Centrality and Energy Dependence of Proton, Light Fragment and Hyperon Production

Recent results of the NA49 collaboration are discussed. These include the energy dependence of stopping and the production of the light fragments t and 3He. New data on the system size dependence of hyperon production at 40A and 158AGeV are also presented.Comment: 4 pages, Quark Matter 2006 proceeding

Transverse momentum distributions and their forward- backward correlations in the percolating colour string approach

The forward-backward correlations in the $p_T$ distributions, which present a clear signature of non-linear effects in particle production, are studied in the model of percolating colour strings. Quantitative predictions are given for these correlations at SPS, RHIC and LHC energies. Interaction of strings also naturally explains the flattening of $p_T$ distributions and increase of $$ with energy and atomic number for nuclear collisionsComment: 6 pages in LaTex, 3 figures in Postscrip

Modeling the Void H I Column Density Spectrum

The equivalent width distribution function (EWDF) of \hone absorbers specific to the void environment has been recently derived (Manning 2002), revealing a large line density of clouds (dN/dz ~500 per unit z for Log (N_HI)> 12.4). I show that the void absorbers cannot be diffuse (or so-called filamentary) clouds, expanding with the Hubble flow, as suggested by N-body/hydro simulations. Absorbers are here modeled as the baryonic remnants of sub-galactic perturbations that have expanded away from their dark halos in response to reionization at z ~ 6.5. A 1-D Lagrangian hydro/gravity code is used to follow the dynamic evolution and ionization structure of the baryonic clouds for a range of halo circular velocities. The simulation products at z=0 can be combined according to various models of the halo velocity distribution function to form a column density spectrum that can be compared with the observed. I find that such clouds may explain the observed EWDF if the halo velocity distribution function is as steep as that advanced by Klypin (1999), and the halo mass distribution is closer to isothermal than to NFW.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures. Paper in press; ApJ 591, n

On the relation of quark confinement and chiral symmetry breaking

We study the phase diagram of QCD with the help of order parameters for chiral symmetry breaking and quark confinement. We also introduce a new order parameter for the confinement phase transition, which is related to the quark density. It is easily accessible by different theoretical approaches, such as functional approaches or lattice simulations. Its relation to the Polyakov loop expectation value is discussed and the QCD phase diagram is analysed. Our results suggest a close relation between the chiral and the confinement phase transition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Dynamical phase diagram of the dc-driven underdamped Frenkel-Kontorova chain

Multistep dynamical phase transition from the locked to the running state of atoms in response to a dc external force is studied by MD simulations of the generalized Frenkel-Kontorova model in the underdamped limit. We show that the hierarchy of transition recently reported [Braun et al, Phys. Rev. Lett. 78, 1295 (1997)] strongly depends on the value of the friction constant. A simple phenomenological explanation for the friction dependence of the various critical forces separating intermediate regimes is given.Comment: 12 Revtex Pages, 4 EPS figure

Cumulative structure function in terms of nucleonic wave function of the nucleus

The structure function of the nucleus in the cumulative region $x>1$ is studied in terms of nucleon degrees of freedom. At high $Q^2$ the resulting expressions are presented as a sum of contributions from few-nucleon correlations. Two-nucleon correlations are studied in some detail. Spin variables are averaged out. In the region $1<x<2$ the structure functions are calculated for the relativistic interaction proposed by F.Gross {\it et al}. They are found to fall with $x$ faster than the exponential. For Carbon at $x=1.05$, where the method is not rigorously applicable, they turn out to be rougly twice larger than the experimental data.Comment: text and 2 figures in LaTex, 7 figures in P

Superconductivity in iron silicide Lu2Fe3Si5 probed by radiation-induced disordering

Resistivity r(T), Hall coefficient RH(T), superconducting temperature Tc, and the slope of the upper critical field -dHc2/dT were studied in poly- and single-crystalline samples of the Fe-based superconductor Lu2Fe3Si5 irradiated by fast neutrons. Atomic disordering induced by the neutron irradiation leads to a fast suppression of Tc similarly to the case of doping of Lu2Fe3Si5 with magnetic (Dy) and non-magnetic (Sc, Y) impurities. The same effect was observed in a novel FeAs-based superconductor La(O-F)FeAs after irradiation. Such behavior is accounted for by strong pair breaking that is traceable to scattering at non-magnetic impurities or radiation defects in unconventional superconductors. In such superconductors the sign of the order parameter changes between the different Fermi sheets (s+- model). Some relations that are specified for the properties of the normal and superconducting states in high-temperature superconductors are also observed in Lu2Fe3Si5. The first is the relationship -dHc2/dT ~ Tc, instead of the one expected for dirty superconductors -dHc2/dT ~ r0. The second is a correlation between the low-temperature linear coefficient a in the resistivity r = r0 + a1T, which appears presumably due to the scattering at magnetic fluctuations, and Tc; this correlation being an evidence of a tight relation between the superconductivity and magnetism. The data point to an unconventional (non-fononic) mechanism of superconductivity in Lu2Fe3Si5, and, probably, in some other Fe-based compounds, which can be fruitfully studied via the radiation-induced disordering.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Solitonic-exchange mechanism of surface~diffusion

We study surface diffusion in the framework of a generalized Frenkel-Kontorova model with a nonconvex transverse degree of freedom. The model describes a lattice of atoms with a given concentration interacting by Morse-type forces, the lattice being subjected to a two-dimensional substrate potential which is periodic in one direction and nonconvex (Morse) in the transverse direction. The results are used to describe the complicated exchange-mediated diffusion mechanism recently observed in MD simulations [J.E. Black and Zeng-Ju Tian, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 71}, 2445-2448(1993)].Comment: 22 Revtex pages, 9 figures to appear in Phys. Rev.