Some applications of polarized inelastic neutron scattering in magnetism

A brief account of applications of polarized inelastic neutron scattering in condensed matter research is given. We show that full polarization analysis is the only tool allowing to discriminate unambiguously between different magnetic modes in various magnetic materials. We show by means of recent results in the Heisenberg ferromagnet EuS that the effects of dipolar interactions can be studied on a microscopic scale. Moreover, we have found for the first time indications for the divergence of the longitudinal fluctuations belowT _c. In the itinerant antiferromagnet chromium we demonstrate that the dynamics of the longitudinal and transverse excitations are very different, resolving a long standing puzzle concerning the slope of their dispersion. Finally, we show that a measurement of the polarization-dependent part of the cross section of non-centrosymmetric MnSi proves directly that the chirality of the magnetic fluctuations is left-handed.     

What Oxidation State of Iron Determines the Amethyst Colour?

A colourless quartz crystal doped with ⁵⁷Fe³⁺ was obtained by hydrothermal synthesis in an NH₄F solution. The crystal was transformed into violet amethyst by gamma-irradiation. The change in colour was accompanied by changes in the Mössbauer spectrum that can be interpreted as the conversion of trivalent iron into the tetravalent state: Fe³⁺→Fe⁴⁺.

     

The mechanism of emission in the red photoluminescence band of porous silicon

Porous silicon (PS) exhibits several photoluminescence (PL) bands, whose spectral position and intensity depend strongly on the actual conditions of preparation of PS, its treatment, and subsequent use. The PS PL band peaking at about 1.8 eV and usually assigned to the intrinsic emission of silicon nanocrystals was studied. It was shown that the temperature-induced variation of the PL kinetics in the 80 to 300-K interval follows a complex pattern and depends noticeably on the actual point on the band profile. The temperature behavior of PL decay in the 1.8-eV band is determined by the electron-hole recombination rate within a nanocrystal and the cascade carrier transitions from small to large nanocrystals, with an attendant decrease in energy.     

Investigations of low- and high-spin states of <Superscript>132</Superscript>La

The fusion evaporation reaction ¹²²Sn(¹⁴N, 4n)¹³²La was used to populate the high-spin states of ¹³²La at the beam energy of 60 MeV. A new band consisting of mostly E2 transitions has been discovered. This band has the interesting links to the ground state 2^- and the isomeric state 6^-. A new transition of energy 351 keV connecting the low-spin states of the positive-parity band based on the πh _11/2 ⊗ νh _11/2 particle configuration, has been found. This has played a very important role in resolving the existing ambiguities and inconsistencies in the spin assignment of the band head. Received: 12 August 2002 / Accepted: 18 March 2003 / Published online: 7 May 2003     

Optimal entropic uncertainty relation for successive measurements in quantum information theory

We derive an optimal bound on the sum of entropic uncertainties of two or more observables when they are sequentially measured on the same ensemble of systems. This optimal bound is shown to be greater than or equal to the bounds derived in the literature on the sum of entropie uncertainties of two observables which are measured on distinct but identically prepared ensembles of systems. In the case of a two-dimensional Hilbert space, the optimum bound for successive measurements of two-spin components, is seen to be strictly greater than the optimal bound for the case when they are measured on distinct ensembles, except when the spin components are mutually parallel or perpendicular     

Mechanisms for the SAR Imaging of the Ocean

We perform a comparative analysis of two mechanisms for the formation of a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image of the ocean, which are related to orbital velocities on the surface. It is shown that the mechanism of fluctuations of the effective density of scatterers, which is commonly accepted at present as the physical basis for the SAR diagnostics of roughness, actually works only in the case of a sufficiently flat swell. In the presence of wind roughness, the dominant role is played by another mechanism, namely, fluctuations of the number of surface elements whose images are randomly shifted and superimposed in the image plane due to orbital velocities. In the case of a developed wind roughness propagated in the azimuthal direction, the power contributions of two above-mentioned mechanisms to the SAR imaging of the ocean differ by about two orders of magnitude.     

Angular correlations in the decays of two unstable identical particles with close momenta

For the decay of two identical particles with close momenta, the angular correlations between the directions of emission of decay products are considered on the basis of the model of independent single-particle sources emitting unstable unpolarized particles of nonzero spin. These correlations reflect spin correlations that are caused by quantum-statistics and final-state-interaction effects. A general theory of angular correlations in the decays of two arbitrarily polarized particles (resonances) is constructed.     

On a Result of R. Turner

We study the similarity of perturbed compact operators to operators of block-diagonal structure with respect to some family of orthogonal projection operators, which allows us to refine and essentially strengthen results due to R. Turner. We obtain information about the operator realizing the similarity transformation, present estimates for the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the perturbed operator, and also study the inverse problem of spectral analysis.     

An algorithm to locate perinatal facilities in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro

In order to reduce infant mortality in the municipality of Rio de Janeiro it is desired to encourage all mothers-to-be to attend the appropriate health care facilities. A 3-level hierarchical prenatal–neonatal health care system is described together with a basic model for optimising accessibility to facilities. A genetic algorithm to solve the basic model is developed and some numerical experience reported. Extensions to the basic model and planned future research are briefly indicated.