The concepts of the physics of metallic alloys regarding the driving forces of diffusion phase transformations, the nature of solid solutions, the chemical interatomic interaction energy, the principles of plotting phase diagrams, and the principles of heat treatment of alloys are critically reviewed. The ordering-separation phase transition, which is caused by the recently detected property of alloys

Concentrated vortices are spatially localized structures with nonzero vorticity surrounded by a potential flow. These structures include a broad class of mesoscale vortices, such as dust devils, water vortices, and fire vortices, as well as larger-scale and more intense tornados. From a rather broad class of concentrated mesoscale vortices, dust devils are selected as the simplest and most easily observable

Quantum entanglement is a powerful resource that revolutionizes information science, opens new horizons in communication technologies, and pushes the frontiers of sensing and imaging. Whether or not the methods of quantum entanglement can be extended to life-science imaging is far from clear. Live biological systems are eluding quantum-optical probes, proving, time and time again, too lossy, too noisy

The most interesting experimental results obtained in studies of 2D and 3D topological insulators (TIs) based on HgTe quantum wells and films are reviewed. In the case of 2D TIs, these include the observation of nonlocal ballistic and diffusion transport, the magnetic breakdown of 2D TIs, and an anomalous temperature dependence of edge-channel resistance. In 3D TIs, a record-setting high mobility (up

This article presents a brief history of the appearance of electron spin in relativistic wave equations. Dirac derived his wave equation in 1928 with the intention to obtain an equation for the 'simplest' particle with spin zero. But, as Dirac later announced at the European Conference on Particle Physics (Budapest, 4–9 July 1977), it was a big surprise for him that the equation described the states

The latest achievements in the area of terahertz spectrometers based on transient effects are presented. The potential to use these spectrometers in various applications demanding the composition analysis of multicomponent gas mixtures simultaneously with a high sensitivity (at the ppb level) and resolving power is considered. The results obtained with the use of transient terahertz spectroscopy for

Models of field (cold, autoelectron) emission from various types of carbon nanostructures, other than graphene, are described. The experimental results are compared with theoretical predictions.

In general relativity, isolated black holes are invisible due to the infinitely large redshift of photons propagating from the event horizon to a remote observer. However, the dark shadow (silhouette) of a black hole can be visible on the background of matter radiation lensed by the gravitational field of the black hole. The black hole shadow is the celestial sphere projection of the cross section

The last 25 years has witnessed a wealth of publications on the creation of carbon materials whose compression bulk modulus and hardness are much higher than those of diamond. This review presents a critical analysis of these studies. Three groups of myths that have emerged lately are discussed. The first is related to the possibility of creating materials whose bulk moduli are significantly higher

The ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1063-7869/63/6/601/toc_tex_pu_8807_img1.gif] {$ k$} coefficient method proposed by Bondi is extended to the general case where the angle ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1063-7869/63/6/601/tex_pu_8807_img2.gif] {$ \alpha$} between the velocity of a signal from a distant source at rest and the velocity of the observer does not coincide with 0 or ##IMG## [http://ej

A plasma with an anisotropic velocity distribution of particles in a magnetic field is considered. It is shown that the Weibel instability arises in the reference frame rotating together with the particles, for example, ions. When considered in the immobile reference frame, this instability is known as the Alfvén cyclotron instability.

A review of spectroscopic methods for observations of stars in searching for and studying exoplanets is presented. Instrumental errors in measuring radial velocities and strategies to decrease (or fundamentally eliminate) them are considered. The role of astrometric and photometric methods is pointed out. The results of the study of the chemical composition of parent stars and the spectroscopy of transit

Theoretical and observational evidence is examined to verify the hypothesis put forward by N S Kardashev that some of the double images of galactic nuclei can be entrances to the same wormhole.

