Variational calculations for K-few-nucleon systems

Deeply bound KNN, KNNN and KNNNN states are discussed. The effective force exerted by the K meson on the nucleons is calculated with static nucleons. Next the binding energies are obtained by solving the Schrodinger equation or by variational calculations. The dominant attraction comes from the S-wave Lambda(1405) and an additional contribution is due to Sigma(1385). The latter state is formed at the nuclear peripheries and absorbs a sizable piece of the binding energy. It also generates new branches of quasi-bound states. The lowest binding energies based on a phenomenological KN input fall into the 40-80 MeV range for KNN, 90-150 MeV for KNNN and 120-220 MeV for K-alpha systems. The uncertainties are due to unknown KN interactions in the distant subthreshold energy region.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Low-energy interactions of Nambu-Goldstone bosons with DD mesons in covariant chiral perturbation theory

We calculate the scattering lengths of Nambu-Goldstone bosons interacting with $D$ mesons in a covariant formulation of chiral perturbation theory, which satisfies heavy-quark spin symmetry and analytical properties of loop amplitudes. We compare our results with previous studies performed using heavy meson chiral perturbation theory and show that recoil corrections are sizable in most cases.Comment: 3 figures and 4 table

Chiral Dynamics of Deeply Bound Pionic Atoms

We present and discuss a systematic calculation, based on two-loop chiral perturbation theory, of the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential. A proper treatment of the explicit energy dependence of the off-shell pion self-energy together with (electromagnetic) gauge invariance of the Klein-Gordon equation turns out to be crucial. Accurate data for the binding energies and widths of the 1s and 2p levels in pionic ^{205}Pb and ^{207}Pb are well reproduced, and the notorious "missing repulsion" in the pion-nuclear s-wave optical potential is accounted for. The connection with the in-medium change of the pion decay constant is clarified.Comment: preprint ECT*-02-16, 4 pages, 3 figure

An effective thermodynamic potential from the instanton with Polyakov-loop contributions

We derive an effective thermodynamic potential (Omega_eff) at finite temperature (T>0) and zero quark-chemical potential (mu_R=0), using the singular-gauge instanton solution and Matsubara formula for N_c=3 and N_f=2 in the chiral limit. The momentum-dependent constituent-quark mass is also obtained as a function of T, employing the Harrington-Shepard caloron solution in the large-N_c limit. In addition, we take into account the imaginary quark chemical potential mu_I = A_4, translated as the traced Polayakov-loop (Phi) as an order parameter for the Z(N_c) symmsetry, characterizing the confinement (intact) and deconfinement (spontaneously broken) phases. As a result, we observe the crossover of the chiral (chi) order parameter sigma^2 and Phi. It also turns out that the critical temperature for the deconfinment phase transition, T^Z_c is lowered by about (5-10)% in comparison to the case with a constant constituent-quark mass. This behavior can be understood by considerable effects from the partial chiral restoration and nontrivial QCD vacuum on Phi. Numerical calculations show that the crossover transitions occur at (T^chi_c,T^Z_c) ~ (216,227) MeV.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Quasiparticle Description of Hot QCD at Finite Quark Chemical Potential

We study the extension of a phenomenologically successful quasiparticle model that describes lattice results of the equation of state of the deconfined phase of QCD for Tc <= T < 4 Tc, to finite quark chemical potential mu. The phase boundary line Tc(mu), the pressure difference (p(T,mu)-p(T,mu=0))/T^4 and the quark number density nq(T,mu)/T^3 are calculated and compared to recent lattice results. Good agreement is found up to quark chemical potentials of order mu = Tc.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures; added reference

The influence of rifle carriage on the kinetics of human gait

The influence that rifle carriage has on human gait has received little attention in the published literature. Rifle carriage has two main effects, to add load to the anterior of the body and to restrict natural arm swing patterns. Kinetic data were collected from 15 male participants, with 10 trials in each of four experimental conditions. The conditions were: walking without a load (used as a control condition); carrying a lightweight rifle simulator, which restricted arm movements but applied no additional load; wearing a 4.4 kg diving belt, which allowed arms to move freely; carrying a weighted (4.4 kg) replica SA80 rifle. Walking speed was fixed at 1.5 m/s (+5%) and data were sampled at 400 Hz. Results showed that rifle carriage significantly alters the ground reaction forces produced during walking, the most important effects being an increase in the impact peak and mediolateral forces. This study suggests that these effects are due to the increased range of motion of the body’s centre of mass caused by the impeding of natural arm swing patterns. The subsequent effect on the potential development of injuries in rifle carriers is unknown

Near infra-red optical materials from polymeric amorphous carbon synthesised by collisional plasma process

The synthesis of polymer-like amorphous carbon (a-C:H) thin-films by microwave excited collisional hydrocarbon plasma process is reported. Stable and highly aromatic a-C:H were obtained containing significant inclusions of poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV). PPV confers universal optoelectronic properties to the synthesised material. That is a-C:H with tailor-made refractive index are capable of becoming absorption-free in visible (red) - near infrared wavelength range. Production of large aromatic hydrocarbon including phenyl clusters and/or particles is attributed to enhanced coagulation of elemental plasma species under collisional plasma conditions. Detailed structural and morphological changes that occur in a-C:H during the plasma synthesis are also described.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

Identidad docente y estrategias de resolución de incidentes críticos en contextos universitarios de alta diversidad sociocultural

Este estudio identifica las estrategias de los profesores cuando se enfrentan a incidentes críticos (IC) en contextos de alta diversidad sociocultural, reconociendo el peso de la identidad y de las emociones en la toma de decisiones, así como la efectividad de las mismas para promover cambios en las prácticas docentes. En el estudio de naturaleza cualitativa, fueron entrevistados 23 profesores universitarios. Los resultados indican que las emociones asociadas a un IC, generan una situación de desequilibrio que puede obstaculizar la actividad cuando son de naturaleza negativa. Al mismo tiempo, en estas situaciones es posible la revision y reconstrución de la propia identidad docente. En cuanto a las estrategias empleadas por los docentes ante los IC, éstas fueron mayoritariamente inmediatas e incidieron en aspectos muy puntuales, lo que derivó en actuaciones reactivas y poco eficaces. Pese a ello, la mayoría de los profesores no modificaron sus posiciones iniciales y fueron excepcionales las situaciones en las que el despliegue de estrategias y la reflexión posterior a un determinado IC permitió cambios estructurales que impactaron en alguna dimension de la identidad del profesor como sus emociones y prácticas

Probing the QCD Equation of State

We propose a novel quasiparticle interpretation of the equation of state of deconfined QCD at finite temperature. Using appropriate thermal masses, we introduce a phenomenological parametrisation of the onset of confinement in the vicinity of the phase transition. Lattice results of bulk thermodynamic quantities are well reproduced, the extension to small quark chemical potential is also successful. We then apply the model to dilepton production and charm suppression in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures. Invited talk presented by R. A. Schneider at the XVI International Conference on Particles and Nuclei (PANIC02), Osaka, Japan, September 30 - October 4, 200