$ , $d \in [0,1)$ but $(1-y)(1-d) \ne 1$ and aspect ratio $\alpha =M/N$ fixed for the triangular lattice with diagonal edges from lower-left to upper-right, we show that there is an $\alpha _c = (d-y-dy)/[2(d+y-dy)] + [1-(1-d)^2(1-y)^2x]/[2(d+y-dy)^2]$ such that as $N \rightarrow \infty $ , $\tau (M,N)$ is $1$ , $0$ and $1/2$ for $\alpha > \alpha _c$ , $\alpha < \alpha _c$ and $\alpha =\alpha _c$ , respectively. A corresponding result is obtained for the triangular lattice with diagonal edges from lower-right to upper-left. We also investigate the rate of convergence of $\tau (M,N)$ and the asymptotic behavior of $\tau (M_N^-,N)$ and $\tau (M_N^+ ,N)$ where $M_N^-/N\uparrow \alpha _c$ and $M_N^+/N\downarrow \alpha _c$ as $N\uparrow \infty $ .     

Charmonium rescattering effects in \psi(2S) \rightarrow \gamma \eta_{c}^{} decay

Charmonium rescattering effects in the M1 transition of $ \psi$ (2S) $ \rightarrow$ $ \gamma$ $ \eta_{c}^{}$ are investigated by modeling a $ \chi_{{cJ}}^{}$ or J/ $ \psi$ rescattering into a $ \eta_{c}^{}$ final state. The absorptive and dispersive part of the transition amplitudes for the rescattering loops of $ \eta$ $ \psi$ ( $ \gamma^{{\ast}}_{}$ ) and $ \gamma$ $ \chi$ ( $ \psi$ ) are separately evaluated. The numerical results show that the contribution from the $ \gamma$ $ \chi$ ( $ \psi$ ) rescattering process is negligible. Compared with the virtual D $ \bar{{D}}$ (D ^*) rescattering processes, the $ \eta$ $ \psi$ ( $ \gamma^{{\ast}}_{}$ ) process may be regarded as the next-leading order of the hadronic loop mechanism, which only offers the partial decay width of ～ 0.045 keV to the $ \psi$ (2S) $ \rightarrow$ $ \gamma$ $ \eta_{c}^{}$ .     

Analysis and design of an electro-optic 2\times 2 switch using Ti: \hbox {KNbO}_3 as a waveguide based on MZI at 1.3\,\upmu \hbox {m}

This work describes an approach to design a $2\times 2$ optoelectronic switch based on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a channel profile of Titanium (Ti) diffused in Potassium niobate ( $\hbox {KNbO}_{3}$ ) at a wavelength of $1.3\,\upmu \hbox {m}$ . The evaluation parameters used are the insertion loss and the extinction ratio. The originality of this work is introducing the $\hbox {KNbO}_{3 }$ crystal as a host while optimizing the Ti strip thickness to provide a remarkable switching performance. Optimization leads to a lower switching voltage of 4 V, an insertion loss of 0.0261 dB and extinction ratio of 29.4 dB. The designed switch has a high switching capability and degree of reliability.     

An Algebraic Construction of Boundary Quantum Field Theory

We build up local, time translation covariant Boundary Quantum Field Theory nets of von Neumann algebras ${\mathcal A_V}$ on the Minkowski half-plane M ₊ starting with a local conformal net ${\mathcal A}$ of von Neumann algebras on ${\mathbb R}$ and an element V of a unitary semigroup ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A)}$ associated with ${\mathcal A}$ . The case V?=?1 reduces to the net ${\mathcal A_+}$ considered by Rehren and one of the authors; if the vacuum character of ${\mathcal A}$ is summable, ${\mathcal A_V}$ is locally isomorphic to ${\mathcal A_+}$ . We discuss the structure of the semigroup ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A)}$ . By using a one-particle version of Borchers theorem and standard subspace analysis, we provide an abstract analog of the Beurling-Lax theorem that allows us to describe, in particular, all unitaries on the one-particle Hilbert space whose second quantization promotion belongs to ${\mathcal E(\mathcal A^{(0)})}$ with ${\mathcal A^{(0)}}$ the U(1)-current net. Each such unitary is attached to a scattering function or, more generally, to a symmetric inner function. We then obtain families of models via any Buchholz-Mack-Todorov extension of ${\mathcal A^{(0)}}$ . A further family of models comes from the Ising model.     

