Negative-mass instability at nonsymmetrical perturbations

The negative-mass (space-charge) instability is studied within the model of a flat thin electron beam moving along the stationary uniform magnetic field in the case of nonsymmetrical perturbations. It is shown that due to the phenomenon of "phase mixing" of electron bunches the instability increments are small for perturbations with spatial scales smaller than the Larmor diameter.     

Molecular-beam mass spectrometry of van der Waals clusters. Mass spectrum of hydrogen sulfide dimer

Hydrogen sulfide clusters generated by ultrasonic expansion of an H₂S-Ar mixture into a vacuum were detected by electron impact mass spectrometry. The mass spectrum of the dimer, (H₂S)₂, was obtained under conditions of predominant dimerization. A mechanism of the formation of ions that involves intracluster reactions between the fragment ions of the monomer and the monomer molecule has been suggested.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 5, pp. 839–844, May, 1995.The work was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 93-03-4933). The authors are also grateful to the European Environmental Research Organisation (EERO) for support.     

Heat conduction effects during the calorimetric determination of absorbed dose to water in radiotherapy beams

A transportable water calorimeter for the determination of the quantity of absorbed dose to water in radiotherapy beams has been developed at the PTB and is presented in detail in this investigation. Heat conduction effects occurring in the calorimeter are studied for different lateral sizes of high-energy photon beams, for different depth dose distributions of electron beams and for a scanned-beam irradiation with a heavy ion beam. The corresponding correction factors are calculated and arguments are given under which conditions these can adequately be applied.     

Effects of physics change in Monte Carlo code on electron pencil beam dose distributions

Pencil beam algorithms used in computerized electron beam dose planning are usually described using the small angle multiple scattering theory. Alternatively, the pencil beams can be generated by Monte Carlo simulation of electron transport. In a previous work, the 4th version of the Electron Gamma Shower (EGS) Monte Carlo code was used to obtain dose distributions from monoenergetic electron pencil beam, with incident energy between 1 MeV and 50 MeV, interacting at the surface of a large cylindrical homogeneous water phantom. In 2000, a new version of this Monte Carlo code has been made available by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), which includes various improvements in its electron-transport algorithms. In the present work, we were interested to see if the new physics in this version produces pencil beam dose distributions very different from those calculated with oldest one. The purpose of this study is to quantify as well as to understand these differences. We have compared a series of pencil beam dose distributions scored in cylindrical geometry, for electron energies between 1 MeV and 50 MeV calculated with two versions of the Electron Gamma Shower Monte Carlo Code. Data calculated and compared include isodose distributions, radial dose distributions and fractions of energy deposition. Our results for radial dose distributions show agreement within 10% between doses calculated by the two codes for voxels closer to the pencil beam central axis, while the differences are up to 30% for longer distances. For fractions of energy deposition, the results of the EGS4 are in good agreement (within 2%) with those calculated by EGSnrc at shallow depths for all energies, whereas a slightly worse agreement (15%) is observed at deeper distances. These differences may be mainly attributed to the different multiple scattering for electron transport adopted in these two codes and the inclusion of spin effect, which produces an increase of the effective range of electrons.     

A preliminary approach of dynamic identification of slender buildings by neuronal networks

The study of the dynamic behavior of slender masonry structures is usually related to the preservation of the historic heritage. This study, for bell towers and industrial masonry chimneys, is particularly relevant in areas with an important seismic hazard. The analysis of the dynamic behavior of masonry structures is particularly complex due to the multiple effects that can affect the variation of its main frequencies along the seasons of the year: temperature and humidity. Moreover, these dynamic properties also vary considerably in structures built in areas where land subsidence due to the variation of the phreatic level along the year is particularly evident: the stiffness of the soil–structure interaction also varies. This paper presents a study to evaluate the possibility of detecting the variation of groundwater level based on the readings obtained using accelerometers in different positions on the structure. To do this a general case study was considered: a 3D numerical model of a bellower. The variation of the phreatic level was evaluated between 0 and −20 m, and 81 cases studies were developed modifying the rigidity of the soil–structure interaction associated to a position of the phreatic level. To simulate the dispositions of accelerometers on a real construction, 16 points of the numerical model were selected along the structure to obtain modal displacements in two orthogonal directions. Through an adjustment by using neural networks, a good correlation has been observed between the predicted position of the water table and acceleration readings obtained from the numerical model. It is possible to conclude that with a discrete register of accelerations on the tower it is possible to predict the water table depth.     

