Vol 126, No 1 (2018)

In this paper, we consider the problem of the fragmentation of an aluminum projectile on a thin steel mesh shield at high-velocity impact in a three-dimensional (3D) setting. The numerical simulations are carried out by the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method applied to the equations of mechanics of deformable solids. Quantitative characteristics of the projectile fragmentation are obtained by studying statistics of the cloud of fragments. Considerable attention is given to scaling laws accompanying the fragmentation of the projectile. Scaling is carried out using the parameter K, which defines the number of the mesh cells in the projectile diameter. It is found that the dependence of the critical velocity V_c of fragmentation on the parameter K consists of two branches that correspond to two modes of the projectile fragmentation associated with the “small” and “large” aperture of the mesh cell. We obtain the dependences of the critical velocity V_c on the projectile diameter and the mesh parameters for both modes of the fragmentation. It is shown that the average cumulative mass distributions constructed at V_c exhibit the property of scale invariance, splitting into two groups of distributions corresponding exactly to the modes of the projectile fragmentation. In each group, the average cumulative distributions show good coincidence in the entire mass region; moreover, in the intermediate mass region, each group of distributions has a power-law distribution with an exponent τ different from that in the other group. Conclusions about the dependence of the exponent of the power-law distribution τ on the fragmentation mode are made.

Shock-wave sputtering of lead surface has been investigated. The dynamics of motion of particles has been determined by laser interferometric photon Doppler velocimetry (PDV) method, and their size has been calculated from the law of deceleration in a gaseous medium.

K-shell X-ray fluorescence parameters of low Z elements cobalt, nickel, copper, and zinc have been measured employing a simple method. These elemental targets were excited by using 32.86 keV barium K X-ray photons from a weak ¹³⁷Cs γ-ray source, and the emitted K-shell X-rays from these targets were detected using a low-energy high-purity germanium X-ray detector spectrometer. The results are compared with the standard theoretical, semi-empirical, fitted values and with the others’ experimental values.

Based on a discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation (DNSE), we studied analytically and numerically the peculiarities of the self-action of one-dimensional quasi-optic wave beams injected into a spatially inhomogeneous medium consisting of a set of equidistant mutually coupled optical fibers. A variational approach allowing the prediction of the global evolution of localized fields with the initially plane phase front was developed. The self-consistent equations are obtained for the main parameters of such beams (the position of the center of mass, the effective width, and linear and quadratic phase-front corrections) in the aberrationless approximation. The case of radiation incident on a periodic system of nonlinear optical fibers at an angle to the axis oriented along them is analyzed in detail. It is shown that for the radiation power exceeding a critical value, the self-focusing of the wave field is observed, which is accompanied by the shift of the intensity maximum followed by the concentration of the main part of radiation only in one of the structural elements of the array under study. In this case, the beams propagate along paths considerably different from linear and the direction of their propagation changes compared to the initial direction. Asymptotic expressions are found that allow us to estimate the self-focusing length and to determine quite accurately the final position of a point with the maximum field amplitude after radiation trapping a channel. The results of the qualitative study of the possible self-channeling regimes for wave beams in a system of weakly coupled optical fibers in the aberrationless approximation are compared with the results of direct numerical simulations within the DNSE framework.

In order to detect cosmic rays and ultrahigh-energy neutrinos, a number of experiments based on the detection of radio radiation of cascades initiated by these particles in dense media such as ground ice massifs or lunar regolith have been developed. In most of the experiments, radio radiation is detected at the emission to the atmosphere or cosmic space rather than in a dense medium. Consequently, it is necessary to calculate the radiation of a cascade taking into account an interface between two media. This problem is usually solved numerically by the Monte Carlo method. A simple analytical expression for a radiation field in the wave zone of the less dense medium has been obtained for the case of development of the cascade in the dense medium and the crossing of the interface between two media by radiation. The effect of the third, additional medium on the radiation field of the cascade has also been considered.

We revisit the question of whether a two-dimensional topological insulator may arise in a commensurate Néel antiferromagnet, where staggered magnetization breaks the symmetry with respect to both elementary translation and time reversal, but retains their product as a symmetry. In contrast to the so-called Z₂ topological insulators, an exhaustive characterization of antiferromagnetic topological phases with the help of topological invariants has been missing. We analyze a simple model of an antiferromagnetic topological insulator and chart its phase diagram, using a recently proposed criterion for centrosymmetric systems [13]. We then adapt two methods, originally designed for paramagnetic systems, and make antiferromagnetic topological phases manifest. The proposed methods apply far beyond the particular examples treated in this work, and admit straightforward generalization. We illustrate this by two examples of non-centrosymmetric systems, where no simple criteria have been known to identify topological phases. We also present, for some cases, an explicit construction of edge states in an antiferromagnetic topological insulator.

Dependences of the tunnel magnetoresistance and in-plane component of the spin transfer torque on the applied voltage in a magnetic tunnel junction have been calculated in the approximation of ballistic transport of conduction electrons through an insulating layer with embedded magnetic or nonmagnetic nanoparticles. A single-barrier magnetic tunnel junction with a nanoparticle embedded in an insulator forms a double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction. It has been shown that the in-plane component of the spin transfer torque in the double-barrier magnetic tunnel junction can be higher than that in the single-barrier one at the same thickness of the insulating layer. The calculations show that nanoparticles embedded in the tunnel junction increase the probability of tunneling of electrons, create resonance conditions, and ensure the quantization of the conductance in contrast to the tunnel junction without nanoparticles. The calculated dependences of the tunnel magnetoresistance correspond to experimental data demonstrating peak anomalies and suppression of the maximum magnetoresistances at low voltages.

The interface between two media of different densities (contact boundary) moving with an acceleration directed from the less dense medium to the more dense one is unstable (Rayleigh–Taylor instability) [1, 2]. The initial perturbations of the interface grow indefinitely and, as a result, a medium mixing zone growing with time is formed at the interface. The structure of such a mixing zone at gas–gas and gas–liquid interfaces is discussed on the basis of laboratory experiments on shock tubes of various types. It is concluded that the regions of turbulent and laminar flows are combined in the mixing zone.