JASPER: a software for quantum chromodynamics Dyson-Schwinger equation numerical calculation

The JASPER program is the first part of the high-performance computing information system for estimate some elementary particle properties, developing at Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute. The JASPER is an implementation of the Dyson-Schwinger equation numerical solution for simple dressed quark propagator calculation in rainbow approximation. The Dyson-Schwinger equation solution with the Marice-Tandy Ansatz is one of several phenomenological approaches to obtain quantitative results in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) within strong coupling regime. The JASPER program is programmed in the C++ language and uses the numerical algorithms from the GNU Scientific Library (GSL). The numerical results for dynamical quark mass in complex Euclidean space were obtained. This result will be employed to study the hadron spectrum with the Bethe-Salpeter equation approach.

Transformation of the Personnel Policy of Russian Universities Participating in Project 5-100: The Case of National Research Nuclear University Mephi

The article examines the development of personnel policy and human resource management (HRM) in Russian universities under the influence of the Project 5-100. Globalization has intensified the processes of universities corporatization and the spread of effective management practices. National academic excellence programs have contributed to strengthening the performance-based governance in universities all over the world. These factors had deeply influenced the transformation of HRM practices at universities. Russian studies in this field are shown as fragmented, focusing on narrow aspects, and not forming a holistic picture of the HRM system transformation in Russian universities. This work aims to describe a holistic case of personnel policy and HRM system development in one of the leading Russian universities – the National Research Nuclear University “MEPhI” (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute).The research applied the method of semi-formalized interviews and covered 25 employees of MEPhI. Four interview guides were developed for different categories of employees (top management, middle management, academics, teachers), including more than 25 questions, focusing on employees’ perception of different components of the HRM system at the university. The study showed that the HRM system at MEPhI was significantly transformed under the influence of the Project 5-100: the personnel policy was formalized in high-level strategic documents; the processes of recruitment and selection of foreign employees have been rebuilt; the considerable increase in the number of foreign employees was reached; global partners began to play an important role; a comfortable environment for the implementation of initiatives was created and opportunities for professional development were provided. A significant part of these changes is connected, directly or indirectly, with the university’s participation in the Project 5-100. In general, this points to its positive impact on personnel policy and the HRM system at the university. The results obtained can be used as a basis for formulating recommendations for improving the personnel policy and HRM system in Russian universities as an important component of the management system as a whole.

First deployment of a 6-km long fiber-optic strain cable and a seafloor geodetic network, across an active submarine fault (offshore Catania, Sicily): The FOCUS experiment

<p>For the first time, a 6-km long fiber-optic strain cable was deployed across an active fault on the seafloor with the aim to monitor possible tectonic movement using laser reflectometry, 25 km offshore Catania Sicily (an urban area of 1 million people). Brillouin Optical Time Domain Reflectometry (BOTDR) is commonly used for structural health monitoring (bridges, dams, etc.) and under ideal conditions, can measure small strains (10<sup>-6</sup>) along a fiber-optic cable, across very large distances (10 - 200 km), with a spatial resolution of 10 - 50 m. The FocusX1 expedition, (6-21 October 2020) onboard the R/V Pourquoi Pas? was the first experiment of the European funded FOCUS project (ERC Advanced Grant). We first performed micro-bathymetric mapping and a video camera survey using the ROV Victor6000 to select the best path for the cable track and for deployment sites for eight seafloor geodetic stations. Next we connected a custom designed 6-km long fiber-optic cable (manufactured by Nexans Norway) to the TSS (Test Site South) seafloor observatory in 2100 m water depth operated by INFN-LNS (Italian National Physics Institute) via a new Y-junction frame and cable-end module. Cable deployment was performed by means of a deep-water cable-laying system with an integrated plow (updated Deep Sea Net design Ifremer, Toulon) to bury the cable 20 cm in the soft sediments in order to increase coupling between the cable and the seafloor. The cable track crosses the North Alfeo Fault at four locations. Laser reflectometry measurements began on 18 October 2020 and are being calibrated by a 3 - 4 year deployment of eight seafloor geodetic instruments (Canopus acoustic beacons manufactured by iXblue) deployed on 15 October 2020. During a future marine expedition, tentatively scheduled for early 2022 (FocusX2) a passive seismological experiment is planned to record regional seismicity. This will involve deployment of a temporary network of Ocean Bottom Seismometers (OBS) on the seafloor and seismic stations on land, supplemented by INGV permanent land stations. The simultaneous use of laser reflectometry, seafloor geodetic stations as well as seismological land and sea stations will provide an integrated system for monitoring a wide range of slipping event types along the North Alfeo Fault (e.g. - creep, slow-slip, rupture). A long-term goal of the project is the development of dual-use telecom cables with industry partners.</p>