Relation between Airy beams and triple-cusp beams

Airy beams and triple-cusp beams are two kinds of accelerating beams. The propagation characteristics and internal topological structures of accelerating Airy beams are well understood because of the developed mathematical theory about Airy function. However, limited information is available about the optical characteristics of accelerating triple-cusp beams. In this work, the relationship between Airy beams and triple-cusp beams is examined theoretically and experimentally. Results reveal some important optical characteristics of triple-cusp beams based on the optical characteristics of Airy beams. These findings are expected to provide a foundation for future applications of triple-cusp beams.     

Generation and Propagation of Optical Superoscillatory Vortex Arrays

Superoscillation is an intriguing wave phenomenon which enables subwavelength features propagating into far field and hence has potential applications in super‐resolution microscopy as well as particle trapping and manipulation. While previous demonstrations mostly concentrate on designing complicated nanostructures for generating uncontrollable superoscillatory functions, here a new technique which allows for creating polynomially shaped superoscillatory functions that contain phase singularity arrays is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. Such a technique is implemented in optical experiments for the first time and controllable superoscillatory lobes with feature much below the diffraction limit is achieved. More importantly, a general theoretical framework, which, to our knowledge, has not been reported before, is developed to show how the created superoscillations propagate to a distance of many Rayleigh ranges and eventually disappear when the distance is sufficiently larger. The validity of the model is confirmed by the experiments. The results may trigger further studies in light field shaping and manipulations in subwavelength scale.     

Relaxation Dynamics and Magnetic Anisotropy in a Low‐Symmetry DyIII Complex

The magnetic behaviour of a Dy(LH)₃ complex (LH^? is the anion of 2‐hydroxy‐N′‐[(E)‐(2‐hydroxy‐3‐methoxyphenyl)methylidene]benzhydrazide) was analysed in depth from both theoretical and experimental points of view. Cantilever torque magnetometry indicated that the complex has Ising‐type anisotropy, and provided two possible directions for the easy axis of anisotropy due to the presence of two magnetically non‐equivalent molecules in the crystal. Ab initio calculations confirmed the strong Ising‐type anisotropy and disentangled the two possible orientations. The computed results obtained by using ab initio calculations were then used to rationalise the composite dynamic behaviour observed for both pure Dy^III phase and Y^III diluted phase, which showed two different relaxation channels in zero and non‐zero static magnetic fields. In particular, we showed that the relaxation behaviour at the higher temperature range can be correctly reproduced by using a master matrix approach, which suggests that Orbach relaxation is occurring through a second excited doublet.     

Diseño automático de tableros óptimos de puentes de carretera de vigas artesa prefabricadas mediante algoritmos meméticos híbridos

This paper deals with the minimum cost automatic design of precast bridge decks made of U-beams and an upper slab. It uses a hybrid memetic algorithm that combines the population search of solutions by genetic algorithms and a search by variable neighborhood. This algorithm is applied to a bridge made of two isostatic U-beams of 20-40 m of span and a width of 12 m. This example has 40 discrete variables. The evaluation module takes into account the service and ultimate limit states usually considered for these structures, i.e. flexure, shear, torsion, cracking, deflections, etc. The use of the memetic algorithm requires its previous calibration. Each of the heuristics is run 12 times, obtaining information about the minimum and average values, as well as the scatter. The parametric study showed a good correlation for the cost, the number of strands and the steel and concrete quantities with the span length. Savings have been found between 8 and 50% compared to other structures really executed. The presented procedure allows the practical application to the real design and its adaptation to the precast process.     

Selective switching of individual multipole resonances in single dielectric nanoparticles

Following Mie theory, nanoparticles made of a high‐refractive‐index dielectric, such as silicon, exhibit a resonator‐like behavior and very rich resonance spectra. Which electric or magnetic particle mode is excited depends on the wavelength, the refractive‐index contrast relative to the environment, and the geometry of the nanoparticle itself. In addition, the spatial structure of the impinging light field plays a major role in the excitation of the nanoparticle resonances. Here, it is shown that, by tailoring the excitation field, individual multipole resonances can be selectively addressed while suppressing the excitation of other particle modes. This enables a detailed study of selected individual resonances without interference by the other modes.