A new application of reduced Rayleigh equations to electromagnetic wave scattering by two-dimensional randomly rough surfaces

The small perturbations method has been extensively used for waves scattering by rough surfaces. The standard method developped by Rice is difficult to apply when we consider second and third order of scattered fields as a function of the surface height. Calculations can be greatly simplified with the use of reduced Rayleigh equations, because one of the unknown fields can be eliminated. We derive a new set of four reduced equations for the scattering amplitudes, which are applied to the cases of a rough conducting surface, and to a slab where one of the boundary is a rough surface. As in the one-dimensional case, numerical simulations show the appearance of enhanced backscattering for these structures.Comment: RevTeX 4 style, 38 pages, 16 figures, added references and comments on the satellites peak

Acoustic Attenuation by Two-dimensional Arrays of Rigid Cylinders

In this Letter, we present a theoretical analysis of the acoustic transmission through two-dimensional arrays of straight rigid cylinders placed parallelly in the air. Both periodic and completely random arrangements of the cylinders are considered. The results for the sound attenuation through the periodic arrays are shown to be in a remarkable agreement with the reported experimental data. As the arrangement of the cylinders is randomized, the transmission is significantly reduced for a wider range of frequencies. For the periodic arrays, the acoustic band structures are computed by the plane-wave expansion method and are also shown to agree with previous results.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Spectroscopic diagnosis of foam z-pinch plasmas on SATURN

Solid and annular silicon aerogel and agar foams were shot on the accelerator SATURN to study plasma initiation, acceleration, and stagnation. SATURN delivers 7 MA with a 50 nsec rise time to these foam loads. We fielded several spectroscopic diagnostics to measure plasma parameters throughout the z-pinch discharge. A spatially resolved single frame time-gated EUV spectrometer measured the extent of plasma ablation off the surface foam. A time integrated crystal spectrometer showed that characteristic K shell radiation of silicon in the aerogel and of S and Na impurities in the agar were all attenuated when the foam loads were coated with a conductive layer of gold. The time resolved pinhole camera showed that in general the quality of the pinch implosions was poor but improved with increasing efforts to improve current continuity such as prepulse and conductive coatings

Intensity Distribution of Modes in Surface Corrugated Waveguides

Exact calculations of transmission and reflection coefficients in surface randomly corrugated optical waveguides are presented. As the length of the corrugated part of the waveguide increases, there is a strong preference to forward coupling through the lowest mode. An oscillating behavior of the enhanced backscattering as a function of the wavelength is predicted. Although the transport is strongly non isotropic, the analysis of the probability distributions of the transmitted waves confirms in this configuration distributions predicted by Random Matrix Theory for volume disorder

Self-trapping and stable localized modes in nonlinear photonic crystals

We predict the existence of stable nonlinear localized modes near the band edge of a two-dimensional reduced-symmetry photonic crystal with a Kerr nonlinearity. Employing the technique based on the Green function, we reveal a physical mechanism of the mode stabilization associated with the effective nonlinear dispersion and long-range interaction in the photonic crystals.Comment: 4 pages (RevTex) with 5 figures (EPS

Onset of Delocalization in Quasi-1D Waveguides with Correlated Surface Disorder

We present first analytical results on transport properties of many-mode waveguides with rough surfaces having long-range correlations. We show that propagation of waves through such waveguides reveals a quite unexpected phenomena of a complete transparency for a subset of propagating modes. These modes do not interact with each other and effectively can be described by the theory of 1D transport with correlated disorder. We also found that with a proper choice of model parameters one can arrange a perfect transparency of waveguides inside a given window of energy of incoming waves. The results may be important in view of experimental realizations of a selective transport in application to both waveguides and electron/optic nanodevices.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages, no figures, few references are adde

Fielding and calibration issues for diamond photoconducting detectors

Diamond photoconducting detectors are routinely fielded as soft x-ray diagnostics on Sandia`s Saturn facility. We have developed an improved detector mount that provides a 200-ps time response, is easily cleanable, and is very rugged. In addition, we have developed a new, fast insertion unit to apply bias voltage to the detectors. Absolute calibration of the PCDs is carried out either at the Brookhaven National Synchrotron Light Source or on Sandia`s laser calibration facility. We are now fielding diamond elements that have the dimensions 1x3x0.5 nun and 1x1xO.5 mm. We are neutron damaging some of the 1x1xO.5-mm detectors to reduce their sensitivity. We can tailor PCD sensitivity by adjusting element size and neutron damage level

Mobility Edge in Aperiodic Kronig-Penney Potentials with Correlated Disorder: Perturbative Approach

It is shown that a non-periodic Kronig-Penney model exhibits mobility edges if the positions of the scatterers are correlated at long distances. An analytical expression for the energy-dependent localization length is derived for weak disorder in terms of the real-space correlators defining the structural disorder in these systems. We also present an algorithm to construct a non-periodic but correlated sequence exhibiting desired mobility edges. This result could be used to construct window filters in electronic, acoustic, or photonic non-periodic structures.Comment: RevTex, 4 pages including 2 Postscript figure

Population policies and education: exploring the contradictions of neo-liberal globalisation

The world is increasingly characterised by profound income, health and social inequalities (Appadurai, 2000). In recent decades development initiatives aimed at reducing these inequalities have been situated in a context of increasing globalisation with a dominant neo-liberal economic orthodoxy. This paper argues that neo-liberal globalisation contains inherent contradictions regarding choice and uniformity. This is illustrated in this paper through an exploration of the impact of neo-liberal globalisation on population policies and programmes. The dominant neo-liberal economic ideology that has influenced development over the last few decades has often led to alternative global visions being overlooked. Many current population and development debates are characterised by polarised arguments with strongly opposing aims and views. This raises the challenge of finding alternatives situated in more middle ground that both identify and promote the socially positive elements of neo-liberalism and state intervention, but also to limit their worst excesses within the population field and more broadly. This paper concludes with a discussion outling the positive nature of middle ground and other possible alternatives

Fast resistive bolometry

Resistive bolometry is an accurate, robust, spectrally broadband technique for measuring absolute x-ray fluence and flux. Bolometry is an independent technique for x-ray measurements that is based on a different set of physical properties than other diagnostics such as x-ray diodes, photoconducting detectors, and P-I-N diodes. Bolometers use the temperature-driven change in element resistivity to determine the total deposited energy. The calibration of such a device is based on fundamental material properties and its physical dimensions. We describe the use of nickel and gold bolometers to measure x rays generated by high-power z pinches on Sandia's Saturn and Z accelerators. The Sandia bolometer design described herein has a pulse response of {approximately}1 ns. We describe in detail the fabrication, fielding, and data analysis issues leading to highly accurate x-ray measurements. The fundamental accuracy of resistive bolometry will be discussed