Muon spin resonance and repolarization in amorphous silicon monoxide (a-SiO)

Studies of the muonium fractions in the amorphous oxide a-SiO have been carried out by RF resonance at TRIUMF, Canada and LF repolarization techniques at RAL, U.K. The resonance measurements confirm the presence of the interstitial Mu centre in this intermediate oxide of silicon. Analysis of the data gathered at RAL, using a recently-developed fitting technique, reveals that the Mu^* state is present here as well, but with lower relative fractions than in a-Si. However, as in the latter material, but in contrast to c-Si, this bond-centre species appears to be stable up to room temperature.     

Acoustic diffraction by a half-plane in a viscous fluid medium

We consider the diffraction of a time-harmonic acoustic plane wave by a rigid half-plane in a viscous fluid medium. The linearized equations of viscous fluid flow and the no-slip condition on the half-plane are used to derive a pair of disjoint Wiener-Hopf equations for the fluid stresses and velocities. The Wiener-Hopf equations are solved in conjunction with a requirement that the stresses are integrable near the edge of the half-plane. Specific wave components of the scattered velocity field are given analytically. A Padé approximation to the Wiener-Hopf kernel function is used to derive numerical results that show the effect of viscosity on the velocity field in the immediate vicinity of the edge of the half-plane.     

Identification of vortex motions in turbulent mixing of choked jets

A specially adapted schlieren system is used to generate fluctuating signals which respond strongly to large scale coherent components of a turbulent mixing jet flow and which have a relatively reduced response to random disturbances. The schlieren signals also provide a direct indication of the presence of vortex-like structures in the turbulent mixing layers by virtue of the phase relationship of the schlieren signals to the pressure field. This system gives a clear resolution of the fluctuating periodic effects associated with vortex structures in the flow from a choked convergent nozzle. It has thus been possible to determine that vortex-like eddies are associated with the feedback screech mechanism, and also generate periodic disturbances due to their passage through the diamond shaped wave structure in the flow. The regular disturbances in the flow move at 0.77 of the fully expanded flow velocity. Phase spectral observations demonstrate clearly the vortex like structure of coherent disturbances in the flow by virtue of the quadrature phase relation between the schlieren and microphone signals. Movement of the sensing microphone in the pressure field external to the flow shows disturbance propagation at the acoustic velocity, and also shows that disturbances at Strouhal numbers above 0.7 emanating from the inner mixing zone can be identified by an additional time delay to reach the microphone and only influence the microphone when it is located downstream of the flow sensing schlieren system due to confinement of pressure disturbances within Mach cones of the flow.     

Amorphous arsenic

An attempt is made to unify current knowledge of the optical, vibrational, transport and defect-related properties of amorphous As in terms of its structure and the nature of the bonding. The importance of remnant mesomeric bonding, particularly in determining preparation-dependent variations in the optical gap, is stressed. Topological disorder is taken as a central theme and it is shown how the ring statistics dictate the radial distribution function. The relationship between atomic structure and the electron and phonon densities of states is discussed. A review is given of the transport properties of amorphous As: these point to a pinned Fermi level. Variations in s–p hybridization are considered in relation to the types of point defect likely to occur and it is shown how both paired and unpaired spin states are possible. Finally some experimental results on crystallization kinetics, specific heat and thermal conductivity are discussed.     

Exchange reactions with Dick Dalitz

An account is given of the close collaboration of Dick Dalitz with the European K⁻ Collaboration over many decades in many aspects of hypernuclear physics. In particular, emphasis is given to the topics of double hypernuclei and the discovery and resolution of p-wave Λ strangeness exchange states. A brief review of early work on non-mesonic decays of hypernuclei is also given.     

Modelling hydrogen in silicate materials

The expectation that the hydroxyl analogue state of positive muons implanted in quartz should be stabilized by a suitable charge compensation centre is supported by preliminary data. The diamagnetic fraction correlates with aluminium content over the narrow range investigated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Charge symmetry breaking in np-->dpi(0)

The forward-backward asymmetry in np-->dpi(0), which must be zero in the center-of-mass system if charge symmetry is respected, has been measured to be [17.2+/-8.0(stat)+/-5.5(syst)]x10(-4), at an incident neutron energy of 279.5 MeV. This observable is compared to recent chiral effective field theory calculations, with implications regarding the du quark mass difference.