Nonequilibrium Ionization by Vibrationally Excited Molecules in Supersonic Flows

The results of experimental investigations on thermal nonequilibrium ionization in CO₂: N₂: He mixtures are presented. Measurements of electron density, n_e, in vibrationally excited nitrogen were made in a supersonic flow with different CO₂ contents as well as in a CO₂: N₂: He = 1 : 5 : 4 mixture laser gas. The mixtures were heated in a shock tube and expanded through a supersonic nozzle. Furthermore, supersonic mixing of N₂ and CO₂ + He was used in some experiments. The measured values of n_e in the plenum chamber and in the supersonic nozzle are reported, and the processes responsible for nonequilibrium ionization in a laser-active medium are discussed.     

Restrictions of Quadratic Forms to Lagrangian Planes,Quadratic Matrix Equations,and Gyroscopic Stabilization

We discuss the symplectic geometry of linear Hamiltonian systems with nondegenerate Hamiltonians. These systems can be reduced to linear second-order differential equations characteristic of linear oscillation theory. This reduction is related to the problem on the signatures of restrictions of quadratic forms to Lagrangian planes. We study vortex symplectic planes invariant with respect to linear Hamiltonian systems. These planes are determined by the solutions of quadratic matrix equations of a special form. New conditions for gyroscopic stabilization are found.     

Explicit Formulas for Generalized Action–Angle Variables in a Neighborhood of an Isotropic Torus and Their Application

Different versions of the Darboux–Weinstein theorem guarantee the existence of action–angle-type variables and the harmonic-oscillator variables in a neighborhood of isotropic tori in the phase space. The procedure for constructing these variables is reduced to solving a rather complicated system of partial differential equations. We show that this system can be integrated in quadratures, which permits reducing the problem of constructing these variables to solving a system of quadratic equations. We discuss several applications of this purely geometric fact in problems of classical and quantum mechanics.