A computationally efficient inorganic atmospheric aerosol phase equilibrium model (UHAERO)

A variety of thermodynamic models have been developed to predict inorganic gas-aerosol equilibrium. To achieve computational efficiency a number of the models rely on a priori specification of the phases present in certain relative humidity regimes. Presented here is a new computational model, named UHAERO, that is both efficient and rigorously computes phase behavior without any a priori specification. The computational implementation is based on minimization of the Gibbs free energy using a primal-dual method, coupled to a Newton iteration. The mathematical details of the solution are given elsewhere. The model also computes deliquescence and crystallization behavior without any a priori specification of the relative humidities of deliquescence or crystallization. Detailed phase diagrams of the sulfate/nitrate/ammonium/water system are presented as a function of relative humidity at 298.15 K over the complete space of composition

A new inorganic atmospheric aerosol phase equilibrium model (UHAERO)

A variety of thermodynamic models have been developed to predict inorganic gas-aerosol equilibrium. To achieve computational efficiency a number of the models rely on a priori specification of the phases present in certain relative humidity regimes. Presented here is a new computational model, named UHAERO, that is both efficient and rigorously computes phase behavior without any a priori specification. The computational implementation is based on minimization of the Gibbs free energy using a primal-dual method, coupled to a Newton iteration. The mathematical details of the solution are given elsewhere. The model computes deliquescence behavior without any a priori specification of the relative humidities of deliquescence. Also included in the model is a formulation based on classical theory of nucleation kinetics that predicts crystallization behavior. Detailed phase diagrams of the sulfate/nitrate/ammonium/water system are presented as a function of relative humidity at 298.15 K over the complete space of composition

Phase separation transition in liquids and polymers induced by electric field gradients

Spatially uniform electric fields have been used to induce instabilities in liquids and polymers, and to orient and deform ordered phases of block-copolymers. Here we discuss the demixing phase transition occurring in liquid mixtures when they are subject to spatially nonuniform fields. Above the critical value of potential, a phase-separation transition occurs, and two coexisting phases appear separated by a sharp interface. Analytical and numerical composition profiles are given, and the interface location as a function of charge or voltage is found. The possible influence of demixing on the stability of suspensions and on inter-colloid interaction is discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Special issue of the J. Phys. Soc. Ja

Testing Color Evaporation in Photon-Photon Production of J/Psi at CERN LEP II

The DELPHI Collaboration has recently reported the measurement of J/Psi production in photon-photon collisions at LEP II. These newly available data provide an additional proof of the importance of colored c bar{c} pairs for the production of charmonium because these data can only be explained by considering resolved photon processes. We show here that the inclusion of color octet contributions to the J/Psi production in the framework of the color evaporation model is able to reproduce this data. In particular, the transverse-momentum distribution of the J/Psi mesons is well described by this model.Comment: 10 pages, 5 Figures, Revtex

Initial bound state studies in light-front QCD

We present the first numerical QCD bound state calculation based on a renormalization group-improved light-front Hamiltonian formalism. The QCD Hamiltonian is determined to second order in the coupling, and it includes two-body confining interactions. We make a momentum expansion, obtaining an equal-time-like Schrodinger equation. This is solved for quark-antiquark constituent states, and we obtain a set of self-consistent parameters by fitting B meson spectra.Comment: 38 pages, latex, 5 latex figures include

Single Neutralino production at CERN LHC

The common belief that the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) might be a neutralino, providing also the main Dark Matter (DM) component, calls for maximal detail in the study of the neutralino properties. Motivated by this, we consider the direct production of a single neutralino \tchi^0_i at a high/energy hadron collider, focusing on the \tchi^0_1 and \tchi^0_2 cases. At Born level, the relevant subprocesses are q\bar q\to \tchi^0_i \tilde g, g q\to \tchi^0_i \tilde q_{L,R} and q\bar q'\to \tchi^0_i\tchi^\pm_j; while at 1-loop, apart from radiative corrections to these processes, we consider also gg\to \tchi^0_i\tilde{g}, for which a numerical code named PLATONgluino is released. The relative importance of these channels turns out to be extremely model dependent. Combining these results with an analogous study of the direct \tchi^0_i\tchi^0_j pair production, should help in testing the SUSY models and the Dark Matter assignment.Comment: 22 pages and 12 figures; version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Shear Alignment and Instability of Smectic Phases

