Return current instability and its effects on beam-plasma system

The return current induced in a plasma by a relativisitc electron beam generates a new electron-ion two-stream instability (return current instability). Although the effect of these currents on the beam-plasma e-e instability is negligible, there exists a range of wave numbers which is unstable only to return current (RC) instability and not to e-e instability. The electromagnetic waves propagating along the direction of the external magnetic field, in which the plasma is immersed, are stabilized by these currents but the e.m. waves with frequencies,ω ²≪Ω _e ² ≪ω _pe ² (Ω _e andω _pe being cyclotron and plasma frequency for the electrons of the plasma respectively) propagating transverse to the magnetic field get destabilized. Heuristic estimates of plasma heating, due to RC instability and due to decay of ion-acoustic turbulence generated by the return current, are made. The fastest time scale on which the return current delivers energy to the plasma due to the scattering of ion-sound waves by the electrons can be ∼ω _pi ⁻¹ (ω _pi being the plasma frequency for the ions).     

Decay of an electronic vortex of a collisionless shock wave as a possible mechanism of a “Coulomb explosion”

A new mechanism of a “Coulomb explosion,” where ions are accelerated by the electric field separating charges at the magnetic Debye radius r _B∼B/4πen _e, is proposed on the basis of a nonquasineutral model of electronic vortices in a magnetic field. It is shown by means of numerical calculations that in the process of acceleration of the ions a collisionless shock wave, whose front has an effective width of the order of δ∼r _B, determined by the breakdown of quasineutrality, is formed in a time of the order of ω _pi ⁻¹ , where ω_pi is the ion plasma frequency. The origin of such explosive dynamics is the formation of “holes” in the electron density at characteristic times of the order of ω _pe ⁻¹ (ω_pe is the electronic plasma frequency) as a result of the generation of electronic vorticity by the Weibel instability of an electromagnetic wave. Calculations for a laser pulse with intensity J∼6×10¹⁸ W/cm² show that the ions expand in the radial direction with velocities up to 3.5×10⁸ cm/s. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 10, 669–674 (25 November 1999)     

Is the Abrikosov model applicable for describing electronic vortices in plasmas?

A new model of electronic vortices in plasma is studied. The model assumes that the profile of the Lagrangian invariant I, equal to the ratio I=Ω/n of the electronic vorticity to the electron density, is given. The proposed approach takes into account the magnetic Debye scale r _B ≃B/4πen, which leads to breakdown of plasma quasineutrality. It is shown that the Abrikosov singular model cannot be used to describe electron vortices in plasmas because of the fundamental limitation on the electron vorticity on the axis of a vortex in a plasma. Analysis of the equations shows that in the model considered for the electronic vorticity, the total magnetic flux decreases when the size r ₀ of the region in which I≠0 becomes less than c/ω_pe (ω_pe is the electron plasma frequency). For ω _pe r ₀/c≪1, an electronic vortex is formed in which the magnetic flux decreases as r ₀ ² and the inertial component predominates in the electronic vorticity. The structure arising as ω _pe r ₀/c⇒0 is a narrow “hole” in the electron density, which can be identified from the spectrum of electromagnetic waves in this region. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 7, 461–466 (10 April 1998)     

Spectra of high-frequency waves in hot magnetized plasmas

On the basis of numerical solution of the dispersion equation, we obtain the spectra of weakly damped high-frequency waves in a hot magnetized plasma for the case where the electron cyclotron frequency ω_He is below the plasma frequency ω_pe. It is shown that the longitudinal wave propagating at an angle to the magnetic field evolves into the slow extraordinary wave for the refractive index n ≤ 1. For n ≫ 1, the longitudinal-wave frequency increases with the refractive index, and the wave evolves into the wave with anomalous dispersion if the angle θ between the wave vector and the magnetic field is close to 90°. In the same range of θ angles, Bernstein modes appear in the spectrum of plasma eigenmode oscillations. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 258–266, March 2006.     