Optimization of the Position of the CR-39 Polycarbonate Sheet Inside the Solid State Track Detector “Measuring Device” Through Computational Fluid Dynamics Technique

The “measuring device” is one of the most reliable, efficient and economic indoor radon dosimeters that exist. This device was developed by the Proyecto de Aplicaciones de la Dosimetría (PAD) at the Physics Institute of UNAM (IF-UNAM) and consists of a transparent rigid plastic cup, a CR-39 polycarbonate sheet and a standard size metal clip that is used to hold the polycarbonate in the center of the cup. The cup is wrapped and covered with a low-density polyurethane protector in order to prevent the detector from being irradiated by ionizing particles found in the environment. In this work, an analysis was carried out that allowed to understand how the radon concentration on the polycarbonate sheet varies when its height is changed with respect to the base of the plastic cup, in order to understand what position increase the probability of interaction between radon and the surface of the detector. For the development of this work, four computational simulations were performed with the technique called Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The results shows that as the CR-39 is positioned more closed to the base of the cup, the probability of interaction of the radon and the detector increase. Based on these results it is concluded that, when there is a limit in the time in which a measuring device can be placed in the zone where it is desired to quantify indoor radon, it is recommended to collocated the CR-39 at 1 cm with respect to the base of the cup.

Geoacoustic emission during the passage through the Earth's crust of high-energy cosmic ray muons

The unresolved problem of traditional seismology to date is the separation from the stream of information recorded by numerous seismic sensors of a strictly defined signal about the approach of a catastrophic earthquake specific in time and space. Such a signal is usually lost against a constant background from a large number of another events. At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, scientists from the Physics Institute and the Institute of Physics of the Earth developed a preliminary concept for a new promising direction in seismology. Using the signal from elastic vibrations in the acoustic frequency range for earthquake prediction. These signals can be generated by ionization. Ionization is formed at the moment of the passage of high-energy muons through a seismically stressed medium in the deep layers of the earth's crust. It is hoped that this method may be one way to predict earthquakes in the future.

MODELING RADIATION LOADING OF RADIATION MONITOR RADOM ONBOARD SPACE VEHICLE "CHANDRAYAAN 1" DURING ITS FLIGHT WITHIN EARTH'S MAGNETOSPHERE

Planners of a crewed mission to the Moon should have confidence in reliability of radiation dose estimations. In the absence of proton events during solar minimum the absorbed dose to the crew crossing the magnetosphere will be contributed primarily by protons and electrons of the inner and outer radiation belts of Earth, respectively. It is necessary to examine whether the existing electron forecast model is good enough for this purpose. The paper describes our efforts to model the radiation environment of RADOM onboard Chandrayaan 1 launched to the Moon on 22.10.2008, including the vehicle design in order to assess its shielding function. The geomagnetic field parameters were reproduced with the use of model А2000 developed at the Nuclear Physics Institute (Moscow State University). The absorbed doses were calculated with the help of standard Canopus-80 tools. Comparison of calculated and experimental data showed a good agreement for the period of solar minimum and quiet geomagnetic conditions.

Scientific capacity of Russian universities: Problems and prospects

In the recent years, the contribution of Russian universities into science and technology has increased. The RF Government has been intensively developing and implementing instruments to support fundamental and applied sciences and to ensure implementation of their achievements into real economy and social sphere. Several Russian universities accomplish world-class studies and research, in particular, classic universities like Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Ural Federal University, Tomsk State University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI), St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. Academic science has much to offer the real sector as the universities are much closer to and has got the tighter relations with the entrepreneurial sector than the state-financed (80-90% funding) research institutes. However, average universities fall short compared to those mentioned above, partially due to the lack of extrabudgetary financing by business organizations which makes a little bit over 30%, while in the developed countries this figure sometimes exceeds 70%.

