Dynamic interaction of plasma flow with the hot boundary layer of a geomagnetic trap

The study of the interaction between collisionless plasma flow and stagnant plasma revealed the presence of an outer boundary layer at the border of a geomagnetic trap, where the super-Alfvén subsonic laminar flow changes over to the dynamic regime characterized by the formation of accelerated magnetosonic jets and decelerated Alfvén flows with characteristic relaxation times of 10–20 min. The nonlinear interaction of fluctuations in the initial flow with the waves reflected from an obstacle explains the observed flow chaotization. The Cherenkov resonance of the magnetosonic jet with the fluctuation beats between the boundary layer and the incoming flow is the possible mechanism of its formation. In the flow reference system, the incoming particles are accelerated by the electric fields at the border of boundary layer that arise self-consistently as a result of the preceding wave-particle interactions; the inertial drift of the incoming ions in a transverse electric field increasing toward the border explains quantitatively the observed ion acceleration. The magnetosonic jets may carry away downstream up to a half of the unperturbed flow momentum, and their dynamic pressure is an order of magnitude higher than the magnetic pressure at the obstacle border. The appearance of nonequilibrium jets and the boundary-layer fluctuations are synchronized by the magnetosonic oscillations of the incoming flow at frequencies of 1–2 mHz.     

On edge states in superconductors with time inversion symmetry breaking

The efficiency of conversion of the heat flux into hard x radiation (HXR) is analyzed, via time-dependent two-temperature one-dimensional non-LTE-radiation-hydrodynamic numerical modeling, for a heat-to-radiation flux converter linked to the edge of a low-atomic-number hot Z-pinch. The domain of parameters in this scheme is found where about the same HXR yield can be achieved at values of input energy which are an order of magnitude lower than in the conventional scheme of a radially imploding plasma. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 7, 502–506 (10 April 1997) Published in English in the original Russian Journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

Experimental study of the emission spread at gyrotron cathodes by current-voltage characteristics

A scheme for automated study of current-voltage characteristics of gyroresonance devices is developed. The effective emission spread at the cathodes of powerful gyrotrons is studied by analysis of current-voltage characteristics. Experimental data on the effective emission spread parameter for different modes are given. The permissible emission spread at the cathodes of powerful gyrotrons is estimated, and the dependence of the electron beam parameters on the cathode emission spread is presented. A complex measurement technique showing the contribution of different physical mechanisms to the cathode emission spread is proposed. Institute of Applied Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 506–516, April, 1997.     

Phase shift moiré studies of processing-induced residual strains in Nickel 200 spot welds

Processing-induced residual strains in solid cylinders of Nickel 200 were investigated using phase shifting moiré interferometry. Two different experimental approaches were used to study the strains produced during Tungsten-inert gas spot welding. A comparison of results for a ‘hot/fast’ and a ‘cool/slow’ weld demonstrate the capabilities of the general approach. Both experimental methods revealed distinct differences in the residual displacement and strain fields between the two types of welds.     

The electronic spectrum of a three-dimensional quasicrystal

The electronic spectrum of an icosahedral quasicrystal with a central-atom decoration of the Amman-Mackay network is investigated in the tight-binding approximation. The quasicrystal is described as a structural limit of the optimal cubic approximants with increasing period. The electronic spectra for the first four optimal cubic approximants do not contain the hierarchical gap structure which is typical for the Cantor set of the spectrum of a one-dimensional quasicrystal. At the same time, as the order of the approximant increases, the spectrum becomes singular throughout the entire energy scale. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 8, 557–562 (25 April 1998) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

The effect of radiofrequency modulation of 57Fe hyperfine interaction by rotating magnetic field

The effect of ⁵⁷Fe hyperfine interaction radiofrequency (rf) modulation by external rotating magnetic field was studied in thin Permalloy foil by means of Mössbauer spectroscopy. The rf effect was investigated as a function of intensity for several rf field frequencies. The experiments show that the external rotating rf field causes considerable changes in the hyperfine pattern. The obtained spectra are in disagreement with those obtained by Perlow [Phys. Rev. 172 (1968) 319]. They also are inconsistent with magnetostriction hypothesis. Proceeding from the Mössbauer spectrum analysis one may conclude that the magnetization of investigated foil changes its direction in a complex manner. However, the undertaken experiments show that the essential number of Mössbauer nuclei experience the rotating magnetic field influence.