Charm and longitudinal structure functions with the Kharzeev-Levin-Nardi model

We use the Kharzeev-Levin-Nardi model of the low $x$ gluon distributions to fit recent HERA data on charm and longitudinal structure functions. Having checked that this model gives a good description of the data, we use it to predict $F^c_2$ and $F_L$ to be measured in a future electron-ion collider. The results interpolate between those obtained with the de Florian-Sassot and Eskola-Paukkunen-Salgado nuclear gluon distributions. The conclusion of this exercise is that the KLN model, simple as it is, may still be used as an auxiliary tool to make estimates both for heavy ion and electron-ion collisions.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Dimensional reduction of the CPT-even electromagnetic sector of the Standard Model Extension

The CPT-even abelian gauge sector of the Standard Model Extension is represented by the Maxwell term supplemented by $(K_{F})_{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}F^{\mu\nu}F^{\rho\sigma}$, where the Lorentz-violating background tensor, $(K_{F})_{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}$, possesses the symmetries of the Riemann tensor. In the present work, we examine the planar version of this theory, obtained by means of a typical dimensional reduction procedure to $(1+2)$ dimensions. The resulting planar electrodynamics is composed of a gauge sector containing six Lorentz-violating coefficients, a scalar field endowed with a noncanonical kinetic term, and a coupling term that links the scalar and gauge sectors. The dispersion relation is exactly determined, revealing that the six parameters related to the pure electromagnetic sector do not yield birefringence at any order. In this model, the birefringence may appear only as a second order effect associated with the coupling tensor linking the gauge and scalar sectors.The equations of motion are written and solved in the stationary regime. The Lorentz-violating parameters do not alter the asymptotic behavior of the fields but induce an angular dependence not observed in the Maxwell planar theory.Comment: 13 pages, revtex style, no figures, to appear in Physical Review D(2011

Particle Learning for General Mixtures

This paper develops particle learning (PL) methods for the estimation of general mixture models. The approach is distinguished from alternative particle filtering methods in two major ways. First, each iteration begins by resampling particles according to posterior predictive probability, leading to a more efficient set for propagation. Second, each particle tracks only the "essential state vector" thus leading to reduced dimensional inference. In addition, we describe how the approach will apply to more general mixture models of current interest in the literature; it is hoped that this will inspire a greater number of researchers to adopt sequential Monte Carlo methods for fitting their sophisticated mixture based models. Finally, we show that PL leads to straight forward tools for marginal likelihood calculation and posterior cluster allocation.Business Administratio

Probing quantum fluctuation theorems in engineered reservoirs

Fluctuation Theorems are central in stochastic thermodynamics, as they allow for quantifying the irreversibility of single trajectories. Although they have been experimentally checked in the classical regime, a practical demonstration in the framework of quantum open systems is still to come. Here we propose a realistic platform to probe fluctuation theorems in the quantum regime. It is based on an effective two-level system coupled to an engineered reservoir, that enables the detection of the photons emitted and absorbed by the system. When the system is coherently driven, a measurable quantum component in the entropy production is evidenced. We quantify the error due to photon detection inefficiency, and show that the missing information can be efficiently corrected, based solely on the detected events. Our findings provide new insights into how the quantum character of a physical system impacts its thermodynamic evolution.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Thermal evolution of hybrid stars within the framework of a nonlocal Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model

We study the thermal evolution of neutron stars containing deconfined quark matter in their core. Such objects are generally referred to as quark-hybrid stars. The confined hadronic matter in their core is described in the framework of non-linear relativistic nuclear field theory. For the quark phase we use a non-local extension of the SU(3) Nambu Jona-Lasinio model with vector interactions. The Gibbs condition is used to model phase equilibrium between confined hadronic matter and deconfined quark matter. Our study indicates that high-mass neutron stars may contain between 35 and 40 % deconfined quark-hybrid matter in their cores. Neutron stars with canonical masses of around $1.4\, M_\odot$ would not contain deconfined quark matter. The central proton fractions of the stars are found to be high, enabling them to cool rapidly. Very good agreement with the temperature evolution established for the neutron star in Cassiopeia A (Cas A) is obtained for one of our models (based on the popular NL3 nuclear parametrization), if the protons in the core of our stellar models are strongly paired, the repulsion among the quarks is mildly repulsive, and the mass of Cas A has a canonical value of $1.4\, M_\odot$.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Electronic properties of curved graphene sheets

A model is proposed to study the electronic structure of slightly curved graphene sheets with an arbitrary number of pentagon-heptagon pairs and Stone-Wales defects based on a cosmological analogy. The disorder induced by curvature produces characteristic patterns in the local density of states that can be observed in scanning tunnel and transmission electron microscopy.Comment: Corrected versio

Fold-Saddle Bifurcation in Non-Smooth Vector Fields on the Plane

This paper presents results concerning bifurcations of 2D piecewise-smooth dynamical systems governed by vector fields. Generic three parameter families of a class of Non-Smooth Vector Fields are studied and its bifurcation diagrams are exhibited. Our main result describes the unfolding of the so called Fold-Saddle singularity