Pressure-tuned resonance Raman scattering and photoluminescence studies on MBE grown bulk GaAs at theE 0 gap

Hydrostatic pressure has been used to tune in resonance Raman scattering (RRS) in bulk GaAs. Using a diamond anvil cell, both the photoluminescence peak (PL) and the 2 LO and LO-phonon Raman scattered intensities have been monitored, to establish RRS conditions. When theE ₀ gap of GaAs matchesħω _S orħω _L, the 2 LO and LO-phonon intensity, respectively, exhibit resonance Raman scattering maxima, at pressures determined byħω _L. With 647.1 nm radiation (ħω _L = 1.916 eV), a sharp and narrow resonance peak at 3.75 GPa is observed for the 2 LO-phonon. At this pressure the 2 LO-phonon goes through its maximum intensity, and falls right on top of the PL peak, revealing thatħω _S(2 LO) =E ₀. This is the condition for “outgoing” resonance. Experiments with other excitation energies (ħω _L) show, that the 2 LO resonance peak-pressure moves to higher pressure with increasingħω _L, and the shift follows precisely theE ₀ gap. Thus, the 2 LO RRS is an excellent probe to follow theE ₀ gap, far beyond the Γ-X cross-over point. A brief discussion of the theoretical expression for resonance Raman cross section is given, and from this the possibility of a double resonance condition for the observed 2 LO resonance is suggested. The LO-phonon resonance occurs at a pressure whenħω _L ≈E ₀, but the pressure-induced transparency of the GaAs masks the true resonance profile.     

Effect of upflowing field-aligned electron beams on the electron cyclotron waves in the auroral magnetosphere

The role of low density upflowing field-aligned electron beams (FEBs) on the growth rate of the electron cyclotron waves at the frequencies ω _r < Ω_e, propagating downward in the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, has been analysed in the auroral region at ω _e/Ω_e < 1 where ω _e is the plasma frequency and Ω_e is the gyrofrequency. The FEBs with low to high energy (E _b) but with low temperature (T _‖b) have no effect on these waves. The FEBs with E _b < 1 keV and T _‖b (> 1.5 keV) have been found to have significant effect on the growth rate. Analysis has revealed that it is mainly the T _‖b which inhibits the growth rate (magnitude) and the range of frequency (bandwidth) of the instability mainly in the higher frequency spectrum. The inhibition in the growth rate and bandwidth increases with increase in T _‖b. The FEBs with less E _b (giving drift velocity) reduce growth rate more than the beams with larger E _b. The inhibition of growth rate increases with the increase in the ratio ω _e/Ω_e indicating that the beams are more effective at higher altitudes.      

Simulation study on light vector meson decays to electron-positron pairs with the ALICE experiment

Simulation study on ω, ϕ, ρ decays to e ⁻ e ⁺ pairs in the ALICE detector for Pb-Pb collisions at LHC energy was performed. The possibility of selecting resonance signals over the combinatorial backgrounds is demonstrated using the realistic simulation tracking and particle identification algorithms of the ALICE offline framework (AliRoot). Results for J/ψ are presented also for comparison.     

Isoscalar-isovector interferences in πN↦Ne+e- reactions as a probe of baryon resonance dynamics

The isoscalar-isovector (ρ-ω) interferences in the exclusive reactions π^- p↦ne ⁺ e ^- and π⁺ n↦pe ⁺ e ^- near the ω threshold leads to a distinct difference of the dielectron invariant-mass distributions depending on beam energy. The strength of this effect is determined by the coupling of resonances to the nucleon vector-meson channels and other resonance properties. Therefore, a combined analysis of these reactions can be used as a tool for determining the baryon resonance dynamics. Received: 14 August 2001 / Accepted: 3 October 2001     

Overtone spectroscopy of benzaldehyde

The vibrational overtone spectra of aryl and alkyl C-H stretch vibrations in benzaldehyde have been studied using conventional IR and thermal lensing technique at room temperature. The stretching vibrational frequencyω _e, anharmonicity constantω _e x _e and the dissociation energies of the two C-H bonds have been calculated. The bond length of C-H bond in aryl position has been estimated.     

Large contribution of virtual Delbrück scattering to the emission of photons by relativistic nuclei in nucleus–nucleus and electron–nucleus collisions

Delbrück scattering is the elastic scattering of a photon in the Coulomb field of a nucleus via a virtual electron loop. The contribution of this virtual subprocess to the emission of a photon in the collision of ultra-relativistic nuclei, Z₁Z₂→Z₁Z₂γ, is considered. We identify the incoming virtual photon as being generated by one of the relativistic nuclei involved in the binary collision and the scattered photon as being emitted in the process. The energy and angular distributions of the photons are calculated. The discussed process has no infrared divergence. The total cross section obtained is 14 barn for Au–Au collisions at the RHIC collider and 50 barn for Pb–Pb collisions at the LHC collider. These cross sections are considerably larger than those for ordinary tree-level nuclear bremsstrahlung in the considered photon energy range, m_e⪡E_γ⪡m_eγ, where γ is the Lorentz factor of the nucleus. Finally, photon emission in electron–nucleus collisions, eZ→eZγ, is discussed in the context of the eRHIC option.     