Higher harmonics of azimuthal anisotropy in relativistic heavy-ion collisions in HYDJET++ model

The LHC data on azimuthal anisotropy harmonics from PbPb collisions at center-of-mass energy 2.76 TeV per nucleon pair are analyzed and interpreted in the framework of the HYDJET++ model. The cross-talk of elliptic $v_2$ and triangular $v_3$ flow in the model generates both even and odd harmonics of higher order. Comparison with the experimental data shows that this mechanism is able to reproduce the $p_\mathrm{T}$ and centrality dependencies of quadrangular flow $v_4$ , and also the basic trends for pentagonal $v_5$ and hexagonal $v_6$ flows.     

Finite W-Superalgebras and Truncated Super Yangians

Let ${Y_{m|n}^{\ell}}$ be the super Yangian of general linear Lie superalgebra for ${\mathfrak{gl}_{m|n}}$ . Let ${e \in \mathfrak{gl}_{m\ell|n\ell}}$ be a “rectangular” nilpotent element and ${\mathcal{W}_e}$ be the finite W-superalgebra associated to e. We show that ${Y_{m|n}^{\ell}}$ is isomorphic to ${\mathcal{W}_e}$ .     

Universality of the Local Regime for the Block Band Matrices with a Finite Number of Blocks

We consider the block band matrices, i.e. the Hermitian matrices $H_N$ , $N=|\Lambda |W$ with elements $H_{jk,\alpha \beta }$ , where $j,k \in \Lambda =[1,m]^d\cap \mathbb {Z}^d$ (they parameterize the lattice sites) and $\alpha , \beta = 1,\ldots , W$ (they parameterize the orbitals on each site). The entries $H_{jk,\alpha \beta }$ are random Gaussian variables with mean zero such that $\langle H_{j_1k_1,\alpha _1\beta _1}H_{j_2k_2,\alpha _2\beta _2}\rangle =\delta _{j_1k_2}\delta _{j_2k_1} \delta _{\alpha _1\beta _2}\delta _{\beta _1\alpha _2} J_{j_1k_1},$ where $J=1/W+\alpha \Delta /W$ , $\alpha < 1/4d$ . This matrices are the special case of Wegner’s $W$ -orbital models. Assuming that the number of sites $|\Lambda |$ is finite, we prove universality of the local eigenvalue statistics of $H_N$ for the energies $|\lambda _0|< \sqrt{2}$ .     

Analysis of the \frac{1} {2}^ - and \frac{3} {2}^ - heavy and doubly heavy baryon states with QCD sum rules

In this article, we study the $\frac{1} {2}^ -$ and $\frac{3} {2}^ -$ heavy and doubly heavy baryon states $\Sigma _Q \left( {\frac{1} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Xi '_Q \left( {\frac{1} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Omega _Q \left( {\frac{1} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Xi _{QQ} \left( {\frac{1} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Omega _{QQ} \left( {\frac{1} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Sigma _Q^* \left( {\frac{3} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Xi _Q^* \left( {\frac{3} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Omega _Q^* \left( {\frac{3} {2}^ - } \right)$ , $\Xi _{QQ}^* \left( {\frac{3} {2}^ - } \right)$ and $\Omega _{QQ}^* \left( {\frac{3} {2}^ - } \right)$ by subtracting the contributions from the corresponding $\frac{1} {2}^ +$ and $\frac{3} {2}^ +$ heavy and doubly heavy baryon states with the QCD sum rules in a systematic way, and make reasonable predictions for their masses.     

Identification of \mathrm{\ensuremath J^{\pi} = 19/2^+} and \mathrm{\ensuremath 23/2^+} isomeric states in 127Sb

The nucleus $\ensuremath {\rm ^{127}Sb}$ , which is on the neutron-rich periphery of the $\ensuremath \beta$ -stability region, has been populated in complex nuclear reactions involving deep-inelastic and fusion-fission processes with $\ensuremath {\rm {}^{136}Xe}$ beams incident on thick targets. The previously known isomer at 2325 keV in $\ensuremath {\rm {}^{127}Sb}$ has been assigned spin and parity $\ensuremath 23/2^+$ , based on the measured $\ensuremath \gamma$ - $\ensuremath \gamma$ angular correlations and total internal conversion coefficients. The half-life has been determined to be 234(12) ns, somewhat longer than the value reported previously. The 2194 keV state has been assigned $\ensuremath J^{\pi} = 19/2^+$ and identified as an isomer with $\ensuremath T_{1/2} = 14(1) {\rm ns}$ , decaying by two $\ensuremath E2$ branches. The observed level energies and transition strengths are compared with the predictions of a shell model calculation. Two $\ensuremath 15/2^+$ states have been identified close in energy, and their properties are discussed in terms of mixing between vibrational and three-quasiparticle configurations.     

