Variations on a Constant Theme

We describe how theories incorporating time-varying coupling constants can drive the Universe to a late-time near-flat attractor in which the cosmological constant is very small. We also discuss some consequences of allowing time-varying constants to vary in space as well.     

Thickness dependence of temperature coefficient of resistance of MnBi films

In-situ measurements of the temperature coefficient of resistance of electron-beam evaporated MnBi films are reported for the thickness range 30–180 nm. The thickness dependence of the temperature coefficient of resistance curves are plotted for different weight ratios, annealing times and substrate temperatures. The temperature coefficient of resistance shows marked size effect, and is negative for lower thicknesses (<100nm) and positive for higher thicknesses. The experimental data is in good agreement with the Mayadas-Shatzkes theory. The thickness dependence of the Curie temperature also indicates marked size effect.     

Analysis of the Tautomeric Properties of 2-Formylcyclopentane-1,3-Dione Using the Data of IR Spectroscopy and Nonempirical (ab initio and DFT) Quantum-Chemical Calculations

The tautomerism, spectral properties, and properties of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in 2-formylcyclopentane-1,3-dione (FCPD) have been investigated by the methods of nonempirical quantum chemistry (calculations by the ab initio and DFT methods) and IR and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy. It is shown that FCPD in a crystalline form, as also does malonic dialdehyde, exists as self-associated enolized molecules with an open chelate ring. It is found that in solutions in CCl₄ the compound investigated exists as an equilibrium mixture of its exo- and endoenolic forms, with predominance of the former. The IR spectra of the solutions of FCPD in CCl₄ fix the presence of small amounts of the associate formed from the anionic and protonated forms of the substance. For the first time, the energies of the intramolecular H bonds of the endo- and exoenolic tautomeric forms in FCPD have been estimated theoretically. They appeared to be equal to 3.69 and 4.91 kcal·mole^–1, respectively. The possible mechanisms of enol-enolic interconversions of FCPD have been discussed.     

Investigation of Rust Formed on Steel Surfaces and Related Oxyhydroxides

In order to indentity the corrosion products formed on steel surfaces from ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, detailed Mössbauer parameters have been determined for various kinds of iron-oxyhydroxides: -FeOOH, -FeOOH, -FeOOH and -FeOOH. ⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer measurements of the iron oxyhydroxides indicate the following results. Fe occupies a single site in -FeOOH, but below the Néel temperature as at e.g., 300 K the Mössbauer spectrum is always broad, showing a distribution of the strength of the magnetic exchange interactions. Its shape depends on the grain-size and synthetic methods of the specimen. Fe occupies 3 sites in -FeOOH. High-purity reagents of -FeOOH always contain small amounts of -FeOOH and their Néel temperatures depend on the synthetic methods of the specimen. Mössbauer spectroscopy of the synthetic -FeOOH shows very broad distribution of the hyperfine magnetic fields.     

Quantum particle-like configurations of the electromagnetic field

We construct explicitly three-dimensional localized solutions of the free Maxwell's equations with a phase expi(k x - t) which move like relativistic particles. The total field energyE of the moving lump is proportional to the frequency and its momentumP is proportional to the wave vectork, withE ² =P ² +M ². Further, if the angular momentum is different from zero, thenE =. These solutions thus model the wave-particle duality of quantum particles.     

Linear Theory of the Beam-Wave Interaction in the Arbitrary Cylindrical Cerenkov Device

The hot dispersion equation in Cerenkov devices has been derived and analyzed numerically using the self-consistent linear theory. In principle, the linear analysis can be applied to efficiently calculating all kinds of beam-wave interaction in various Cerenkov devices composed of axisymmetric slow-wave structures (SWS) with arbitrary periodic profile. Then the results for Cerenkov devices with three typical SWS profiles are presented.     

