Quantum Evolution of the Bianchi Type I Model

The behaviour of the flat anisotropic model of the Universe with a scalar field is explored within the framework of quantum cosmology. The principal moment of the account of an anisotropy is the presence either negative potential barrier or positive repelling wall. In the first case occur the above barrier reflection of the wave function of the Universe, in the second one there is bounce off a potential wall. The further evolution of the Universe represents an exponential inflating with fast losses of an anisotropy and approach to the standard cosmological scenario.Comment: Latex, 18 pages, 5 figure

Formation of High-quality Aluminum Oxide under Ion Beam Irradiation

In this work we used the radiation–induced technique of selective association of atoms (SAA) to create the aluminum oxide layer on the surface of metallic Al under oxygen ion beam irradiation. Optimal conditions for carrying out the radiation-induced aluminum oxidation process were established to minimize the target sputtering. An aluminum oxide layer of 20 nm thickness was obtained after irradiation of aluminum target with oxygen ions with 0.2 keV energy up to a dose of ∼2.6 ⋅ 1018 ions/cm2 at room temperature. HRTEM and EELS techniques were used to characterize the chemical compositional changes after irradiation. It was found that aluminum oxide layer after irradiation contained an excessive amount (∼10 at.%) of implanted oxygen. Keywords: ion beam irradiation, aluminum thin films, EELS, HRTE

The Power of General Relativity

We study the cosmological and weak-field properties of theories of gravity derived by extending general relativity by means of a Lagrangian proportional to $R^{1+\delta}$. This scale-free extension reduces to general relativity when $\delta \to 0$. In order to constrain generalisations of general relativity of this power class we analyse the behaviour of the perfect-fluid Friedmann universes and isolate the physically relevant models of zero curvature. A stable matter-dominated period of evolution requires $\delta >0$ or $\delta <-1/4$. The stable attractors of the evolution are found. By considering the synthesis of light elements (helium-4, deuterium and lithium-7) we obtain the bound $-0.017<\delta <0.0012.$ We evaluate the effect on the power spectrum of clustering via the shift in the epoch of matter-radiation equality. The horizon size at matter--radiation equality will be shifted by $\sim 1$ for a value of $\delta \sim 0.0005.$ We study the stable extensions of the Schwarzschild solution in these theories and calculate the timelike and null geodesics. No significant bounds arise from null geodesic effects but the perihelion precession observations lead to the strong bound $\delta =2.7\pm 4.5\times 10^{-19}$ assuming that Mercury follows a timelike geodesic. The combination of these observational constraints leads to the overall bound $0\leq \delta <7.2\times 10^{-19}$ on theories of this type.Comment: 26 pages and 5 figures. Published versio

Milky Way Demographics with the VVV Survey II. Color Transformations and Near-Infrared Photometry for 136 Million Stars in the Southern Galactic Disk

The new multi-epoch near-infrared VVV survey (VISTA Variables in the Via Lactea) is sampling 562 sq. deg of the Galactic bulge and adjacent regions of the disk. Accurate astrometry established for the region surveyed allows the VVV data to be merged with overlapping surveys (e.g., GLIMPSE, WISE, 2MASS, etc.), thereby enabling the construction of longer baseline spectral energy distributions for astronomical targets. However, in order to maximize use of the VVV data, a set of transformation equations are required to place the VVV JHKs photometry onto the 2MASS system. The impetus for this work is to develop those transformations via a comparison of 2MASS targets in 152 VVV fields sampling the Galactic disk. The transformation coefficients derived exhibit a reliance on variables such as extinction. The transformed data were subsequently employed to establish a mean reddening law of E_{J-H}/E_{H-Ks}=2.13 +/- 0.04, which is the most precise determination to date and merely emphasizes the pertinence of the VVV data for determining such important parameters.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figures, published in A&

The Effect of Reducing Irradiation Temperature on the Structure and Radiation Embrittlement Mechanism of RPV Steels

A complex research of RPV 15Kh2NMFA class 1 steel in different states was performed: in the initial state and after irradiatiion at different temperatures (50-300∘C). Low temperature (50-140∘C) irradiation was shown to cause the formation of dislocation loops of ultrahigh density. At the same time radiation-induced precipitates, being the main radiation-induced hardening phase at irradiation temperature of VVER reactors (∼300∘C), were absent. This leads to a higher radiation embrittlement rate after low-temperature irradiation as compared with irradiation at operating temperatures of VVER-1000. The radiation embrittlement coefficient values are 8.7 and 1.45 for (120-140)∘C and (290-315)∘C irradiation temperature, respectively