Muon calibration of the cherenkov water detector NEVOD

The problem of calibrating a Cherenkov water detector (CWD) and the possibilities for its use based on the example of the CWD NEVOD are discussed. Results of the calibration of quasi-spherical modules in water volume by means of vertical muons selected by scintillation telescopes and compared to the results from measurements performed at test facilities are presented.     

Microscopic theory of scattering of weak electromagnetic radiation by a dense ensemble of ultracold atoms

Based on the developed quantum microscopic theory, the interaction of weak electromagnetic radiation with dense ultracold atomic clouds is described in detail. The differential and total cooperative scattering cross sections are calculated for monochromatic radiation as particular examples of application of the general theory. The angular, spectral, and polarization properties of scattered light are determined. The dependence of these quantities on the sample size and concentration of atoms is studied and the influence of collective effects is analyzed.     

Cell surface as a fractal: normal and cancerous cervical cells demonstrate different fractal behavior of surface adhesion maps at the nanoscale

Here we show that the surface of human cervical epithelial cells demonstrates substantially different fractal behavior when the cell becomes cancerous. Analyzing the adhesion maps of individual cervical cells, which were obtained using the atomic force microscopy operating in the HarmoniX mode, we found that cancerous cells demonstrate simple fractal behavior, whereas normal cells can only be approximated at best as multifractal. Tested on ~300 cells collected from 12 humans, the fractal dimensionality of cancerous cells is found to be unambiguously higher than that for normal cells.     

Heat capacity and thermal conductivity of Fe x Mn1 − x S single crystals

This paper reports on the results of investigations of the thermal properties and thermal conductivity of single crystals of homogeneous solid solutions Fe _x Mn_{1 ? x} S with a cubic NaCl structure, which have been prepared by the cation substitution for divalent manganese ions in manganese monosulfide. It has been revealed that the heat capacity and thermal conductivity exhibit anomalies in the range of the magnetic transition. The cation substitution is accompanied by an increase in the phase transition temperature.     

Strained germanium films in Ge/InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures: Formation of edge misfit dislocations at the Ge/InGaAs interface

Heterostructures of the “strained Ge film/artificial InGaAs layer/GaAs substrate” type have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy. A specific feature of these structures is that the plastically relaxed (buffer) InGaAs layer has the density of threading dislocations on a level of 10⁵–10⁶ cm⁻². These dislocations penetrate into the strained Ge layer to become sources of both 60° and 90° (edge) misfit dislocations (MDs). Using the transmission electron microscopy, both MD types have been found at the Ge/InGaAs interface. It has been shown that the presence of threading dislocations inherited from the buffer layer in a tensile-strained Ge film favors the formation of edge dislocations at the Ge/InGaAs interface even in the case of small elastic deformations in the strained film. Possible mechanisms of the formation of edge MDs have been considered, including (i) accidental collision of complementary parallel 60° MDs propagating in the mirror-tilted {111} planes, (ii) induced nucleation of a second 60° MD and its interaction with the primary 60° MD, and (iii) interaction of two complementary MDs after a cross-slip of one of them. Calculations have demonstrated that a critical layer thickness (h _c ) for the appearance of edge MDs is considerably smaller than h _c for 60° MDs.     

Convective burning and detonability of aluminum-rich ammonium perchlorate-aluminum-nitromethane mixtures: 1. Experiment

The initiation and propagation of low-velocity detonation in ammonium perchlorate (AP)-aluminum-nitromethane (NM) mixtures with Al: AP ratios of 1: 1 to 2.5: 1 and porosities from 40 (10 wt % HM) to 0% (40 wt % NM) in strong steel shells (in the air) and plastic shells submerged in water are experimentally studied. The optimum contents of the components that provide reliable initiation of steady detonation (at velocities from 2 to 5 km/s) by weak explosive sources in mixtures with an Al: AP ratio of 1: 1 and above are determined. The selected mixtures reproducibly detonate in plastic shells surrounded by a 30-cm-thick layer of water at velocities somewhat lower than in strong steel shells in the air.     

Characteristics of the underwater explosion of a nonideally detonating aluminum-rich energetic material

An experimental study of the characteristics of the explosion of mixtures of ammonium perchlorate, aluminum, and nitromethane with a large excess of aluminum (1.45 to 1.66 g/cm³ in density) confined in plastic enclosures and immersed in small elastic-wall reservoirs with water is conducted. It is shown that composite charges, 20 mm in diameter, surrounded by a water layer of thickness 20–30 cm and detonate in a nonideal detonation mode. High-speed cinematography records show the possibility of the intense mixing of the detonation products with the surrounding water and of the burning of excess aluminum particles in a heterogeneous cloud. The time scales of the development of secondary energy release by burning of aluminum particles in water are estimated. The possibility of controlling the characteristics of the pressure waves generated by the explosion, for example, by means of a preliminary bubbling of the water with air near the charge, is demonstrated.     

Slow light on a printed circuit board

Slow-light effects induced by stimulated Raman scattering in polymer waveguides on a printed circuit board are shown to enable a widely tunable delay of broadband optical signals, suggesting an advantageous platform for optical information processing and ultrafast optical waveform transformation.