Mössbauer studies on the series La1-xSrxFeO3

Mössbauer spectra have been recorded at 4.2 and 300 K on the series La_1–x Sr _x FeO₃, wherex varies from 0 to 1.0 in steps of 0.1. Neutron diffraction experiments have shown that the crystal structure is orthorhombic for 0x<0.3, rhombohedral for 0.4x0.7, and cubic for 0.8<x1.0. Mössbauer spectra at 4.2 K are composed of magnetic sextet components arising from different charge states of iron ions. In the orthorhombic and rhombohedral phases, the charge states Fe³⁺ and Fe⁵⁺ coexist. In the cubic phase, iron is present as Fe³⁺ and Fe⁴⁺ states. At 300 K, the samples are magnetically ordered in the range 0 x0.3 and the coexistence of Fe³⁺ and Fe⁵⁺ remains. For samples 0.4x1.0, the samples are paramagnetic. Fits to these spectra require two components, one corresponding to an Fe⁴⁺ state, the other being best described as an Fe³⁺ ion forx0.7 but forx>0.7 having a mean charge state which increases to 3.5 forx=1.0.     

Evaluation of electric hyperfine interactions inAuFe andCrFe

A detailed analysis of room temperature⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectra ofAuFe (5 at.% Fe) andCrFe (5, 10 at.% Fe) samples is presented. The deviation from Lorentzian line shape observed in the spectra indicates both thickness effects and structural disorder in these systems. The thickness effect has been taken into account using a new fitting technique that solves the transmission integral numerically rather than relying on the thin absorber approximation. The present results and analyses using both the thin absorber approximation and the full transmission integral methods on these alloy systems are compared with earlier results obtained on these alloy systems using only the thin absorber approximation.     

High-resolution laser spectroscopy on H2 at 97–98 nm

A narrowband tunable eXtreme UltraViolet (XUV) laser source is used for a high resolution study of the Lyman (B ¹ _u ⁺ X ¹ _g ⁺ ) band system of molecular hydrogen. Seven rotational transitions of two vibrational bands, (10,0) and (11,0), in the wavelength range from 97.2–98.3 nm have been investigated for the first time under sub-Doppler molecular beam conditions. A calibration procedure using the I₂ standard in the visible yielded an absolute frequency accuracy of 0.02 cm^–1. The obtained H₂ transition frequencies provide a calibration standard in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength region.     

From oscillations to excitability: A case study in spatially extended systems

This volume is devoted to the presentation of the main contributions to the workshop "From oscillations to excitability: A case study in spatially extended systems," organized by the authors in Nice in June 1993. It gives an overview of the current research on spatiotemporal patterns in a wide range of systems that display self-oscillatory or excitable behavior. It tries to give a better understanding of the transition from the oscillatory to the excitable regime and of its effect on the properties of spiral waves, and to fill the gap between the theories and concepts used to describe both regimes in the so-called "active media."     

Germination, growth rates, and electron microscope analysis of tomato seeds flown on the LDEF

The purpose of the experiment was to determine cosmic rays long-term effects on living tissue. A batch of tomato seeds were flown in orbit aboard the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) for almost 6 y. During this time, the seeds received an abundant exposure to cosmic radiation. Upon the return of the LDEF to Earth, the seeds were distributed throughout the United States and 30 foreign countries for analysis. Our university analysis included germination and growth rates as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray analysis of the control as well as space exposed tomato seeds.

In analyzing the seeds under the electron microscope, usual observations were performed on the nutritional and epidermis layer of the seed. These layers appeared to be more porous in the space exposed seeds than on Earth-based control seeds. This unusual characteristic may explain the increases in the space seeds growth pattern. (Several test results showed that the space-exposed seeds germinated sooner than Earth-based seeds. Also, the space-exposed seeds grew at a faster rate.) The porous nutritional region may allow the seeds to receive necessary nutrients and liquids more readily, thus enabling the plant to grow at a faster rate.

Roots, leaves and stems were cut into small sections and mounted. After sputter coating the specimens with argon/gold palladium plasma, they were viewed under the electron microscope. Many micrographs were taken. The X-ray analysis displayed possible identifications of calcium, potassium, chlorine, copper, aluminum, silicon, phosphate, carbon, and sometimes sulfur and iron. The highest concentrations were shown in potassium and calcium. As a result of the electron interaction and X-ray production within the open seeds, the traditional layers of the space-exposed seed gave peaks of Mg, P and S, while the Earth seed gave an iron peak, which was not detected in the space-exposed seed because of electron beam positioning difference. The space-exposed seed and the Earth-control seed specimens displayed high concentrations of copper.     

Atmospheric radioactive isotopes at orbital altitudes

The radioactive isotope ⁷Be was discovered on the forward-facing side of the LDEF satellite in amounts far exceeding that expected from direct cosmic ray activation of the spacecraft material. This prompted an examination of the production of cosmogenic isotopes in the atmosphere and of the processes by which they may be transported to orbital altitudes and absorbed by a spacecraft. ⁷Be is only one of several atmospheric cosmogenic isotopes that might be detectable at orbital altitudes and that might prove to be as useful as tracers of atmosphere ciculation processes in the mesosphre and thermosphere as they have been in the lower layers of the atmosphere.     

Laser nitriding of iron: Influence of the laser parameters on the nitriding efficiency

Laser nitriding of Armco iron in nitrogen was studied for KrF-excimer-laser irradiation. The influence of the energy density and number of pulses on the nitrogen take-up and the nitride phases formed was investigated using Resonant Nuclear Reaction Analysis (RNRA) and Mössbauer spectroscopy. Besides the original a-iron, austenite-Fe(N), martensite-Fe(N),-Fe₂₊N, and-Fe₁₆N₂ were identified. The fraction of the e-phase was found to increase with the number of pulses and the energy density. A threshold energy density of 1.8(2) J/cm² for the laser nitriding process was found.     

Topologically nontrivial field configurations in noncommutative geometry

In the framework of noncommutative geometry we describe spinor fields with nonvanishing winding number on a truncated (fuzzy) sphere. The corresponding field theory actions conserve all basic symmetries of the standard commutative version (space isometries and global chiral symmetry), but due to the noncommutativity of the space the fields are regularized and they contain only a finite number of modes.Part of the Project P8916-PHY of the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung in Österreich.     

Meyer's concept of quasicrystal and quasiregular sets

This paper relates two mathematical concepts of long-range order of a set of atoms , each of which is based on restrictions on the set of interatomic distances –. A set in ⁿ is aMeyer set if is a Delone set and there is a finite setF such that . Meyer proposed that such sets include the possible structures of quasicrystals. He obtained a structure theory for such sets, which reformulates results that he obtained in harmonic analysis around 1970, and which relates these sets to cut-and-project sets. In geometric crystallography V.I. Galiulin introduced the concept ofquasiregular set, which is a set such that both and – are Delone sets. This paper shows that these two concepts are identical.     

Percolation techniques in disordered spin flip dynamics: Relation to the unique invariant measure

We consider lattice spin systems with short range but random and unbounded interactions. We give criteria for ergodicity of spin flip dynamics and estimate the speed of convergence to the unique invariant measure. We find for this convergence a stretched exponential in time for a class of directed dynamics (such as in the disordered Toom or Stavskaya model). For the general case, we show that the relaxation is faster than any power in time. No assumptions of reversibility are made. The methods are based on relating the problem to an oriented percolation problem (contact process) and (for the general case) using a slightly modified version of the multiscale analysis of e.g. Klein (1993).