Quantum measurement problem and cluster separability

A modified Beltrametti-Cassinelli-Lahti model of measurement apparatus that satisfies both the probability reproducibility condition and the objectification requirement is constructed. Only measurements on microsystems are considered. The cluster separability forms a basis for the first working hypothesis: the current version of quantum mechanics leaves open what happens to systems when they change their separation status. New rules that close this gap can therefore be added without disturbing the logic of quantum mechanics. The second working hypothesis is that registration apparatuses for microsystems must contain detectors and that their readings are signals from detectors. This implies that separation status of a microsystem changes during both preparation and registration. A new rule that specifies what happens at these changes and that guarantees the objectification is formulated and discussed. A part of our result has certain similarity with 'collapse of the wave function'.Comment: 31 pages, no figure. Published versio

Phenomenology of the Lense-Thirring effect in the Solar System

Recent years have seen increasing efforts to directly measure some aspects of the general relativistic gravitomagnetic interaction in several astronomical scenarios in the solar system. After briefly overviewing the concept of gravitomagnetism from a theoretical point of view, we review the performed or proposed attempts to detect the Lense-Thirring effect affecting the orbital motions of natural and artificial bodies in the gravitational fields of the Sun, Earth, Mars and Jupiter. In particular, we will focus on the evaluation of the impact of several sources of systematic uncertainties of dynamical origin to realistically elucidate the present and future perspectives in directly measuring such an elusive relativistic effect.Comment: LaTex, 51 pages, 14 figures, 22 tables. Invited review, to appear in Astrophysics and Space Science (ApSS). Some uncited references in the text now correctly quoted. One reference added. A footnote adde

Annealing influence on the microstructure of irradiated U-Mo monolithic fuel foils

In this study we compared the microstructure evolution of U-Mo fuel foils produced with and without heat treatment at low burn-up via advanced post-irradiation examination. The aim of this study is to observe after irradiation the ways in which the fabrication processes have influenced fuel behavior at early-stage irradiation, as for very low burn up microstructural studies are lacking. In this work it was observed that the larger grain size detected in the heat-treated samples before irradiation led to decreased grain refinement after irradiation. Grain refinement was associated with the presence of small nano-size bubbles and precipitates. This phenomenon is hypothesized to influence early fuel swelling during reactor irradiation. Grain refinement was also observed to increase in regions where γ-U decomposition was present. Thus, it was enhanced in the samples fabricated without heat treatment. The heat treatment also increased the thickness of the U-Mo/Zr interface, namely of the UZr2 layer. However, the influence of this layer on fuel performance needs further investigation. On one side, it may contribute to better mechanical bonding; on the other, it may influence swelling and blistering in the interaction layer as porosity increases when this layer is increased. This was observed especially in the presence of increased area containing low Mo concentration, and thus containing a higher fraction of the α-U phase, which is highly susceptible to irradiation induced swelling. Strong evidence of reverse transformation under irradiation (α-U + γ′-U2Mo → bcc γ-U) was observed in these samples. While the precipitates (carbides and oxide) seem to be unaffected by the irradiation at these low burnups. However, further analyses are necessary at higher burn-up to assess the exact impact different heat treatments have on fuel performance

Impact of SEM acquisition parameters on the porosity analysis of irradiated U-Mo fuel

In this study, the effect of various scanning electron microscope (SEM) imaging parameters, including voltage, beam current, and magnification, on the porosity analysis of U-Mo fuel was investigated by varying one parameter at a time during back-scattered electron (BSE) micrograph acquisition. Among the parameters assessed, porosity analysis is most sensitive to the SEM voltage. In the range from 5 kV to 30 kV, we reported relative differences as high as 30%, 10%, and 20% in the total porosity, average diameter, and pore density, respectively. Monte Carlo simulations were also performed to determine the influence of SEM voltage on the probing depths of back-scattered electrons. Increasing the voltage from 5 kV to 30 kV resulted in a change in probing depth from few tens of nanometers to several hundreds of nanometers. Portions of pores or entire pores residing below the polished plane that could not be seen at low voltages, and should not be counted for in the estimation of the open porosity, became visible at high voltages. Interestingly, in addition to allowing for a better estimation of the open porosity, the higher sensitivity to surface features at low voltages seems to reduce the number of pixels with intermediate gray levels in the final BSE image. This, in turn, could limit the ground for different interpretation by different analysts, and, as such, has the potential to facilitate a more consistent and uniform porosity analysis across different research laboratories

Karl Brugmann, I pronomi dimostrativi nelle lingue indoeuropee. Un'analisi storico-semantica

traduzione italiana di K. Brugmann, "Die Demonstrativpronomina der indogermanischen Sprachen. Eine bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Vorbemerkungen", Leipzig, 1904, pp. 3-18 e relativa nota introduttiva bio-bibliografica sull'autore a cura del traduttore: Nota su Karl Brugmann, p. 14