Evolution of particle-scale dynamics in an aging clay suspension

Multispeckle x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy was employed to characterize the slow dynamics of a suspension of highly charged, nanometer-sized disks. At wave vectors q corresponding to interparticle length scales, the dynamic structure factor follows a form f(q,t) approximately exp([-(t/tau)(beta)], where beta approximately 1.5. The relaxation time tau increases with the sample age t(a) approximately as tau approximately t(1.8)(a) and decreases with q as tau approximately q(-1). Such behavior is consistent with models that describe the dynamics in disordered elastic media in terms of strain from random, local structural rearrangements. The measured amplitude of f(q,t) varies with q in a manner that implies caged particle motion. The decrease in the range of this motion and an increase in suspension conductivity with increasing t(a) indicate a growth in interparticle repulsion as the mechanism for internal stress development implied by these models.     

Universal aging features in the restructuring of fractal colloidal gels

We use multispeckle dynamic light scattering to measure the dynamic structure factor, f(q,tau), of gels formed by aggregation of colloids. Although the gel is an elastic solid, f(q,tau) nearly completely decays on long time scales, with an unusual form, f(q, tau) approximately exp{-(tau/tau(f))(mu)}, with mu approximately 1.5 and with tau(f) proportional variant q(-1). A model for restructuring of the gel with aging correctly accounts for this behavior. Aging leads to a dramatic increase in tau(f); however, all data can be scaled on a single master curve, with tau(f) asymptotically growing linearly with age. This behavior is strikingly similar to that predicted for aging in disordered glassy systems, offering convincing proof of the universality of these concepts.     

Scaling the $\alpha $-relaxation time of supercooled fragile organic liquids

It was shown recently [1] that the structural -relaxation time of supercooled o-terphenyl depends on a single control parameter , which is the product of a function of density , by the inverse temperature T ^-1. We extend this finding to other fragile glassforming liquids using light scattering data. Available experimental results do not allow to discriminate between several analytical forms of the function , the scaling arising from the separation of density and temperature in . We also propose a simple form for , which depends only on three material-dependent parameters, reproducing relaxation times over 12 orders of magnitude.Received: 16 July 2004, Published online: 23 December 2004PACS: 66.20. + d Viscosity of liquids; diffusive momentum transport - 78.35. + c Brillouin and Rayleigh scattering; other light scattering - 64.70.Pf Glass transitions     

Application of positron annihilation as a nondestructive method of checking the quality of materials

Methodological features of an investigation of the defect structure of technically important materials by using positron annihilation are discussed. It is shown that the important annihilation parameters characterizing the positron-sensitive defects are the mean positron lifetime , the width of the annihilation photon correlation curves (APCC) at half the height and the APCC form parameter f, and the linear Doppler broadening parameter of the annihilation -line S.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 5, pp. 40–43, May, 1982.     

Finite volume Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami theory

We study the Kolmogorov-Johnson-Mehl-Avrami theory of phase conversion in finite volumes. For the conversion time we find the relationship tau(con)=tau(nu)[1+f(d)(q)]. Here d is the space dimension, tau(nu) the nucleation time in the volume V, and f(d)(q) a scaling function. Its dimensionless argument is q=tau(ex)/tau(nu), where tau(ex) is an expansion time, defined to be proportional to the diameter of the volume divided by expansion speed. We calculate f(d)(q) in one, two, and three dimensions. The often considered limits of phase conversion via either nucleation or spinodal decomposition are found to be volume-size dependent concepts, governed by simple power laws for f(d)(q).     

An analysis of mean life and lifetime of unstable elementary particles

A theoretical analysis of the concept of lifetime and mean life of unstable elementary particles is presented. New analytic formulas for lifetime and mean life as a function of decay width and the mass of unstable particle are derived for Breit-Wigner and Matthews-Salam energy distributions. It is demonstrated that, for unstable particles with a larger width or decay energy threshold, the deviation from the generally accepted mean life ^m = ^–1 is significant. The behavior of the decay law P(t) for small times is analyzed, and it is shown that the Breit-Wigner distribution violates the condition P(t = 0) = 0, whereas the Matthews-Salam distribution satisfies it.     