Measurement of ω/? → e+e? in proton + proton collisions at ?s \sqrt s = 200 GeV at RHIC-PHENIX

The PHENIX experiment at RHIC has measured ω and ϕ meson production using di-electron decay mode over a psude-rapidity range of |η| ≤ 0.35 and a transverse momentum range of 0 < p _T < 5 GeV/c in proton + proton collisions at $ \sqrt s $ \sqrt s = 200 GeV. The spectra of production cross section as a function of p _T for ω and ϕ → e ⁺ e ⁻ show good agreement with other hadornic decay channels ω → π ⁰ γ, ω ⁰ π ⁺ π ⁻ and ϕ → K ⁺ K ⁻, respectively.     

Instantons on the Quantum 4-pheres S4q

We introduce noncommutative algebras A _q of quantum 4-spheres S ⁴ _q , with q∈ℝ, defined via a suspension of the quantum group SU _q (2), and a quantum instanton bundle described by a selfadjoint idempotent e∈ Mat₄(A _q ), e ²=e=e ^*. Contrary to what happens for the classical case or for the noncommutative instanton constructed in [8], the first Chern–Connes class ch ₁(e) does not vanish thus signaling a dimension drop. The second Chern–Connes class ch ₂(e) does not vanish as well and the couple (ch ₁(e), ch ₂(e) defines a cycle in the (b,B) bicomplex of cyclic homology. Received: 12 December 2000 / Accepted: 10 March 2001     

Resonances and chaos in the collinear collision system (He,H 2 + ) and its isotopic variants

The collinear atom-diatom collision system provides one of the simplest instances of chaotic or irregular scattering. Classically, irregular scattering is manifest in the sensitive dependence of post-collision variables on initial conditions, and quantally, in the appearance of a dense spectrum of dynamical resonances. We examine the influence of kinematic factors on such dynamical resonances in collinear (He, H ₂ ⁺ ) collisions by computing the transition state spectra for collinear (He, HD⁺) and (He, DH⁺) collisions using the time-dependent quantum mechanical approach. The nearest neighbor spacing distributionP(s) and the spectral rigidity Δ₃(L) for these resonances suggest that the dynamics is predominantlyirregular for collinear (He, HD⁺) and predominantlyregular for collinear (He, DH⁺). These findings are reinforced by a significantly larger “correlation hole” in ensemble averaged survival probability ≪P(t)≫ values for collinear (He, HD⁺) than for collinear (He,DH⁺). In addition we have also examined measures of classical chaos through the dependence of the final vibrational action,n _f, on the initial vibrational phaseφ _i of the diatom, and Poincaré surfaces-of-section. They show that (He, HD⁺) collisions are partly chaotic over the entire energy range (0–2.78 eV) while (He, DH⁺) collisions, in contrast, are highly regular at collision energies below the classical threshold for reaction. Above the threshold, the scattering remains regular for initial vibrational statesv=0 and 1 of DH⁺.     

Mechanisms of resonant laser ionization

An experimental investigation and numerical simulation of resonant laser breakdown are performed. As a result, quantitative agreement between the experimental data on the parameters of a dense resonant plasma (the electron density and the electron temperature) and the results of calculations in the range of detunings of the laser radiation from resonance Δλ>2–2.5 nm, in which the spatial instability of the intense resonant laser beam and the absorption of radiation are minimal, is obtained for the first time. It is shown that the previously proposed mechanism of resonant breakdown associated with laser-induced associative ionization introduces only a small correction to the final extent of ionization of the resonant plasma and scarcely alters its temperature. The influence of quantum stimulated inverse bremsstrahlung processes, which are usually described as collisions of the second kind in the resonance case, on the energy gain by electrons is analyzed for the first time in reference to specific experimental findings. The numerical calculations show that at detunings of the order of the Rabi frequency, the mechanism by which electrons gain energy through the resonant system does not reduce to collisions of the second kind and can significantly increase the density of the resonant plasma. However, in this range of detunings the laser beam is still strongly perturbed by instability processes, precluding a proper comparison of the theory with experiment. At large Δλ the classical and quantum cases differ from one another only slightly, and the values of N _e calculated for both mechanisms lie within the measurement error. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 1274–1296 (April 1997)     

