623 research outputs found
Finding Z' bosons coupled preferentially to the third family at CERN LEP and the Fermilab Tevatron
Z' bosons that couple preferentially to the third generation fermions can
arise in models with extended weak (SU(2)xSU(2)) or hypercharge (U(1)xU(1))
gauge groups. We show that existing limits on quark-lepton compositeness set by
the LEP and Tevatron experiments translate into lower bounds of order a few
hundred GeV on the masses of these Z' bosons. Resonances of this mass can be
directly produced at the Tevatron. Accordingly, we explore in detail the limits
that can be set at Run II using the process p pbar -> Z' -> tau tau -> e mu. We
also comment on the possibility of using hadronically-decaying taus to improve
the limits.Comment: LaTeX2e, 24 pages (including title page), 13 figures; version 2:
corrected typographical errors and bad figure placement; version 3: added
references and updated introduction; version 4: changes to compensate for old
latex version on arXiv server; version 5: additional references, and embedded
fonts in eps files for PRD; version 6: corrected some minor typos to address
PRD referee's comment
On the exact conservation laws in thermal models and the analysis of AGS and SIS experimental results
The production of hadrons in relativistic heavy ion collisions is studied
using a statistical ensemble with thermal and chemical equilibrium. Special
attention is given to exact conservation laws, i.e. certain charges are treated
canonically instead of using the usual grand canonical approach. For small
systems, the exact conservation of baryon number, strangeness and electric
charge is to be taken into account. We have derived compact, analytical
expressions for particle abundances in such ensemble. As an application, the
change in ratios in AGS experiments with different interaction system
sizes is well reproduced. The canonical treatment of three charges becomes
impractical very quickly with increasing system size. Thus, we draw our
attention to exact conservation of strangeness, and treat baryon number and
electric charge grand canonically. We present expressions for particle
abundances in such ensemble as well, and apply them to reproduce the large
variety of particle ratios in GSI SIS 2 A GeV Ni-Ni experiments. At the
energies considered here, the exact strangeness conservation fully accounts for
strange particle suppression, and no extra chemical factor is needed.Comment: Talk given at Strangeness in Quark Matter '98, Padova, Italy (1998).
Submitted to J.Phys. G. 5 pages, 2 figure
Strangeness Enhancement in and Interactions at SPS Energies
The systematics of strangeness enhancement is calculated using the HIJING and
VENUS models and compared to recent data on , and
collisions at CERN/SPS energies (). The HIJING model is used to
perform a {\em linear} extrapolation from to . VENUS is used to
estimate the effects of final state cascading and possible non-conventional
production mechanisms. This comparison shows that the large enhancement of
strangeness observed in collisions, interpreted previously as possible
evidence for quark-gluon plasma formation, has its origins in non-equilibrium
dynamics of few nucleon systems. % Strangeness enhancement %is therefore traced
back to the change in the production dynamics %from to minimum bias
and central collisions. A factor of two enhancement of at
mid-rapidity is indicated by recent data, where on the average {\em one}
projectile nucleon interacts with only {\em two} target nucleons. There appears
to be another factor of two enhancement in the light ion reaction relative
to , when on the average only two projectile nucleons interact with two
target ones.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures in uuencoded postscript fil
Solutions to the cosmological constant problems
We critically review several recent approaches to solving the two
cosmological constant problems. The "old" problem is the discrepancy between
the observed value of and the large values suggested by particle
physics models. The second problem is the "time coincidence" between the epoch
of galaxy formation and the epoch of -domination t_\L. It is
conceivable that the "old" problem can be resolved by fundamental physics
alone, but we argue that in order to explain the "time coincidence" we must
account for anthropic selection effects. Our main focus here is on the
discrete- models in which can change through nucleation of
branes. We consider the cosmology of this type of models in the context of
inflation and discuss the observational constraints on the model parameters.
