Search for the emission of π<Superscript>0</Superscript> mesons from the neutron-induced fission of <Superscript>235</Superscript>U nuclei

A nuclear-reactor experiment on the search for the emission of neutral pions from the neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U nuclei has been carried out. To this end, an experimental setup for searching for the emission of π⁰ mesons with high sensitivity to this process has been designed and produced. This setup consisted of two Cherenkov total-absorption spectrometers for the detection and measurements of the energy of two gamma-ray photons from π ⁰-meson decay. The spectrometers were placed at the exits of two coaxial horizontal experimental channels. To protect the detectors from low-energy β and γ rays and neutron fluxes, 3.5-m-long water filters were situated in the channels. To reject the cosmic background, large-area scintillation counters operating in the anticoincidence mode were placed over each spectrometer. The energy and time resolution of the spectrometers, as well as the efficiency of detecting charged particles by scintillation counters, were tested on the secondary electron beam of the Tomsk electron synchrotron Sirius. Runs of measurements of the effect on the operating reactor (duration of 805 h) were alternated with runs of measurements of background on the stopped reactor (duration of 403 h). Statistical processing of the experimental results yields an upper limit of ≤5.3×10 ^?12 with a 90% confidence level for the probability of the emission of neutral pions from the neutron-induced fission of ²³⁵U nuclei. This result and results of other works carried out with sources of spontaneously fissioning ²⁵²Cf nuclei show that the probabilities of the emission of π⁰ mesons from spontaneous fission and fission induced by fission-spectrum neutrons are equal to each other.     

First-principles calculations of the hyperfine fields on ligands in fluorides

In solid-state physics, a crystal lattice is frequently approximated by an array of interacting ions. In this case, the wave functions of individual ions are assumed to be a fairly good zeroth approximation in calculating the matrix elements of the interaction Hamiltonian of electrons and nuclei of the lattice from first principles. Use of the second-quantization method is proposed for such calculations in the basis of these functions. As an example, the electron transition amplitude from a ligand to the central ion is estimated. The results agree well with the experimental data.     

A double acousto-optic monochromator for the uv region with improved optical characteristics based on a KDP single crystal

A double monochromator is developed and manufactured on the basis of an acousto-optic filter made of a potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) single crystal. The device has an operating range of 260–540 nm and improved optical characteristics: high aperture ratio (an angular aperture of 2° and a linear aperture of 6.5x15 mm), high polarization contrast (～10⁸), and low level of transmission sidelobes (～10³). The spectral resolution of the monochromator at the edges of the operating range is 0.5 and 3 nm, respectively. The control frequency band is 60–150 MHz. Experimentally, it is shown that, for sound beams with equivalent geometric parameters, the diffraction efficiency provided by the KDP-based acousto-optic filter is an order of magnitude higher than that obtained with a noncollinear acousto-optic filter fabricated on the basis of crystalline quartz.     

A two dimensional, experimental study on the evolution of the detachment and its time-behavior in filled rubber

Summary The detachment of a rubber matrix from a rigid inclusion under monotonic loading and at subsequent relaxation is investigated within two dimensional analysis. Examined are stress–strain experimental data acquired with the help of a test bed equipped with a digital image-acquisition device. The influence of the interfacial bonding strength and the particle size on the detachment process is analyzed. The influence of the interfacial bonding strength is visible in the stress–strain diagram of loading and in the recorded images. The relaxation test reveals no influence of the bonding strength on the stress-relaxation. However, the image analysis indicates a secondary transient creep of the contour of detachment, which depends on the interfacial bonding.     

Including virtual photons in strong interactions

In the perturbative field-theoretical models we investigate the inclusion of the electromagnetic interactions into the purely strong theory that describes hadronic processes. In particular, we study the convention for splitting electromagnetic and strong interactions and the ambiguity of such a splitting. The issue of the interpretation of the parameters of the low-energy effective field theory in the presence of electromagnetic interactions is addressed, as well as the scale and gauge dependence of the effective theory couplings. We hope, that the results of these studies are relevant for the electromagnetic sector of ChPT.Received: 30 September 2002, Published online: 22 October 2003PACS: 13.40.Ks Electromagnetic corrections to strong- and weak-interaction processes - 13.40.Dk Electromagnetic mass differences - 11.30.Rd Chiral symmetries - 11.10.Hi Renormalization group evolution of parameters     

Inhomogeneous states of a thin-film incommensurate ferroelectric

Nonuniform distributions of the order parameter in a film of an incommensurate ferroelectric whose free energy expansion does not contain Lifshitz invariants are considered. An equation describing the order parameter distribution over the film thickness is derived in the approximation of slowly varying amplitudes. The effect of film thickness and surface properties on the temperature of transition to the incommensurate phase is analyzed.     

Application of the high-gain substrate-superstrate configuration to dielectric leaky-wave antennas

The high-gain substrate-superstrate configuration, which was proposed to increase the gain in printed circuit antennas, is applied to dielectric leaky-wave antennas (LWAs) to improve its frequency response. Analysis of a slitted suspended dielectric rectangular waveguide is carried out using a full-wave method. It is proved that the minimum values of the leakage constant of the leaky-wave mode for the suspended configuration are related to the high-gain resonance conditions. Moreover, it is found that the suspended LWA exhibits very small beamwidth variations in a large frequency bandwidth. It is well-known that inhomogeneous filled LWAs suffer from variation of beamwidth as the angle of maximum radiation is scanned with frequency. The proposed topology can be adjusted so that a flat response of the beamwidth can be obtained in a large frequency band, while maintaining the frequency-scanning behavior of the LWA.