The van Kampen expansion for the Fokker-Planck equation of a duffing oscillator excited by colored noise

In Rodríguez and van Kampen's 1976 paper a method of extracting information from the Fokker-Planck equation without having to solve the equation is outlined. The Fokker-Planck equation for a Duffing oscillator excited by white noise is expanded about the intensity of the forcing function. In Weinstein and Benaroya, the effect of the order of expansion is investigated by carrying the expansion to a higher order. The effect of varying the system parameters is also investigated. All results are verified by comparison to Monte Carlo experiments. In this paper, the van Kampen expansion is modified and applied to the case of a Duffing oscillator excited by colored noise. The effect of the correlation time is investigated. Again the results are compared to those of Monte Carlo experiments. It is found that the expansion compares closely with those of the Monte Carlo experiments as the correlation time _c is varied from 0.001 to 10 sec. Examination of the results reveals that the colored noise can be categorized in one of four ways: (1) for the noise can be considered as white for all intents and purposes, (2) for the noise can be considered white for some purposes, (3) for the correlated nature of the noise must be considered in an analysis, and (4) for the noise can be considered as deterministic.     

Averaging Versus Chaos in Turbulent Transport?

In this paper we analyze the transport of passive tracers by deterministic stationary incompressible flows which can be decomposed over an infinite number of spatial scales without separation between them. It appears that a low order dynamical system related to local Peclet numbers can be extracted from these flows and it controls their transport properties. Its analysis shows that these flows are strongly self-averaging and super-diffusive: the delay (r) for any finite number of passive tracers initially close to separate till a distance r is almost surely anomalously fast ( (r) r^2–, with > 0). This strong self-averaging property is such that the dissipative power of the flow compensates its convective power at every scale. However as the circulation increases in the eddies the transport behavior of the flow may (discontinuously) bifurcate and become ruled by deterministic chaos: the self-averaging property collapses and advection dominates dissipation. When the flow is anisotropic a new formula describing turbulent conductivity is identified.     

Is Galaxy Dark Matter a Property of Spacetime?

We describe the motion of a particle in acentral field in an expanding universe. Use is made ofa double expansion in 1/c and 1/, where c and are the speed of light and the Hubble time. In thelowest approximation the rotational velocity is shownto satisfy v⁴ = 2/3 GMcH₀, whereG is Newton's gravitational constant, M is the mass ofthe central body (galaxy), and H₀ is theHubble constant. This formula satisfies observations of stars moving inspiral and elliptical galaxies, and is in accordancewith the familiar Tully–Fisher law.     

TheZ-width in the two Higgs doublet model

Effects from an extended Higgs sector on the partial widths \(\Gamma _{{\rm Z} \to b\bar b} \) and \(\Gamma _{{\rm Z} \to \tau ^ + \tau ^ - } \) are analysed with emphasis on enhanced Yukawa couplings to the fermions with the weak isospinT ₃=?1/2. Contributions from charged and neutral Higgs bosons are incorporated. Vertex corrections from a heavy top quark and from charged Higgs bosons are always negative. One can however find regions in the parameter space where neutral Higgs bosons lead to positive vertex corrections. The charged Higgs bosons decouple from the ratio \(\Gamma ^{_{{\rm Z} \to \tau ^ + \tau ^ - } } /\Gamma ^{_{{\rm Z} \to \mu ^ + \mu ^ - } } \) if their mass is beyond 80 GeV. This ratio is then sensitive to the neutral sector only.     

Search for the rare leptonic decay B--->tau-nutau

We present a search for the decay B(-)--> tau(-)nu(tau) in a sample of 88.9 x 10(6) BB pairs recorded with the BABAR detector at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center B factory. One of the two B mesons from the Gamma(4S) is reconstructed in a hadronic or a semileptonic final state, and the decay products of the other B in the event are analyzed for consistency with a B(-) --> tau(-)nu(tau) decay. We find no evidence of a signal and set an upper limit on the branching fraction of B(B(-) --> tau(-) nu(tau)) < 4.2 x 10(-4) at the 90% confidence level.     

