111 research outputs found
NMR and NQR Fluctuation Effects in Layered Superconductors
We study the effect of thermal fluctuations of the s-wave order parameter of
a quasi two dimensional superconductor on the nuclear spin relaxation rate near
the transition temperature Tc. We consider both the effects of the amplitude
fluctuations and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase fluctuations
in weakly coupled layered superconductors. In the treatment of the amplitude
fluctuations we employ the Gaussian approximation and evaluate the longitudinal
relaxation rate 1/T1 for a clean s-wave superconductor, with and without pair
breaking effects, using the static pair fluctuation propagator D. The increase
in 1/T1 due to pair breaking in D is overcompensated by the decrease arising
from the single particle Green's functions. The result is a strong effect on
1/T1 for even a small amount of pair breaking. The phase fluctuations are
described in terms of dynamical BKT excitations in the form of pancake
vortex-antivortex (VA) pairs. We calculate the effect of the magnetic field
fluctuations caused by the translational motion of VA excitations on 1/T1 and
on the transverse relaxation rate 1/T2 on both sides of the BKT transitation
temperature T(BKT)<Tc. The results for the NQR relaxation rates depend strongly
on the diffusion constant that governs the motion of free and bound vortices as
well as the annihilation of VA pairs. We discuss the relaxation rates for real
multilayer systems where the diffusion constant can be small and thus increase
the lifetime of a VA pair, leading to an enhancement of the rates. We also
discuss in some detail the experimental feasibility of observing the effects of
amplitude fluctuations in layered s-wave superconductors such as the
dichalcogenides and the effects of phase fluctuations in s- or d-wave
superconductors such as the layered cuprates.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure
Detecção do gene da nucleoproteína do vírus da cinomose canina por RT-PCR em urina de cães com sinais clínicos de cinomose
How To Find Charm in Nuclear Collisions at RHIC and LHC
Measurements of dilepton production from charm decay and Drell-Yan processes
respectively probe the gluon and sea quark distributions in hadronic
collisions. In nucleus-nucleus collisions, these hard scattering processes
constitute a `background' to thermal contributions from the hot matter produced
by the collision. To determine the magnitude and behavior of this background,
we calculate the hard scattering contribution to dilepton production in nuclear
collisions at RHIC and LHC at next to leading order in perturbative QCD.
Invariant mass, rapidity and transverse momentum distributions are presented.
We compare these results to optimistic hydrodynamic estimates of the thermal
dilepton production. We find that charm production from hard scattering is by
far the dominant contribution. Experiments therefore can measure the gluon
distribution in the nuclear target and projectile and, consequently, can
provide new information on gluon shadowing. We then illustrate how experimental
cuts on the rapidity gap between the leptons can aid in reducing the charm
background, thereby enhancing thermal information.Comment: 32 pages, latex, 19 figure
Genome-wide analyses identify a role for SLC17A4 and AADAT in thyroid hormone regulation.
Thyroid dysfunction is an important public health problem, which affects 10% of the general population and increases the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Many aspects of thyroid hormone regulation have only partly been elucidated, including its transport, metabolism, and genetic determinants. Here we report a large meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for thyroid function and dysfunction, testing 8 million genetic variants in up to 72,167 individuals. One-hundred-and-nine independent genetic variants are associated with these traits. A genetic risk score, calculated to assess their combined effects on clinical end points, shows significant associations with increased risk of both overt (Graves' disease) and subclinical thyroid disease, as well as clinical complications. By functional follow-up on selected signals, we identify a novel thyroid hormone transporter (SLC17A4) and a metabolizing enzyme (AADAT). Together, these results provide new knowledge about thyroid hormone physiology and disease, opening new possibilities for therapeutic targets
On the mechanisms governing gas penetration into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection
A new 1D radial fluid code, IMAGINE, is used to simulate the penetration of gas into a tokamak plasma during a massive gas injection (MGI). The main result is that the gas is in general strongly braked as it reaches the plasma, due to mechanisms related to charge exchange and (to a smaller extent) recombination. As a result, only a fraction of the gas penetrates into the plasma. Also, a shock wave is created in the gas which propagates away from the plasma, braking and compressing the incoming gas. Simulation results are quantitatively consistent, at least in terms of orders of magnitude, with experimental data for a D 2 MGI into a JET Ohmic plasma. Simulations of MGI into the background plasma surrounding a runaway electron beam show that if the background electron density is too high, the gas may not penetrate, suggesting a possible explanation for the recent results of Reux et al in JET (2015 Nucl. Fusion 55 093013)
Physics with the KLOE-2 experiment at the upgraded DANE
Investigation at a --factory can shed light on several debated issues
in particle physics. We discuss: i) recent theoretical development and
experimental progress in kaon physics relevant for the Standard Model tests in
the flavor sector, ii) the sensitivity we can reach in probing CPT and Quantum
Mechanics from time evolution of entangled kaon states, iii) the interest for
improving on the present measurements of non-leptonic and radiative decays of
kaons and eta/eta mesons, iv) the contribution to understand the
nature of light scalar mesons, and v) the opportunity to search for narrow
di-lepton resonances suggested by recent models proposing a hidden dark-matter
sector. We also report on the physics in the continuum with the
measurements of (multi)hadronic cross sections and the study of gamma gamma
processes.Comment: 60 pages, 41 figures; added affiliation for one of the authors; added
reference to section
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