Idling Magnetic White Dwarf in the Synchronizing Polar BY Cam. The Noah-2 Project

Results of a multi-color study of the variability of the magnetic cataclysmic variable BY Cam are presented. The observations were obtained at the Korean 1.8m and Ukrainian 2.6m, 1.2m and 38-cm telescopes in 2003-2005, 56 observational runs cover 189 hours. The variations of the mean brightness in different colors are correlated with a slope dR/dV=1.29(4), where the number in brackets denotes the error estimates in the last digits. For individual runs, this slope is much smaller ranging from 0.98(3) to 1.24(3), with a mean value of 1.11(1). Near the maximum, the slope becomes smaller for some nights, indicating more blue spectral energy distribution, whereas the night-to-night variability has an infrared character. For the simultaneous UBVRI photometry, the slopes increase with wavelength from dU/dR=0.23(1) to dI/dR=1.18(1). Such wavelength dependence is opposite to that observed in non-magnetic cataclysmic variables, in an agreement to the model of cyclotron emission. The principal component analysis shows two (with a third at the limit of detection) components of variablitity with different spectral energy distribution, which possibly correspond to different regions of emission. The scalegram analysis shows a highest peak corresponding to the 200-min spin variability, its quarter and to the 30-min and 8-min QPOs. The amplitudes of all these components are dependent on wavelength and luminosity state. The light curves were fitted by a statistically optimal trigonometrical polynomial (up to 4-th order) to take into account a 4-hump structure. The dependences of these parameters on the phase of the beat period and on mean brightness are discussed. The amplitude of spin variations increases with an increasing wavelength and with decreasing brightnessComment: 30pages, 11figures, accepted in Cent.Eur.J.Phy

Spectral and polarization dependencies of luminescence by hot carriers in graphene

The luminescence caused by the interband transitions of hot carriers in graphene is considered theoretically. The dependencies of emission in mid- and near-IR spectral regions versus energy and concentration of hot carriers are analyzed; they are determined both by an applied electric field and a gate voltage. The polarization dependency is determined by the angle between the propagation direction and the normal to the graphene sheet. The characteristics of radiation from large-scale-area samples of epitaxial graphene and from microstructures of exfoliated graphene are considered. The averaged over angles efficiency of emission is also presented.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Electric instability in superconductor-normal conductor ring

Non-linear electrodynamics of a ring-shaped Andreev interferometer (superconductor-normal conductor-superconductor hybrid structure) inductively coupled to a circuit of the dissipative current is investigated. The current-voltage characteristics (CVC) is demonstrated to be a series of loops with several branches intersecting in the CVC origin. The sensitivity of the transport current to a change of the applied external magnetic flux can be comparable to the one of the conventional SQUID's. Spontaneous arising of coupled non-linear oscillations of the transport current, the Josephson current and the magnetic flux in Andreev interferometers are also predicted and investigated. The frequency of these oscillations can be varied in a wide range, while the maximal frequency can reach $\omega_{max} \sim 10^{12}$ $sec^{-1}$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Theory, Politics... and History? Early post-war Soviet Control Engineering

A fascinating feature of post-war control engineering in the former Soviet Union was the rôle played by the study of the history of the discipline. Even before and during World War II some Soviet control scientists were actively researching the history of their subject; while after the war, historical studies played an important part both in technical developments and in legitimating a native Russian tradition. Two of the most important figures in this historical activity were A. A. Andronov and I. N. Voznesenskii, whose contributions are briefly considered

Secondary electron emission yield in the limit of low electron energy

Secondary electron emission (SEE) from solids plays an important role in many areas of science and technology.1 In recent years, there has been renewed interest in the experimental and theoretical studies of SEE. A recent study proposed that the reflectivity of very low energy electrons from solid surface approaches unity in the limit of zero electron energy2,3,4, If this was indeed the case, this effect would have profound implications on the formation of electron clouds in particle accelerators,2-4 plasma measurements with electrostatic Langmuir probes, and operation of Hall plasma thrusters for spacecraft propulsion5,6. It appears that, the proposed high electron reflectivity at low electron energies contradicts to numerous previous experimental studies of the secondary electron emission7. The goal of this note is to discuss possible causes of these contradictions.Comment: 3 pages, contribution to the Joint INFN-CERN-EuCARD-AccNet Workshop on Electron-Cloud Effects: ECLOUD'12; 5-9 Jun 2012, La Biodola, Isola d'Elba, Ital

Hyperbolic Chaos of Turing Patterns

We consider time evolution of Turing patterns in an extended system governed by an equation of the Swift-Hohenberg type, where due to an external periodic parameter modulation long-wave and short-wave patterns with length scales related as 1:3 emerge in succession. We show theoretically and demonstrate numerically that the spatial phases of the patterns, being observed stroboscopically, are governed by an expanding circle map, so that the corresponding chaos of Turing patterns is hyperbolic, associated with a strange attractor of the Smale-Williams solenoid type. This chaos is shown to be robust with respect to variations of parameters and boundary conditions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Solving the difference initial-boundary value problems by the operator exponential method

We suggest a modification of the operator exponential method for the numerical solving the difference linear initial boundary value problems. The scheme is based on the representation of the difference operator for given boundary conditions as the perturbation of the same operator for periodic ones. We analyze the error, stability and efficiency of the scheme for a model example of the one-dimensional operator of second difference