Ions and atoms in superfluid helium (4He)

We review the previous conclusion [J.Y. Ryu, Y.C. Chung and S.D. Choi, Phys. Rev. B 32, 7769 (1984)] that the trace property Tr(ABC) = Tr(CAB) leads to two different cyclotron transition absorption formulae in the electron-phonon systems in the lowest order approximation. The pictorial expression and the calculated linewidths in Ge and Si show that the socalled EWC scheme is more seeming than the socalled MWC scheme. The difference is expected to disappear if we take into account all the higher order perturbation terms or start with the many body formalism in the complete scheme.     

Global solvability of the Cauchy-Dirichlet problem for nondiagonal parabolic systems with variational structure in the case of two spatial variables

The Cauchy-Dirichlet problem for quasilinear parabolic systems of second-order equations is considered in the case of two spatial variables. Under the condition that the corresponding elliptic operator has variational structure, the global in time solvability is established. The solution is smooth almost everywhere and the number of singular points is finite. Sufficient conditions that guarantee the absence of singular points are given. Bibliography: 23 titles. Translated fromProblemy Matematicheskogo Analiza No. 16, 1997, pp. 3–40.     

Exciton molecules and exciton liquids in semiconductors

Excitons in many-valley semiconductors form molecules consisting of four and more excitons. The degeneracy factor g of the conduction band in germanium is 8, and in silicon g=12. As in acceptors, the hole ground state in excitons is fourfold degenerate. The same is valid for exciton molecules, because they are quantum objects with spherical symmetry. The exciton binding energy in molecules is close to that in exciton-liquid droplets. Experimental evidence is considered for the existence, besides biexcitons, of stable exciton molecules consisting of three and four, and, possibly, 11 and 12 excitons. Molecules containing from five to ten excitons are apparently unstable. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 929–931 (May 1998)     

Hydrogel composition based on carboxymethylcellulose and agar-agar

The results are given of a study of the rheological properties of concentrated solutions of CNC and agar-agar and the influence of their quantitative ratio on the anomalous flow behavior of their solutions. A hypothesis is put forward of the formation of intermolecular associates from CMC and agar-agar which leads to the formation of a stronger structural network of solutions of the initial polysaccharides.Institute of the Physics and Chemistry of Polymers, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, fax (371) 1 44 26 61. Translated from Khimiya Prirodnykh Soedinenii, No. 3, pp. 357–361, May–June, 1998.     

Modeling of heat transfer in a melt in growing single crystals by the stockbarger method using the accelerated crucible rotation technique (ACRT)

In model experiments, the layer of melt bounded by the crystallization front and the heater for heating the diaphragm in a growing furnace is shown to determine crystal growth by the Stockbarger method under conditions of induced convection and also to control the crystallization process. The free volume of the melt exerts no effect on its hydrodynamic and thermal structures. Optimum values of the exposure time are estimated for constant maximum and minimum velocities of modulated rotation of the growing ampoule. Institute of Mineralogy and Petrography, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 98–104, January–February, 1998.     

Gas transport through homogeneous and asymmetric polyethersulfone membranes

Both homogeneous and asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were prepared by solvent casting. The sorption and permeation behavior of CO₂, O₂, and N₂ using these two kinds of cast PES membranes and commercially available homogeneous PES film was investigated to extract the pressure dependence of gas permeability and the permselectivity for CO₂ relative to N₂, and to confirm the validity of the working assumption that a skin layer in an asymmetric membrane can be essentially replaced by a thick homogeneous dense membrane. The pressure dependence of the mean permeability coefficient to CO₂ in homogeneous membranes obeys the dual-mode mobility model. The ideal separation factor for CO₂ relative to N₂ at an upstream pressure of 0.5 MPa attains ca. 40, while the permeability to CO₂ is about 2.7 Barrer at the same upstream pressure. The same separation factor in asymmetric membranes amounts to 35. The diffusion behavior for the skin layer in an asymmetric membrane with a thin skin layer can be simulated approximately by that in a homogeneous dense membrane. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.