The effect of gravity on various thermodynamic properties near the gas-liquid critical point has been calculated. Using a simple equation satisfying scaling requirements, an analytic expression for density profile is obtained, using which the effect on different thermodynamic properties can be easily calculated.

The room temperature reflectance spectra in UV-VIS-NIR region (energy range of 0.6 to 6.2 eV) for glassy, partially crystalline and its fully crystalline superconducting ceramic phases of Bi_3.9Pb_0.1Sr₃Ca₃Cu₄O_x have been studied by Kramers-Kronig (KK) analysis. A comparative study of the energy loss function [− Im (1/ε)] and the absorption coefficient [α(E)] has been done. Excitions in the superconducting phase hitherto evidenced by the authors are located in the polarizable layers of the superconducting cuprate and their implications for superconductivity have been pointed out. An estimate of the optical band gap energy (E_g) has also been made from the linear fit ofα² vs.E curve for the superconducting phase. Jezierski’s method ofR-extrapolations in the higher energy has been used to show that both methods yield results that agree quantitatively and can be relied upon.

An exact solution is obtained for coupled dilaton and electromagnetic field in a cylindrically symmetric spacetime where an axial magnetic field as well as a radial electric field both are present. Depending on the choice of the arbitrary constants our solution reduces either to dilatonic gravity with pure electric field or to that with pure magnetic field. In the first case we have a curvature singularity at a finite distance from the axis indicating the existence of the boundary of a charged cylinder which may represent the source of the electric field. For the second case we have a singularity on the axis. When the dilaton field is absent the electromagnetic field disappears in both the cases. Whereas the contrary is not true. It is further shown that light rays except for those proceeding in the radial direction are either trapped or escape to infinity depending on the magnitudes of certain constant parameters as well as on the nature of the electromagnetic field. Nature of circular geodesics is also studied in the presence of dilaton field in the cylindrically symmetric spacetime.

Straw tube detectors are single wire proportional counters that are widely used as tracking devices. We have carried out R&D activity with a straw tube detector prototype. The aim of this work is to study the stability of the performance in terms of gain and energy resolution of these types of detectors under high rate of radiation. The gain and energy resolution of the detector are studied along with its variation with ambient temperature and pressure. X-rays from a radioactive source are used to irradiate the detector and to monitor the energy spectra simultaneously for calculating the gain. The method followed here is unique as the ageing measurements have been performed without using an accelerated particle beam or any radiation generator. The performance of a straw tube detector has been studied in a laboratory for more than 800 h at a stretch using a single sealed radioactive X-ray source with high intensity. Variation of gain and energy resolution of the straw tube detector under X-ray irradiation in Ar/CO$_2$ gas mixture (volume ratio 80/20) is discussed in this article. The gain of an aged straw depends on gas flow rate. We have estimated the time required for the gain of a straw tube detector under ageing tests to recover on increasing the gas flow rate. We have also estimated the time resolution of the straw tube detectors by using cosmic rays as the trigger for the Ar/CO$_2$ gas mixture in 70/30 volume ratio (different gas mixture was used for the measurement of the time resolution). This type of ageing and time resolution measurements in Ar/CO$_2$ gas mixture has not been reported earlier. The details of the measurement process and the experimental results are presented in this article.

Cosmic ray muon flux is measured by the coincidence technique using plastic scintillation detectors in the High Energy Physics Detector Laboratory at Bose Institute, Kolkata. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and nationwide complete lockdown, the laboratory was closed from the end of March 2020 till the end of May 2020. After lockdown, although the city is not in its normal state, we still were able to take data on some days. The lockdown imposed a strict restriction on the transport service other than the emergency ones and also most of the industries were shut down in and around the city. This lockdown has significant effect on the atmospheric conditions in terms of change in the concentration of air pollutants. We have measured the cosmic ray flux before and after the lockdown to observe the apparent change if any, due to change in the atmospheric conditions. In this article, we report the measured cosmic ray flux at Kolkata (22.58°N 88.42°E and 11 m above the Sea Level) along with the major air pollutants present in the atmosphere before and after the lockdown.