Away-side azimuthal distribution in a Markovian parton scattering model

An event generator is constructed on the basis of a model of multiple scattering of partons so that the trajectory of a parton traversing a dense and expanding medium can be tracked. The parameters in the code are adjusted to fit the \Delta\phi azimuthal distribution on the far side when the trigger momentum is in the non-perturbative region, p_T(trigger)<4 GeV/c. The dip-bump structure for 1<p_T(assoc)<2.5 GeV/c is reproduced by averaging over the exit tracks of deflected jets. An essential characteristic of the model, called Markovian Parton Scattering (MPS) model, is that the scattering angle is randomly selected in the forward cone at every step of a trajectory that is divided into many discrete steps in a semi-classical approximation of the non-perturbative scattering process. Energy loss to the medium is converted to thermal partons which hadronize by recombination to give rise to the pedestal under the bumps. When extended to high trigger momentum with \pt(trigger) >8 GeV/c, the model reproduces the single-peak structure observed by STAR without invoking any new dynamical mechanism.Comment: 20 pages + 3 figure

Charm production in deep inelastic and diffractive scattering

We consider the production of charm by real and virtual photons. Special attention is paid to diffractive charm production, which provides information on the gluonic content of the Pomeron. Our calculations are based on the gluon distributions of the CKMT-model, which is shown to lead to agreement with the data on open charm production in deep inelastic scattering. We compare predictions for diffractive charm production of different models for the distribution of gluons in the Pomeron. Experiments at HERA should be able to discriminate between them. Predictions for beauty production in diffractive and non-diffractive interactions of photons are also given.Comment: 14 pages REVTEX and 24 figures include

Fractional Shot Noise in the Kondo Regime

Low temperature transport through a quantum dot in the Kondo regime proceeds by a universal combination of elastic and inelastic processes, as dictated by the low-energy Fermi-liquid fixed point. We show that as a result of inelastic processes, the charge detected by a shot-noise experiment is enhanced relative to the noninteracting situation to a universal fractional value, $e^*=5/3 e$. Thus, shot noise reveals that the Kondo effect involves many-body features even at low energies, despite its Fermi-liquid nature. We discuss the influence of symmetry breaking perturbations.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Approximating open quantum system dynamics in a controlled and efficient way: A microscopic approach to decoherence

We demonstrate that the dynamics of an open quantum system can be calculated efficiently and with predefined error, provided a basis exists in which the system-environment interactions are local and hence obey the Lieb-Robinson bound. We show that this assumption can generally be made. Defining a dynamical renormalization group transformation, we obtain an effective Hamiltonian for the full system plus environment that comprises only those environmental degrees of freedom that are within the effective light cone of the system. The reduced system dynamics can therefore be simulated with a computational effort that scales at most polynomially in the interaction time and the size of the effective light cone. Our results hold for generic environments consisting of either discrete or continuous degrees of freedom

Slow synaptic transmission in frog sympathetic ganglia

Bullfrog ganglia contain two classes of neurone, B and C cells, which receive different inputs and exhibit different slow synaptic potentials. B cells, to which most effort has been directed, possess slow and late slow EPSPs. The sEPSP reflects a muscarinic action of acetylcholine released from boutons on B cells, whereas the late sEPSP is caused by a peptide (similar to teleost LHRH) released from boutons on C cells. During either sEPSP there is a selective reduction in two slow potassium conductances, designated 'M' and 'AHP'. The M conductance is voltage dependent and the AHP conductance is calcium dependent. Normally they act synergistically to prevent repetitive firing of action potentials during maintained stimuli. Computer stimulation of the interactions of these conductances with the other five voltage-dependent conductances present in the membrane allows a complete reconstruction of the effects of slow synaptic transmission on electrical behaviour

The chemical equilibration volume: measuring the degree of thermalization

We address the issue of the degree of equilibrium achieved in a high energy heavy-ion collision. Specifically, we explore the consequences of incomplete strangeness chemical equilibrium. This is achieved over a volume V of the order of the strangeness correlation length and is assumed to be smaller than the freeze-out volume. Probability distributions of strange hadrons emanating from the system are computed for varying sizes of V and simple experimental observables based on these are proposed. Measurements of such observables may be used to estimate V and as a result the degree of strangeness chemical equilibration achieved. This sets a lower bound on the degree of kinetic equilibrium. We also point out that a determination of two-body correlations or second moments of the distributions are not sufficient for this estimation.Comment: 16 pages, 15 figures, revtex

Renormalization group improved black hole space-time in large extra dimensions

By taking into account a running of the gravitational coupling constant with an ultra violet fixed point, an improvement of classical black hole space-times in extra dimensions is studied. It is found that the thermodynamic properties in this framework allow for an effective description of the black hole evaporation process. Phenomenological consequences of this approach are discussed and the LHC discovery potential is estimated.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Thermal Hadron Production in High Energy Heavy Ion Collisions

We provide a method to test if hadrons produced in high energy heavy ion collisions were emitted at freeze-out from an equilibrium hadron gas. Our considerations are based on an ideal gas at fixed temperature $T_f$, baryon number density $n_B$, and vanishing total strangeness. The constituents of this gas are all hadron resonances up to a mass of 2 GeV; they are taken to decay according to the experimentally observed branching ratios. The ratios of the various resulting hadron production rates are tabulated as functions of $T_f$ and $n_B$. These tables can be used for the equilibration analysis of any heavy ion data; we illustrate this for some specific cases.Comment: 12 pages (not included :13 figures + tables) report CERN-TH 6523/92 and Bielefeld preprint BI-TP 92/0