Automated separation and measurement of radioxenon for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

A fully automatic radioxenon sampler/analyzer (ARSA) has been developed and demonstrated for the collection and quantitative measurement of the four xenon radionuclides,^131mXe(11.9 d),^133mXe(2.2 d),¹³³Xe(5.2 d), and¹³⁵Xe(9.1 hr), in the atmosphere. These radionuclides are important signatures in monitoring for compliance to a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Activity ratios of these radionuclides permit source attribution. Xenon, continuously and automatically separated from the atmosphere, is automatically analyzed by electron-photon coincidence spectrometry providing a lower limit of detection of about 100 μBq/m³. The demonstrated detection limit is about 100 times better than achievable with reported laboratory-based procedures for the short-time collection intervals of interest.     

Influence of surface treatments in the initial stages of anodizing Al–Ag alloys in neutral electrolytes

Using voltage-time responses and cyclic voltammetry, the initial stages of anodizing of Al–2.1 at.% Ag and Al–4 at.% Ag alloys are shown to depend upon the heat treatment of the alloys and the pre-treatment of the alloy surfaces. Chemical polishing of solution-treated alloys leads to relatively uniform anodic oxidation on a relatively smooth alloy surface, in the absence of significant effects of coarse, silver-rich intermetallics. In contrast, losses of current to oxygen generation arise for the roughened alloy surface from mechanical polishing. With ageing, secondary reactions at the relatively silver-rich intermetallics are more prevalent, although the effects on the voltage-time response depend upon the balance between processes occurring on the matrix and intermetallic regions, including film growth, oxygen generation within the anodic film, film damage due to release of oxygen, dissolution of silver species and re-growth of damaged film.     

Generalized classical theory of magnetism

We consider an Ising model with Kac potential ^dK(¦x¦) which may have arbitrary sign, and show, following Gates and Penrose, that the free energy in the classical limit0+ can be obtained from a variational principle. When the Fourier transform of the potential has its maximum atp=0 one recovers the usual mean-field theory of magnetism. When the maximum occurs forp ₀0, however, one obtains an oscillatory or helicoidal phase in which the magnetization near the critical point oscillates with period 2/¦p ₀¦. An example with a potential possessing parameter-dependent oscillations is shown to exhibit crossover phenomena and a multicritical Lifshitz point in the classical limit.