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Effective energy-loss functions were derived for oxygen-adsorbed amorphous silicon surfaces from a reflection electron energy-loss spectroscopy analysis based on the extended Landau theory. This study has revealed that the intensity of the surface-plasmon-loss peak for a clean surface decreases and its peak position shifts towards the lower-energy losses as oxygen exposure proceeds (⩽1000 L). To understand the above behavior of the surface-plasmon-loss peak, the distribution of the energy losses was calculated using the hydrodynamic model. The decrease and shift of the surface-plasmon-loss peak has been described with considerable success by assuming that the quasifree static electron density in the vicinity of the silicon surface decreases as oxygen adsorption proceeds owing to oxygen’s high electron affinity.

The formal solutions of problems involving transient heat conduction in infinite internally bounded cylindrical solids may be obtained by the Laplace transform method. Asymptotic series representing the solutions for large values of time are given in terms of functions related to the derivatives of the reciprocal gamma function. The results are applied to the case of the internally bounded infinite cylindrical medium with, (a) the boundary held at constant temperature; (b) with constant heat flow over the boundary; and (c) with the ``radiation'' boundary condition. A problem in the flow of gas through a porous medium is considered in detail.

In this paper a simple derivation is given of the distribution of photons emitted when an energetic charged particle passes through a thin layer of dielectric material. This derivation emphasizes the individual microscopic events which occur during such a process. The distribution function is shown to agree with that obtainable from the transition radiation theory of Frank and Ginzburg and from the plasmon decay theory of Ferrell for the case of a thin foil. The special case of a double foil bounded by vacuum is considered in detail, and a general formula is found for the photon distribution function. An approximation analogous to that of Born's in quantum mechanics is developed to treat the case of a general composite foil whose thickness is small compared with λ but which may be large compared with vλ/c, where λ is the wavelength of the light emitted and v is the speed of the charged particle.

The coupled electron‐hole cascade in an electron gas is described by a space‐ and angle‐independent transport equation. Analytic cross sections employed for the various processes are appropriate to a high density electron gas and for low to moderate excitation energies. The solution of the integral transport equation may be expressed in analytic form. It is found that the cascade process results in the accumulation of extremely large numbers of electrons and holes close to the Fermi surface.