576 research outputs found
Cooling neutron stars and superfluidity in their interiors
We study the heat capacity and neutrino emission reactions (direct and
modified Urca processes, nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung, Cooper pairing of
nucleons) in matter of supranuclear density of the neutron star cores with
superfluid neutrons and protons. Various superfluidity types are analysed
(singlet-state pairing and two types of triplet-state pairing, without and with
nodes of the gap at a nucleon Fermi surface). The results are used for cooling
simulations of isolated neutron stars. Both, the standard cooling and the
cooling enhanced by the direct Urca process, are strongly affected by nucleon
superfluidity. Comparison of cooling theory of isolated neutron stars with
observations of their thermal radiation may give stringent constraints on the
critical temperatures of the neutron and proton superfluidities in the neutron
star cores.Comment: LaTeX, 85 pages, 23 figures, Physics - Uspekhi (accepted
Production of high energy particles in laser and Coulomb fields and e^+e^- antenna
A strong laser field and the Coulomb field of a nucleus can produce
e^{+}e^{-} pairs. It is shown for the first time that there is a large
probability that electrons and positrons created in this process collide after
one or several oscillations of the laser field. These collisions can take place
at high energy resulting in several phenomena. The quasielastic collision
e^{+}e^{-} -> e^{+}e^{-} allows acceleration of leptons in the laser field to
higher energies. The inelastic collisions allow production of high energy
photons e^{+}e^{-}-> 2 gamma and muons, e^{+}e^{-} -> mu^{+}mu^{-}. The yield
of high-energy photons and muons produced via this mechanism exceeds
exponentially their production through conventional direct creation in laser
and Coulomb fields. A relation of the phenomena considered with the
antenna-mechanism of multiphoton absorption in atoms is discussed.Comment: 4 page
Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in direct and indirect band gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment
The spin structure and spin dynamics of excitons in an ensemble of
(In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with type-I band alignment, containing both
direct and indirect band gap dots, are studied. Time-resolved and spectral
selective techniques are used to distinguish between the direct and indirect
QDs. The exciton fine structure is studied by means of optical alignment and
optical orientation techniques in magnetic fields applied in the Faraday or
Voigt geometries. A drastic difference in emission polarization is found for
the excitons in the direct QDs involving a -valley electron and the
excitons in the indirect QDs contributed by an -valley electron. We show
that in the direct QDs the exciton spin dynamics is controlled by the
anisotropic exchange splitting, while in the indirect QDs it is determined by
the hyperfine interaction with nuclear field fluctuations. The anisotropic
exchange splitting is determined for the direct QD excitons and compared with
model calculations
Optical orientation and alignment of excitons in direct and indirect band gap (In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots with type-I band alignment
The spin structure and spin dynamics of excitons in an ensemble of
(In,Al)As/AlAs quantum dots (QDs) with type-I band alignment, containing both
direct and indirect band gap dots, are studied. Time-resolved and spectral
selective techniques are used to distinguish between the direct and indirect
QDs. The exciton fine structure is studied by means of optical alignment and
optical orientation techniques in magnetic fields applied in the Faraday or
Voigt geometries. A drastic difference in emission polarization is found for
the excitons in the direct QDs involving a -valley electron and the
excitons in the indirect QDs contributed by an -valley electron. We show
that in the direct QDs the exciton spin dynamics is controlled by the
anisotropic exchange splitting, while in the indirect QDs it is determined by
the hyperfine interaction with nuclear field fluctuations. The anisotropic
exchange splitting is determined for the direct QD excitons and compared with
model calculations
Experimental studies of thorium ions implantation from pulse laser plasma into thin silicon oxide layers
We report the results of experimental studies related to implantation of
thorium ions into thin silicon dioxide by pulsed plasma fluxes expansion.
Thorium ions were generated by laser ablation from a metal target, and the
ionic component of the laser plasma was accelerated in an electric field
created by the potential difference (5, 10 and 15 kV) between the ablated
target and SiO2/Si(001) sample. Laser ablation system installed inside the
vacuum chamber of the electron spectrometer was equipped with YAG:Nd3+ laser
having the pulse energy of 100 mJ and time duration of 15 ns in the Q-switched
regime. Depth profile of thorium atoms implanted into the 10 nm thick
subsurface areas together with their chemical state as well as the band gap of
the modified silicon oxide at different conditions of implantation processes
were studied by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Reflected
Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy (REELS) methods. Analysis of chemical
composition showed that the modified silicon oxide film contains complex
thorium silicates. Depending on local concentration of thorium atoms, the
experimentally established band gaps were located in the range of 6.0 - 9.0 eV.
Theoretical studies of optical properties of the SiO2 and ThO2 crystalline
systems have been performed by ab initio calculations within hybrid functional.
Optical properties of the SiO2/ThO2 composite were interpreted on the basis of
Bruggeman effective medium approximation. A quantitative assessment of the
yield of isomeric nuclei in "hot" laser plasma at the early stages of expansion
has been performed. The estimates made with experimental results demonstrated
that the laser implantation of thorium ions into the SiO2 matrix can be useful
for further research of low-lying isomeric transitions in 229Th isotope with
energy of 7.8(0.5) eV
On the angular distribution of extensive air showers
Angular distributions of extensive air showers with different number of
charged particles in the range 2.5x10^5--4x10^7 are derived using the
experimental data obtained with the EAS MSU array. Possible approximations of
the obtained distributions with different empiric functions available in
literature, are analysed. It is shown that the exponential function provides
the best approximation of the angular distributions in the sense of the
chi-squared criterion.Comment: 5 pages including 1 figur
Electron-positron pair creation by Coulomb and laser fields in the tunneling regime
Electron-positron pair creation due to combined nuclear Coulomb and strong
laser fields is investigated for the tunneling regime. The energy spectra and
angular distributions of the pair are found analytically for the first time.
The energy spectrum for each lepton exhibits a sharp maximum located well above
the threshold for any polarization of the laser field. The angular
distributions of leptons depend on the polarization: for the linear
polarization both leptons move predominantly along the laser beam direction;
for the circular polarization leptons are emitted in a thin-walled cone
centered on the laser beam. The spectral and angular distributions found are
governed by the intensity and frequency of the field, and the frequency
independent total pair creation rates comply with the previously known results.
A new method of calculation - the vicinal approximation - which uses the fact
that the pair production takes place in the close vicinity of the nucleus, is
suggested.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
RX J0720.4--3125 as a Possible Example of the Magnetic Field Decay of Neutron Stars
We studied possible evolution of the rotational period and the magnetic field
of the X-ray source RX J0720.4-3125 assuming this source to be an isolated
neutron star accreting interstellar medium. Magnetic field of the source is
estimated to be G, and it is difficult to explain observed
rotational period 8.38 s without invoking hypothesis of the magnetic field
decay. We used the model of ohmic decay of the crustal magnetic field. The
estimates of accretion rate (), velocity of the
source relative to interstellar medium ( km/s), neutron star age
( yrs) are obtained.Comment: 12 pages (LATEX), 2 PostScript figures. Also available at
http://xray.sai.msu.su/~polar/ (with the Russian variant of the article
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