A new procedure for thin-film deposition by solution spraying

The major reasons for the low photovoltaic efficiency of Cu₂S/CdS cells, in which the CdS film is deposited by spraying, are due to small film thicknesses which do not exceed 4 m and the small average grain size which ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 m.A new experimental solution spraying procedure is described that prevents both restrictions by controlling the substrate temperature. Average grain sizes of more than 1 m are obtained.Work supported by Ministere Pubblica Istruzione and Centro Regionale Ricerche Nucleari e di Struttura della Materia     

Subthreshold φ-meson production and medium effects in proton-nucleus reactions

Within the spectral function approach we study the direct production and decay via the dikaon (dimuon) channel of -mesons in the interactions of 2.4 and 2.7GeV protons with light and medium target nuclei. It is shown that the K⁺K^- ( ^+-) invariant-mass distribution consists of the two components which correspond to the decay outside and inside the target nucleus. The first (narrow) component has the free width, while the second (broad) component is distorted by the nuclear matter due to resonance-nucleon scattering and a possible in-medium modification of the kaons and -meson at finite baryon density. The relative strength of the inside and outside components is analyzed in different scenarios for the width and momentum cut. It is demonstrated that the width of the resulting dimuon invariant-mass distribution on medium nuclei is larger than the free width by a factor of about two if the total in-medium width is used and the respective cutoff for the three-momentum is applied, whereas the resulting dikaon invariant-mass distribution has an insignificant sensitivity to the in-medium properties due to the strong absorption of the K^- in the surrounding nuclear matter. On the other hand, because of the distortion of the K⁺ and K^- on their way out the target nucleus mainly due to the hadronic kaon potentials, the latter distribution is broadened and shifted to higher invariant masses, which means that the measurement of such broadening would give additional evidence for the modification of the kaon and antikaon properties in the nuclear medium.     

Multiscale representation of generating and correlation functions for some models of statistical mechanics and quantum field theory

We consider models of statistical mechanics and quantum field theory (in the Euclidean formulation) which are treated using renormalization group methods and where the action is a small perturbation of a quadratic action. We obtain multiscale formulas for the generating and correlation functions aftern renormalization group transformations which bring out the relation with thenth effective action. We derive and compare the formulas for different RGs. The formulas for correlation functions involve (1) two propagators which are determined by a sequence of approximate wave function renormalization constants and renormalization group operators associated with the decomposition into scales of the quadratic form and (2) field derivatives of the nth effective action. For the case of the block field -function RG the formulas are especially simple and for asymptotic free theories only the derivatives at zero field are needed; the formulas have been previously used directly to obtain bounds on correlation functions using information obtained from the analysis of effective actions. The simplicity can be traced to an orthogonality-of-scales property which follows from an implicit wavelet structure. Other commonly used RGs do not have the orthogonality of scales property.     

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Stability of a glow discharge in small currents

Two approximations of the dynamic characteristic of a glow discharge for small currents are derived. In the first approximation only the influence of the rate of rise and decay of charge carriers in the delay process is accounted for. In the second approximation, the influence of the rate of stabilization of the radial electric field in the discharge is added. On the basis of the derived equations the conditions for the simplest stability of the discharge are calculated. A comparison with experiment gives satisfactory results.

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A novel preparation method and investigation of sprayed CdS films

The main reason for the low photovoltaic efficiency of Cu₂S/CdS cells, in which the CdS film is deposited by solution spraying, is the very small average dimensions of the crystalline grains. The difficulty in depositing films with transverse dimensions of crystalline grains larger than 1 m is due to the fast decrease of substrate temperature during the spraying deposition of the CdS film. We have since arranged an experimental set-up able to maintain the surface temperature of the substrate constant. In this way it is possible to control the parameters which affect the deposition and to obtain a high degree of reproducibility of morphological properties. Average grain sizes of more than 1 m are obtained. We have investigated the crystalline grain sizes and the film thickness as a function of the deposition temperature and the spraying rate.Work supported by Ministero Pubblica Istruzione and Centro Regionale Ricerche Nucleari e Struttura della materia     

The dipole phase in the two-dimensional hierarchical Coulomb gas: Analyticity and correlations decay

