Influence of barrier parameters on tunneling in ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet contacts

The contribution of electrons moving at large angles to the barrier junction plane to the tunnel current is calculated. This contribution turns out to be small only if the Fermi energy of the electrons equals several electron volts. Otherwise, specifically, when the Fermi energy is no higher than 1–2 eV, this contribution dominates in high and thin potential barriers. It is found that the tunnel magnetic resistance in ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet contacts correlates with this contribution. It is this correlation that is responsible for a decrease in this contribution as the potential barriers get lower and thicker.     

On the excitation of a closely spaced array by a line source

An infinite row of periodically spaced, identical rigid circularcylinders is excited by an acoustic line source which is parallelto the generators of the cylinders. A method for calculatingthe scattered field accurately and efficiently is presented.When the cylinders are sufficiently close together, Rayleigh–Blochsurface waves that propagate energy to infinity along the arrayare excited. An expression is derived which enables the amplitudesof these surface waves to be computed without requiring thesolution to the full scattering problem.     

Sympathetic cooling rate of gas-phase ions in a radio-frequency-quadrupole ion trap

We theoretically investigated the mass dependence of the sympathetic cooling rate of gas-phase ions trapped in a linear radio-frequency-quadrupole ion trap. Using an a priori molecular dynamical calculation, tracing numerically with Newtonian equations of motion, we found that ions with a mass greater than 0.54±0.04 times that of the laser-cooled ions are sympathetically cooled; otherwise, they are heated. To understand the mass dependence obtained using the molecular-dynamical calculation, we made a heat-exchange model of sympathetic cooling, which shows that the factor of 0.54±0.04 is a consequence of absence of micro-motion along the axis of the linear ion trap. Received: 10 December 2001 / Revised version: 28 January 2002 / Published online: 14 March 2002     

Method of linear prediction in the ultrasonic spectroscopy of rock

The possibility of using the resonant acoustic spectroscopy method for testing the internal state of rock is considered. This method can be used for the determination of the concentration of defects and their spatial distribution. A rock specimen with defects is characterized by a high loss of vibrational energy, which leads to the overlapping of the resonant responses. In this case, the complex resonant frequencies are determined as the parameters of a model that describes the measured transfer function of the response of the mechanical system. The linearity of the vibratory system is used as the a priori information for presetting the functional dependences of the model. An algorithm is developed for the determination of the parameters of the resonances in conditions of their partial overlapping. Examples are presented to demonstrate the possibility of analyzing the complex elastic constant tensor of rock by the acoustic spectroscopy method. The proposed method of experimental data processing provides the possibility for the determination of the weak anisotropy that occurs in the velocity of sound because of a partial fracture of rock.     

Conditional Time Before Ruin of an Insurance Company

The statistical characteristics of conditional time before ruin of an insurance company, including the distribution function of conditional time and its moments are examined.     

Boundary Problems for the Quantum Bose Gas

A relaxation kinetic equation that describes the behavior of a Bose gas is derived. The Kramers half-space problem on isothermal slip is treated. An analytical solution and the number-of-particle distribution function for particles flying toward a wall, in explicit form, are obtained. The dependence of the slip velocity on the parameter that is the ratio of the chemical potential to the product of Boltzmann's constant by the absolute temperature is analyzed. The influence of the quantum effects on the isothermal slip coefficient is evaluated for He⁴.     

The effect of geoacoustic characteristics of the bottom on the long-range sound propagation in an inhomogeneous ocean

The long-range sound propagation from a deep ocean to a receiving system located on the shelf is modeled. The waveguide model is constructed on the basis of the data of an acoustic-oceanographic experiment carried out in the northwestern Pacific. The sensitivity and the frequency dependence of the difference in the sound field levels at the crossing of the frontal zone on the geoacoustic characteristics of the bottom of the shelf and the continental slope are investigated. It is shown that the level difference decreases by 8.2 dB as the velocity of longitudinal waves increases by 100 m/s in the range within 1490–1820 m/s.     

Factor and term ranks for matrix union over semirings

We consider the arithmetic properties of the factor-rank and term-rank functions for matrices over semirings. In particular, we investigate the sets of matrices that satisfy the extremes of inequalities for these rank functions of matrix union. The classification of the linear transformations that keep these sets invariant is obtained. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 175–197, 2003.     

Prognostication of aging of polymeric composite materials

Experimental data demonstrate that a study of accelerated aging can enable prognostication of the working capacity and storage life of polymeric formulations used in aircraft components on the basis of changes in thermogravimetric constants of these polymeric formulations.