534 research outputs found
Exactly Solvable Models: The Road Towards a Rigorous Treatment of Phase Transitions in Finite Systems
We discuss exact analytical solutions of a variety of statistical models
recently obtained for finite systems by a novel powerful mathematical method,
the Laplace-Fourier transform. Among them are a constrained version of the
statistical multifragmentation model, the Gas of Bags Model and the Hills and
Dales Model of surface partition. Thus, the Laplace-Fourier transform allows
one to study the nuclear matter equation of state, the equation of state of
hadronic and quark gluon matter and surface partitions on the same footing. A
complete analysis of the isobaric partition singularities of these models is
done for finite systems. The developed formalism allows us, for the first time,
to exactly define the finite volume analogs of gaseous, liquid and mixed phases
of these models from the first principles of statistical mechanics and
demonstrate the pitfalls of earlier works. The found solutions may be used for
building up a new theoretical apparatus to rigorously study phase transitions
in finite systems. The strategic directions of future research opened by these
exact results are also discussed.Comment: Contribution to the ``World Consensus Initiative III, Texas A & M
University, College Station, Texas, USA, February 11-17, 2005, 21
Chemical Freeze-out of Strange Particles and Possible Root of Strangeness Suppression
Two approaches to treat the chemical freeze-out of strange particles in
hadron resonance gas model are analyzed. The first one employs their
non-equillibration via the usual \gamma_s factor and such a model describes the
hadron multiplicities measured in nucleus-nucleus collisions at AGS, SPS and
RHIC energies with \chi^2/dof = 1.15. Surprisingly, at low energies we find not
the strangeness suppression, but its enhancement. Also we suggest an
alternative approach to treat the strange particle freeze-out separately, but
with the full chemical equilibration. This approach is based on the
conservation laws which allow us to connect the freeze-outs of strange and
non-strange hadrons. Within the suggested approach the same set of hadron
multiplicities can be described better than within the conventional approach
with \chi^2/dof = 1.06. Remarkably, the fully equilibrated approach describes
the strange hyperons and antihyperons much better than the conventional one.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure
Prompt muon contribution to the flux underwater
We present high energy spectra and zenith-angle distributions of the
atmospheric muons computed for the depths of the locations of the underwater
neutrino telescopes. We compare the calculations with the data obtained in the
Baikal and the AMANDA muon experiments. The prompt muon contribution to the
muon flux underwater due to recent perturbative QCD-based models of the charm
production is expected to be observable at depths of the large underwater
neutrino telescopes. This appears to be probable even at rather shallow depths
(1-2 km), provided that the energy threshold for muon detection is raised above
TeV.Comment: 7 pages, RevTeX, 7 eps figures, final version to be published in
Phys.Rev.D; a few changes made in the text and the figures, an approximation
formula for muon spectra at the sea level, the muon zenith-angle distribution
table data and references adde
Exploring an Origin of the QCD Critical Endpoint
We discuss a new way to develop the exactly solvable model of the QCD
critical endpoint by matching the deconfinement phase transition line for the
system of quark-gluon bags with the line of their vanishing surface tension
coefficient. In contrast to all previous findings in such models the deconfined
phase is defined not by an essential singularity of the isobaric partition
function, but by its simple pole. As a result we find out that the first order
deconfinement phase transition which is defined by a discontinuity of the first
derivative of system pressure is generated by a discontinuity of the derivative
of surface tension coefficient.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, minor changes are mad
Prompt neutrino fluxes from atmospheric charm
We calculate the prompt neutrino flux from atmospheric charm production by
cosmic rays, using the dipole picture in a perturbative QCD framework, which
incorporates the parton saturation effects present at high energies. We compare
our results with the next-to-leading order perturbative QCD result and find
that saturation effects are large for neutrino energies above 10^6 GeV, leading
to a substantial suppression of the prompt neutrino flux. We comment on the
range of prompt neutrino fluxes due to theoretical uncertainties.Comment: 13 pages with 11 figures; expanded discussion, added references,
version to be published in Phys. Rev.
Second virial coefficients of light nuclear clusters and their chemical freeze-out in nuclear collisions
Here we develop a new strategy to analyze the chemical freeze-out of light
(anti)nuclei produced in high energy collisions of heavy atomic nuclei within
an advanced version of the hadron resonance gas model. It is based on two
different, but complementary approaches to model the hard-core repulsion
between the light nuclei and hadrons. The first approach is based on an
approximate treatment of the equivalent hard-core radius of a roomy nuclear
cluster and pions, while the second approach is rigorously derived here using a
self-consistent treatment of classical excluded volumes of light (anti)nuclei
and hadrons. By construction, in a hadronic medium dominated by pions, both
approaches should give the same results. Employing this strategy to the
analysis of hadronic and light (anti)nuclei multiplicities measured by ALICE at
TeV and by STAR at GeV, we got rid
of the existing ambiguity in the description of light (anti)nuclei data and
determined the chemical freeze-out parameters of nuclei with high accuracy and
confidence. At ALICE energy the nuclei are frozen prior to the hadrons at the
temperature MeV, while at STAR energy there is a
single freeze-out of hadrons and nuclei at the temperature
MeV. We argue that the found chemical freeze-out volumes of nuclei can be
considered as the volumes of quark-gluon bags that produce the nuclei at the
moment of hadronization.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, 3 table
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