A Study of premixed propagating flame vortex interaction

Experimental data is presented for the interaction between a propagating flame and a simple vortex flow field structure generated in the wake of solid obstacles. The interaction between gas movement and obstacles creates vortex shedding forming a simple flow field recirculation. The presence of the simple turbulent structure within the gas mixture curls the flame front increasing curvature and enhancing burning rate. A novel twin camera Particle Image Velocimetry, PIV, was employed to characterise the flow field recirculation and the interaction with the flame front. The technique allowed the quantification of the flame/vortex interaction. The twin camera technique provides data to define the spatial variation of both the velocity of the flow field and flame front. Experimentally obtained values of local flame displacement speed and flame stretch rate are presented for simple flame/vortex interactions.     

Cosmic γ-ray bursts: Observations and modeling

It is now commonly accepted that cosmic γ-ray bursts (GRBs) are of cosmological origin. This conclusion is based on the statistical analysis of GRBs and the measurements of line redshifts in GRB optical afterglows, i.e., in the so-called long GRBs. In this review, the models of radiation and models of GRB sources are considered. In most of these models, if not in all of them, the isotropic radiation cannot provide the energy release necessary for the appearance of a cosmological GRB. No correlation is noted between the redshift, the GRB-spectrum shape, and the total detected energy. The comparison between data obtained in the Soviet experiment KONUS and the American experiment BATSE shows that they substantially differ in statistical properties and the detection of hard x-ray lines. The investigation of hard gamma (0.1–10 GeV) afterglows, the measurement of prompt optical spectra during the GRB detection, and the further investigation of hard x-ray lines is of obvious importance for gaining insight into the GRB origin. Observations of two bright optical GRB afterglows point to the fact that an initially bright optical flare is directly related to the GRB itself, and the subsequent weak and much more continuous optical radiation is of a different nature. The results of observations of optical GRB afterglows are discussed. They point to the fact that the GRBs originate in distant galaxies with a high matter density, where intense star formation takes place. The interaction of the cosmological GRB radiation with a dense surrounding molecular cloud results in the appearance of long-duration (up to 10 years) weak optical afterglows associated with the heating and reradiation of gas. Results of 2D numerical simulation of the heating and reradiation of gas in various variants of the relative disposition of GRB and molecular clouds are presented. In conclusion, the possible relation between the so-called short GRBs and recurrent sources of soft γ rays in our Galaxy, the so-called “soft gamma repeaters,” is discussed.     

Nonstoichiometry and low-temperature magnetic properties of FeSi crystals

The results of experimental and theoretical studies of the low-temperature properties of FeSi crystals are presented. The specific features of the magnetic susceptibility are shown to be related to the superparamagnetic behavior of impurity clusters. The thermomagnetic hysteresis phenomena observed are explained using the model of exchange-coupled clusters.     

Use of random numbers in computer simulation of magnetic resonance signals

The proton magnetic resonance spectra of water molecules diffusing over regular sites in natrolite are numerically simulated. Experimental data and the results of simulation are found to be in good agreement in a wide temperature interval including the transition range, where the magnetic resonance spectrum is a superposition of a wide unaveraged spectrum and a spectrum averaged by the motion of molecules. The simulation uses generators of pseudorandom-number Markovian sequences. For a binary Markovian process, it is shown, in particular, that the time within which a physical quantity remains constant is described by an exponentially distributed random number.     

A fractal model of reinforcement of elastoplastic nanocomposites

Within the framework of fractal analysis and percolation theory, an alternative model of reinforcement of filled polymers is offered. Practically, this model can be used only to describe the reinforcement of nanocomposites, because, according to the treatment considered, a pronounced reinforcement can be reached only at ratios of filler particle diameter to the statistical segment length of about 10 and less. A theoretical calculation showed a good qualitative and quantitative agreement with experiments. The type of reinforcement mechanism of composites is determined by the type of the space (fractal or Euclidean) in which the structure of the polymeric matrix is formed. __________ Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 797–802, November–Decem ber, 2006.     