Relaxation length of a polymer chain in a quenched disordered medium

Using Monte Carlo simulations, we study the relaxation and short-time diffusion of polymer chains in two-dimensional periodic arrays of obstacles with random point defects. The displacement of the center of mass follows the anomalous scaling law r(c.m.)(t)(2)=4D(*)t(beta), with beta<1, for times t相似文献   

F.c.c. type-III antiferromagnetism in YbN

Neutron diffraction experiments performed for YbN in the temperature range from 7 mK to room temperature prove the existence of long-range f.c.c. antiferromagnetic ordering of type III belowT _N =(0.790±0.005) K. The low ordered magnetic moment of Yb at saturation, =(0.39±0.05)> _B , is presumably caused by Kondo hybridization. By means of inelastic neutron scattering the crystalfield level scheme was established to be ₆ – ₈(33 meV)– ₇(81 meV). The ₆ – ₈ transition was found to be split into two lines which may be due to a bound state between the crystal-field excitation and phonons.     

A General-Relativistic Fermat Principle for Extended Light Sources and Extended Receivers

In an arbitrary Lorentzian manifold, we fix a spacelike submanifold P and a timelike submanifold . We interpret P as (the surface of) a light source at a particular instant of time, and we interpret as the history of (the surface of) a receiver. We prove the following version of Fermat's principle. Among all lightlike curves from P to , the lightlike geodesics which are perpendicular to P and spatially perpendicular to are characterized by stationary arrival time. Here, the arrival time is defined with the help of an arbitrary time function on . Moreover, we show that the second variation of the arrival time at a stationary point is characterized by a Morse index theorem.     

Pseudo-Jahn-Teller effect in tetragonal local centers

The shape of the light absorption band by a local tetragonal center at the transition _{1 5}(x, y) is investigated in a semiclassical approximation. In addition to interaction with fully-symmetric (₁), Jahn-Teller (₃, ₄) vibrations, inter-action is also taken into account with vibrations ₅, which admix an electron level ₄(z) to the electronic state ₅, which is separated from ₅ by the energetic gap . An analytic computation of the band shape is performed in the first order of the expansion of the form function in ^–1. An asymmetric two-hump band is obtained, where the long-wave maximum always has higher intensity than the shortwave maximum.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 12, pp. 62–67, December, 1987.     

Ultrasonic absorption in polymer gel dosimeters

Ultrasonic absorption in polymer gel dosimeters was investigated. An ultrasonic interferometer was used to study the frequency (f) dependence of the absorption coefficient (alpha) in a polyacrylamide gel dosimeter (PAG) in the frequency range 5-20 MHz. The frequency dependence of ultrasonic absorption deviated from that of an ideal viscous fluid. The presence of relaxation mechanisms was evidenced by the frequency dependence of alpha/f(2) and the dispersion in ultrasonic velocity. It was concluded that absorption in polymer gel dosimeters is due to a number of relaxation processes which may include polymer-solvent interactions as well as relaxation due to motion of polymer side groups.The dependence of ultrasonic absorption on absorbed dose and formulation was also investigated in polymer gel dosimeters as a function of pH and chemical composition. Changes in dosimeter pH and chemical composition resulted in a variation in ultrasonic dose response curves. The observed dependence on pH was considered to be due to pH induced modifications in the radiation yield while changes in chemical composition resulted in differences in polymerisation kinetics.     

