Implications of the Glauber model for inelastic hadron-nucleus scattering

The Glauber model for elastic hadron-nucleus scattering is extended to inelastic processes by supplementing it with the Abramovskii, Gribov, Kancheli cutting rules. Inelastic screening due to low mass states is also included. The results can be interpreted in terms of the probabilistic multiple collision model. The mutual relationship of the two approaches is discussed.     

Effect of water content on electrical conductivity of fish skin collagen

The increased interest in fish skin collagen results from the risk of BSE disease and the production of native collagen by the acidic hydration method. As a material, FSC derived by the novel acidic hydration method was used. The bovine Achilles tendon (BAT) collagen type I was applied as a control material. Measurements were carried out at the temperature range 2980 K-510 K. Each sample was heated twice. During the first heating run for FSC, to 380 K, the maximum was localized at 343 K, at electrical conductivity of 7 · 10⁻⁶ S/m. In the second heating run to 510 K, the maximum was observed at 443 K for FSC, and at 487 K for BAT collagen. The peaks revealed in the temperature range 320-350 K were related to the free water and bound water release, alike for FSC and BAT collagen. The process of water removal for both types of collagen takes place in similar temperature ranges.     

Optical and X-ray emission spectroscopy of high-power laser-induced dielectric breakdown in molecular gases and their mixtures

Large-scale plasma was created in molecular gases (CO, CO2, N2, H2O) and their mixtures by high-power laser-induced dielectric breakdown (LIDB). Compositions of the mixtures used are those suggested for the early earth's atmosphere of neutral and/or mildly reducing character. Time-integrated optical spectra emitted from the laser spark have been measured and analyzed. The spectra of the plasma generated in the CO-containing mixtures are dominated by emission of both C2 and CN radicals. A vibrational temperature of approximately 10(4) K was determined according to an intensity distribution in a vibronic structure of the CN (B2Sigma(+)u-X2Sigma(+)g) violet band. For comparison, the NH3-CH4-H2-H2O mixture has been irradiated as a model of the strongly reducing version of the early earth's atmosphere. In this mixture, excited CN seems to be significantly less abundant than C2. The LIDB experiments were in the molecular gases carried out not only in the static cell but also using a large, double stream pulse jet (gas puff target) placed in the vacuum interaction chamber. The obtained soft X-ray emission spectra indicate the presence of highly charged atomic ions in the hot core of high-power laser sparks.     

Anti-Stokes Yb3+ emission--valuable structure information in spectra of rare earth compounds measured with FT-Raman spectrometers

Raman spectroscopy is a powerful and simple method which proved to be very useful in studies of solids. The most widely used Raman spectrometers are FT-Raman instruments with YAG:Nd(3+) laser as an excitation source. However, in the case of samples containing rare earth elements, the quality of FT-Raman spectra is often low due to strong fluorescence effects. We show that, in such cases, anti-Stokes part of the Raman spectra often contains strong, well resolved bands identified as multiphonon-assisted emission bands of Yb(3+) present as an impurity. We show on several examples that analysis of these bands may provide useful structure information, similar to that obtained by "Eu structure probe" method in optical spectroscopy. The Yb(3+) emission can be also measured using standard luminescence detection systems. However, the application of FT-Raman system allows one to obtain good quality spectra in a much cheaper, easier and faster way (in times as short as a few seconds). Moreover, high-sensitivity of FT-Raman spectrometers allows to detect even very small amounts of Yb(3+) impurity.     

Eddy current measurements of surface roughness

The paper proposes a method for simultaneous measurements of the material conductivity and its surface roughness for non-ferromagnetic materials. The method takes advantage of the effect exercised by eddy currents onto impedance of a contact coil. The essence of the method is to eliminate the influence of the surface unevenness onto measurements of conductivity by the calculation of a correcting factor that serves as a specific equivalent of the surface roughness. (© 2010 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Nontrivial solutions for Neumann problems with an indefinite linear part

In this paper, we consider a semilinear Neumann problem with an indefinite linear part and a Carathéodory nonlinearity which is superlinear near infinity and near zero, but does not satisfy the Ambrosetti-Rabinowitz condition. Using an abstract existence theorem for C¹-functions having a local linking at the origin, we establish the existence of at least one nontrivial smooth solution.     

Stochastic differential equations with jump reflection at time-dependent barriers

We study existence, uniqueness and approximation of solutions of stochastic differential equations with jump reflection at time-dependent barriers. The basic idea in proofs consists in applying new existence and stability theorems on deterministic one-dimensional Skorokhod problem. Our results are new even in the classical case of one reflecting barrier.     

Spectroscopy of YAl3(BO3)4:Cr3+ crystals following first principles and crystal field calculations

The CASTEP module of the Materials Studio package was used for calculations of the structural, electronic and optical properties of pure and Cr³⁺-doped YAl₃(BO₃)₄ (YAB). The exchange-correlation effects were treated within the generalized gradient approximation with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof functional. The Monkhorst–Pack scheme k-points grid sampling was set at 3?×?3?×?4 for the Brillouin zone. The plane-wave basis set energy cutoff was set at 340?eV; ultrasoft pseudopotentials were used for all chemical elements. The convergence parameters were as follows: total energy tolerance 1?×?10^?5?eV/atom, maximum force tolerance 0.03?eV/nm, maximal stress component 0.05?GPa and maximal displacement 0.001?Å. The principal absorption peaks of the studied crystal were identified. The influence of 532?nm?cw, 300?mW laser radiation on the observed absorptions was studied.     

Indirect magnetic interaction in the “net fractal” systems

A localized spin system of fractal symmetry with indirect exchange between them is considered. We define a specific class of fractals as the “net fractals” which display multidimensional logarithmic periodicity. Basing on this property we model the effective indirect exchange interaction by the conventional RKKY exchange with the logarithmic coordinates playing role of the real space ones. Finally, we discuss the case of non-ideal “net fractals” in which fractional dynamics of the electrons is expected. In this case we show that RKKY exchange integrals are given by the formulas derived under assumption that a system has a fractional spectral dimension.     

Cationic Porphyrin-Graphene Oxide Hybrid: Donor-Acceptor Composite for Efficient Photoinduced Electron Transfer

Non-covalent nanohybrids composed of cationic 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-trimethylammoniophenyl)porphyrin tetra(p-toluenesulfonate) (TMAP) and the graphene oxide sheets were prepared under two pH values (6.2 vs. 1.8). The TMAP molecule was positively charged, regardless of the pH value during preparation. However, protonation of the imino nitrogens increased the overall charge of the porphyrin molecule from +4 to +6 (TMAP⁴⁺ and TMAP⁶⁺). It was found that at acidic pH, interaction of TMAP⁶⁺ with GO was largely suppressed. On the other hand, results of FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and elemental analysis confirmed effective non-covalent functionalization of graphene oxide with cationic porphyrin at pH 6.2. The TMAP⁴⁺-GO hybrids exhibited well defined structure with a monolayer of TMAP⁴⁺ on the GO sheets as confirmed by AFM. Formation of the ground-state TMAP⁴⁺-GO complex in solution was monitored by the red-shift of the porphyrin Soret absorption band. This ground-state interaction between TMAP⁴⁺ and GO is responsible for the static quenching of the porphyrin emission. Fluorescence was not detected for the nanohybrid which indicated that a very fast deactivation process had to take place. Ultrafast time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy clearly demonstrated the occurrence of electron transfer from the photoexcited TMAP⁴⁺ singlet state to GO sheets, as proven by the formation of a porphyrin radical cation.