Neutrino and dark matter physics with sub-keV germanium detectors

Germanium detectors with sub-keV sensitivities open a window to study neutrino physics to search for light weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter. We summarize the recent results on spin-independent couplings of light WIMPs from the TEXONO experiment at the Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory. Highlights of the physics motivation, our R&D programme, as well as the status and plans are presented.     

Coherent nonlinear electromagnetic response in twisted bilayer and few-layer graphene

The phenomenon of Rabi oscillations far from resonance is described in bilayer and few-layer graphene. These oscillations in the population and polarization at the Dirac point in n-layer graphene are seen in the nth harmonic term in the external driving frequency. The underlying reason behind these oscillations is attributable to the pseudospin degree of freedom possessed by all these systems. Conventional Rabi oscillations, which occur only near resonance, are seen in multiple harmonics in multilayer graphene. However, the experimentally measurable current density exhibits anomalous behaviour only in the first harmonic in all the graphene systems. A fully numerical solution of the optical Bloch equations is in complete agreement with the analytical results, thereby justifying the approximation schemes used in the latter. The same phenomena are also described in twisted bilayer graphene with and without an electric potential difference between the layers. It is found that the anomalous Rabi frequency is strongly dependent on twist angle for weak applied fields – a feature absent in single-layer graphene, whereas the conventional Rabi frequency is relatively independent of the twist angle.     

Phonon dispersions in graphene sheet and single-walled carbon nanotubes

In the present research paper, phonons in graphene sheet have been calculated by constructing a dynamical matrix using the force constants derived from the second-generation reactive empirical bond order potential by Brenner and co-workers. Our results are comparable to inelastic X-ray scattering as well as first principle calculations. At Γ point, for graphene, the optical modes (degenerate) lie near 1685 cm^???1. The frequency regimes are easily distinguishable. The low-frequency (ω→ 0) modes are derived from acoustic branches of the sheet. The radial modes can be identified with ω→ 584 cm^???1. High-frequency regime is above 1200 cm^???1 (i.e. ZO mode) and consists of TO and LO modes. The phonons in a nanotube can be derived from zone folding method using phonons of a single layer of the hexagonal sheet. The present work aims to explore the agreement between theory and experiment. A better knowledge of the phonon dispersion of graphene is highly desirable to model and understand the properties of carbon nanotubes. The development and production of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) for possible applications need reliable and quick analytical characterization. Our results may serve as an accurate tool for the spectroscopic determination of the tube radii and chiralities.     

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL SHOCK-SHOCK INTERACTIONS ON A BLUNT BODY

A numerical study is conducted to simulate the effects of extraneous shock impingement on a blunt body in viscous hypersonic flow. The interaction of extraneous shock with the leading-edge shock results in a very complex flow field that contains local regions of high pressure and intense heating. The heating and pressure can be orders of magnitude higher than the peak values in the absence of shock impingement. The flow field is calculated by solving thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations with a finite-volume flux splitting technique developed by van Leer. For a zero or small sweep of the body, a type IV interaction occurs, which produces a lambda shock structure with a supersonic jet embedded in the otherwise subsonic flow; for a moderate sweep of about 25^°, a type V interaction occurs in which a subsonic shear layer sandwiched in supersonic flow is produced with a transmitted shock. In the present study, both type IV and type V interactions are investigated. Results of the present numerical investigation are compared with available experimental results. For the present conditions, the peak pressure is 2.2 times the unimpinged stagnation point pressure and the peak heating is 3 times the unimpinged stagnation point heating. The flow for a type IV interaction is found to be unsteady.     