Der Einfluß der Wärmebewegung auf die Breite einer Mössbauerlinie über den Dopplereffekt zweiter Ordnung

AtT=0 a perfect Mössbauer line has natural line widthΓ=?/τ _n . However, with rising temperature the width increases. The reason of the line broadening is the second order Doppler effect which causes a stochastic frequency modulation of theγ-radiation, reflecting the thermal motion of the Mössbauer atom. Following Josephson in treating the second order Doppler shift as a mass changeΔM=E _n/c² of theγ-emitting atom caused by the loss of nuclear excitation energy E _n , and using the well known relaxation formalism for calculating theγ-frequency spectrum, the line broadeningΔ Γ is evaluated within the framework of harmonic lattice theory. For a parabolic lattice frequency spectrum with Debye-temperature Θ one obtains $$\Delta {\Gamma \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {\Gamma \Gamma }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Gamma } = \left( {{{\tau _n } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\tau _n } {\tau _c }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\tau _c }}} \right) \cdot \left( {{{E_n } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{E_n } {Mc^2 }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {Mc^2 }}} \right) \cdot F\left( {{T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T \Theta }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Theta }} \right),where\tau _c = {{\rlap{--} h} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{\rlap{--} h} k}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} k}\Theta $$ is the correlation time of the lattice vibrations. The functionF(T/Θ) may be expanded in powers ofT/Θ, yielding $$F\left( {{T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T \Theta }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Theta }} \right) = 9720\pi \left( {{T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T \Theta }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Theta }} \right)^7 forT<< \Theta $$ and $$F\left( {{T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T \Theta }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Theta }} \right) = 2.7\pi \left( {{T \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {T \Theta }} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} \Theta }} \right)^2 forT > > \Theta $$ , respectively. Although unavoidable, the line broadening is obviously too small to be observable by means of the present experimental technique.     

General relativity is a gauge type theory

It is shown that the Einstein-Maxwell theory of interacting electromagnetism and gravitation, can be derived from a first-order Lagrangian, depending on the electromagnetic field and on the curvature of a symmetric affine connection on the space-time M. The variation is taken with respect to the electromagnetic potential (a connection on a U(1) principal fiber bundle on M) and the gravitational potential (a connection on the GL(4, R) principal fiber bundle of frames on M). The metric tensor g does not appear in the Lagrangian, but it arises as a momentum canonically conjugated to . The Lagrangians of this type are calculated also for the Proca field, for a charged scalar field interacting with electromagnetism and gravitation, and for a few other interesting physical theories.     

Quantum chaos of atoms in a resonant cavity

A system of atoms interacting with a radiation field in a resonant cavity is studied under conditions when the dynamics in the classical limit is stochastic. This situation is called quantum chaos. Equations of motion are obtained for the quantum-mechanical expectation values which take into account the quantum correlation functions. It is shown that in a situation corresponding to quantum chaos, the quantum corrections grow exponentially, making the evolution of the system essentially quantal after a certain time tau( variant Planck's over 2pi ) has elapsed. Analytical and numerical analysis show that in this regime the time tau( variant Planck's over 2pi ) obeys the logarithmic law tau( variant Planck's over 2pi ) approximately ln N (N is the number of atoms), and not the law tau( variant Planck's over 2pi ) approximately N(alpha) (alpha is a certain constant of order unity), as would be the case in the absence of chaos.     

5D generalized inflationary cosmology

We consider a 5D Kaluza-Klein type cosmological model with the fifth coordinate being a generalization of the invariant historical time of the covariant theory of Horwitz and Piron. We distinguish between vacuum-, off-shell matter-, and on-shell matter-dominated eras as the solutions of the corresponding 5D gravitational field equations, and build an inflationary scenario according to which passage from the off-shell matter-dominated era to the on-shell one occurs, probably as a phase transition. We study the effect of this phase transition on the expansion rate in both cases of localO(4,1) andO(3,2) invariance of the extended (x ^µ,) manifold and show that it does not change in either case. The expansion of the model we consider is not adiabatic; the thermodynamic entropy is a growing function of cosmic time for the closed universe, and can be a growing function of historical time for the open and the flat universe. A complete solution of the 5D gravitational field equations is obtained for the on-shell matter-dominated universe. The open and the closed universe are shown to tend asymptotically to the standard 4D cosmological models, in contrast to the flat universe which does not have the corresponding limit. Finally, possible cosmological implications are briefly discussed.