Fomenko–Mischenko Theory, Hessenberg Varieties, and Polarizations

The symmetric algebra ${S(\mathfrak{g})}$ over a Lie algebra ${\mathfrak{g}}$ has the structure of a Poisson algebra. Assume ${\mathfrak{g}}$ is complex semisimple. Then results of Fomenko–Mischenko (translation of invariants) and Tarasov construct a polynomial subalgebra ${{\mathcal {H}} = {\mathbb C}[q_1,\ldots,q_b]}$ of ${S(\mathfrak{g})}$ which is maximally Poisson commutative. Here b is the dimension of a Borel subalgebra of ${\mathfrak{g}}$ . Let G be the adjoint group of ${\mathfrak{g}}$ and let ? = rank ${\mathfrak{g}}$ . Using the Killing form, identify ${\mathfrak{g}}$ with its dual so that any G-orbit O in ${\mathfrak{g}}$ has the structure (KKS) of a symplectic manifold and ${S(\mathfrak{g})}$ can be identified with the affine algebra of ${\mathfrak{g}}$ . An element ${x\in \mathfrak{g}}$ will be called strongly regular if ${\{({\rm d}q_i)_x\},\,i=1,\ldots,b}$ , are linearly independent. Then the set ${\mathfrak{g}^{\rm{sreg}}}$ of all strongly regular elements is Zariski open and dense in ${\mathfrak{g}}$ and also ${\mathfrak{g}^{\rm{sreg}}\subset \mathfrak{g}^{\rm{ reg}}}$ where ${\mathfrak{g}^{\rm{reg}}}$ is the set of all regular elements in ${\mathfrak{g}}$ . A Hessenberg variety is the b-dimensional affine plane in ${\mathfrak{g}}$ , obtained by translating a Borel subalgebra by a suitable principal nilpotent element. Such a variety was introduced in Kostant (Am J Math 85:327–404, 1963). Defining Hess to be a particular Hessenberg variety, Tarasov has shown that ${{\rm{Hess}}\subset \mathfrak{g}^{\rm{sreg}}}$ . Let R be the set of all regular G-orbits in ${\mathfrak{g}}$ . Thus if ${O\in R}$ , then O is a symplectic manifold of dimension 2n where n = b ? ?. For any ${O\in R}$ let ${O^{\rm{sreg}} = \mathfrak{g}^{\rm{sreg}} \cap O}$ . One shows that O ^sreg is Zariski open and dense in O so that O ^sreg is again a symplectic manifold of dimension 2n. For any ${O\in R}$ let ${{\rm{Hess}}(O) = {\rm{Hess}}\cap O}$ . One proves that Hess(O) is a Lagrangian submanifold of O ^sreg and that $${\rm{Hess}} = \sqcup_{O\in R}{\rm{Hess}}(O).$$ The main result of this paper is to show that there exists simultaneously over all ${O\in R}$ , an explicit polarization (i.e., a “fibration” by Lagrangian submanifolds) of O ^sreg which makes O ^sreg simulate, in some sense, the cotangent bundle of Hess(O).     

Influence of assortativity and degree-preserving rewiring on the spectra of networks

Newman’s measure for (dis)assortativity, the linear degree correlation coefficient $\rho _{D}$ , is reformulated in terms of the total number N _k of walks in the graph with k hops. This reformulation allows us to derive a new formula from which a degree-preserving rewiring algorithm is deduced, that, in each rewiring step, either increases or decreases $\rho _{D}$ conform our desired objective. Spectral metrics (eigenvalues of graph-related matrices), especially, the largest eigenvalue $\lambda _{1}$ of the adjacency matrix and the algebraic connectivity $\mu _{N-1}$ (second-smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian) are powerful characterizers of dynamic processes on networks such as virus spreading and synchronization processes. We present various lower bounds for the largest eigenvalue $\lambda _{1}$ of the adjacency matrix and we show, apart from some classes of graphs such as regular graphs or bipartite graphs, that the lower bounds for $\lambda _{1}$ increase with $\rho _{D}$ . A new upper bound for the algebraic connectivity $\mu _{N-1}$ decreases with $\rho _{D}$ . Applying the degree-preserving rewiring algorithm to various real-world networks illustrates that (a) assortative degree-preserving rewiring increases $\lambda _{1}$ , but decreases $\mu _{N-1}$ , even leading to disconnectivity of the networks in many disjoint clusters and that (b) disassortative degree-preserving rewiring decreases $\lambda _{1}$ , but increases the algebraic connectivity, at least in the initial rewirings.