A lithium experiment in the program of solar neutrino research

Experiments sensitive to pp neutrinos from the Sun are very promising for precise measurement of the mixing angle ϑ ₁₂. A νe ⁻ scattering experiment (XMASS) and/or a charged-current experiment (indium detector) can measure the flux of electron pp neutrinos. One can find the total flux of pp neutrinos from a luminosity constraint after the contributions of ⁷Be and CNO neutrinos to the total luminosity of the Sun are measured. A radiochemical experiment utilizing a lithium target has high sensitivity to the CNO neutrinos; thus, it has a good promise for precise measurement of the mixing angle and for a test of the current theory of evolution of the stars. The text was submitted by the authors in English.     

Relaxation processes in glasses of the Ge-As-S system

The internal friction in Ge _x As_{40 ? x} S₆₀ glasses is investigated in the temperature range 100 K-T _g at infralow frequencies (10^?3?10^?1 Hz). It is shown that the concentration dependence of the internal friction of these materials changes as a result of the transformation of the dominant kinetic unit in dissipative processes of the relaxation and nonrelaxation types. It is established tha the change in the mechanism of internal friction in the Ge _x As_{40 ? x} S₆₀ glasses leads to a jump in the activation energy of the α relaxation and to a local minimum in the frequency factor τ₀.     

Description of the smooth rms charge radius surface R(N, Z) and prediction of neutron skin by a two-liquid drop model

The smooth N and Z dependence of nuclear rms charge radii is interpereted by a two-liquid drop model with ?_p+?_n=?₀=const. Proton and neutron radii R _p and R _n are given in closed form. In addition to rms charge radii, the model yields the nucleon number dependence of the skin thickness, s, e.g. ds=0.00124×dA for Sn isotopes, in agreement with experimental results and theoretical calculations. A strong correlation between the two global parameters of the model — including s _stthe skin thickness of the stable isotope — is established. If s _stis taken from experiment, the other parameter is also fixed; this parameter (m) characterizes the restoring force responsible for the skin thickness. Its value m=2.2 suggests that — in addition to the number of nucleons in the skin — the skin thickness also influences the distribution of “surplus” nucleons between volume and skin.     

Capillary electrophoretic study of synthesis of polyhexamethyleneguanidine

Synthesis of polyhexamethyleneguanidine hydrochloride was studied by capillary electrophoresis. A procedure for determining the reaction components was developed.     

Kinetics of heterogeneous hydrodynamic coagulation of microscopic drops

A prototype reactor for heterogeneous hydrodynamic coagulation of emulsions was developed and tested. The efficiency of coagulation of water emulsions of some organic liquids was studied in relation to process conditions.     

Electron beam induced modification of poly(ethylene terephthalate) films

Electron beam processing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films is found to promote significant changes in the melting heat, intrinsic viscosity and polymer film-liquid (water, isooctane and toluene) boundary surface tension. These properties are featured with several maximums depending on the absorbed dose and correlating with the modification of PET surface functionality. Studies using adsorption of acid-base indicators and IR-spectroscopy revealed that the increase of PET surface hydrophilicity is determined by the oxidation of methylene and methyne groups. Electron beam treatment of PET films on the surface of N-vinylpyrrolidone aqueous solution provided graft copolymerization with this comonomer at optimum process parameters (energy 700 keV, current 1 mA, absorbed dose 50 kGy).     

Analysis of reflectance and modulation spectroscopic lineshapes in optoelectronic device structures

We discuss the spectral lineshapes of reflectance and modulated reflectance (MR) measurements on optoelectronic device structures such as epi-layers, quantum wells (QWs), vertical-cavity surface emitting-lasers (VCSELs) and resonant-cavity light-emitting diodes (RCLEDs). We consider the various methods for the extraction of built-in electric fields and band-gap energies from Franz-Keldysh oscillations (FKO), using the example of a tensilely strained InGaAs QW system, whose InGaAsP barriers yield strong FKO. We describe how critical point transition energies can be easily obtained by eye from Kramers-Kronig (KK) transforms of low field or QW modulation spectra, using the example of the modulated transmittance spectra of dilute-nitrogen InGaAsN p-i-n structures. We also discuss how the ordinary reflectivity spectrum, usually acquired at the same time as the MR signal, may also be exploited to extract layer thicknesses and compositions, and information about the active QW absorption spectrum in VCSEL and RCLED structures.     

The statement and numerical solution of an optimization problem in X-ray tomography

A nonclassical problem is considered for the transport equation with coefficients depending on the energy of radiation. The task is to find the discontinuity surfaces for the coefficients of the equation from measurements of the radiation flux leaving the medium. For this tomography problem, an optimization problem is stated and numerically analyzed. The latter consists in determining the radiation energy that ensures the best reconstruction of the unknown medium. A simplified optimization problem is solved analytically.     

Bronze roman mirrors: the secret of brightness

The surface microchemical structure of high tin leaded bronze Roman mirrors has been studied by means of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical microscopy (OM) techniques. The results allowed understanding of the origin of their high chemical stability and silvery-lustrous appearance. Indeed, some areas of the selected Roman mirrors are still characterised by a highly reflective and silver coloured surface even though they have been buried in the soil for about 2000 years. The micro-chemical results obtained from these areas have revealed that the mirror surface was tin enriched via inverse-segregation phenomenon by tailoring the cooling parameters. Furthermore, the presence of tin could be likely enhanced via cycles of oxidation and selective copper corrosion processes, thus resulting in a tin surface enrichment as a semi-transparent amorphous-like tin oxide (SnO₂) film, as well as a copper depletion at the outer surfaces.