On Gribov’s supercriticality picture of quark confinement

Some years ago Gribov developed the so-called supercritical light-quark confinement scenario. Based on physical arguments he conjectured a drastic change in the analytical properties of the quark propagator when the back reaction of Goldstone bosons (pions) is considered. We investigate this scenario and provide numerical solutions for the quark propagator in the complex plane with and without the pion back reaction. We find no evidence for the scenario Gribov advocated. As an aside we present a novel method to solve the quark Dyson–Schwinger equation in the complex plane and discuss new characteristics of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in our truncation scheme.     

Solution of the optical parameters of the thin film systems and interfaces

We report on the optical parameters of the semiconductor thin films determination. The method is based on the dynamical modeling of the spectral reflectance function combined with the genetic optimization of the initial model. The spectral dependency of the thin film optical parameters computation is based on the optical transitions modeling. The combination of the dynamical modeling and the genetic optimization enable comfortable analysis of the spectral dependences of the optical parameters and incorporation of the microstructure effects on the multilayer system optical properties. The results of the optical parameters of i-a-Si thin films determination are presented.     

Analysis of the spectator-angular distribution in the light-nuclei reactions

Angular distributions of spectator particles in dp and ⁴Hep reactions in the region of a few GeV have been studied. Significant asymmetries of the spectator particle distributions have been observed for reactions where π-mesons are produced in the final state. Results of calculations in the framework of a spectator model taking into account the nuclear wave function, flux factor and the energy dependence of the NN elementary cross-sections, have been compared to experimental data. A good agreement has been observed for the fragments momenta, where the one-pole mechanism dominates. Received: 11 February 2000 / Accepted: 29 June 2000     

Ripple formation in weakly turbulent flow

The formation of granular ripples under liquid shear flow in an annular channel is studied experimentally. The erodible granular bed is subject to weakly turbulent flows without a defined sharp boundary layer close to the granular bed. The flow field and the degree of turbulence is characterized quantitatively by using a particle image velocimeter and a laser-Doppler velocimeter, respectively. A new range of particle Reynolds numbers at the lower limit of the Shields diagram were explored. Quantitative measurements of the granular flow on the surface reveal that the threshold for particle motion coincides within the order of one percent with the threshold for ripple formation. In fully developed ripples it was found that on the leeward side of the ripples regions of low-velocity gradients exist where granular motion is scarce, indicating that the coupling between the ripples is mainly caused by the flow field of the liquid.     

XPS study of the chemical bonding in hydrogenated amorphous germanium–carbon alloys

A systematic study of the chemical bonding in hydrogenated amorphous germanium–carbon (a-Ge_1-xC_x:H)alloys using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is presented. The films, with carbon content ranging from 0 at. % to 100 at. %, were prepared by the rf co-sputtering technique. Raman spectroscopy was used to investigate the carbon hybridization. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) and XPS were used to determine the film stoichiometry. The Ge 3d and C 1s core levels were used for investigating the bonding properties of germanium and carbon atoms, respectively. The relative concentrations of C–Ge, C–C, and C–H bonds were calculated using the intensities of the chemically shifted C 1s components. It was observed that the carbon atoms enter the germanium network with different hybridization, which depends on the carbon concentration. For concentrations lower than 20 at. %, the carbon atoms are preferentially sp³ hybridized, and approximately randomly distributed. As the carbon content increases the concentration of sp² sites also increases and the films are more graphitic-like. Received: 4 May 1999 / Accepted: 24 November 1999 / Published online: 24 March 2000     

Reaction mechanism of <Superscript>6</Superscript>Li scattering at 600 MeV

Elastic scattering and inclusive breakup of ⁶Li particles on ¹²C, ⁵⁸Ni, ⁹⁰Zr, and ²⁰⁸Pb targets are measured at 100A MeV. The elastic scattering data are compared with single channel and Coupled Discretized Continuum Channels calculations. The coupling-effect between the elastic and the breakup channels is important even at an incident energy of 100A MeV and cannot be neglected. The inclusive breakup data are investigated for orbital dispersion effects which are found to be less significant at 100A MeV. The longitudinal momentum distributions are broader than predicted by theoretical expectations. Received: 17 December 1999 / Revised version: 9 February 2000     

Long-lived resonances supported by a contact interaction in crossed magnetic and electric fields

The lifetime of the resonance states of an electron interacting with a zero-range potential in the presence of crossed magnetic and electric fields is studied for the case where the electron is confined in the direction of the magnetic field by a parabolic quantum well. It is shown that long-lived electric field-induced resonances exist in this system even when the zero-range potential does not support any field-free bound state. The relationship of these resonances with the Landau states localized near the point interaction is discussed.     

Chemical states of GeTe thin-film during structural phase-change by annealing in ultra-high vacuum

The chemical states of GeTe thin film are investigated using high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HRXPS) with synchrotron radiation, during amorphous to crystalline structural phase transition. As the temperature increases from 250 to 400 °C, we observe the rock-salt crystalline structure and phase with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Spin-orbit splitting of the Ge 3d core-level spectrum clearly appears after annealing at 400 °C for 5 min. However, the binding energy of the Ge 3d_5/2 core-level peak of 29.8 eV does not change in the amorphous to crystalline structural phase transition. In the case of the Te 4d core-level, change in binding energy and peak shapes is also negligible. We assume that the Te atom is fixed at a site between the amorphous and crystalline phases. Although the structural environment of the Ge atoms changes during the structural phase transition, the chemical environment does not.     

The physics of eight flavours

We study Quantum Chromodynamics with eight flavours by use of lattice simulations and present evidence that the theory still breaks chiral symmetry in the zero temperature, continuum limit. This confirms that the lower end of the conformal window of QCD lies above Nf=8$N_f=8$.     

Characterization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering

Magnetron sputtered hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin films have been characterized. Hydrogen (H₂) with argon (Ar) was introduced into the sputtering chamber to create the plasma. A sudden increase in the deposition rate occurred when the hydrogen was added. The maximum hydrogen content of 16 atomic percent (at.%) was achieved and a bandgap of about 2.07 eV was determined from the spectral investigations of the hydrogenated films. The effect of radio frequency (RF) power on the deposition rate, as well as on the hydrogen content was investigated. To change the hydrogen content in the films, the hydrogen flow rate was varied while keeping the argon flow rate constant. The hydrogen content in the films increased with increasing hydrogen flow rate up to the maximum content of 16 at.% and then decreased for further increases in hydrogen flow.