Challenges in QCD matter physics --The scientific programme of the Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sNN= 2.7--4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (μB> 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation of state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2024, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter

Challenges in QCD matter physics - The Compressed Baryonic Matter experiment at FAIR

Substantial experimental and theoretical efforts worldwide are devoted to explore the phase diagram of strongly interacting matter. At LHC and top RHIC energies, QCD matter is studied at very high temperatures and nearly vanishing net-baryon densities. There is evidence that a Quark-Gluon-Plasma (QGP) was created at experiments at RHIC and LHC. The transition from the QGP back to the hadron gas is found to be a smooth cross over. For larger net-baryon densities and lower temperatures, it is expected that the QCD phase diagram exhibits a rich structure, such as a first-order phase transition between hadronic and partonic matter which terminates in a critical point, or exotic phases like quarkyonic matter. The discovery of these landmarks would be a breakthrough in our understanding of the strong interaction and is therefore in the focus of various high-energy heavy-ion research programs. The Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR will play a unique role in the exploration of the QCD phase diagram in the region of high net-baryon densities, because it is designed to run at unprecedented interaction rates. High-rate operation is the key prerequisite for high-precision measurements of multi-differential observables and of rare diagnostic probes which are sensitive to the dense phase of the nuclear fireball. The goal of the CBM experiment at SIS100 (sqrt(s_NN) = 2.7 - 4.9 GeV) is to discover fundamental properties of QCD matter: the phase structure at large baryon-chemical potentials (mu_B > 500 MeV), effects of chiral symmetry, and the equation-of-state at high density as it is expected to occur in the core of neutron stars. In this article, we review the motivation for and the physics programme of CBM, including activities before the start of data taking in 2022, in the context of the worldwide efforts to explore high-density QCD matter.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures. Published in European Physical Journal

Investigation of archaeometallurgical findings from Felix Romuliana locality

Remains of metallurgical activities have been discovered recently at the locality Felix Romuliana near Zaječar (Eastern Serbia), with a lot of slag occurrences and metal findings. Samples, taken from this locality, have been investigated using different characterization methods - chemical analysis, XRD and SEM-EDX, in order to clarify the Early Byzantine metallurgical activities at Felix Romuliana

Effects of tetra hydro cannabinol to the dendritc tree and synapses of the accumbens nucleus of wistar rats

Cannabis is one of the most widely used intoxicants; almost half of all 18 year olds in the USA and in most European countries admit to having tried it at least once, and ~10% of that age group are regular users. Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, produces euphoria and relaxation and impairs motor coordination, time sense, and short term memory. In the hippocampus, CBs inhibit GABA release from a subset of interneurons and inhibit glutamate release from principal neurons. Cannabinoids are reported to produce both rapid and long-term changes in synaptic transmission. Our study was carried out on ten male rats out of which brains of six of them were used as the representative sample for electron microscope analysis, while 4 were used for light microspcopy performed by Golgi method. Three were exposed to THC and 3 were controls. Axodendric synapses in the core and shell of the accumbens nucleus (AN) were studied under electron microscope. The results have shown widening of the synaptic cleft in the shell of AN. This result is a leading point to our further investigations which are going to involve a behavioral component, and different aspects of morphological studies. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 41020

TNF-alpha-308 promotor polymorphism in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (LC) are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. In both diseases airways inflammation plays an important role. Functional promoter polymorphism, at the position -308, of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha represents attractive potential susceptibilty marker for both diseases. In order to investigate the role of this polymorphism in COPD and LC, a case-control study was performed. The patient groups consisted of 97 subjects with COPD and 70 subjects with LC, while the control group encompassed 102 subjects. Results of our study showed significant decrease of heterozygote for TNF-alpha-308*1/*2 gene variant in COPD group in comparison to controls (p=0.043). According to our results heterozygous carriers of TNF-alpha-308*1/*2 polymorphism had a 2.3-fold decreased risk for COPD development (CR=0.44,95%CI=0.20-0.97). In patients with lung cancer we also observed a trend of decreased distribution of TNF-alpha-308*1/*2 heterozygotes, but statistical significance was not achieved. To our knowledge, this is the first study implicating decreased frequency of TNF-alpha-308*1/*2 gene variant in patients with COPD and LC. Although these results need to be confirmed on larger cohort, they represent a new and interesting finding, not reported in other populations tested so far