Energy loss and inelastic diffraction of fast atoms at grazing incidence

The diffraction of fast atoms at grazing incidence on crystal surfaces (GIFAD) was first interpreted only in terms of elastic diffraction from a perfectly periodic rigid surface with atoms fixed at equilibrium position. Recently, a new approach have been proposed, referred here as the quantum binary collision model (QBCM). The QBCM takes into account both the elastic and inelastic momentum transfer via the Lamb-Dicke probability. It suggests that the shape of the inelastic diffraction profiles are log-normal distributions with a variance proportional to the nuclear energy loss deposited on the surface. For keV Neon atoms impinging the LiF surface, the predictions of the QBCM in its analytic version are compared with numerical trajectory simulations. Some of the assumptions such as the planar continuous form, the possibility to neglect the role of lithium atoms and the influence of temperature are investigated. A specific energy loss dependence $\Delta E\propto\theta^7$ is identified in the quasi-elastic regime merging progressively to the classical onset $\Delta E\propto\theta^3$. The ratio of these two predictions highlight the role of quantum effects in the energy loss.Comment: 9 pages 8 figures paper prepared for IISC-2

Micro-Sigmoids as Progenitors of Coronal Jets - Is Eruptive Activity Self-Similarly Multi-Scaled?

Observations from the X-ray telescope (XRT) on Hinode are used to study the nature of X-ray bright points, sources of coronal jets. Several jet events in the coronal holes are found to erupt from small-scale, S-shaped bright regions. This finding suggests that coronal micro-sigmoids may well be progenitors of coronal jets. Moreover, the presence of these structures may explain numerous observed characteristics of jets such as helical structures, apparent transverse motions, and shapes. In analogy to large-scale sigmoids giving rise to coronal mass ejections (CMEs), a promising future task would perhaps be to investigate whether solar eruptive activity, from coronal jets to CMEs, is self-similar in terms of properties and instability mechanisms.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl