Preface

II Conference on Plasma and Laser Research and Technologies took place on January 25th until January 27th, 2016 at National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (NRNU MEPhI). It was organized by the Institute of Laser and Plasma Technologies and was supported by the Competitiveness Program of NRNU MEPhI.The Conference consisted of four sections: Plasma physics and controlled nuclear fusion, Laser physics, Modern aspects of solid state matter physics and Charged particle accelerators. The Conference provided participants an opportunity to present their research results for the consideration of a wide audience from the sidelines of science.The main topics of the Conference were:• Controlled nuclear fusion with magnetic and inertial confinement;• Low-temperature plasma and its application in modern technology;• Laser physics and technologies for industry, environmental control and precise measurements;• Optical information control, holography, spintronics and photonics;• Modern aspects of solid state matter physics and nanophysics;• Charged particle accelerators.More than 200 specialists on plasma, laser and solid state physics took part in the II Conference. They represented leading Russian scientific research centres and universities (such as Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Thermonuclear Research, Institute of Crystallography, National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", Institute of Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry and others) and universities from Belarus, Ukraine, Germany, USA, Canada, Belgium, and Sweden.All report presentations were broadcasted online on the NRNU MEPhI official site. The translation was watched by viewers from Moscow, Prague, St. Petersburgh and other cities, who could not attend the Conference.We would like to thank heartily all of the speakers, participants and organizing committee members for their contribution to the conference.

PrefaceThis special volume of JPCS contains the “Proceedings of the V International conference on photonics and information optics (PhIO 2016)”. The conference was held in Moscow, Russian Federation in February 3-5, 2016.Organizers of the conference:• The Russian Academy of Sciences• National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI» (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute).The conference included 10 meetings in total: two plenary sessions and eight section meetings, also poster sessions took place. 100 oral and more than 120 poster reports were presented by scientists from 130 organizations of more than 10 countries.The V International conference on photonics and information optics carried on traditions of previous forums held in National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI» (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute): wide range of topics, broad scope of participants and the involvement of young scientists and students. Relevance and importance of researches on photonics and information optics, need of an exchange of new ideas and methods between experts both in the Russian Federation, and at the international level, cause noticeable interest in this conference not only among scientists of the CIS, but also in Europe and Asia.Chairmen of the program committee are members of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, president of Kotelnikov Institute of Radio-engineering and Electronics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, academician Yu.V. Gulyaev and head of the Laser Physics Department of National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI» (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute), professor N.N. Evtikhiev Conference themes: coherent and nonlinear optics, fiber and integrated optics, optics of crystals and acousto-optics, interaction of radiation with matter and optical materials, optical measurements and biophotonics, holography and digital optics, optical communication and optoelectronic data processing.The articles based on materials, selected by the committee, presented at the V International conference on photonics and information optics, are included in this special issue.The next conference is the VI International conference on photonics and information optics. The conference will be held in the National Research Nuclear University «MEPhI» (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute) in Moscow, Russian Federation under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation in February 1-3, 2017. The web site of the conference is http://fioconf.mephi.ru. We look forward to seeing all of you at the VI International conference on photonics and information optics.

This paper describes the experience of teaching «Nuclear Knowledge Management» course at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (NRNU MEPhI). Currently, the course is implemented both in engineer and master degree programs and is attended by over 50 students. Goal, objectives and syllabus of the course are discussed in detail. A special attention is paid to practical exercises and final examination options in the case of small and large student groups. The course is supported by the Cyber Learning Platform for Nuclear Education and Training (CLP4NET), developed by the IAEA. The experience of NRNU MEPhI lecturers assisting in conducting the International School of Nuclear Knowledge Management, held annually in Trieste (Italy), is described with a special attention to the fact, that the course has passed the certification process at Academic Council of NRNU MEPhI. In 2014 and 2015 the course has been recognized as one of the best ones in NRNU MEPhI. Finally, perspectives of «Nuclear Knowledge Management» course are considered. They include increase of the course duration, introduction of the course into the learning process of other departments and institutions of the university, and transferring the course to other members of the Association «Consortium of ROSATOM supporting universities».

Numerical study on the physical and chemical processes in n-decane spray ignition

An introduction to digital stochastic simulations for modeling a variety of physical and chemical processes is presented. Despite the importance of stochastic simulations in chemistry, the prevalence of turn-key software solutions can impose a layer of abstraction between the user and the underlying approach obscuring the methodology being employed. This article introduces the use of random variable generators in simulating physical and chemical processes suitable for use in undergraduate chemistry courses through detailed illustrative examples which include DNA sequences, Brownian motion, diffusion, chemical kinetics, and chain-growth polymerization. The results of the stochastic simulations are also compared to theoretical models. Jupyter notebooks containing Python code for running these simulations are provided in the Supporting Information section.