146Ce核的八级形变带和准γ带

通过测量²⁵²Cf自发裂变所产生的瞬发γ射线, 对¹⁴⁶Ce核的高自旋结构进行了重新研究, 结果更新了以前报道的能级纲图, 把八级形变集体带扩展到更高的自旋, 并且重新构建了可能的准γ带结构. 此外, 用反射不对称壳模型(RASM)对¹⁴⁶Ce核的八级形变带进行了计算, 低自旋处的计算结果与实验数据符合得很好.     

Quadrupole interactions at 57Fe and 119Sn in 3d-metal antimonides

3d-metal antimonides: Fe_1+x Sb, N_+x Sb, Co_+x Sb and the (Ni_1?y Fe _y )Sb solid solution have been studied by the Mössbauer effect method at ⁵⁷Fe and ¹¹⁹Sn. It was found that the quadrupole interactions at the Fe and Sn nucleus in 3d-metal antimonides are very sensitive to the filling of different crystallographic sites with metal atoms. The metal atoms in trigonal-bipyramidal sites have a strong effect on the quadrupole splitting of ¹¹⁹Sn. They are nearest to anions (Sb or Sn) with the typical axial ratio of c/a = 1.25. The QS(x) dependence of ¹¹⁹ Sn in 3d-metal antimonides in the 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1 concentration range can be used to determine x – the concentration of transition metal excess relative to the stoichiometric composition.     

Influence of the counterion size on swelling and collapse of polyelectrolyte gel

A theory that predicts the effect of the counterion size on the swelling and collapse of a weakly charged polyelectrolyte gel was developed. In addition to excluded-volume interactions between monomer units of the gel, the theory involves the counterion-monomer unit and counterion-counterion interactions in terms of the virial approximation. The character of interactions between different units in the system varies from repulsion to attraction depending on the type of solvent, counterion, and dielectric permittivity of the solvent. For solvents with a low permittivity, the effect of condensation of counterions resulting in the formation of ion pairs is taken into account.     

Elektrische Charakterisierung von Hochfrequenz-Niederdruck-Gasentladungen

In recent years there has emerged significant interest in low pressure radio frequency (rf) glow discharges which are used widely particulary in IC fabrication. Various parameters of the rf glow discharge have been found to be useful for its electrical characterization; however, there is no uniformity and agreement. Extensive experimental investigations on various discharge systems have shown, that the self-bias on the rf driven electrode, the complex conductivity and the breakdown characteristic are preferable parameters of rf discharges. Advantageously the self-bias and the complex conductivity should be presented in dependence on the pressure and the applied rf voltage. The discharge current cannot be measured quite accurately due to currents via leaky capacitors and the deviations from a sinusoidal form of the current due to nonlinearities.     

Euler configurations and quasi-polynomial systems

Consider the problem of three point vortices (also called Helmholtz’ vortices) on a plane, with arbitrarily given vorticities. The interaction between vortices is proportional to 1/r, where r is the distance between two vortices. The problem has 2 equilateral and at most 3 collinear normalized relative equilibria. This 3 is the optimal upper bound. Our main result is that the above standard statements remain unchanged if we consider an interaction proportional to r ^b, for any b < 0. For 0 < b < 1, the optimal upper bound becomes 5. For positive vorticities and any b < 1, there are exactly 3 collinear normalized relative equilibria. The case b = −2 of this last statement is the well-known theorem due to Euler: in the Newtonian 3-body problem, for any choice of the 3 masses, there are 3 Euler configurations (also known as the 3 Euler points). These small upper bounds strengthen the belief of Kushnirenko and Khovanskii [18]: real varieties defined by simple systems should have a simple topology. We indicate some hard conjectures about the configurations of relative equilibrium and suggest they could be attacked within the quasi-polynomial framework.