Analysis of the Impact of Relative Humidity and Mineral Nuclei Mode Aerosols Particle Concentration on the Visibility of Desert Aerosols

This paper presents the results of the Analysis of the Impact of relative humidity and water-soluble aerosol particle concentrations on the visibility and particle size distribution of desert aerosols based on microphysical properties of desert aerosols. The microphysical properties (the extinction coefficients, volume mix ratios, dry mode radii and wet mode radii) were extracted from Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds (OPAC 4.0) at eight relative humidities (00 to 99% RH) and at the spectral range of 0.4-0.8 mm. The concentrations of mineral nuclie component (MINN) were varied to obtain five different models. The angstrom exponent (a), the turbidity (b), the curvature (a2), humidification factor (g), the mean exponent of aerosol growth curve (µ) and the mean exponent of aerosol size distributions (n) were determined from the regression analysis of some standard equations. It was observed that the values of (a) are less than 1 throughout the 5 models which signifies the dominance of coarse mode particles over fine mode particles. It was observed that the curvature (a2) has both monomodal and bimodal types of distributions all through the 5 models and this signifies the dominance of coarse mode particles with some traces of fine mode particles. The visibility was observed to decrease with the increase in RH and increased with wavelength. The analysis further found that there is an inverse power law relationship between humidification factor, the mean exponent of the aerosol size distribution with the mean exponent of the aerosol growth curve (as the magnitude of (µ) decreases across the five models, the magnitudes of (g) and (n) increase, but the magnitude of both (g) and (n) increases for a given (µ) across the individual models). The mean exponent of aerosol size distribution (µ) being less than 3 indicate hazy condition of the desert atmosphere

A Reverse Infinite-Period Bifurcation for the Nonlinear Schrodinger Equation in 2+1 Dimensions with a Parametric Excitation

We consider the nonlinear Schrodinger equation in 2+1 dimensions and an external periodic excitation in parametric resonance with the frequency of a generic mode. Using an adequate perturbation method we get two coupled equations for the amplitude and phase. We show frequency-response curves and demonstrate the existence for the focusing case of a reverse infinite-period bifurcation when the parametric excitation increases its value. The same bifurcation is possible even in the defocusing case but for a different excitation amplitude value

Student Challenges in Understanding Quantum Mechanics: Effect of the “Logic paradigm shift”

For three centuries Newtonian mechanics had been firmly established as a valid theory for the understanding of physical reality; if one understands the laws of physics, then one understands the whole universe. Classical physicists had contented themselves with the search for regularities in measurements and in the physical world.  Irregularities were regarded as noises that interfered with the deterministic picture of physical reality. However, from 1900s onwards with the quantum hypothesis, physicists had begun to recognize that the physics of Newton and Maxwell were inadequate for the understanding of all of the physical reality. For example, the interaction of radiation with matter could not be explained from classical physics. This dilemma led to the discovery of quantum mechanics. In this article we explore the challenges that students face in understanding quantum mechanics that arises from paradigm shift in the mode of reasoning about the physical world. The description of physical reality in general and quantum reality in particular requires that we shift our mode of reasoning from classical Boolean logic to quantum non Boolean logic

Observation of photon movement near Young’s double-slit

The quantum interference phenomenon was observed in Young’s double-slit experiment using a single photon, and then, the validity of quantum mechanics was demonstrated. However, the reason these fringes appear has not been completely explained yet because photon motion has not been investigated in detail. We found a method to observe the motion of photons using the properties of optical fibers and showed vector diagrams of the photon motion near the double-slit. The photons gradually changed their direction while intersecting and formed interference fringes. In addition, utilizing the mode property of the fiber, we observed fringes at its output end, even when one of the two interfering waves could not transmit through the fiber

Soil radioactivity and radiotoxic risks of uranium in drinking water. A case study of Jos Plateau, Nigeria

