Existence regions of regimes with anomalously high rates of plasma generation in grid plasma switch elements

Results are presented from a systematic investigation of the conditions under which anomalously high rates of plasma generation are observed in the anode region of a low-voltage Knudsen arc in grid plasma switch elements. The phenomenon develops over a wide range of currents and switched voltages under conditions for which the plasma density in the cathode-grid region is noticeably higher than the density in the anode region. and its onset is characterized by a pronounced pressure threshold of ∼2×10⁻² Torr. The results are analyzed from the standpoint of the possible mechanisms for anomalous plasma generation — collisional nonresonance diffusion of electrons in velocity space, leading to enrichment of the distribution function in fast particles, and the collapse of Langmuir waves in the gap at the high energies of the beam produced when the wires of the grid are bridged by the quenching pulse and and the current is blocked. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 15–21 (June 1997)     

Electron-stimulated desorption of potassium and cesium atoms from an oxidized molybdenum surface

The yield and energy distributions of potassium and cesium atoms emitted in electron-stimulated desorption (ESD) from a molybdenum surface, oxidized to different extent and maintained at 300 K, have been measured by the time-of-flight technique with a surface ionization detector. The ESD threshold for potassium and cesium atoms lies around 25 eV, irrespective of molybdenum oxidation state. In the case of molybdenum coated by an oxygen monolayer, secondary thresholds at ∼40 and ∼70 eV have been observed, as well as atomic energy distribution tailing down to very low energies. The most probable kinetic energies of the atoms are a few tenths of one eV. The results are explained within a model involving Auger neutralization of the adsorbed alkali metal ions after the filling of the 2s O, 4s Mo, and 4p Mo core holes. The possibility of ESD of a neutral species as a result of oxide-cation core-level ionization has been demonstrated for the first time. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 758–761 (April 1997)     

Structure studies on porous titanium nickelide made by high-temperature self-propagating synthesis

Structure studies are reported on martensite transformations in porous TiNi alloy made by high-temperatures self-propagating synthesis. The transformations occur over a large temperature range and are incomplete. The structure data are used in reconstructing the heat release during the transition, where it is shown that it is determined by the superposition of martensite transformations occurring locally at various temperatures. Tomsk State Architectural and Building Academy. Kuznetsov Siberian Technical Physics Institute, Tomsk State University. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 20–24, January, 1997.     

Optical corrosion meter

In a previous study, a mathematical model relating surface and bulk behaviours of metals in aqueous solution has been developed. The model was established based on principles of holographic interferometry for measuring microsurface dissolution, i.e. mass loss, and on those of electrochemistry for measuring the bulk electronic current, i.e. corrosion current. In the present work, an optical corrosion meter was built based on the above model. The corrosion meter consists of an electrochemical cell in which the sample is immersed in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the corrosion meter has a holographic camera with a thermoplastic film for in situ processing of holograms in order to obtain real-time holographic interferoms of the sample in the electrochemical cell. Results of the present work indicate that optical holography is a very useful technique for measuring the corrosion current density of different alloys in aqueous solutions. As a result, the corrosion current density of aluminium, stainless steel, and low-carbon steel in 1 M KCl, 1 M NaCl, and 1 M NaOH solutions were obtained. A comparison between the corrosion data of samples showed that the corrosion current density of the stainless steel in 1 M NaCl is nearly three-folds higher than that of the aluminium in 1 M KCl and the low-carbon steel in 1 M NaOH.     

Excitation of metal spectra in combined glow discharge

Consideration is given to the special features of the excitation of spectra of metals (Ag, Au, Fe, Hg, Pt, and Sb) that manifest themselves in investigating spectral sources with combined glow discharge (glow discharge and capillary discharge). It is established that the proposed method for introducing a substance into a plasma makes it possible to realize two fundamentally different regimes: without evaporation and with complete evaporation and matrix atomization. It is shown that a spectral source of combined glow discharge with a nonequilibrium plasma has significant advantages for the most important analytical characteristics over quasi-equilibrium combined discharge at atmospheric pressure. The gold and platinum sensitivity in combined glow discharge is 10⁻⁷%, and the reproducibility of spectral determinations is 0.001–0.100, depending on the measurement range. A fractional separation of elements that makes it possible to analyze the phase composition of substances, particularly metals, with high sensitivity is revealed in glow discharge. Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 64, No. 2, pp. 143–147, March–April, 1997.     

Universal elementary constituents of potential transformations shifting waves (qualitative theory)

It is shown that the potential perturbation that shifts a chosen standing wave in space is a block of potential barrier and well for every wave bump between neighbouring knots. The algorithms shifting the range of the primary localization of a chosen bound state in a potential well of finite width are as well applicable to the scattering functions if states of the continuous spectrum are considered as bound states normalized to unity but distributed on an infinite interval with vanishing density. The potential perturbations of the same type on the half-axis concentrate the scattering wave at the origin, thus creating a bound state embedded into the continuous spectrum (zero width resonance).     

New critical dimensions forq-deformed bosonic string

Applying the mass shell condition forq-deformed open and closed strings, new critical space-time dimensions are derived. Supported by the Algerian Ministry of High Education and Research under contract N^oD2501/17/01/93. Permanent address.     

Generation of mesoscopic magnetic structures by local laser action

New effects are observed wherein the internal structure of the domain walls in a thin magnetic iron garnet film are modified by the action of focused laser radiation. A single laser pulse with increasing power gives rise to the following: 1) displacement of vertical Bloch lines in a domain wall; 2) generation of a pair of vertical Bloch lines on initially line-free walls; and, 3) an irreversible change in shape of a domain wall and the domain structure as a whole. The mechanism leading to the generation and displacement of Bloch lines is connected with the motion of domain walls which is induced by a local change in the distribution of demagnetizing fields as a result of a heating-induced decrease of the magnetization in the focal spot of the laser radiation. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 6, 398–402 (25 September 1997)     

Self-energy correction to the hyperfine splitting of the 1 s and 2 s states in hydrogenlike ions

The one-loop self-energy correction to the hyperfine splitting of the 1 s and 2 s states of hydrogenlike ions is calculated for both point and finite nuclei. The results of the calculation are combined with other corrections to find the ground state hyperfine splitting in lithiumlike ²⁰⁹Bi⁸⁰⁺ and ¹⁶⁵Ho⁶⁴⁺. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 1, 19–22 (10 July 1997) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Edited by Steve Torstveit.     

New Classes of Toda Soliton Solutions

We provide a detailed investigation of limits of N–soliton solutions of the Toda lattice as N tends to infinity. Our principal results yield new classes of Toda solutions including, in particular, new kinds of soliton–like (i.e., reflectionless) solutions. As a byproduct we solve an inverse spectral problem for one–dimensional Jacobi operators and explicitly construct tri–diagonal matrices that yield a purely absolutely continuous spectrum in (-1,1) and give rise to an eigenvalue spectrum that includes any prescribed countable and bounded subset of . Received: 16 October 1995/Accepted: 23 July 1996