Improvement of financial literacy as a crucial factor of economic development

Issues on the public financial literacy are highly relevant in the context of expanding opportunities of financial services used, increasing the complexity and the appearance of new financial tools. Ensuring personal financial security is becoming an important factor of economic development and public welfare improvement. Nevertheless, a low level of financial literacy negatively impacts personal welfare and a financial potential of households, deteriorates the resource base of financial institutions, hampers the financial market development, retards investment processes in economics and leads to the aggravation of the socio-economic situation of the country. In this regard, the following tasks have been set in this study. To consider a conceptual characteristic of the notion “financial literacy” and its components – fiscal and taxation literacy; study the contemporary international and Russian practice of financial literacy improvement as a factor for the economic development of a country. The article substantiates the following: the constructive use of the best practices should create real opportunities for raising the level of financial literacy of the population in the Russian Federation, increase confidence in the financial system, reduce the financial risks of consumers of financial services and improve the population’s welfare.peer-reviewe

Laser-based Diagnostics for Use in Ex-situ Lithium Co-deposit Analysis

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and time of flight (TOF) mass spectrometry of laser-produced ions were tested for ex-situ analysis of lithium co-deposited layers produced by plasma deposition. It was found that LIBS provides an adequate way to observe and measure lithium content in thin co-deposited layers of about 1 µm thickness. TOF mass spectrometry data of the same layers was compared with LIBS. TOF mass spectrometry provided a better resolution; however, the simplicity of LIBS setup and the rate of measurement (less than one minute per measurement) makes it more attractive. Argon was observed in the co-deposited layers, indicating that it, and likely other inert gases, can remain trapped in lithium layers even after a prolonged exposure to and chemical reaction with atmospheric air

The spall strength limit of matter at ultrahigh strain rates induced by laser shock waves

New results concerning the process of dynamic fracture of materials (spallation) by laser-induced shock waves are presented. The Nd-glass laser installations SIRIUS and KAMERTON were used for generation of shock waves with pressure up to 1 Mbar in plane Al alloy targets. The wavelengths of laser radiation were 1.06 and 0.53 μm, the target thickness was changed from 180 to 460 μm, and the laser radiation was focused in a spot with a 1-mm diameter on the surface of AMg6M aluminum alloy targets. Experimental results were compared to predictions of a numerical code which employed a real semiempirical wide-range equation of state. Strain rates in experiments were changed from 106 to 5 × 107 s−1. Two regimes of spallation were evidenced: the already known dynamic regime and a new quasi-stationary regime. An ultimate dynamic strength of 80 kbar was measured. Finally, experiments on targets with artificial spall layers were performed showing material hardening due to shock-wave compression

Shock pressure induced by 0.44 [mu]m laser radiation on aluminum targets

Shock pressure generated in aluminum targets due to the interaction of 0.44 μm (3 ω of iodine laser) laser radiation has been studied. The laser intensity profile was smoothed using phase zone plates. Aluminum step targets were irradiated at an intensity I ≈ 1014 W/cm2. Shock velocity in the aluminum target was estimated by detecting the shock luminosity from the target rear using a streak camera to infer the shock pressure. Experimental results show a good agreement with the theoretical model based on the delocalized laser absorption approximation. In the present report, we explicitly discuss the importance of target thickness on the shock pressure scaling

Physics of Auroral Phenomena

Abstract. The nighttime region at geocentric distances ~7-10R E is ordinarily considered as the near tail region. However the results of observations including latest THEMIS mission clearly demonstrate the existence of surrounding the Earth plasma ring at these geocentric distances. The distribution of plasma pressure in the ring is near to azimuthally symmetric. Daytime compression of magnetic field lines and shift of minimal value of the magnetic field till high latitudes lead to splitting of daytime transverse currents in Z direction. As a result nighttime transverse currents in the surrounding the Earth plasma ring are concentrated near equator, daytime transverse currents are spread along compressed by solar wind field lines forming the cut ring current (CRC) which is the high latitude continuation of the ordinary ring current. CRC is supported by directed to the Earth plasma pressure gradients. The role of CRC in the development of magnetic storm and the creation of the Dst variation is analyzed. We stress that the development of partial ring current, which is one of the well-known features of magnetic storm, in the CRC region helps to eliminate paradox, appeared when it was suggested that tail current could have the considerable role in the Dst formation. The contribution CRC in the process of Dst formation during magnetic storms is evaluated for selected magnetic storms with known radial profile of plasma pressure. The magnetospheric substorm is one of the most extensively stydied magnetospheric phenomena for the most than 50 latest years. However the mechanism of observed energy explosion and localization of substorm onset continue to be widely discussed. We summarize the results of observations demonstrating the isolated substorm onset at geosentric distances smaller than 10R E . It is suggested that isolated substorm onset is localized in CRC

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

Диэлектрические свойства композитных материалов с ориентированными углеродными нанотрубками

The results of investigation of electrodynamic properties of polymer composite materials with multiwall carbon nanotube filler are presented. The influence of the filler alignment inside the composite material on its interaction with electromagnetic radiation is investigated.Изложены результаты исследований электродинамических свойств полимерных композитных материалов с наполнителем в виде многослойных углеродных нанотрубок. Изучено влияние ориентирования наполнителя внутри композита на взаимодействие его с электромагнитным излучением

The source of X-rays and high-charged ions based on moderate power vacuum discharge with laser triggering

The source of X-ray radiation with the energy of quanta that may vary in the range hv = 1÷12 keV was developed for studies in X-ray interaction with matter and modifi cation of solid surfaces. It was based on a vacuum spark discharge with the laser triggering. It was shown in our experiments that there is a possibility to adjust X-ray radiation spectrum by changing the confi guration of the electrode system when the energy stored in the capacitor is varied within the range of 1÷17 J. A comprehensive study of X-ray imaging and quanta energy was carried out. These experiments were carried out for the case of both direct and reverse polarity of the voltage on the electrodes. Additionally, ion composition of plasma created in a laser-triggered vacuum discharge was analyzed. Highly charged ions Zn(+21), Cu(+20) and Fe(+18) were observed