Terahertz radiation source using a high-power industrial electron linear accelerator

High-power (～ 100 kW) industrial electron linear accelerators (linacs) are used for irradiations, e.g., for pasteurization of food products, disinfection of medical waste, etc. We propose that high-power electron beam from such an industrial linac can first pass through an undulator to generate useful terahertz (THz) radiation, and the spent electron beam coming out of the undulator can still be used for the intended industrial applications. This will enhance the utilization of a high-power industrial linac. We have performed calculation of spontaneous emission in the undulator to show that for typical parameters, continuous terahertz radiation having power of the order of μW can be produced, which may be useful for many scientific applications such as multispectral imaging of biological samples, chemical samples etc.     

A variational analysis of soliton switching in an NLDC with saturating non-linearity

A comparative analysis of soliton switching in a non-linear directional coupler with saturating non-linearity is carried out by a variational method. Two models of fractional non-linearity, one the usual unaveraged and the other obtained after averaging over the fibre cross-section, are considered. It is shown that the switching characteristics differ (for the same set of fibre parameters), qualitatively as well as quantitatively, for these models. The soliton switching characteristics in both the models are obtained, compared and discussed.     

Semigroups of transcendental entire functions and their dynamics

We investigate the dynamics of semigroups of transcendental entire functions using Fatou–Julia theory. Several results of the dynamics associated with iteration of a transcendental entire function have been extended to transcendental semigroups. We provide some condition for connectivity of the Julia set of the transcendental semigroups. We also study finitely generated transcendental semigroups, abelian transcendental semigroups and limit functions of transcendental semigroups on its invariant Fatou components.     

OVERLAPPING CONTROL VOLUME APPROACH FOR CONVECTION–DIFFUSION PROBLEMS

This paper introduces a finite volume method to solve 2D steady state convection–diffusion problems on structured non-orthogonal grids. Overlapping control volumes (OCV) are used to discretize the physical domain and the governing equations are solved without transformation. An isoparametric formulation is used to compute diffusion and for upwinding. Four test problems are solved using this and other schemes. The modelling of diffusion in OCV seems very effective even on distorted meshes. The convection modelling in OCV is found to be second-order-accurate, like QUICK, on regular meshes. Although its accuracy is slightly inferior to the latter on rectangular grids, its faster convergence gives it a better overall performance. On non-orthogonal grids, OCV gives better accuracy for a large and practical range of Peclet numbers than does QUICK applied to the transformed equations using the conventional five-point diffusion modelling. The results obtained also demonstrate that the scheme reduces false diffusion to a considerable extent in comparison with the power-law scheme.     

Chemical composition,and antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from Laggera tomentosa Sch. Bip. ex Oliv. et Hiern (Asteraceae)

Laggera tomentosa Sch. Bip. ex Oliv. et Hiern (Asteraceae), an endemic Ethiopian medicinal plant, is traditionally used to treat various ailments. Previously, the chemical constituents of the essential oil (EO) of its leaves and inflorescence were documented. However, no data about the chemical compositions of other parts of the EOs of the plant have been reported to date. Moreover, there are no previous biological activity reports on any parts of the EOs of this plant. Thus, in this study, the EOs were isolated from the stem bark and roots of this plant by hydrodistillation and analyzed using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify their components. In addition, antibacterial potentials of the oils were evaluated using the disc diffusion and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) methods. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydrogen peroxide methods were also employed to assess their antioxidant properties. Oxygenated monoterpenes (71.82% and 77.51%), of which 2,5-dimethoxy- p -cymene (57.28% and 64.76%) and thymol methyl ether (9.51% and 8.93%) were identified as major components in the EOs of stem bark and roots of L. tomentosa and the oils, were the most potent in the DPPH (IC50, 0.33 ± 1.10 and 0.39 ± 0.97 mg/mL) assay, respectively. Moreover, the EOs demonstrated appreciable activity towards the gram+ ( S. aureus and B. cereus ) bacteria. Among these oils, the oil of the stem bark showed the greatest activity to the gram+ (MIC = 0.625 mg/mL) bacteria. Therefore, the overall results suggested that the EOs of L. tomentosa may be a promising prospect for pharmaceutical, food, and other industrial applications.