Research Investigation Directed Toward Extending the Useful Range of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

The report discusses completed and proposed research in atomic and molecular physics conducted at the Columbia Radiation Laboratory from July 1972 to June 1973. Central topics described include the atomic spectra and electronic structure of alkali metals and helium, molecular microwave spectroscopy, the resonance physics of photon echoes in some solid state systems (including Raman echoes, superradiance, and two photon absorption), and liquid helium superfluidity

Effects of Nitrogen Quenching Gas on Spin-Exchange Optical Pumping of He-3

We consider the degree of conservation of nuclear spin polarization in the process of optical pumping under typical spin-exchange optical pumping conditions. Previous analyses have assumed that negligible nuclear spin precession occurs in the brief periods of time the alkali-metal atoms are in the excited state after absorbing photons and before undergoing quenching collisions with nitrogen molecules. We include excited-state hyperfine interactions, electronic spin relaxation in collisions with He and N_2, spontaneous emission, quenching collisions, and a simplified treatment of radiation trapping

Instantaneous Clear Sky Radiative Forcings of Halogenated Gases

The clear sky instantaneous radiative forcings of the 14 halogenated gases previously shown to have the largest contribution to global warming, were found. The calculation used the absorption cross sections for the halogenated gases which are assumed to be independent of temperature as well as over 1/3 million line strengths for the 5 naturally occurring greenhouse gases: H$_2$O, CO$_2$, O$_3$, CH$_4$ and N$_2$O, from the Hitran database. The total radiative forcing of the halogenated gases at their 2020 concentrations is 0.52 (0.67) W/m$^2$ at the tropopause (mesopause). Over half of this forcing is due to CFC11 and CFC12 whose concentrations are declining as a result of the Montreal Protocol. The rate of total forcing change for all 14 halogenated gases is 1.5 (2.2) mW/m$^2$/year at the tropopause (mesopause). The calculations assumed a constant altitude concentration for all halogenated gases except CFC11, CFC12 and SF$_6$. Using the observed altitude dependence for those 3 molecules reduced their radiative forcings by about 10%. The global warming potential values were comparable to those given by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The contribution of a gas to global warming was estimated using the forcing power per molecule defined as the derivative of its radiative forcing with respect to its column density. For the present atmosphere, the per-molecule forcing powers of halogenated gases are orders of magnitude larger than those for the 5 naturally occuring greenhouse gases because the latter have much higher concentrations and are strongly saturated. But, the rates of concentration increase of the 5 main greenhouse gases are orders of magnitude greater than that of any halogenated gas. Assuming the temperature increase caused by each gas is proportional to its radiative forcing increase, the 14 halogenated gases are responsible for only 2% of the total global warming.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2103.16465, arXiv:2006.0309

Optimization of cw sodium laser guide star efficiency

Context: Sodium laser guide stars (LGS) are about to enter a new range of laser powers. Previous theoretical and numerical methods are inadequate for accurate computations of the return flux and hence for the design of the next-generation LGS systems. Aims: We numerically optimize the cw (continuous wave) laser format, in particular the light polarization and spectrum. Methods: Using Bloch equations, we simulate the mesospheric sodium atoms, including Doppler broadening, saturation, collisional relaxation, Larmor precession, and recoil, taking into account all 24 sodium hyperfine states and on the order of 100 velocity groups. Results: LGS return flux is limited by "three evils": Larmor precession due to the geomagnetic field, atomic recoil due to radiation pressure, and transition saturation. We study their impacts and show that the return flux can be boosted by repumping (simultaneous excitation of the sodium D2a and D2b lines with 10-20% of the laser power in the latter). Conclusions: We strongly recommend the use of circularly polarized lasers and repumping. As a rule of thumb, the bandwidth of laser radiation in MHz (at each line) should approximately equal the launched laser power in Watts divided by six, assuming a diffraction-limited spot size.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, AA/2009/1310

High rate production of polarized 3He with meta-stability exchange method

Keywords: polarized 3He, meta-stability exchange, infrared laserComment: 4 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jpn