Table of contents

The historical development of the Nambu–Jona-Lasinio (NJL) model is briefly reviewed. The SU(2) × SU(2) and U(3) × U(3) local quark NJL models are considered. The mechanisms responsible for spontaneous breaking of chiral symmetry and vector dominance are exhibited. The local NJL model is adequate in describing the mass spectrum and the strong and electroweak decay modes of the four ground-state meson nonets: pseudoscalar, scalar, vector, and axial-vector. The applicability of the model to mesons in a hot dense medium is discussed. It is shown that solving problems related to the description of meson radial excitations and quark confinement requires the nonlocal extension of the NJL model. The primary emphasis of this review is on the methods that are used in various versions of the NJL model. The reader is referred to the cited works for what these models predict in low-energy hadron physics.

The review covers the present state of studies of the urgent open questions concerning the nature, kinetics, and limit values of hydrogen sorption by carbon nanostructures. These questions are related to the key issues in the problem of building a hydrogen electrical automobile. Considered are the thermodynamic and diffusion characteristics and the micromechanisms of the processes of chemical and physical sorption of hydrogen by graphite and related carbon nanomaterials, and also the various methodological aspects of studying and optimizing such hydrogen adsorbents. The experimental and theoretical prerequisites and prospects for developing a 'superadsorbent' (≥10 mass %) for storing hydrogen onboard an automobile are also discussed.

Concepts of ordering, phase separation, and phase transformations in metallic solid solutions are discussed in the context of the latest experimental data on the microstructure of Fe-M alloys. It is shown that the type of chemical interaction between alloy component atoms depends on the degree of the localization of 3d-valence electrons on atoms rather than on the ratio of energies of ordering in different coordination shells. The morphology of the products of phase transformations in alloys with a tendency to ordering or phase separation is considered, and the known mechanisms of phase decomposition are analyzed. The decomposition of alloys having a tendency to ordering and to phase separation is described in thermodynamic terms. It is shown that solid-solution fields in phase diagrams are in fact regions where the alloys have a tendency to phase separation and where, at certain correlations between free-energy components, separation microstructures are formed. It is noted that phase transformations in alloys can occur at different levels of the structure of matter: the 'primary' occur at the level of changes (ordering–phase separation) in the electronic structure, and the 'secondary' are realized at the level of changes (order–disorder) in the microstructure.

Three centuries after Newton's experiments on the decomposition of white light into its spectral components and the synthesis of white light from various colors, nonlinear-optical transformations of ultrashort laser pulses have made it possible to produce an artificial white light with unique spectral properties, controlled time duration, and a high spectral brightness. Owing to its broad and continuous spectrum, such radiation is called supercontinuum. The laser generation of white light is an interesting physical phenomenon and the relevant technology is gaining in practical implications — it offers novel solutions for optical communications and control of ultrashort laser pulses, helps to achieve an unprecedented precision in optical metrology, serves to probe the atmosphere of the Earth, and suggests new strategies for the creation of compact multiplex light sources for nonlinear spectroscopy, microscopy, and laser biomedicine. Here, we provide a review of physical mechanisms behind the laser generation of white light, examine its applications, and discuss the methods of generation of broadband radiation with controlled spectral, temporal, and phase parameters.

A scientific session of the Physical Sciences Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the Zavoisky Kazan Physical-Technical Institute of the Kazan Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, was held in the Conference Hall of the Zavoisky Kazan Physical-Technical Institute on 19 December 2005. The following reports were presented at the session:

(1) Krokhin O N (Lebedev Physics Institute, RAS, Moscow) "50 years of quantum electronics"; (2) Gorbunov A V, Timofeev V B (Institute of Solid State Physics, RAS, Chernogolovka, Moscow region) "Bose condensation of interwell excitons and spatial structure of luminescence in lateral traps"; (3) Chekalin SV(Institute of Spectroscopy, RAS, Troitsk, Moscow region) "The unique femtosecond spectrometric complex as an instrument for ultrafast spectroscopy, femto-chemistry, and nanooptics"; (4) Salikhov K M (Zavoisky Kazan Physical-Technical Institute of the Kazan Scientific Center, RAS) "Time-resolved EPR spectroscopy of nonequilibrium spin systems produced during spin-dependent photophysical and photo-chemical processes in condensed media"; (5) Manenkov A A (Prokhorov General Physics Institute, RAS, Moscow) "The role of electron paramagnetic resonance in the development of quantum electronics: facts and comments"; (6) Smirnov A I (Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems, RAS, Moscow) "Magnetic resonance modes in spin-gap magnets"; (7) Kochelaev B I (Kazan State University) "Evolution of antiferromagnetic cuprates in high-temperature superconductors"; (8) Garifullin I A (Zavoisky Kazan Physical-Technical Institute of the Kazan Scientific Center, RAS) "The superconductor/ferromagnet proximity effect and its potential application in spintronics."

The main propositions of O N Krokhin's report were published in Usp. Phys. Nauk174 1117 (2004) [Phys. Usp. 47 1045 (2004)]. A brief presentation of reports 2 — 6 and 8 is given below. • Bose condensation of interwell excitons and spatial structure of luminescence in lateral traps, A V Gorbunov, V B Timofeev Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6, • The unique femtosecond spectrometric complex as an instrument for ultrafast spectroscopy, femtochemistry, and nanooptics, S V Chekalin Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6, • Time-resolved EPR spectroscopy of nonequilibrium spin systems produced during spin-dependent photophysical and photochemical processes in condensed media, K M Salikhov Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6, • The role of electron paramagnetic resonance in the development of quantum electronics: facts and comments, A A Manenkov Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6, • Magnetic resonance modes in spin-gap magnets, A I Smirnov Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6, • The superconductor/ferromagnet proximity effect and its potential application in spintronics, I A Garifullin Physics-Uspekhi, 2006, Volume 49, Number 6,