Spectral properties of some problems in mechanics of strongly nonhomogeneous media

Spectral properties of the following three homogenized problems in the mechanics of strongly nonhomogeneous media are considered: the “double porosity” problem, the oscillation problem for a mixture of two viscous compressible liquids, and the oscillation of a medium consisting of an elastic frame and a viscous liquid. For all three cases results on the structure of the spectrum and on the existence of so-called “spectral gaps” are obtained.     

Hydrodynamics of an expanding fireball

A set of relativistic hydrodynamic equations is solved numerically on the basis of the flux-corrected SHASTA method for one-, two-, and three-dimensional geometries. The accuracy of the proposed method is demonstrated via a comparison with exact analytic solutions for the one-dimensional Riemann problem and a boost-invariant longitudinal expansion in the Bjorken model. The example of an expanding three-dimensional fireball for which initial conditions approximately correspond to PbPb collisions at an energy of about 160 GeV per nucleon is considered. This example indicates that the presumed dynamics of the expansion may affect substantially the results of an analysis of in-medium properties of hadrons that relies on data from experiments with leptons.     

The break of L-S coupling and the double Stark resonance in the spectrum of 36P → 37P two-photon transition in Rydberg atoms of sodium

New results are presented of an experimental investigation of the spectrum of 36P → 37P two-photon microwave transition in Rydberg atoms of sodium in a constant electric field. Depending on the conditions of excitation of the initial 36P state (the constant electric field is switched on either before or after the exciting laser pulse) and polarization of laser radiation, a strong variation is observed of the amplitudes of individual two-photon transitions between the fine-structure Stark components of the 36P and 37P states. This effect is an analog of the Paschen-Back effect in a strong magnetic field and is due to the break of L-S coupling and to the variation of the wave functions of Rydberg electrons in an electric field. It is also found that the break of L-S coupling affects considerably the shape of double Stark resonance arising upon intersection of the virtual intermediate level of two-photon transition with the real intermediate 37S level.     

Optimization of lantadenes isolation and preparation of 22 β-hydroxyoleanonic acid

The lantadenes fraction from Lantana camara was isolated and transformed to the medicinally important intermediate 22β-hydroxyoleanonic acid. The compound was studied for hepatotoxicity using lantadene A as standard and found to be nontoxic. Published in Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 4, pp. 357–358, July–August, 2006.     

Possibility of observing chiral-symmetry effects in ferromagnetic nanoparticles

The statistics of left-and right-handed vortical magnetization states in a system of submicron-sized ferromagnetic disks is studied experimentally. Lattices of elliptic cobalt particles with a planar size of 750 × 450 nm and a thickness of 25 nm were formed using high-resolution electronic lithography. To visualize the magnetization distributions in the disks, magnetic force microscopy was used. The experimental results indicate the conservation of magnetic chiral symmetry in cobalt ferromagnetic particles of the above size and shape.     

Chemical compositions of extracts of organic matter of schungite rock form Zazhogino Deposit of Karelian Transonega region

The organic matter of schungite rock from the Zazhogino Deposit of Karelian Transonega region was extracted in the sequential mode. The extract composition was determined by several modern physicochemical methods.     

Case of a Boltzmann gas leading to the Smoluchowski coagulation equation

A special model of a rarefied hard-sphere gas is considered. The hard-sphere particles undergo absolutely elastic collisions. It is assumed that particles can collide only if their nonzero velocities are orthogonal to each other. The model makes it possible to proceed from the Boltzmann equation to the Smoluchowski coagulation equation, where coagulation means that the kinetic energies of the colliding particles are added. A Monte Carlo scheme for simulation of the phenomenon is described, and the convergence of the simulation algorithm is proved. The convergence of numerical results to exact solutions of the Smoluchowski equation and to finite-difference solutions is tested.