ExoMol line lists – XL. Rovibrational molecular line list for the hydronium ion (H3O+)

A new line list for hydronium (H316O+) is computed. The line list is based on a new ab initio dipole moment surface (CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVQZ) and a new empirical potential energy surface (PES). The empirical PES of H3O+ was obtained by refining an ab initio surface through a global fit to the experimentally determined rovibrational energies collected from the literature covering the ground, ν±1⁠, ν±2⁠, 2ν±2⁠, ν±3⁠, and ν±4 vibrational states. The line list covers the wavenumber range up to 10 000 cm−1 (wavelengths >1μm) and should be complete for temperatures up to T = 1500 K. This is the first comprehensive line list for H3O+ with extensive wavenumber coverage and accurate transitional probabilities. Prospects of detection of hydronium in spectra of Solar system giant planets as well as exoplanets are discussed. The eXeL line list is publicly available from the ExoMol and CDS data bases

Magneto-Optical Imaging of Superconductors for Liquid Hydrogen Applications

Restricted deposits of fossil fuels and ecological problems created by their extensive use require a transition to renewable energy resources and clean fuel free from emissions of CO2. This fuel is likely to be liquid hydrogen. An important feature of liquid hydrogen is that it allows wide use of superconductivity. Superconductors provide compactness, high efficiency, savings in energy and a range of new applications not possible with other materials. The benefits of superconductivity justify use of low temperatures and facilitate development of fossil-free energy economy. The widespread use of superconductors requires a simple and reliable technique to monitor their properties. Magneto-optical imaging (MOI) is currently the only direct technique allowing visualization of the superconducting properties of materials. We report the application of this technique to key superconducting materials suitable for the hydrogen economy: MgB2 and high temperature superconductors (HTS) in bulk and thin-film form. The study shows that the MOI technique is well suited to the study of these materials. It demonstrates the advantage of HTS at liquid hydrogen temperatures and emphasizes the benefits of MgB2, in particular. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York

Width-dependent upper threshold field for flux noise in MgB2 strips

The authors measured magnetization hysteresis curves and used magneto-optical imaging to visualize the flux distributions in superconducting MgB2 films in order to study dendritic flux avalanches. The flux avalanches are found to disappear above some upper threshold field that is typically similar to 1 kOe, but strongly depends on the film width. If the film is made wider, this threshold field first increases and then tends to saturate. This behavior is quantitatively explained using a thermomagnetic model for the dendritic avalanches and taking into account the field dependence of J(c). The results demonstrate that patterning superconducting films into narrow strips substantially increases the range of magnetic fields for which they can be used for applications. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.open1166sciescopu