Gamma-ray spectroscopy in 110Sn and 111Sn

Excited states in ¹¹⁰Sn and ¹¹¹Sn nuclei have been investigated using in-beam -ray spectroscopic methods. An ¹⁶O beam with an energy of 60-80MeV was used to bombard a ⁹⁸Mo target. On the basis of the relative excitation functions, -ray angular distributions, - and -time distributions, -ray multiplicity and total energy data, the level schemes of ¹¹⁰Sn and ¹¹¹Sn have been studied and extended up to E_exc 11.5MeV, I = 24, and E_exc 11.1MeV and I = (51/2), respectively. An extension of the intruder, g.s. and negative-parity bands, as well as 5 new band-like structures are proposed in ¹¹⁰Sn. The nature of newly introduced collective band 8 as well as 10⁺ states fed in the decay of the collective band is discussed. In the ¹¹¹Sn nucleus an intruder band based on the 23/2^- state has been reinvestigated and the extension of the g.s. band and second negative-parity band is given. Evidence for neutron-core coupling in ¹¹¹Sn is found. The structure and systematics of excited states in light Sn isotopes is discussed.     

α-Particle Loss from Cylindrical Magnetized DT Plasma

-particles from fusion reactions in a DT magnetized plasma are confined inside the plasma not only by magnetic fields but also by induced electric fields which are due to the different mobilities of -particles and electrons. Criteria are derived for the -confinement in a cylindrical plasma, inertially confined by a heavy liner. It is observed that the suprathermal population in the DT plasma will influence the overall dynamics.     

Calculation of the Tautomeric Properties of 3‐Formyl‐Tetrinic Acid by the ab initio and DFT Methods

We have carried out a nonempirical quantumchemical calculation with full optimization of the geometry of all theoretically possible tautomeric forms of 3formyltetrinic acid (FTRA) according to the Møller–Plesset secondorder perturbation theory with the use of a 6–31G(d) double zeta basis set. The correlation corrections to the total energy of molecules for optimized geometric configurations were calculated in the 631G(d,p) basis. All the possible tautomeric forms of FTRA and the harmonic vibrational frequencies were also calculated within the density functional theory (DFT) with the use of the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE) functional in a threeexponent basis. It is shown that FTRA in vapors (in the perfect gas approximation) exists in the form of a mixture of three enol forms, among which two exoforms predominate. The frequencies and forms of normal vibrations for each cisenol tautomer in the region of vibrations of ketogroups and double bonds differ widely, which permits identification of the tautomers present in the mixture. The possible mechanisms of enolenol transformations of 3acyltetrinic acids are discussed.     

Specific Features of Light Scattering in [N(CH3)4]2CuCl4 Crystals with an Incommensurable Phase

We present the results of investigation of the optical birefringence and intensity of the main light beam that passed through an [N(CH₃)₄]₂CuCl₄ crystal under the conditions of viscous interaction of the incommensurable structure with defects. A nonmonotonic temperature dependence of the basic signal is revealed. The observed temperature dependence of the intensity (in the form of irregular steps) is related to different periods of the incommensurable structure. In transitions between adjacent metastable states the periodicity of the incommensurable structure changes. It is shown that in transition regions for the central beam one observes an anomalous decrease in the light intensity due to the appearance of a perturbation lattice with the wave vector q.     

Collapse of percolation clusters — A transfer matrix study

Exact calculations using transfer matrices on finite strips are performed to study the two-dimensional problem of site percolation clusters with an attractive nearest neighbor interaction. Thermodynamic quantities such as free energy per site and specific heat are calculated. Finite-size scaling with two strips of different widths yields very accurate approximations of the critical line and the correlation length exponent. The result shows clearly a site percolation fixed point at very high temperatures, a random animal fixed point at intermediate temperatures, a point for the collapse of lattice animals at lower temperatures, and a compact-cluster fixed point at the lowest temperatures.On leave from Institute of Theoretical Physcis, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.     

Manifestation of Intermolecular Interactions in the IR Spectra of 8-Azasteroids

We have investigated the intermolecular interactions of 8-aza-D-homogona-1,3,5(10),13-tetrane-12,17a-dione and 2,3-dimethoxy-8-azagone-1,3,5(10),13-tetran-12,17-dione with CHCl₃, binary solvents CHCl₃–CH₃OH, CCl₄–CHCl₃, and CCl₄–CH₃OH and also in the solid phase, which manifest themselves in the IR spectra. When the C=O groups of the studied 8-azasteroids form hydrogen bonding with the OH groups of alcohol, the frequencies (C=O) change insignificantly. We have found that they are higher than the corresponding frequencies in the IR absorption spectra of solid-phase samples, which is attributable not only to the effect of the medium but also to the possible shortened contacts of the C=O groups with the CH₃ and CH₂ groups of the molecules under study.     

PAC Measurements on New Ferromagnetic Compound Pd2TiSn

Magnetic hyperfine field (mhf) acting on ¹⁸¹Ta at the Ti site has been investigated in the alloy Pd₂TiSn by Perturbed Angular Correlation (PAC) measurements using the (133–482) keV – cascade in ¹⁸¹Ta following the ^– decay of ¹⁸¹Hf. The magnetic hyperfine field was measured as a function of temperature in the range of 45–1000K. The magnetization measurements were carried out with a vibrating sample magnetometer. The interpretation of the experimental results is based on the assumption that the probe nuclei occupy both the regular Ti sites as well as the Ti atom sites randomly distributed on the Pd sublattice.     

The spherical limit forn-vector correlations

We investigate then limit of then-vector model single-spin and pairspin correlation functions. In this limit we show that the correlation functions become those of the corresponding spherical model.     

Specific Fluorescence Properties and Picosecond Transient Absorption of 8-Azasteroids

The specific fluorescence properties as well as picosecond transient absorption features have been studied for two 8-azasteroids. It is shown that at various excitation wavelengths the essentially different final excited electronic states are realized. Because of the multicenter character of 8-azasteroids the spectroscopic data obtained may be analyzed on a basis of the mesomeric tautomerism model taking into account the dynamic combination of cis- and trans-configurations. The dependence of fluorescence spectral characteristics on the solvent nature is a manifestation of intermolecular H-bond interactions.     

O(N) vector model with twisted boundary conditions

Prompted by a recent article of Chakravarty, we reexamine theO(N) vector model with twisted boundary conditions ind dimensions in the various frameworks of the =d–2 expansion, the =4–d expansion, and the large-N expansion. These continuum models describe the physics below the critical temperatureT _c and nearT _c of a latticeO(N) spin model. We determine the effect of the twisting on finite-size scaling functions, for various geometries.On leave from G. Nadjakov Institute of Solid State Physics, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria.     

Hopf-Algebra Description of Noncommutative-Spacetime Symmetries

A brief summary is given of the results reported in [hep-th/0306013], in collaboration with G. Amelino-Camelia and F. D'Andrea. It is focused on the analysis of the symmetries of -Minkowski noncommutative spacetime, described in terms of a Weyl map. The commutative-spacetime notion of Lie-algebra symmetries must be replaced by the one of Hopf-algebra symmetries. However, in the Hopf-algebra sense, it is possible to construct an action in -Minkowski, which is invariant under a 10-generators Poincaré-like symmetry algebra.     

Supertubes versus superconducting tubes

In this paper we show the relationship between cylindrical D2-branes and cylindrical superconducting membranes described by a generic effective action at the bosonic level. In the first case the extended objects considered, arose as blown up type IIA superstrings to D2-branes, named supertubes. In the second one, the cosmological objects arose from some sort of field theories. The Dirac–Born–Infeld action describing supertubes is shown to be equivalent to the generic effective action describing superconducting membranes via a special transformation. (Dedicated to Prof. Alberto García on the occasion of his 60th birthday)     

Alpha-decay of neutron-deficient 200Fr and heavier neighbours

A new measurement of the ²⁰⁰Fr -decay half-life, with improved accuracy compared to previous measurements, has been carried out at the Isolde-CERN on-line mass separator. A half-life of 49(4) ms has been obtained, which is substantially different from earlier literature values. For the ¹⁹⁶At daughter decay, a half-life of 389(54) ms and an branching ratio b = 94(5)% were measured. In addition, the half-lives of ^{201, 203, 205}Fr and ^197,199At are reported.     

Amplification Coefficient of the Anti‐Stokes Component of Raman Scattering

The theory of intracavity parametric interaction of the components of Raman scattering is developed in the prescribedintensity approximation, which takes into account the reverse reaction of the excited waves to the pumpingwave phase. It is shown that one can substantially improve the conversion efficiency or the amplification coefficient of the antiStokes component by selection of the intracavity geometry, the optimum phase relation between the interacting waves, the pumping level, and the phase mismatch.