Evaluating Zn2SiO4:Mn phosphor for use in medical imaging radiation detectors

2 SiO₄:Mn phosphor was evaluated for use in radiation detectors of medical imaging systems. Zn₂SiO₄:Mn was used in the form of laboratory-prepared fluorescent layers (screens) with coating weights from 18 to 150 mg/cm². The phosphor was excited to luminescence by low-energy X-raysusing X-raytube voltages ranging from 15 to 50 kVp. The number of emitted optical photons per incident X-rayquantum was thus determined for various X-rayenergies and phosphor coating weights. The optical emission spectrum was also measured and it was used to evaluate the spectral compatibility of Zn₂SiO₄:Mn with radiographic films, photocathodes and the Si photodiode. Finally, phosphor optical properties were estimated by fitting a theoretical model to experimental data. Results showed that Zn₂SiO₄:Mn is more efficient for low-energy X-rays. Its intrinsic conversion efficiency was found equal to 0.08, which is comparable to that of actually used phosphors. Zn₂SiO₄:Mn was also adequately compatible with orthochromatic films and the ES-20 photocathode, thus being appropriate for low-voltage radiography and fluoroscopy. Received: 31 July 1998/Accepted: 3 August 1998     

Some quantum mechanical problems in Lobachevsky space

Quantum mechanical problems are considered for potentials satisfying Bertrand's problem in Lobachevsky space. The self-adjointness of the corresponding Schrödinger operators is proved. The energy levels are calculated both from the Schrödinger equation and by means of the Bohr-Sommerfeld method. The effect of the quantum binding of classically infinite motion was discovered and is presented for the first time. It is shown that the quasi-classical limit is equivalent, in a sense, to the Euclidean limit.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Matematicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 109, No. 3, pp. 395–405, December, 1996.     

Principle of event symmetry

To accommodate topology change, the symmetry of space-time must be extended from the diffeomorphism group of a manifold to the symmetric group acting on the discrete set of space-time events. This is the principle ofevent-symmetric space-time. I investigate a number of physical toy models with this symmetry to gain some insight into the likely nature of event-symmetric space-time. In the more advanced models the symmetric group is embedded into larger structures such as matrix groups which provide scope to unify space-time symmetry with the internal gauge symmetries of particle physics. I also suggest that the symmetric group of space-time could be related to the symmetric group acting to exchange identical particles, implying a unification of space-time and matter. I end with a definition of a new type of loop symmetry which is important in event-symmetric superstring theory.     

Lyapunov’s direct method in estimates of topological entropy

An upper estimate for the topological entropy of a dynamical system defined by a system of ODE is obtained. The estimate involves the Lyapunov functions and Losinskii’s logarithmic norm. The proof uses the known fact that the topological entropy of a mapping acting in a compact space K can be estimated via the fractal dimension of K. Bibliography: 28 titles. Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 231, 1995, pp. 62–75. Translated by V. A. Boichenko and G. A. Leonov.     

Rotational discontinuity in magnetohydrodynamics

Novosibirsk. Translated fromSibirskiî Matematicheskiî Zhurnal, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 3–18, May–June, 1993.     

Bases of free metabelian and transmetabelian groups

A definition of the basis of a group written in additive form is given based on P. Hall's collecting process. The bases of free rank 2 groups of the following three types are found: metabelian, transmetabelian of the first type (with an Abelian third term in the lower central series), and transmetabelian of the second type (the nilpotency class of whose derived group is equal to two).Translated from Zapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov Leningradskogo Otdeleniya Matematicheskogo Instituta im. V. A. Steklova Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Vol. 191, pp. 126–139, 1991.     

Parity-locking effect in a strongly-correlated ring

Orbital magnetism in an integrable model of a multichannel ring with long-ranged electron-electron interactions is investigated. In a noninteracting multichannel system, the response to an external magnetic flux is the sum of many diamagnetic and paramagnetic contributions, but we find that for sufficiently strong correlations, the contributions of all channels add constructively, leading to a parity (diamagnetic or paramagnetic) which depends only on the total number of electrons. Numerical results confirm that this parity-locking effect is robust with respect to subband mixing due to disorder.