Vibrational Population of Hydrogen Molecules Excited by an RF Discharge in an Expanding Thermal Arc Plasma as Determined by Emission Spectroscopy

This work is devoted to the determination of the vibrational population of hydrogen molecules in the ground and excited electronic states from the analysis of visible spectra of the H₂ molecules excited by an RF discharge in an expanding thermal arc plasma. Comparison of the experimental results on relative electron-impact excitation cross sections for the transition H₂(X¹Σ, υ⁰ = 0)→ H₂(d³II_u, υ′) with other experiments, and with calculations based on the Franck-Condon principle, shows good agreement. This means, that for plasma under investigation: 1) in the ground electronic state H₂(d³II_u,υ′), only the lowest vibrational level with υ⁰ = 0 is significantly populated, and 2) direct electron exictation of H₂(d³II_u, υ′, υ′) state from the ground state H₂(X¹Σ, υ⁰ = 0) dominates.     

CW diode pumping and FM mode locking of a Nd: KGW laser

We have demonstrated cw diode end pumping of Nd: KGW, a novel solid-state gain medium, with up to 30% conversion efficiency into near-TEM₀₀ (M² < 1.05) output at = 1.067 µm for a pump level of 2.7 W. The slope efficiency was limited by intracavity reflections to 36%; however, direct comparison to a similar Nd:YAG laser indicates the same intrinsic slope efficiency of 60%. FM mode locking of this laser at 200 MHz has produced 12 ps pulses (compared to 16 ps for Nd: YAG), although an intracavity etalon was required. Considerable reduction in pulse width is possible (the line width limit is 0.5 ps) but different techniques may be necessary. Spatial hole burning was evident in both the 120 GHz free-running spectrum and the etalon-limited mode-locked spectrum.     

The nonlinear decay of complex signals in dissipative media

The solution of Burgers' equation with random initial conditions is often said to describe "Burgers turbulence." The Burgers equation describes two fundamental effects characteristic of any turbulence-the nonlinear transfer of energy over the spectrum and the dissipation of energy in the small-scale components. Strong interaction between coherent harmonics, associated with the nondispersive nature of the dynamics, leads to the appearance of local self-similar structure. In Burgers' equation, continuous random initial fields are transformed into sequences of regions with regular behavior, with random locations of the shocks separating them. Moreover, the statistical properties of such random fields are also self-similar. It is already known that the merging of the shocks leads to an increase of the external scale of the turbulence, and because of this the energy of a random signal ("noise") decreases more slowly than the energy of simple signals. Here we show that similar behavior takes place for complex regular signals with fractal structure in the coordinate or in the wave-number space. In all these cases, the law of increase of the external scale is determined by the behavior of the structure function of the integral of the initial field-i.e., the structure function of the initial action. (c) 1995 American Institute of Physics.     

Synthesis of aromatic derivatives of 1,5-benzodiazepine in the reaction of 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine with chalcone dibromides

The reaction of 4-nitro-o-phenylenediamine with 4-nitro-4-R-chalcone dibromides affords the corresponding -(2-amino-4-nitroanilino)chalcones; x-ray diffraction data indicate that these are the Z-isomers. Experiments have been perfortned to determine the conditions required for cyclization of these compounds into 2, 4-diaryl7(8)-nitro-1, 5-benzodiazepines. In the solid phase or in ethanol solutions, these latter compounds exist primarily in the 3H tautomeric form; but in DMSO solutions, the 1H form predominates.Khar'kov State University, Khar'kov 310077. Institute of Heteroorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117813. Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 7, pp. 950–958, July, 1995. Original article submitted June 30, 1994; revision submitted April 3, 1995.Deceased     

Spectrophotometric determination of ziram (dithiocarbamate fungicide) by thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G method

A sensitive spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of ziram in water, vegetables and grains. The method is based on the dissociation of dithiocarbamate complex of zinc with thiocyanate and rhodamine 6G at pH 4 to form a pink coloured complex that is stabilized by gelatin. The method is simple and Beer's law is obeyed over the concentration range of 0.05-1 ppm of ziram. The method is free from interference of similar dithiocarbamate fungicides containing Mn(2+) and Fe(3+) ions.     

Radionuclide partitioning coefficients in the Sava River ecosystem

The radionuclides⁵⁴Mn,⁶⁰Co,⁹⁰Sr,⁹⁵Nb,⁹⁵Zr,¹⁰³Ru,¹⁰⁶Ru,¹²⁵Sb,¹³¹I,¹³⁴Cs,¹³⁷Cs,¹⁴⁰Ba,¹⁴⁴Ce,²²⁶Ra and²²⁸Ac have been studied in the Sava River environment since the Chernobyl accident in 1986. The measured periphyton concentration ratios (CR) for each radionuclide were correlated with the measured sediment distribution coefficients (K_d) for that radionuclide. The K_d-CR relationships obtained were defined by the equation ln K_d=–0.5 ln CR +7.4. These K_d-CR relationships were assumed to be referable to the Sava River ecosystem and were used to predict the missing soil K_d values and/or the missing CR values for the wide range of radionuclides, respectively. Moreover, the K_d-CR relationship characteristic for the Sava River ecosystem was compared with the K_d-CR relationship proposed by Baes¹ and by Shepard². The characterization of the partition coefficients in the Sava River environment and understanding of the mechanisms affecting radionuclide retardation and bioaccumulation are required for the planning of radioactive waste depositories in the area.     

The development of a versatile field program for measuring tritium in “real-time”

Robust sample handling and liquid scintillation counting (LSC) procedures have been developed to routinely monitor tritium in the field relative to the 20,000 pCi/L drinking water standard. This procedure allows tritium to be monitored hourly during 24 hour drilling operations at depths in the saturated zone potentially contaminated by sub-surface nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site. Using retrofitted, shock hardened, vibration damped counters and strict analytical protocols, tritium may be measured rapidly in the field under hostile conditions. Concentration standards and dead tritium backgrounds are prepared weekly in a central laboratory and delivered to remote drilling locations where they are recounted daily as a check on counter efficiency and calibration. Portable LSC counters are located in trailers and powered off a battery pack and line filter fed by mobile generator. The samples are typically groundwaters mixed with drilling fluids returned after circulation through a drill string. Fluids are aerated and de-foamed, filtered, mixed with scintillation cocktail and dark adapted before counting. Real-time monitoring affords drilling and field personnel early warning against intercepting down-gradient plumes of radioactivity. For routine operations, the tritium activity may not exceed a 10,000 pCi/L threshold.     

The tangent bundle of a Calabi-Yau manifold-deformations and restriction to rational curves

The tangent bundle _X of a Calabi-Yau threefoldX is the only known example of a stable bundle with non-trivial restriction to any rational curve onX. By deforming the direct sum of _X and the trivial line bundle one can try to obtain new examples. We use algebro-geometric techniques to derive results in this direction. The relation to the finiteness of rational curves on Calabi-Yau threefolds is discussed.