An investigation of the motion of small particles as related to the formulation of zero gravity experiments

The nature of Brownian motion and historical theoretical investigations of the phenomemon are reviewed. The feasibility of using a laser anemometer to perform small particle experiments in an orbiting space laboratory was investigated using latex particles suspended in water in a plastic container. The optical equipment and the particle Doppler analysis processor are described. The values of the standard deviation obtained for the latex particle motion experiment were significantly large compared to corresponding velocity, therefore, their accuracy was suspect and no attempt was made to draw meaningful conclusions from the results

Adiabatic Heavy Ion Fusion Potentials for Fusion at Deep Sub-barrier Energies

The fusion cross sections from well above barrier to extreme sub-barrier energies have been analysed using the energy (E) and angular momentum (L) dependent barrier penetration model ({\small{ELDBPM}}). From this analysis, the adiabatic limits of fusion barriers have been determined for a wide range of heavy ion systems. The empirical prescription of Wilzynska and Wilzynski has been used with modified radius parameter and surface tension coefficient values consistent with the parameterization of the nuclear masses. The adiabatic fusion barriers calculated from this prescription are in good agreement with the adiabatic barriers deduced from {\small{ELDBPM}} fits to fusion data. The nuclear potential diffuseness is larger at adiabatic limit, resulting in a lower $\hbar\omega$ leading to increase of "logarithmic slope" observed at energies well below the barrier. The effective fusion barrier radius and curvature values are anomalously smaller than the predictions of known empirical prescriptions. A detailed comparison of the systematics of fusion barrier with and without L-dependence has been presented.Comment: Revtex file of 6 pages and 3 eps figure

Complex free energy landscapes in biaxial nematics and role of repulsive interactions : A Wang - Landau study

General quadratic Hamiltonian models, describing interaction between crystal molecules (typically with $D_{2h}$ symmetry) take into account couplings between their uniaxial and biaxial tensors. While the attractive contributions arising from interactions between similar tensors of the participating molecules provide for eventual condensation of the respective orders at suitably low temperatures, the role of cross-coupling between unlike tensors is not fully appreciated. Our recent study with an advanced Monte Carlo technique (entropic sampling) showed clearly the increasing relevance of this cross term in determining the phase diagram, contravening in some regions of model parameter space, the predictions of mean field theory and standard Monte Carlo simulation results. In this context, we investigated the phase diagrams and the nature of the phases therein, on two trajectories in the parameter space: one is a line in the interior region of biaxial stability believed to be representative of the real systems, and the second is the extensively investigated parabolic path resulting from the London dispersion approximation. In both the cases, we find the destabilizing effect of increased cross-coupling interactions, which invariably result in the formation of local biaxial organizations inhomogeneously distributed. This manifests as a small, but unmistakable, contribution of biaxial order in the uniaxial phase.The free energy profiles computed in the present study as a function of the two dominant order parameters indicate complex landscapes, reflecting the difficulties in the ready realization of the biaxial phase in the laboratory.Comment: 23 pages, 12 figure

Stability of Lending Rate Stickiness: A Case Study of India

The paper postulates that in an environment of continuous financial reforms, the lending rate stickiness in an economy could be changing over the period. The financial reforms (of which deregulation of interest rates formed a major part) during the 1990s and the early 2000s and the changing role attributed to different policy rates during the reforms make India an interesting case study. The paper finds evidence of diminishing lending rate stickiness in case of India. During the major part of the study, Indian policymakers used the discount rate for policy signaling. The paper observes that as a result, the long-term rates like the lending rates did not react sufficiently to the changes in the short-term rates (e.g., repo rate) in this period unless the discount rate was also changed. Such behavior changed when policymakers started to use short-term rates like repo rates for policy signaling. Results in this paper suggest that when the impacts are added together, a change of 100 basis points in all policy rates towards the end of the reference period could change the lending rate in India almost by similar magnitude. These findings help to reconcile some of the contrasting findings on lending rate stickiness in case of India. Among possible factors still responsible for lending rate stickiness, the study identifies inelastic credit demand in India as an important factor. From policymaking perspective, however, it is postulated that as demand for personal and housing loans in India are likely to increase in future due to demographic factor, it is likely that such increase could tend to increase inflexibility in loan rates.Lending Rate Stickiness, Discount Rate Addiction, Monetary Policy Transmission