Particle separation mechanisms and kinetics in granular materials in a gravity chute and under vibrational impact are analyzed. Special attention is given to separation and kinetics mechanisms operating under conditions of high heterogeneity of structural and kinematic characteristics of granular flows. An analysis of alternative expressions for the separation driving force arising from local and spatial

It was previously shown that the experimental measurement of the lifetime of gas-phase negative ions formed in autoionization states during resonant electron capture by molecules is inherently fraught with inaccuracy due to adsorption of ions on the walls of the ionization chamber, with some of them surviving there and staying stabilized as 'eternal' till they eventually desorb back into the vacuum

This review is based on a talk by the authors at the field Scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences devoted to the 60th anniversary of the Vereshchagin Institute for High Pressure Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The dependence of phase-diagram characteristics and phase transitions on the shape of the intermolecular potential is reviewed and

The paper presents a new view of the so-called accelerating matter effect. It was stated earlier that the effect is optical by its nature and is essentially a change in the frequency of the wave transmitted through a refractive sample that is moving with acceleration. But as follows from a simple consideration based on the equivalence principle, the opinion that the effect is related only to the phenomenon

The study of the interaction of electron beams with electromagnetic fields and of devices based on them is one of the central areas of the science of vibrations and waves. In the 20th century, Physics-Uspekhi published reviews devoted to the theory and description of new devices at that time. The theory and design of these devices and their place in the electromagnetic wave range have changed with

Dipole-dipole interaction between molecules of hydrogen-bonding polar liquids (HBPLs), which has a collective and long-range nature, determines the basic large-scale properties of such liquids. We present a two-scale phenomenological vector model of polar liquids (VMPLs), wherein the liquid is described by a polarization vector. The simplest version of this model satisfactorily reproduces the well-known

We discuss the experimental conditions responsible for a drastic decrease in the power threshold of parametric decay instabilities under auxiliary electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) in toroidal magnetic fusion devices when the upper hybrid (UH) resonance for the pump wave is absent. We show that for a finite-width pump in the presence of a non-monotonic (hollow) density profile occurring due

The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE)—the generation of electric currents by light in noncentrosymmetric materials in the absence of electric fields and gradients—was intensively investigated at the end of the last century. The outcomes, including all main aspects of this phenomenon, were summarized in reviews and books. A new upsurge of interest in the BPVE occurred recently, resulting in a flood of

The directional motion of micro- and nanoparticles can be induced not only directly due to the effect of forces with a nonzero average value, which set the direction of the motion, but also, in the absence of such forces in systems with broken mirror symmetry, under the effect of nonequilibrium fluctuations of various natures (the motor or ratchet effect). Unlike other reviews on nanoparticle transport

The preparation of nanocrystalline powders of nonstoichiometric compounds such as carbides and oxides by high-energy milling is considered. The modern state of milling models for nonstoichiometric compounds is described. The influence of nonstoichiometry on the particle size of the produced nanopowders is discussed. The model dependences of the size of nanopowder particles on the duration of milling

This paper presents methods of detection and spectrometry of high-energy electrons and positrons produced in the interaction of laser radiation with matter and vacuum. The methods are based on charged particle transport in the magnetic field of a hollow coaxial line through which a direct current flows. The methods make it possible to detect particles at a distance of several dozen meters from the

Particle motion in one-dimensional crystal chains is studied with the help of the transfer matrix method. The transition from a finite to an infinite chain is analyzed. In the cases where an analytic solution is impossible, the method allows calculating the energy spectra with reasonable accuracy, based on the known cell potential. It turns out that the structure of allowed and forbidden energy bands

A review and analysis of studies concerning the nature of Poisson's ratio ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1063-7869/63/4/327/tex_pu_8787_img1.gif] {$ \mu$} of glassy systems are presented. The value of ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1063-7869/63/4/327/tex_pu_8787_img1.gif] {$ \mu$} is a more pronounced structure-sensitive property than are elasticity moduli. The unique relation of ##IMG## [http://ej

Today, research aimed at the development of low-energy methods of molecular laser isotope separation (MLIS) is relevant and in demand. The main goal of these studies is to find efficient and cost-effective methods that can be used as the basis for the technology of laser separation of uranium isotopes, as well as other elements. To date, a number of approaches to the implementation of low-energy methods

An analysis of spectral-angular characteristics of diffraction radiation, both incoherent and coherent, has been performed. It is shown that radiation processes can be interpreted as Cherenkov radiation, which is produced by a region of dynamic polarization moving along a target edge with superluminal velocity ##IMG## [http://ej.iop.org/images/1063-7869/63/3/303/tex_pu_8784_img1.gif] {$ v _{\rm SL}$}

The main theoretical and experimental results of the study of magnetic skyrmions in films of isotropic chiral magnets are considered. A significant part of the paper presents new results that were not included in previous monographs and reviews. Skyrmions are formations characterized by a quant?ized topological number. They attract considerable attention of researchers due to their dynamics in external

