Exact solutions to Einstein's field equations in the presence of matter are presented. A one parameter family of interior solutions for a static fluid is discussed. It is shown that these solutions can be joined to the Schwarzschild exterior, and hence represent fluid spheres of finite radius. Contained within this family is a set of solutions which are gaseous spheres defined by the vanishing of the density at the surface. One such solution yields an analytic expression which corresponds to the asymptotic numerical solution of Oppenheimer and Volkoff for the degenerate neutron gas. These gaseous spheres have ratios of specific heats that lie between one and two in the vicinity of the origin, increasing outward, but remaining less than the velocity of light throughout.

An experiment has been completed which demonstrated quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons between two gold electrodes separated in vacuum. The tunneling current between the gold electrodes has been measured, for fixed voltages of 0.1 and 0.01 volts, as the electrode spacing was varied from a distance of approximately 2.0 nm down to a point where the electrodes touched. Current-voltage characteristics for fixed electrode spacing in the direct tunneling region have also been measured. Numerical calculations of the tunneling current based on the free-electron model of the electrodes and the barrier, an image-potential reduced barrier, and a WKB approximation for the tunneling probability have been performed and compared with Simmons' theory and with the experimental results. Within experimental error the results indicate that an image potential reduced barrier with the modifications suggested by Lang and Kohn gives a close approximation to the true barrier for metal-vacuum-metal tunneling. For the first time, the work function of the electrodes in a tunneling experiment has been deduced from experimental parameters independent of the tunneling device.

Thin target L-Shell x-ray production cross sections for protons incident on ₆₂Sm and ₇₀Yb in the energy range of 0.3 to 2.4 MeV/amu, alpha particles incident on ₆₂Sm, ₇₀Yb, and ₈₂Pb in the energy range of 0.15 to 4.8 MeV/amu, and lithium ions incident on ₅₈Ce, ₆₀Nd, ₆₂Sm, ₆₆Dy, ₆₇Ho, ₇₀Yb, and ₈₂Pb in the energy range of 0.8 to 4.4 MeV/amu have been measured. The cross section data have been compared to the planewave Born approximation (PWBA) and the PWBA modified to include binding energy and Coulomb deflection effects. The Lα₁,₂ x-ray production cross sections are best represented by the PWBA modified to include both the binding energy and Coulomb deflection effects (PWBA-BC) over the entire incident ion, incident energy, and target ranges studied. However, the Lγ₁ and Lγ₂,₃,₍₆₎ x-ray production cross sections are best represented by the PWBA except at the lower ion energies, where both the PWBA and PWBA-BC are in disagreement with the data. The comparison of Lα₁,₂/Lγ₂,₃,₍₆₎ ratios to theory reveals that the PWBA-BC does not predict the inflection point substantiated by the data, and the agreement between the data and the PWBA-BC becomes worse as the atomic number of the incident ion increases. Comparison …