Testing Lorentz invariance and CPT conservation with NuMI neutrinos in the MINOS near detector

A search for a sidereal modulation in the MINOS near detector neutrino data was performed. If present, this signature could be a consequence of Lorentz and CPT violation as predicted by the effective field theory called the standard-model extension. No evidence for a sidereal signal in the data set was found, implying that there is no significant change in neutrino propagation that depends on the direction of the neutrino beam in a sun-centered inertial frame. Upper limits on the magnitudes of the Lorentz and CPT violating terms in the standard-model extension lie between 10(-4) and 10(-2) of the maximum expected, assuming a suppression of these signatures by a factor of 10(-17).     

Measurement of the viscosity-density product using multiple reflections of ultrasonic shear horizontal waves

We have developed an on-line computer-controlled sensor, based on ultrasound reflection measurements, to determine the product of the viscosity and density of a liquid or slurry for Newtonian fluids and the shear impedance of the liquid for non-Newtonian fluids. A 14 MHz shear wave transducer is bonded to one side of a 45-90 degrees fused silica wedge and the base is in contract with the liquid. Twenty-eight echoes were observed due to the multiple reflections of an ultrasonic shear horizontal (SH) wave within the wedge. The fast Fourier transform of each echo was obtained for a liquid and for water, which serves as the calibration fluid, and the reflection coefficient at the solid-liquid interface was obtained. Data were obtained for 11 sugar water solutions ranging in concentration from 10% to 66% by weight. The viscosity values are shown to be in good agreement with those obtained independently using a laboratory viscometer. The data acquisition time is 14s and this can be reduced by judicious selection of the echoes for determining the reflection coefficient. The measurement of the density results in a determination of the viscosity for Newtonian fluids or the shear wave velocity for non-Newtonian fluids. The sensor can be deployed for process control in a pipeline, with the base of the wedge as part of the pipeline wall, or immersed in a tank.     

Calculation of the Lowest <Superscript>2</Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">S</Emphasis> Resonance State of He<Superscript>−</Superscript> by a Stabilization Method

The parameters of the lowest ²S resonance state of the He^? system were calculated using the Coulomb potential stabilization method. It was found that the errors of the resonance energy and width have the same character as that in the earlier studied two-electron systems H^?, He, and Li⁺. It was shown that the errors can be minimized using a single-electron basis sets, which provides the best reproduction of the low-lying states of the helium atom.     

Laser diagnostics of nanoscale dielectric films on transparent substrate by integrating differential reflectivity and ellipsometry

The effect of nanometer dielectric films on the differential reflection characteristics of linearly polarized light from non-absorbing materials is investigated in the long-wavelength approximation. The second-order formulas for changes in the reflectance of s- and p-polarized light caused by ultrathin layer are obtained. A detailed analysis of the influence of ultrathin film to the reflectivity of p-polarized light in the vicinity of the Brewster angle is carried out. The novel methods are developed for determining the thickness and refractive index of uniform (or the average values of refractive index of nonuniform) nanometer-scale films by differential reflectivity and ellipsometric measurements.     

Novel Lipophilic Fluorophores with Highly Acidity-Dependent Two-Photon Response

Lipophilic fluorophores are widely implemented in nonlinear microscopy; however, few existing membrane-specific probes combine the high brightness of two-photon excited fluorescence (2PEF) with pH sensitivity. Herein we describe four novel two-photon excited fluorophores, based on a coumarin 151 core structure, where lipophilicity is induced by a covalently attached phosphazene moiety. Changing the environmental acidity using trifluoromethanesulfonic (triflic) acid leads to profound changes in the linear fluorescence and 2PEF characteristics, due to chromophores’ switching between neutral- and protonated forms. We characterize this dependence by measuring the two-photon absorption (2PA) spectra over the region λ_2PA=550–1000 nm, observing 2PA cross sections of σ_2PA=10–20 GM, with an associated 2PEF brightness of 10–13 GM, in neutral solutions of both acetonitrile and n-octanol. Although quantum chemical modelling and NMR measurements show that, at high chromophore concentrations, protonation may be accompanied by a dimerization process, these dimers likely do not form at the lower concentrations used in optical spectroscopy.     

High critical currents for dendrite penetration and voiding in potassium metal anode solid-state batteries

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Potassium metal anode solid-state cells with a K-beta”-alumina ceramic electrolyte are found to have relatively high critical currents for dendrite...     

Comparison of the high-aperture Bessel and Gaussian beams

The diffraction broadening of the high-aperture freely propagating (vector) Bessel and Gaussian beams is considered. The dependences of the degree of transverse concentration of light in such beams on their axial and radial coordinates are obtained. It is shown that if the initial degree of the transverse localization of total power of these beams is the same, the diffraction broadening of a Gaussian beam is smaller than that of a Bessel beam, and the only advantage of the latter is the specific radial distribution of the field amplitude.     

Photoelastic determination of stresses in multiple-pin connectors

The design, fabrication, and testing of photoelastic models of double-lap, multiple-pin connectors are discussed. Interest is in the stresses in the inner laps. These stresses are determined by constructing models with photoelastic inner laps and transparent-acrylic outer laps. The connectors have two pins, in tandem, parallel to the load direction. A photoelastic-isotropic point is shown to permit the evaluation of load sharing between the two pins. A numerical scheme, utilizing the isochromatic- and isoclinic-photoelastic data and a finite-difference representation of the planestress equilibrium equations, is used to compute the stresses around the two pins. Representative stress distributions and stress-concentration factors are shown.     

Reflection characterization of anisotropic ultrathin dielectric films on absorbing isotropic substrates

The reflection of linearly polarized light from an ultrathin anisotropic dielectric film on isotropic absorbing substrate is investigated analytically in the long-wavelength limit. All analytical results are correlated with the numerical solution of the anisotropic reflection problem on the basis of rigorous electromagnetic theory. Simple analytical approach developed in this work not only gives a physical insight into the reflection problem but also provides a way of estimating the necessary experimental accuracy for optical diagnostics by reflection characteristics. It is shown that obtained expressions are of immediate interest for determining the parameters of anisotropic surface layers. Innovative possibilities for optical diagnostics of anisotropic properties of ultrathin dielectric layers upon absorbing materials are discussed.