16 research outputs found
Second harmonic generation and birefringence of some ternary pnictide semiconductors
A first-principles study of the birefringence and the frequency dependent
second harmonic generation (SHG) coefficients of the ternary pnictide
semiconductors with formula ABC (A = Zn, Cd; B = Si, Ge; C = As, P) with
the chalcopyrite structures was carried out. We show that a simple empirical
observation that a smaller value of the gap is correlated with larger value of
SHG is qualitatively true. However, simple inverse power scaling laws between
gaps and SHG were not found. Instead, the real value of the nonlinear response
is a result of a very delicate balance between different intraband and
interband terms.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figure
Recent Advances in Understanding Particle Acceleration Processes in Solar Flares
We review basic theoretical concepts in particle acceleration, with
particular emphasis on processes likely to occur in regions of magnetic
reconnection. Several new developments are discussed, including detailed
studies of reconnection in three-dimensional magnetic field configurations
(e.g., current sheets, collapsing traps, separatrix regions) and stochastic
acceleration in a turbulent environment. Fluid, test-particle, and
particle-in-cell approaches are used and results compared. While these studies
show considerable promise in accounting for the various observational
manifestations of solar flares, they are limited by a number of factors, mostly
relating to available computational power. Not the least of these issues is the
need to explicitly incorporate the electrodynamic feedback of the accelerated
particles themselves on the environment in which they are accelerated. A brief
prognosis for future advancement is offered.Comment: This is a chapter in a monograph on the physics of solar flares,
inspired by RHESSI observations. The individual articles are to appear in
Space Science Reviews (2011