Linear and nonlinear spectroscopy techniques are widely used to study numerous important chemical and physical processes. However, the interpretation of these experimental spectra often becomes very complicated because a particular spectrum constitutes a mere footprint of a host of various, possibly intertwined, effects. In this spirit, calculations in the time-dependent picture provide a useful tool for decoding such spectra. Nevertheless, the ultimate challenge is to devise a theoretical framework that could yield sufficient efficiency as well as accuracy to describe the molecular system of interest in a satisfactory way. The strategy is relatively straightforward for low dimensional systems that are directly tractable, e.g., with exact quantum dynamics performed on an equidistant grid. Despite the formidable overall exponential scaling, these calculations can be significantly accelerated by using higher-order split-operator propagation schemes. In general however, one is forced to seek an affordable balance between physical accuracy on one hand and computational efficiency on the other by employing, for instance, some of the techniques from the broad family of semiclassical methods based on classical trajectories. To this end, the thawed Gaussian approximation (TGA) is combined with an on-the-fly ab initio scheme (OTF-AI). The resulting OTF-AI-TGA algorithm is efficient enough to treat all vibrational degrees of freedom (DOFs) on an equal footing even in case of larger molecules such as pentathiophene (105 DOFs). Moreover, in sharp contrast to popular approaches based on global harmonic approximation, OTF-AI-TGA reproduces almost perfectly the absorption and photoelectron spectra of ammonia, i.e., spectra with strong dependence on large amplitude motions. In addition to the mere reproduction of experimental spectra, a novel systematic approach is introduced to assess the importance and the dynamical couplings of individual vibrational DOFs. This is in turn used to gain a deeper insight into the associated physical and chemical processes by attributing specific spectral features to the underlying molecular motion. Specifically, in the case of oligothiophenes, this approach was used to assign the dynamical interplay between quinoid and aromatic characters of individual rings to particular spectral patterns and, furthermore, to explain the changes in the vibrational line shape with an increasing number of rings. Furthermore, in systems that are too large to be treated with accurate quantum methods, efficient methods such as OTF-AI-TGA are expected to be useful as a preliminary tool for identification of the subspace of the important DOFs. On this subspace, one can then unleash some of the less efficient yet better-suited methods. In summary, OTF-AI-TGA combined with this novel analysis approach is intended to provide the first crucial step in a hierarchical computational protocol for studying large molecules such as dyes.

Modelling and experimental verification of physical and chemical processes during pyrolysis of a large biomass particle

Metallic nanoparticles are attracting much interest from the viewpoints of both fundamental and device physics, since they show the distinctive optical, physical, and chemical properties found in neither bulk nor molecular/ atomic systems. Among the nanoparticle systems, the surface-passivated nanoparticles are very stable and exhibit the closed-packed nanoparticle self-assemblies on the singlecrystalline substrates. Therefore, it is considered that they could be important constituents of future nanostructured devices, such as single electron device, catalyst, and ultra highly density memory. On the other hand, the transient dynamics of hot-electrons created by photoexcitation or inelastic scattering of other energenic particles play an important role in the various physical and chemical phenomena. The excited hot-electrons relax through a number of decay processes, such as electron–electron scattering, electron-phonon scattering, electron-impurity/ defect scattering, and scattering with other elementary excitations. The detailed understanding of hot-electron dynamics will provide not only information about the fundamental interactions in the many-body systems but also knowledge of the various optical, physical and chemical processes. In order to elucidate the intriguing properties of metallic nanoparticles and to develop the future devices, it is indispensable to understand the excited-electron dynamics as well as their electronic structures. In this work, we have carried out a femtosecond time-resolved two-photon photoemission (TR-2PPE) study of dodecanethiolate (DT)-passivated Ag nanoparticles on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) substrates. Among the time-resolved spectroscopic methods, TR-2PPE spectroscopy is a unique method to observe directly the temporal evolution of excited-electrons that may not be easily accessible through optical techniques. The DT-passivated Ag nanoparticles were synthesized by the two-phase (water–toluene) reduction method. The detailed procedure is described elsewhere. The size and shape of the synthesized nanoparticles were characterized by ex-situ observations with transmission electron microscope (TEM). Figure 1 shows the TEM micrograph and the size distribution in diameter of DT-passivated Ag nanoparticles used in this work. As shown in Fig. 1, the mean diameter and standard deviation are dm 1⁄4 5:3 nm and 1⁄4 0:47 nm, respectively. The present samples have an extremely narrow size distribution in diameter ( 3:0 eV). The total energy resolution was about 150meV, and time resolution was about 10 fs. All measurements were performed at room temperature. Figure 2 shows the two-photon photoemission (2PPE) spectrum of the DT-passivated Ag nanoparticles on the HOPG substrate with dm 1⁄4 5:3 nm measured with photon energy of 3.3 eV at zero pump-probe delay, compared with that of HOPG substrate. These spectra are plotted as a function of intermediate-state energy relative to the Fermilevel. In Fig. 2, the intermediate-state energy of 3.3 eV corresponds to the highest intermediate-state, with onephoton energy (h 1⁄4 3:3 eV) above the Fermi-level. As shown in Fig. 2, the 2PPE spectral features are definitely different among the HOPG substrate and DT-passivated Ag nanoparticles on HOPG substrate. The 2PPE spectrum of Fig. 1. TEM micrograph and size distribution in diameter of dodecanethiolate-passivated Ag nanoparticles with mean diameter of dm 1⁄4 5:3 nm and standard deviation of 1⁄4 0:47 nm.

