The Kelvin equation, the Gibbs equation and the Gibbs-Thomson equation are compared. It is shown that the Kelvin equation (on equilibrium vapor pressure above nano-droplets) can be derived if the inner pressure due to the curvature (from the Laplace equation) is substituted incorrectly into the external pressure term of the Gibbs equation. Thus, the Kelvin equation is excluded in its present fo...

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Article history: Received 12 May 2009 Available online 6 October 2009 Submitted by B.S. Thomson

Thomson scattering is the classical process of light being deflected by a charged obstacle of typical size smaller than the wavelength of the incident radiation. For definiteness we will henceforth assume the charge to be an electron and the incoming wave stemming from a laser beam. The scattered radiation may be viewed as resulting from a two-step process: (i) the acceleration of the charge du...

Wide field-of-view, high transparency birefringent filters (essentially fixed delay interferometers) are proposed for incoherent Thomson scattering measurements of the temperature and density of plasma free electrons. For thermal electrons, the optical coherence of the Thomson scattered light at an appropriately chosen optical path delay, is a unique function of the electron temperature and den...