The issue of multiple brane nucleation raised by Feng {\it et. al.} is
discussed in some detail. We also review continuous-\L models in which the
role of the cosmological constant is played by a slowly varying potential of a
scalar field. We find that both continuous and discrete models can in principle
solve both cosmological constant problems, although the required values of the
parameters do not appear very natural. M-theory-motivated brane models, in
which the brane tension is determined by the brane coupling to the four-form
field, do not seem to be viable, except perhaps in a very tight corner of the
parameter space. Finally, we point out that the time coincidence can also be
explained in models where is fixed, but the primordial density
contrast is treated as a random variable.Comment: 30 pages, 3 figures, two notes adde
Global structure of exact cosmological solutions in the brane world
We find the explicit coordinate transformation which links two exact
cosmological solutions of the brane world which have been recently discovered.
This means that both solutions are exactly the same with each other. One of two
solutions is described by the motion of a domain wall in the well-known
5-dimensional Schwarzshild-AdS spacetime. Hence, we can easily understand the
region covered by the coordinate used by another solution.Comment: Latex, 9 pages including 5 figures; references add, accepted for
publication in Physical Review
Proposal for an experiment to measure the Hausdorff dimension of quantum mechanical trajectories
We make a proposal for a Gedanken experiment, based on the Aharonov-Bohm
effect, how to measure in principle the zig-zagness of the trajectory of
propagation (abberation from its classical trajectory) of a massive particle in
quantum mechanics. Experiment I is conceived to show that contributions from
quantum paths abberating from the classical trajectory are directly observable.
Experiment II is conceived to measure average length, scaling behavior and
critical exponent (Hausdorff dimension) of quantum mechanical paths.Comment: 35 pages, LaTeX + 27 figures, ps and gi
Altruism can proliferate through group/kin selection despite high random gene flow
The ways in which natural selection can allow the proliferation of
cooperative behavior have long been seen as a central problem in evolutionary
biology. Most of the literature has focused on interactions between pairs of
individuals and on linear public goods games. This emphasis led to the
conclusion that even modest levels of migration would pose a serious problem to
the spread of altruism in group structured populations. Here we challenge this
conclusion, by analyzing evolution in a framework which allows for complex
group interactions and random migration among groups. We conclude that
contingent forms of strong altruism can spread when rare under realistic group
sizes and levels of migration. Our analysis combines group-centric and
gene-centric perspectives, allows for arbitrary strength of selection, and
leads to extensions of Hamilton's rule for the spread of altruistic alleles,
applicable under broad conditions.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures. Supplementary material with 50 pages and 26
figure
Quantum physics meets biology
Quantum physics and biology have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines,
describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and living
species on the other hand. Over the last decades the life sciences have
succeeded in providing ever more and refined explanations of macroscopic
phenomena that were based on an improved understanding of molecular structures
and mechanisms. Simultaneously, quantum physics, originally rooted in a world
view of quantum coherences, entanglement and other non-classical effects, has
been heading towards systems of increasing complexity. The present perspective
article shall serve as a pedestrian guide to the growing interconnections
between the two fields. We recapitulate the generic and sometimes unintuitive
characteristics of quantum physics and point to a number of applications in the
life sciences. We discuss our criteria for a future quantum biology, its
current status, recent experimental progress and also the restrictions that
nature imposes on bold extrapolations of quantum theory to macroscopic
phenomena.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, Perspective article for the HFSP Journa
Instantons in the nonperturbative QCD vacuum
The influence of nonperturbative fields on instantons in quantum
chromodynamics is studied. Nonperturbative vacuum is described in terms of
nonlocal gauge invariant vacuum averages of gluon field strength.Effective
action for instanton is derived in bilocal approximation and it is demonstrated
that stochastic background gluon fields are responsible for infra-red (IR)
stabilization of instantons. Dependence of characteristic instanton size on
gluon condensate and correlation length in nonperturbative vacuum is found.
Comparison of obtained instanton size distribution with lattice data is made.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, RevTeX4, some corrections made and
references adde
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