We illustrate the mechanism producing the dipole phase in a two dimensional Coulomb system by a detailed analysis of a hierarchical model. We prove the analyticity of the pressure and of the correlations for ²e ²>8 (i.e. right above the usually conjectured value for the Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition). We find also a power law decay for the correlations with exponent ²/2 as the hierarchical distance goes to infinity.Partially supported by Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione, Gruppo Nazionale per la Fisica Matematica del CNR and Grant A.F.O.S.R.-82-0016CPartially supported by Ministero della Pubblica Istruzione and Grant N.S.F. DMS 85-03333Partially supported by Ministera della Pubblica Istruzione     

Mössbauer study of internally oxidized silver-tin alloys

A Mössbauer study of internally formed oxides as a function of oxidation temperatures between 200 C and 850 C was performed on previously annealed 1 at%AgSn alloys. The oxide formed at high temperatures (t 500 C) consists in agglomerates of tin dioxide = 0.00 ± 0.01 mm/s, Q=0.50 ± 0.03 mm/s). The low temperature oxide (t 300 C) is characterized by = 0.29 ± 0.02 mm/s and Q=0.32 ± 0.03 mm/s, and could be in the form of one-Sn-atom oxide complexes in the silver matrix. From the measured isomer shifts in the range 400 t 550 C, the maximum contribution of the silver matrix to the effective number of electrons per Sn atom in oxide agglomerates has been estimated have a value of about 0.06. The effect of the cold work on the hyperfine parameters of the oxidized tin has also been investigated. As rolled samples were found to attain the same values of isomer shifts and quadrupole splittings as annealed specimens, but at lower temperatures.     

The mechanism of copper oxide segregations in Y-Ba-Cu-O/YSZ thin films

Experimental results show that copper-oxide segregation occurs by chemical reaction at the interface between Y-Ba-Cu-O thin films and ZrO₂ substrates, which results in a layer of BaZrO₃ (thickness 0.8 m). A buffer layer of silver inbetween the film and substrate as a barrier for the diffusion of Ba atoms into YSZ or the formation of silver-copper alloys during a high temperature annealing process prevents the copper oxide segregation. It is concluded that BaZrO₃ is a prospective candidate substrate for the fabrication of high-T _cthin films.This work was supported by the National Center for Research and Development on Superconductivity     

Radiation effects in lepton decays of neutral vector mesons and μ-e universality

A study has been made of the effects of radiation corrections of order as regards the probability of lepton decay of a moving neutral vector meson V e⁺e^– and V ^+– (V = ⁰, , ); -e universality has been checked by examining the effects of radiation corrections due to exchange of virtual photons between lepton and antilepton, and also to vacuum polarization by e⁺e^– electron and ^+–muon closed loops; in addition, a study has been made of the emission of soft photons as regards the partial width for the electron and muon modes of V-meson decay. Closed expressions (1), (4), and (5) for the corrections imply that the ratio ¦R_v¦ for the probabilities of decay of a V meson to e⁺e^– and ^+–, which are given by (11), agree well with the available evidence on ⁰ e⁺e^{– +–} decays and indicates a possible deviation from -e universality in e⁺e^–+– decays.Read at the meeting on high-energy physics, Nuclear Physics Section Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow, February 11–15, 1974).Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 7, pp. 84–89, July 1975.We are indebted to Professor A. A. Sokolov for a discussion.     

Oxygen diffusion and dynamical disorder in high-T c superconductors: low frequency noise in superconducting tunnel junctions

The equilibrium diffusion fluctuations of oxygen concentration in HTSC are considered as a possible source of the low frequency current/voltage noise in tunnel junctions near the transition temperature in the frames of the model independent phenomenological approach. The general expression for the noise spectrum,S(), is obtained. It is shown that the noise is diffusion-like,S()^–2, and it is proportional to the square of the contact current/voltage. The noise magnitude is sharply peaked near the maximal critical temperature achievable for a given type of HTSC by an optimal oxygen doping.The noise cutoff frequency, below which it can be observed on the thermal background, has the activation like temperature dependence and is estimated to be 1s ^–1.The other possible consequences of the oxygen concentration fluctuations in HTSC are discussed.     

