Magnetic and martensitic transitions in Ni-Fe-Ga alloy

The ferromagnetic shape memory alloy with nominal composition Ni₅₄Fe₁₉Ga₂₇ is investigated by Ac susceptibility and resistivity measurements. The alloy shows long-range ferromagnetic order below 290 K. The anomaly due to the martensitic transition is observed in the susceptibility and resistivity data in the temperature range around 220 K, which is associated with clear thermal hysteresis. Minor hysteresis loop technique was used to investigate the phase coexistence across the martensitic transition, and our analysis indicate that both martensite and austenite phases mutually coexist in the region of hysteresis.     

Validation of a computer-program for the interpretation of infrared spectra

The capability of a modern interpretation system for IR spectra has been tested, in which the process of structural assignment is modelled by methods of fuzzy logic. Figures of merit were generated for different interpretation algorithms. These figures of merit permit the validation as well as a comparison of independent interpretation systems. The influence of the sample preparation practice onto the information content of the resulting spectrum has been evaluated as well. Automatically generated band tables show only restricted reliability. Received: 13 February 1997 / Revised: 1 April 1997 / Accepted: 3 April 1997     

Prediction of critical temperature of n-alkanes and n-alkenes from surface tension vs. temperature data

 The surface tension versus temperature data of homologous series of n-alkanes and n-alkenes is analyzed. Critical temperatures are shown to be predicted from these data, with a very high precision, after some corrections are made. The corrections are shown to arise from the effect of the critical pressure on the extrapolated data to surface tension approaching zero. Received: 29 October 1996 Accepted: 13 December 1996     

Existence regions of regimes with anomalously high rates of plasma generation in grid plasma switch elements

Results are presented from a systematic investigation of the conditions under which anomalously high rates of plasma generation are observed in the anode region of a low-voltage Knudsen arc in grid plasma switch elements. The phenomenon develops over a wide range of currents and switched voltages under conditions for which the plasma density in the cathode-grid region is noticeably higher than the density in the anode region. and its onset is characterized by a pronounced pressure threshold of ∼2×10⁻² Torr. The results are analyzed from the standpoint of the possible mechanisms for anomalous plasma generation — collisional nonresonance diffusion of electrons in velocity space, leading to enrichment of the distribution function in fast particles, and the collapse of Langmuir waves in the gap at the high energies of the beam produced when the wires of the grid are bridged by the quenching pulse and and the current is blocked. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 15–21 (June 1997)     

Colossal magnetoresistance of the Sm1−x SrxMnO3 system

The results of investigating the temperature dependence of the resistivity, the differential magnetic susceptibility, and the magnetoresistance of a partially substituted perovskite Sm_1−x Sr_xMnO₃ (x=0.16–0.4) are presented. Colossal intrinsic magnetoresistance, reaching 90% in an external magnetic field of 30 kOe, is discovered in the compound with x=0.30 at 77 K. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1831–1832 (October 1997)     

Supersymmetric spin glass

The manifestly supersymmetric four-dimensional Wess-Zumino model with quenched disorder is considered at the one-loop level. The infrared fixed points of a beta function form the moduli space ℳ=RP ², where two types of phases are found: with and without replica symmetry. While the former phase possesses only a trivial fixed point, this point become unstable in the latter phase, which may be interpreted as a spin glass phase. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 8, 657–662 (25 April 1997) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

An apparent momentum balance anomaly in the plasma focus

The validity of the snowplow model of plasma sheath propagation in a plasma focus (PF) and the localization of the magnetic field in the low density region behind the dense plasma sheath are two well-established experimental facts. It is shown that, when taken together, these two imply a deficiency in the momentum balance. The hypothesis that the current-carrying plasma layer is rotating while the dense plasma layer is not rotating is shown not only to resolve this momentum balance anomaly (MBA), but also to explain many observed phenomena in a unified manner     

Relativistic four-quark equations and exotic mesons

The relativistic four-quark equations are found in the framework of the dispersion relation technique. The behaviour of the low-energy four-particle amplitude is determined by its leading singularities in the pair invariant masses. The approximate solutions of these equations using the method based on the extraction of leading singularities of the amplitudes are obtained. The mass values of lowest exotic mesons are calculated.     

Universal elementary constituents of potential transformations shifting waves (qualitative theory)

It is shown that the potential perturbation that shifts a chosen standing wave in space is a block of potential barrier and well for every wave bump between neighbouring knots. The algorithms shifting the range of the primary localization of a chosen bound state in a potential well of finite width are as well applicable to the scattering functions if states of the continuous spectrum are considered as bound states normalized to unity but distributed on an infinite interval with vanishing density. The potential perturbations of the same type on the half-axis concentrate the scattering wave at the origin, thus creating a bound state embedded into the continuous spectrum (zero width resonance).     

Generation of mesoscopic magnetic structures by local laser action

New effects are observed wherein the internal structure of the domain walls in a thin magnetic iron garnet film are modified by the action of focused laser radiation. A single laser pulse with increasing power gives rise to the following: 1) displacement of vertical Bloch lines in a domain wall; 2) generation of a pair of vertical Bloch lines on initially line-free walls; and, 3) an irreversible change in shape of a domain wall and the domain structure as a whole. The mechanism leading to the generation and displacement of Bloch lines is connected with the motion of domain walls which is induced by a local change in the distribution of demagnetizing fields as a result of a heating-induced decrease of the magnetization in the focal spot of the laser radiation. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 6, 398–402 (25 September 1997)