The article considers five stages in the history of the discovery and attempts to substantiate Mendeleev’s periodic system of chemical elements. The first stage consists in the accumulation, systematic analysis of extensive empirical material and in the direct establishment of the periodic law of chemical elements by Mendeleev. At the second stage, attempts were made to atomic-electronic explanation of the periodicity of the physical and chemical properties of elements on the basis of quantum mechanics and the Pauli principle. The third stage is associated with the development of nuclear physics, as well as with the development of such chemical methods as radiochemical analysis, the chromatographic method of color, etc. At the fourth stage, a solution to the problem was proposed on the basis of group theory in the quantum mechanical understanding. The fifth stage is based on the relational substantiation of the periodic system of chemical elements of the Mendeleev’s table, corresponding to the method of describing hadrons.

Wastewater treatment is just one component in the urban water cycle; however, it is an important component since it ensures that the environmental impact of human usage of water is significantly reduced. It consists of several processes: biological, chemical and physical processes. Wastewater treatment aims to reduce: nitrogen, phosphorous, organic matter and suspended solids. To reduce the amount of these substances, wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) consisting of (in general) four treatment steps, have been designed. The steps are: a primarily mechanical pre-treatment step, a biological treatment step, a chemical treatment step and a sludge treatment step. See Figure 1. The quality of water is proportional to the quality of life and therefore in modern world the sustainable development concept is to save water. The goal of a wastewater treatment plant is to eliminate pollutant agents from the wastewater by means of physical and (bio) chemical processes. Modern wastewater treatment plants use biological nitrogen removal, which relies on nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria in order to remove the nitrogen from the wastewater. Biological wastewater treatment plants are considered complex nonlinear systems due to large variations in their flow rates and feed concentrations. In addition, the microorganisms that are involved in the process and their adaptive behaviour coupled with nonlinear dynamics of the system make the WWTP to be really challenging from the modelling and control point of view [Clarke D.W ], [Dutka.A& Ordys], [Grimblea & M. J], [H.Elbahja & P.Vega],[ H.Elbahja & O.Bakka] and [O.Bakka & H.Elbahja].

Structure formation and its consequences for gas and water transport in unsaturated arable and forest soils

n the journal Bulletin of the Russian State Medical University (July – August 2018/04, p. 25–31), mistakes were made in the article: https://vestnikrgmu.ru/archive/2018/4/3/abstract?lang=en Akmalov AE, Kotkovskii GE, Stolyarov SV, Verdiev BI, Ovchinnikov RS, Pochtovyy AA, et al. High-performance aerosol sampler with liquid phase recirculation and pre-concentration of particles. Bulletin of RSMU. 2018; (4): 25–31. DOI: 10.24075/brsmu.2018.049 The editors ask for the following changes: Printed by: p. 25, "Funding" This work was supported by the Federal Target Program The National System for Chemical and Biological Security of the Russian Federation (2015-2020), the state contract No. K-27-НИР/148-2 signed by the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation and the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. It should be: This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and Science within the framework of the project RFMEFI60117X0018.

The ODETTA calculation code and a comparative analysis of the program simulation with using of MPI principles as well as the possibility of applying MPI technology to speed up the calculation code are considered. The development of the ODETTA program algorithmic part with MPI using is described. Features and specifics of this program parallelizing are presented. The modification of the calculation code is given. The corresponding software algorithms are considered. The structure of ODETTA program modules with MPI using is displayed. The results of ODETTA serial and parallel versions in OS Linux with MPI using on the HPC cluster of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI are presented. In addition, the comparative analysis of two program implementations in terms of speed and accuracy of results by using of two different clusters and a different number of nodes on them is given.

The prototype of a novel type EAS (extensive air shower) recording and investigation array (the PRISMA project) is created on the basis of the NEVOD experimental complex through cooperation between Institute for Nuclear Research, Russian Academy of Sciences, and the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. The prototype (ProtoPRISMA) consists of thirty-two en-detectors sensitive to EAS electromagnetic (e) and hadronic (via the registration of thermal neutrons) (n) components. The array is designed to develop and to test a new method of EAS investigation using neutron and electromagnetic components and to obtain preliminary data on the spectrum and composition of cosmic rays.

In the published HTML version of this article, the affiliations of the authors of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow, Russia were unfortunately marked incorrectly.