On some frequent but controversial statements concerning the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations

Quite often the compatibility of the EPR correlations with the relativity theory has been questioned; it has been stated that the first in time of two correlated measurements instantaneously collapses the other subsystem; it has been suggested that a causal asymmetry is built into the Feynman propagator. However, the EPR transition amplitude, as derived from the S matrix, is Lorentz andCPT invariant; the correlation formula is symmetric in the two measurements irrespective of their time ordering, so that the link of the correlations is the Feynman zigzag, and that causality isCPT invariant at the microlevel; finally, although the Feynman propagator has theP andCT symmetries, no causal asymmetry follows from that. As for Stapp's views concerning process and becoming, and his Whiteheadean concept of an advancing front, I object that they belong to factlike macrophysics, and are refuted at the microlevel by the EPR phenomenology, which displays direct Fokker-like space-time connections. The reason for this is a radical one. The very blending of a space-time picture and of a probability calculus is a paradox. The only adequate paradigm is one denying objectivity to space-time—but this, of course, is also required by the complementary of the x and the k pictures, which only look compatible at the macrolevel. Therefore, the classical objectivity must yield in favor of intersubjectivity. Only the macroscopic preparing and measuring devices have factlike objectivity; the transition of the quantal system takes place beyond both thex and thek 4-spaces. Then, the intrinsic symmetries between retarded and advanced waves, and statistical prediction and retrodiction, entails that the future has no less (but no more) existence than the past. It is the future that is significant in creative process, the elementary forms of which should be termed precognition or psychokinesis—respectively symmetric to the factlike taboos that we can neither know into the future nor act into the past. It is gratifying that Robert Jahn, at the Engineering School of Princeton University, is conducting (after others) conclusive experiments demonstrating low level psychokinesis—a phenomenon implied by the very symmetry of the negentropy-information transition. So, what pierces the veil of maya is the (rare) occurrence of paranormal phenomena. The essential severance between act and potentia is not a spacelike advancing front, but the out of and the into factlike space-time. Finally, I do not feel that an adequate understanding of the EPR phenomenology requires going beyond the present status of relativistic quantum mechanics. Rather, I believe that the potentialities of this formalism have not yet been fully exploited.     

Mutual information functions versus correlation functions

This paper studies one application of mutual information to symbolic sequences: the mutual information functionM(d). This function is compared with the more frequently used correlation function(d). An exact relation betweenM(d) and(d) is derived for binary sequences. For sequences with more than two symbols, no such general relation exists; in particular,(d)=0 may or may not lead toM(d)=0. This linear, but not general, independence between symbols separated by a distance is studied for ternary sequences. Also included is the estimation of the finite-size effect on calculating mutual information. Finally, the concept of symbolic noise is discussed.     

Surfaces and Peierls contours: 3-d wetting and 2-d Ising percolation

A natural model of a discrete random surface lying above a two-dimensional substrate is presented and analyzed. An identification of the level curves of the surface with the Peierls contours of Ising spin configurations leads to an exactly solvable free energy, with logarithmically divergent specific heat. The thermodynamic critical point is shown to be a wetting transition at which the surface height diverges. This is so even though the surface has no downward fingers and hence no entropic repulsion from the substrate.Dedicated to Roland DobrushinResearch supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-8514834 and AFOSR Contract No. F49620-86-C0130 under the U.R.I. program     

Role of time in the sum-over-histories framework for gravity

I sketch a self-contained framework for quantum mechanics based on its path-integral or sum-over-histories formulation. The framework is very close to that for classical stochastic processes like Brownian motion, and its interpretation requires neither measurement nor state-vector as a basic notion. The rules for forming probabilities are nonclassical in two ways: they use complex amplitudes, and they (apparently unavoidably) require one to truncate the histories at a collapse time, which can be chosen arbitrarily far into the future. Adapting this framework to gravity yields a formulation of quantum gravity with a fully spacetime character, thereby overcoming the frozen nature of the canonical formalism. Within the proposed adaptation, the value of the collapse time is identified with total elapsed spacetime four-volume. Interestingly, this turns the cosmological constant into an essentially classical constant of integration, removing the need for microscopic fine tuning to obtain an experimentally viable value for it. Some implications of the V = T rule for quantum cosmology are also discussed.     

Some properties of topological geons

We investigate the Finkelstein-Misner geons for a non-simply-connected space-time manifold (M, g ₀). We use relations between different Lorentzian structures unequivalent tog ₀ and topological properties ofM given by the Morse theory. It implies that to some pieces of geons we have to associate Wheeler's worm-holes. Geons that correspond to time-orientable Lorentz structures are related tog ₀ by Morse functions that describe the attaching of a handle of index one. In the case of geons associated to time-nonorientable Lorentzian structures, appropriate handles are related to loops along which the notion of time reverses. If we assume electromagnetic properties of geons, then only four species, v, e, p, m, of different geons can exist and geon m has to decay according to mv+p+e.     