We consider the shear flow of well-aligned one-component smectic phases, such as thermotropic smectics and lamellar diblock copolymers, below the critical region. We show that, as a result of thermal fluctuations of the layers, parallel ($c$) alignment is generically unstable and perpendicular ($a$) alignment is stable against long-wavelength undulations. We also find, surprisingly, that both $a$ and $c$ are stable for a narrow window of values for the anisotropic viscosity.Comment: To appear in PRL. Revtex, 1 figure

Hadronic Production of the Doubly Charmed Baryon Ξcc\Xi_{cc} with Intrinsic Charm

The effects of the intrinsic charm on the hadronic production of $\Xi_{cc}$ are studied. By taking reasonable intrinsic charm component into account, the change of the theoretical prediction on the production of $\Xi_{cc}$ for LHC and Tevatron is small, but in contrast it may enhance significantly for SELEX. The reason is that the collision energy at LHC and Tevatron is so large that the gluon-gluon fusion sub-process, which is irrelevant to intrinsic charm, becomes dominant. But the situation for SELEX is quite different. Our numerical results for SELEX show that by considering all the contributions from various sub-processes, the predicted cross-section may be enhanced by a factor so big as $10^2$ due to a modulating intrinsic charm being taken into account. Therefore, the hadronic production of $\Xi_{cc}$ at SELEX may be sensitive enough in observing the intrinsic charm inside the incident hadrons.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. More discussions are adde

Leptoproduction of J/psi

We study leptoproduction of $J/\psi$ at large $Q^2$ within the nonrelativistic QCD (NRQCD) factorization formalism. The cross section is dominated by color-octet terms that are of order $\alpha_s$. The color-singlet term, which is of order $\alpha^2_s$, is shown to be a small contribution to the total cross section. We also calculate the tree diagrams for color-octet production at order $\alpha^2_s$ in a region of phase space where there is no leading color-octet contribution. We find that in this regime the color-singlet contribution dominates. We argue that non-perturbative corrections arising from diffractive leptoproduction, higher twist effects, and higher order terms in the NRQCD velocity expansion should be suppressed as $Q^2$ is increased. Therefore, the color-octet matrix elements $$and$$ can be reliably extracted from this process. Finally, we point out that an experimental measurement of the polarization of leptoproduced $J/\psi$ will provide an excellent test of the NRQCD factorization formalism.Comment: 33 pages latex. 10 figures. Uses revtex, epsf, and rotate macros. This paper is also available via the UW phenomenology archives at http://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/pub/preprints

Mechanism of Radiation-Induced Bystander Effects: A Unifying Model

The radiation-induced bystander effect represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of the radiobiological effects of ionizing radiation, in that extranuclear and extracellular events may also contribute to the final biological consequences of exposure to low doses of radiation. Although radiation-induced bystander effects have been well documented in a variety of biological systems, the mechanism is not known. It is likely that multiple pathways are involved in the bystander phenomenon, and different cell types respond differently to bystander signalling. Using cDNA microarrays, a number of cellular signalling genes, including cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), have been shown to be causally linked to the bystander phenomenon. The observation that inhibition of the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) suppressed the bystander response further confirmed the important role of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascade in the bystander process. Furthermore, cells deficient in mitochondrial DNA showed a significantly reduced response to bystander signalling, suggesting a functional role of mitochondria in the signalling process. Inhibitors of nitric oxide (NO) synthase (NOS) and mitochondrial calcium uptake provided evidence that NO and calcium signalling are part of the signalling cascade. The bystander observations imply that the relevant target for various radiobiological endpoints is larger than an individual cell. A better understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms of the bystander phenomenon, together with evidence of their occurrence in-vivo, will allow us to formulate a more accurate model for assessing the health effects of low doses of ionizing radiation