Microstructure formation and mechanical properties of isothermally-solidified titanium alloy joints brazed by a Ti – Zr – Cu – Ni – Be amorphous alloy foil

Two titanium alloys, OT4 and VT6-c, with a pseudo-α and α + β structure, respectively, were brazed using transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding. To obtain high strength joints an amorphous foil (Ti – 12Zr – 22Cu – 12Ni – 1.5 Be – 0.8V wt.%) was used. Based on microstructural studies and analysis of two- and three-component phase diagrams, the mechanism of the microstructural evolution of the brazed seams of titanium alloys OT4 and VT6-c is described. Brazing at 800 °C with exposure for 0.5 h leads to the formation of a heterogeneous structure consisting of Widmanstätten, eutectoid, and eutectic. Brazed OT4 and VT6-c joints with the presence of a eutectic layer in the centre show low mechanical properties; their ultimate strength lies in a range from 200 to 550 MPa. Increasing the brazing temperature to 840 °C and the exposure time to 2 h, leads to the disappearance of the brittle eutectic component from the seam. This structure typically consists of Widmanstätten with a small number of eutectoid fractions. Joints with the absence of a eutectic layer in the brazed seam demonstrate a strength equal to the base titanium alloys. In this case, failure occurs in the base metal. For brazed samples from the OT4 alloy, the tensile strength value is σb = 750 ± 3 MPa, and for samples from VT6-c, σb = 905 ± 3 MPa. This work was supported by Competitiveness Growth Programme of the Federal Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow Engineering Physics Institute).

Molecular bases of the effect of low doses of radiation

By definition, low doses are minimum doses of a damaging agent, in particular radiation, causing a recorded biological effect. The problem of exposure to low doses of radiation is being discussed in scientific literature for decades, but there is still no generally accepted conclusion concerning the existence of some features of the effect of low doses in contrast to that of acute exposure. This is due to the fact as follows: if being fixed, these effects have a weak expression and can be easily criticized. The second important aspect of this problem is that biological effects are mainly described phenomenologically in literature, without deciphering their molecular causes. In recent years, a number of articles appeared in which the authors, when studying exposure to low doses of DNA-tropic agents, show that postreplication repair (in particular, its error-free branch) plays a key role in these effects. In the laboratory of eukaryotic genetics of Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute named by B. P. Konstantinov, it was possible to isolate unique yeast mutants with a disrupted branch of error-free postreplication repair. A study of the processes of eliminating DNA damage with minimal deviations of their number from a spontaneous level made it possible to explain at the molecular level the differences in cell response to low doses from acute exposure.

The FOCUS experiment 2020 (Fiber Optic Cable Use for Seafloor studies of earthquake hazard and deformation)

<p>Laser reflectometry (BOTDR), commonly used for structural health monitoring (bridges, dams, etc.), for the first time is being tested to study movements of an active fault on the seafloor, 25 km offshore Catania Sicily (an urban area of 1 million people). Under ideal conditions, this technique can measure small strains (10E-6), across very large distances (10 - 200 km) and locate these strains with a spatial resolution of 10 - 50 m. As the first experiment of the European funded FOCUS project (ERC Advanced Grant), in late April 2020 we aimed to connect and deploy a dedicated 6-km long strain cable to the TSS (Test Site South) seafloor observatory in 2100 m water depth operated by INFN-LNS (Italian National Physics Institute). The work plan for the marine expedition FocusX1 onboard the research vessel PourquoiPas? is described here. First, microbathymetric mapping and a video camera survey are performed by the ROV Victor6000. Then, several intermediate junction frames and short connector cables (umbilicals) are connected. A cable-end module and 6-km long fiber-optic strain cable (manufactured by Nexans Norway) is then connected to the new junction box. Next, we use a deep-water cable-laying system with an integrated plow (updated Deep Sea Net design Ifremer, Toulon) to bury the cable 20 cm in the soft sediments in order to increase coupling between the cable and the seafloor. The targeted track for the cable crosses the North Alfeo Fault at three locations. Laser reflectometry measurements began April 2020 and will be calibrated by a three-year deployment of seafloor geodetic instruments (Canopus acoustic beacons manufactured by iXblue) also started April 2020, to quantify relative displacement across the fault. During a future marine expedition, tentatively scheduled for 2021 (FocusX2) a passive seismological experiment is planned to record regional seismicity. This will involve deployment of a temporary network of OBS (Ocean Bottom Seismometers) on the seafloor and seismic stations on land, supplemented by INGV permanent land stations. The simultaneous use of laser reflectometry, seafloor geodetic stations as well as seismological land and sea stations will provide an integrated system for monitoring a wide range of types of slipping events along the North Alfeo Fault (e.g. - creep, slow-slip, rupture). A long-term goal is the development of dual-use telecom cables with industry partners.</p>