On the electromagnetic structure of elementary particles

Using modern similarity and dimensionality methods, criteria of similarity are derived and used as transformations, which effect the conversion from one natural system of units to another. The exclusion principles thus defined are used to determine the powers of the similarity criteria in quantitative relations.Systems of units of the fermion and boson types are used in the simplest identification of the parameters corresponding to elementary particles.A set of electric and magnetic physical constants with dimensionality length, area, and volume, is obtained and successfully unified within the limits of a vortex ring, the maximum dimensions of which are defined by the Compton wavelength, and the minimum by the classical radius of the particle. The vortex ring model is in accordance with the latest experimental data, and it enables the behavior of the incident and target particles in the scattering process to be predicted.In modern theoretical physics the elementary particles are still considered as essentially structureless point formations, and hence it is impossible to give a purely theoretical treatment of the structure of the particles. Thus the various attempts in this direction (Hofstadter, Blokhintsev) have a polyphenomenological character and are internally inconsistent. (The search for the structure of an elementary particle is carried out on the assumption that it is not elementary, since truly elementary particles are defined as point size.) The author recognizes the need for an original approach to the structure of elementary particles, based on a method of study adequate for the problem. Such a method is the theory of dimensionality and similarity (Sedov, Gukhman, and Kirpichev), which serves as a scientific basis of a physical experiment (Kirpichev), or as the scientific basis for a model of the phenomena, insofar as the criteria of similarity are a reflection of the physical model of the process (Gukhman).It is a pleasure to thank Academician L. I. Sedov and Professor K. A. Putilov for valuable criticism and advice, and Professor A. S. Irisov and V. V. Lokhin for useful discussions.     

Squeezed “atomic” states,pseudo-Hermitian operators and Wigner D-matrices

The states of N two-level atoms can be mapped onto the eigenvectors of angular momentum (with j=N/2) and this system in interaction with a radiation field constitutes a fundamental model in Quantum Optics. There from one may construct atomic coherent states and minimum uncertainty packets. The squeezing of such states is of considerable contemporary interest. We show that the properties of squeezed atomic states are most elegantly and economically expressed in terms of pseudo-Hermitian operators and through Wigner D-matrices and their analytical continuation.     

Evolutionary drive: The effect of microscopic diversity,error making,and noise

In order to model any macroscopic system, it is necessary to aggregate both spatially and taxonomically. If average processes are assumed, then kinetic equations of population dynamics can be derived. Much effort has gone into showing the important effects introduced by non-average effects (fluctuations) in generating symmetry-breaking transitions and creating structure and form. However, the effects of microscopic diversity have been largely neglected. We show that evolution will select for populations which retain variability, even though this is, at any given time, loss-making, predicting that we shall not observe populations with optimal behavior, but populations which can learn. This lesser short-term efficiency may be why natural diversity is so great. Evolution is seen to be driven by the noise to which it leads.     

Anti-photon

It should be apparent from the title of this article that the author does not like the use of the word photon, which dates from 1926. In his view, there is no such thing as a photon. Only a comedy of errors and historical accidents led to its popularity among physicists and optical scientists. I admit that the word is short and convenient. Its use is also habit forming. Similarly, one might find it convenient to speak of the aether or vacuum to stand for empty space, even if no such thing existed. There are very good substitute words for photon, (e.g., radiation or light), and for photonics (e.g., optics or quantum optics). Similar objections are possible to use of the word phonon, which dates from 1932. Objects like electrons, neutrinos of finite rest mass, or helium atoms can, under suitable conditions, be considered to be particles, since their theories then have viable non-relativistic and non-quantum limits. This paper outlines the main features of the quantum theory of radiation and indicates how they can be used to treat problems in quantum optics.It is a pleasure to join in the 60th birthday celebration of the Director, Herbert Walther, of the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics at Garching, and wish him much happiness and many more years of his very great scientific creativity.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">A</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">∞</Emphasis></Subscript>-Structures on an Elliptic Curve

The main result of this paper is the proof of the transversal part of the homological mirror symmetry conjecture for an elliptic curve that states an equivalence of two A-categories: one is built using holomorphic vector bundles on an elliptic curve and another is a subcategory in the Fukaya A-category of a torus. The proof is based on the study of A-structures on the category of line bundles over an elliptic curve satisfying some natural restrictions (in particular, m₁ should be zero, m₂ should coincide with the usual composition). The key observation is that such a structure is uniquely determined up to equivalence by certain triple products.This work is partially supported by NSF grant