Charge distribution in two-dimensional electrostatics

We examine the stability of ringlike configurations of N charges on a plane interacting through the potential $V(z_1,...,z_N)=\sum_i |z_i|^2-\sum_{i<j} ln|z_i-z_j|^2$. We interpret the equilibrium distributions in terms of a shell model and compare predictions of the model with the results of numerical simulations for systems with up to 100 particles.Comment: LaTe

Hydrogen-like recombination x-ray laser experiments using a 20 picosecond laser pulse at the Nova facility

Hydrogen-like recombination X-ray lasers are currently under investigation as an alternative candidate to collisional pumped soft X-ray amplifiers. Efforts are being concentrated on the n = 3 to n = 2 transitions in H-like Mg and NaF. 5 refs., 1 fig