Numerical Modeling of Shock-Induced Damage for Granite under Dynamic Loading

Johnson-Holmquist constitutive model for brittle materials, coupled with a crack softening model, is used to describe the deviatoric and tensile crack propagation beneath impact crater in granite. Model constants are determined either directly from static uniaxial strain loading experiments, or indirectly from numerical adjustment. Constants are put into AUTODYN-2D from Century Dynamics to simulate the shock-induced damage in granite targets impacted by projectiles at different velocities. The agreement between experimental data and simulated results is encouraging. Instead of traditional grid-based methods, a Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics solver is used to define damaged regions in brittle media

Spin effects in strong-field laser-electron interactions

The electron spin degree of freedom can play a significant role in relativistic scattering processes involving intense laser fields. In this contribution we discuss the influence of the electron spin on (i) Kapitza-Dirac scattering in an x-ray laser field of high intensity, (ii) photo-induced electron-positron pair production in a strong laser wave and (iii) multiphoton electron-positron pair production on an atomic nucleus. We show that in all cases under consideration the electron spin can have a characteristic impact on the process properties and their total probabilities. To this end, spin-resolved calculations based on the Dirac equation in the presence of an intense laser field are performed. The predictions from Dirac theory are also compared with the corresponding results from the Klein-Gordon equation.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

A population-based case-control study on social factors and risk of testicular germ cell tumours

Objectives Incidence rates for testicular cancer have risen over the last few decades. Findings of an association between the risk of testicular cancer and social factors are controversial. The association of testicular cancer and different indicators of social factors were examined in this study.<p></p> Design Case–control study.<p></p> Setting Population-based multicentre study in four German regions (city states Bremen and Hamburg, the Saarland region and the city of Essen).<p></p> Participants The study included 797 control participants and 266 participants newly diagnosed with testicular cancer of which 167 cases were classified as seminoma and 99 as non-seminoma. The age of study participants ranged from 15 to 69 years.<p></p> Methods Social position was classified by educational attainment level, posteducational training, occupational sectors according to Erikson-Goldthorpe-Portocarrero (EGP) and the socioeconomic status (SES) on the basis of the International SocioEconomic Index of occupational status (ISEI). ORs and corresponding 95% CIs (95% CIs) were calculated for the whole study sample and for seminoma and non-seminoma separately.<p></p> Results Testicular cancer risk was modestly increased among participants with an apprenticeship (OR=1.7 (95% CI 1.0 to 2.8)) or a university degree (OR=1.6 (95% CI 0.9 to 2.8)) relative to those whose education was limited to school. Analysis of occupational sectors revealed an excess risk for farmers and farm-related occupations. No clear trend was observed for the analyses according to the ISEI-scale.<p></p> Conclusions Social factors based on occupational measures were not a risk factor for testicular cancer in this study. The elevated risk in farmers and farm-related occupations warrants further research including analysis of occupational exposures.<p></p&gt

From AMANDA to IceCube

The first string of the neoteric high energy neutrino telescope IceCube successfully began operating in January 2005. It is anticipated that upon completion the new detector will vastly increase the sensitivity and extend the reach of AMANDA to higher energies. A discussion of the IceCube's discovery potential for extra-terrestrial neutrinos, together with the prospects of new physics derived from the ongoing AMANDA research will be the focus of this paper. Preliminary results of the first antarctic high energy neutrino telescope AMANDA searching in the muon neutrino channel for localized and diffuse excess of extra-terrestrial neutrinos will be reviewed using data collected between 2000 and 2003. Neutrino flux limits obtained with the all-flavor dedicated UHE and cascade analyses will be described. A first neutrino spectrum above one TeV in agreement with atmospheric neutrino flux expectations and no extra-terrestrial contribution will be presented, followed by a discussion of a limit for neutralino CDM candidates annihilating in the center of the Sun.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figures Invited talk contribution at 5th International Conference on Non-accelerator New Physics (NANP 05), Dubna, Russia, 20-25 Jun 200

Capture rate and neutron helicity asymmetry for ordinary muon capture on hydrogen

Applying heavy-baryon chiral perturbation theory to ordinary muon capture (OMC) on a proton, we calculate the capture rate and neutron helicity asymmetry up to next-to-next-to-leading order. For the singlet hyperfine state, we obtain the capture rate Gamma_0 = 695 sec^{-1} while, for the triplet hyperfine state, we obtain the capture rate Gamma_1 = 11.9 sec^{-1} and the neutron asymmetry alpha_1 = 0.93. If the existing formalism is used to relate these atomic capture rates to Gamma_{liq}, the OMC rate in liquid hydrogen, then Gamma_{liq} corresponding to our improved values of Gamma_0 and Gamma_1 is found to be significantly larger than the experimental value, primarily due to the updated larger value of g_A. We argue that this apparent difficulity may be correlated to the specious anomaly recently reported for mu^- + p to n + nu_mu + gamma, and we suggest a possibility to remove these two "problems" simply and simultaneously by reexamining the molecular physics input that underlies the conventional analysis of Gamma_{liq}.Comment: 14 pages, 1 figur

The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn Sum Rule and the Spin Structure of the Nucleon

The Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn sum rule is one of several dispersive sum rules that connect the Compton scattering amplitudes to the inclusive photoproduction cross sections of the target under investigation. Being based on such universal principles as causality, unitarity, and gauge invariance, these sum rules provide a unique testing ground to study the internal degrees of freedom that hold the system together. The present article reviews these sum rules for the spin-dependent cross sections of the nucleon by presenting an overview of recent experiments and theoretical approaches. The generalization from real to virtual photons provides a microscope of variable resolution: At small virtuality of the photon, the data sample information about the long range phenomena, which are described by effective degrees of freedom (Goldstone bosons and collective resonances), whereas the primary degrees of freedom (quarks and gluons) become visible at the larger virtualities. Through a rich body of new data and several theoretical developments, a unified picture of virtual Compton scattering emerges, which ranges from coherent to incoherent processes, and from the generalized spin polarizabilities on the low-energy side to higher twist effects in deep inelastic lepton scattering.Comment: 32 pages, 19 figures, review articl

SU(3)_LxU(1)_N Model for Right-Handed Neutrino Neutral Currents

A model based on the \mbox{SU(3)}_L\otimes \mbox{U(1)}_N gauge group, in which neutrinos have right-handed neutral currents is considered. We argue that in order to have a result consistent with low-energy one, the right-handed neutrino component must be treated as correction instead of an equivalent spin state.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, no figures, Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Measurement of the 6Li(e,e'p) reaction cross sections at low momentum transfer

The triple differential cross sections for the 6Li(e,e'p) reaction have been measured in the excitation energy region from 27 to 46 MeV in a search for evidence of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in 6Li. The cross sections have no distinct structures in this energy region, and decrease smoothly with the energy transfer. Angular distributions are different from those expected with the GDR. Protons are emitted strongly in the momentum-transfer direction. The data are well reproduced by a DWIA calculation assuming a direct proton knockout process.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, revised text, to be published in Nucl. Phys.