Experimental electron shielding studies Technical summary report

Electron shielding - comparison of thick target energy straggling and angular distributions with Monte Carlo calculation

Electric field distortions in structures of the twist bend nematic (NTB) phase of a bent-core liquid crystal

Dielectric spectroscopy of a twist bend nematic phase of an achiral bent core liquid crystalline compound under DC bias is used to investigate its response to electric field. Two collective relaxation processes are revealed, these are assigned to distortions of helicoidal structure by the external bias field. Frequency of the mode depends primarily on the helicoidal angle and has anomalous, softening- like behaviour at the nematic to the twist bend nematic transition. A coupling of dielectric anisotropy with electric field gives rise to a new equilibrium periodic structure in the time scale involved. The modulus of the wave vector gradually vanishes on increasing the bias field (except for the initial behaviour, which is just the opposite). Transition from the twist bend to the splay bend structure is clearly observed by a sudden drop in the frequency of this mode, which decreases almost linearly with increasing field. Results agree with predictions from current models for the periodically distorted a twist bend nematic phase.Comment: 14 PAGES, 7 FIGURES, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Some Comments on the Crisis in Engineering and Engineering Technology Education

The maintenance of a high-quality technological base in the United States is dependent upon adequately funded engineering programs in American colleges and universities. At the current time, many American engineering educators feel that their academic programs are in a state of crisis with respect to adequacy of resources. A number of foundations associated with large American companies (Exxon, IBM, Amoco, and others) have provided funds designed to aid engineering education. Funded programs at the national level have been proposed in Congress. At the present time, the current level of funding is still inadequate. It will take a national technological crisis to improve this situation

Some Comments on the Crisis in Engineering and Engineering Technology Education

The maintenance of a high-quality technological base in the United States is dependent upon adequately funded engineering programs in American colleges and universities. At the current time, many American engineering educators feel that their academic programs are in a state of crisis with respect to adequacy of resources. A number of foundations associated with large American companies (Exxon, IBM, Amoco, and others) have provided funds designed to aid engineering education. Funded programs at the national level have been proposed in Congress. At the present time, the current level of funding is still inadequate. It will take a national technological crisis to improve this situation

Factorization of numbers with Gauss sums: II. Suggestions for implementations with chirped laser pulses

We propose three implementations of the Gauss sum factorization schemes discussed in part I of this series: (i) a two-photon transition in a multi-level ladder system induced by a chirped laser pulse, (ii) a chirped one-photon transition in a two-level atom with a periodically modulated excited state, and (iii) a linearly chirped one-photon transition driven by a sequence of ultrashort pulses. For each of these quantum systems we show that the excitation probability amplitude is given by an appropriate Gauss sum. We provide rules how to encode the number N to be factored in our system and how to identify the factors of N in the fluorescence signal of the excited state.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figure