Electron screening in backward elastic scattering

Abstact: The elastic scattering cross sections, σ (E,θ), for the systems He+Ta and He+W have been measured at θ_lab=165° and E _lab=76.1 keV to 3.988 MeV using targets with a thickness of a few atomic layers. The results are smaller than the results given by the Rutherford scattering law, σ_R(E,θ), due to the effects of electron screening and can be described by σ(E,θ)/σ_R(E,θ)=(1+U_e/E)⁻¹, where U _e is an atomic screening potential energy. The deduced average value, U _e=28 ± 3 keV, is consistent with the Moliére- and Lenz-Jensen-models as well as electron binding energies. Received: 25 May 1998     

The oscillator representation and the stability of three-body Coulomb systems

Within nonrelativistic quantum mechanics the Wick-ordering method, called the oscillator representation, is suggested for calculating the energy spectrum for a wide class of potentials allowing the existence of a bound state. As test cases, anharmonic (V(r)=r ²) and screened Coulomb potentials are considered. In particular, the method is applied to three-body Coulomb systems to obtain the dependence of the bound-state energy on the masses and charges of the particles. The calculations of the bound-state energies for the moleculesH ^–=(pee),H ₂ ⁺ =(ppe), (e ^–e^–e⁺) and (pp), (dd), (dt) prove the accuracy of the zeroth approximation to be better than one per cent. For the three-body Coulomb system with charges +, –, – and arbitrary masses the region of stability is determined. For the systems (pe ^–C⁺), (A ⁺e^–e⁺), and (pB ^–e^–) the critical masses are calculated to beM _c=1.945m_e,M _A=4.350m_e andM _B=1.575m_e. It turns out that the system (pe ^–e⁺) is unstable.     

(Medium-modified) fragmentation functions

We discuss some of the recent advances in the field of parton fragmentation processes into hadrons as well as their possible modifications in QCD media. Hadron-production data in e ⁺ e ⁻, deep inelastic scattering and hadronic collisions are presented, together with global analyses of fragmentation functions into light and heavy hadrons and developments on parton fragmentation in perturbative QCD at small momentum fraction. Motivated by the recent RHIC data indicating a significant suppression of large-p _⊥ hadron production in heavy-ion collisions, several recent attempts to model medium-modified fragmentation, e.g. by solving “medium” evolution equations or through Monte Carlo studies, have been proposed and are discussed in detail. Finally, we mention the possibility to extract medium-modified fragmentation functions using photon–hadron correlations.     

Inelastic scattering of phonons by quadrupole defects with internal degrees of freedom

We solve the quantum mechanical problem of the inelastic scattering of phonons by a quadrupole defect in a crystal lattice for the case of solid parahydrogen whose matrix contains pair complexes of H₂ orthomolecules. By employing the pseudospin approximation for the operator of the energy of quadrupole-quadrupole interaction of the molecules in an orthopair we derive an effective Hamiltonian that describes the interaction of phonons with a pair quadrupole orthodefect in the lattice. We set up the scattering matrix and calculate the effective phonon relaxation time τ(ω, T) as a function of the frequency ω and the crystal temperature T. We also find that a pair quadrupole defect, which has a complicated system of levels, can be replaced by an effective two-level system with temperature-dependent parameters. The fact that a pair quadrupole orthocluster has internal degrees of freedom results in a resonant scattering peak near a certain critical temperature T ₀. Our estimates for H₂ yield T ₀≃ 6–7 K. Finally, we discuss the contribution of this mechanism to the low-temperature thermal conductivity of solid hydrogen. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 555–569 (August 1998)     

Reciprocity relations for the effective electrical conductivity of randomly inhomogeneous media in the fractal regime

An exact relation for the realization-averaged effective conductivities in the fractal region is found for two-dimensional randomly inhomogeneous media. It has the form {σ _e (τ,L)~× {1/σ _e (−τ,L)~⁻¹=σ _e ² (τ=0, L≫ξ), where ξ is the correlation length (the self-averaging scale), L is the size of the system, τ=(p-p _c )/p _c , and p _c is the percolation threshold. For L≫ ξ, the system is self-averaged, and the relation transforms into the Dykhne reciprocity relation, A. M. Dykhne, Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 59, 110 (1970) [Sov. Phys. JETP 32, 63 (1971)] σ _e (τ)σ _e (−τ])=σ _e ² (τ=0)= σ ₁ σ ₂. A similar relation is obtained for media with an exponentially broad distribution of local conductivities, as well as for individual realizations of some deterministic structures. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 113, 1484–1490 (April 1998)