Protection and assessment of any radiation pollution resulting from the use and disposal of radioactive materials to the large extent depend on the knowledge of natural radioactivity level of an environment. This work determined the activity concentration of terrestrial radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in top soil samples of Jos Plateau using high resolution HPGe detector. Inductive Coupled Plasma (ICP) Mass Spectrometer was used to determine the chemical concentrations of uranium (238U) in drinking water samples collected from the area.  The activity concentration of 226Ra varied between 34±1 and 1006±18 Bq/kg, 67±2 and 1695±37 Bq kg−1 for 232Th and between 67±4 and 2465±45 Bq/kg for 40K. Chemical concentration of 238U in water samples was found to vary from 1.4 to 35 μg/ L. The values of radiological risks due to radioactivity and chemical risks of mortality and morbidity due concentration of 238U in drinking water were estimated. The risk values for some samples are found to be within safe limits provided by health and environmental protection agencies (ICRP, WHO and USEPA). The radiometric data could be useful for geochemical exploration and diagnosis and prognosis of uranium persuaded diseases for the local inhabitants in the study area

The Gauge Principle from the Schrodinger-Born Wave Mechanics

We propose an elementary way of introducing the gauge principle to beginners with a background in only mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum mechanics.  This evolves from an apparent conflict in the Schrodinger-Born formulation of wave mechanics, and does not have to resort to advanced concepts like covariant derivative and minimal coupling.  With such an approach, one would have appreciated how interactions can be dictated from consideration of internal symmetry of a physical system, which serves as a principle underlying the foundation of almost all modern physics.  In addition, the gauge principle also serves as a resource providing consistency between the Born rule and Schrodinger’s wave mechanics

A new look at the quantum Liouville theorem

We clarify certain confusions in the literature of the density operator in quantum mechanics, and demonstrate that the quantum Liouville theorem has the same form in both the Schrodinger and the Heisenberg pictures.  Our starting point is to treat the density operator as an observable which has its specific time dependence in each of the two pictures.   It is further shown that such a formulation will provide the exact correspondence between classical and quantum statistical mechanics with the Liouville theorem being interpreted as a conservation law, which is derivable from the equation of motion only in the quantum case. &nbsp

A Nonlinear Approach for Quantum Mechanics

This work represents a possible way to achieve the Einstein-de Broglie soliton-particle concept. The weakly nonlinear Klein-Gordon equation (nonlinear quantum mechanics) is investigated by the asymptotic perturbation (AP) method for a particle confined in a box. The quantization of the energy with a slight difference with respect to the standard (linear) quantum mechanics is obtained. Both relativistic and non-relativistic cases are considered and the transition frequencies are slightly different for the linear and nonlinear quantum mechanics. Experimental verification is needed to choose between the two theories

Bending motion of photons in Young\u27s double-slit

The investigation of the interference phenomenon of Young\u27s double-slit using a single photon is an epoch-making experiment demonstrating the mystery of quantum mechanics, but the details have not yet been clarified. We have developed a method for observing the behavior of photons near the double-slit using a multimode optical fiber to obtain a two-dimensional map of photon motion. Quantitative analysis of the directional motion revealed that the directional change was related to the derivative of the electric field and was uniquely determined by the direction of photon motion

Characterization of Indian pine Oleoresin and Evidence for the existence of Silicon compounds

Herein we report the thermal behavior of the Indian pine oleoresin by thermogravimetric, differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA) and powder XRD studies. The natural oleoresin is amorphous as seen from powder XRD studies. However, when heated to a high temperature, it forms crystalline SiO2 with characteristic reflections of alpha-quartz (SiO2) as seen in powder XRD patterns. TG-DTA analysis shows that the amount of SiO2 obtained upon heating is about 75% of the initial resin mass, a huge proportion compared to a maximum of 20% reported in the literature from other plant sources. The FTIR spectra of the oleoresin and its organic extract show a band around 1013-1081 cm-1, indicating the presence of compounds containing Si-O or Si-O-R groups in oleoresin. Our results suggest that the oleoresin contains a substantial amount of dispersed biosilica and/or several organosilicon compounds, not reported till date. &nbsp