We review modern concepts in the physics and evolution of close binary stars. The review is based, on the one hand, on numerical simulations of the evolution of their components and the processes that accompany that evolution and, on the other hand, on the entire set of observational information in all ranges of electromagnetic and gravitation-wave radiation. These concepts underlie modern astrophysics

The methods of laser cooling of atoms have long been applied to obtain cold and ultracold atomic gases, including degenerate states and the atomic Bose–Einstein condensate in particular. Until recently the application of laser cooling methods to molecules was assumed to be impossible because of the complex structure of molecular levels and the absence of closed cooling cycles for transitions between

The review is devoted to exciton polaritons, short-lived Bose particles which are optically excited in semiconductors and form macroscopically coherent states under conditions of coherent and resonant external driving. The interaction of polaritons results in multistability, spontaneous breaking of spin and spatial symmetries, self-pulsations, and pattern formation. As a result of symmetry breaking

Advances in the development of pulsed lasers provided a further breakthrough in the study of the structural dynamics of nuclei and electrons. As a result of this progress, the use of powerful femtosecond laser pulses, both for exciting a sample and for generating ultrashort (down to femto- and even subfemtosecond) photoelectron bunches synchronized with optical pulses for sensing matter, made it possible

We review numerical results of studies of the complex dynamics of one- and double-dimensional networks (ensembles) of nonlocally coupled identical chaotic oscillators in the form of discrete- and continuous-time systems, as well as lattices of coupled ensembles. We show that these complex networks can demonstrate specific types of spatio-temporal patterns in the form of chimera states, known as the

The review discusses the basic concepts of measurement that have existed from the end of the 19th century to the present day, such as representational theory; realistic, operationalist, conventionalist, theoretical-informational, and theoretical-operational model approaches to measurement; and their advantages and weaknesses. Such characteristics of measurement as accuracy, precision, and various aspects

The latest models and calculation schemes for the quantitative analysis of a number of physical properties of polymers are described. Among the physical properties are the glass transition temperature, flow temperature of polymer nanocomposites, thermal conductivity, boiling point of polymer solutions, water absorption and water permeability of polymers and nanocomposites, strength, viscosity, storage

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In his letter [ Phys. Usp. 63 97 (2020); Usp. Fiz. Nauk 190 107 (2020)] Shmatov expresses a high opinion of the experimental part of Shabanov’s paper [ Phys. Usp. 62 92 (2019); Usp. Fiz. Nauk 189 95 (2019)] but presents some critical remarks on the theoretical character. We show in this reply that these remarks are based on a misunderstanding related to an excessively unambiguous treatment of elementary

We show that a recent paper by Shabanov [ Phys. Usp. 62 92 (2019); Usp. Fiz. Nauk 189 95 (2019)] contains several important unsubstantiated and erroneous statements. In particular, the estimate of the average ball lightning charge presented in that paper corresponds to an impossible situation with an approximately 100-fold excess of the electric field strength near the outer boundary of the ball lightning

The article provides a review of the current state of affairs in the field of physics and technology of multilayer beryllium-containing mirrors intended for projection lithography and solar corona studies in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) region. The methods of synthesizing and studying beryllium-containing multilayer mirrors are described. The results of recent studies on the internal structure and

Progress in the fabrication technology of normal incidence multilayer interference mirrors permits the traditional optical methods of microscopy, astronomy, and lithography to be transferred to the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV, wavelength: 10–200 nm) and the long-wavelength part of the soft X-ray (SXR, wavelength: 2–10 nm) ranges. Due to the short wavelength and properties of interaction with the substance

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We show that applying the methods of the quantum theory of angular momentum enables us to obtain frequency equations for vibrational modes of a uniform isotropic elastic sphere, cylindrical rod, and infinite plate and results in a natural classification of these modes. We discuss how these models can be applied to describe vibrations of metal nanoparticles and semiconductor nanocrystals.

We discuss chiral structures in self-organizing, artificial, and biological materials. A review of experimental studies and recent advances in the localization of light in chiral structures is given. The behavior of polarized resonant modes in such structures is examined using the example of a one-dimensional photonic crystal containing liquid crystal materials. The anomalous spectral shifts of transmission

The development of X-ray diffractometry at the turn of the 21st century is presented. The review covers instrumentation development for structural studies based on the use of both standard continuously radiating X-ray generators and state-of-the-art sources of ultrashort and ultra-bright X-ray pulses. The latter technique enables investigation of the structural dynamics of condensed matter in a 4D

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