Local Alignment of the BABAR Silicon Vertex Tracking Detector

The BABAR Silicon Vertex Tracker (SVT) is a five-layer double-sided silicon detector designed to provide precise measurements of the position and direction of primary tracks, and to fully reconstruct low-momentum tracks produced in e+e- collisions at the PEP-II asymmetric collider at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. This paper describes the design, implementation, performance, and validation of the local alignment procedure used to determine the relative positions and orientations of the 340 SVT wafers. This procedure uses a tuned mix of in-situ experimental data and complementary lab-bench measurements to control systematic distortions. Wafer positions and orientations are determined by minimizing a chisquared computed using these data for each wafer individually, iterating to account for between-wafer correlations. A correction for aplanar distortions of the silicon wafers is measured and applied. The net effect of residual mis-alignments on relevant physical variables is evaluated in special control samples. The BABAR data-sample collected between November 1999 and April 2008 is used in the study of the SVT stability.Comment: 21 pages, 20 figures, 3 tables, submitted to Nucl. Instrum. Meth.

Onsager reciprocity relations without microscopic reversibility

In this paper we show that Onsager--Machlup time reversal properties of thermodynamic fluctuations and Onsager reciprocity relations for transport coefficients can hold also if the microscopic dynamics is not reversible. This result is based on the explicit construction of a class of conservative models which can be analysed rigorously.Comment: revtex, no figure

`They don't want us to become them': Brand Local Integration and consumer ethnocentrism

This paper investigates whether positioning strategies of foreign brands that integrate both foreign and 'localised' dimensions of country-of-origin (COO) appeals shape perceptions and attitudes of domestically biased consumers. Ethnocentric consumers hold strong favourable attitudes towards local-perceived brands. At the same time, brand positioning strategies of local brands acquired by multinational corporations and of foreign brands entering the local market often integrate foreign COO appeals with locally relevant manufacturing and/or symbolic appeals. The results indicate that foreign brand identities that integrate 'localised' appeals communicating respect of local traditions (through the use of local images, symbols, and recipes) and contribution to the local society's well-being (through local manufacture, employment, use of local ingredients) lead to more favourable consumer perceptions. In distinguishing between 'purely foreign' and 'locally integrated foreign brands', consumers perceive the latter to be more acceptable for consumption. The paper concludes by considering the implications of the findings and outlining directions for further research.No Full Tex

Non equilibrium current fluctuations in stochastic lattice gases

We study current fluctuations in lattice gases in the macroscopic limit extending the dynamic approach for density fluctuations developed in previous articles. More precisely, we establish a large deviation principle for a space-time fluctuation $j$ of the empirical current with a rate functional \mc I (j). We then estimate the probability of a fluctuation of the average current over a large time interval; this probability can be obtained by solving a variational problem for the functional \mc I . We discuss several possible scenarios, interpreted as dynamical phase transitions, for this variational problem. They actually occur in specific models. We finally discuss the time reversal properties of \mc I and derive a fluctuation relationship akin to the Gallavotti-Cohen theorem for the entropy production.Comment: 36 Pages, No figur

Lattice gas model in random medium and open boundaries: hydrodynamic and relaxation to the steady state

We consider a lattice gas interacting by the exclusion rule in the presence of a random field given by i.i.d. bounded random variables in a bounded domain in contact with particles reservoir at different densities. We show, in dimensions $d \ge 3$, that the rescaled empirical density field almost surely, with respect to the random field, converges to the unique weak solution of a non linear parabolic equation having the diffusion matrix determined by the statistical properties of the external random field and boundary conditions determined by the density of the reservoir. Further we show that the rescaled empirical density field, in the stationary regime, almost surely with respect to the random field, converges to the solution of the associated stationary transport equation

Fluctuations in Stationary non Equilibrium States

In this paper we formulate a dynamical fluctuation theory for stationary non equilibrium states (SNS) which covers situations in a nonlinear hydrodynamic regime and is verified explicitly in stochastic models of interacting particles. In our theory a crucial role is played by the time reversed dynamics. Our results include the modification of the Onsager-Machlup theory in the SNS, a general Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the macroscopic entropy and a non equilibrium, non linear fluctuation dissipation relation valid for a wide class of systems

Nonequilibrium phase transition in a non integrable zero-range process

The present work is an endeavour to determine analytically features of the stationary measure of a non-integrable zero-range process, and to investigate the possible existence of phase transitions for such a nonequilibrium model. The rates defining the model do not satisfy the constraints necessary for the stationary measure to be a product measure. Even in the absence of a drive, detailed balance with respect to this measure is violated. Analytical and numerical investigations on the complete graph demonstrate the existence of a first-order phase transition between a fluid phase and a condensed phase, where a single site has macroscopic occupation. The transition is sudden from an imbalanced fluid where both species have densities larger than the critical density, to a critical neutral fluid and an imbalanced condensate

Towards a nonequilibrium thermodynamics: a self-contained macroscopic description of driven diffusive systems

In this paper we present a self-contained macroscopic description of diffusive systems interacting with boundary reservoirs and under the action of external fields. The approach is based on simple postulates which are suggested by a wide class of microscopic stochastic models where they are satisfied. The description however does not refer in any way to an underlying microscopic dynamics: the only input required are transport coefficients as functions of thermodynamic variables, which are experimentally accessible. The basic postulates are local equilibrium which allows a hydrodynamic description of the evolution, the Einstein relation among the transport coefficients, and a variational principle defining the out of equilibrium free energy. Associated to the variational principle there is a Hamilton-Jacobi equation satisfied by the free energy, very useful for concrete calculations. Correlations over a macroscopic scale are, in our scheme, a generic property of nonequilibrium states. Correlation functions of any order can be calculated from the free energy functional which is generically a non local functional of thermodynamic variables. Special attention is given to the notion of equilibrium state from the standpoint of nonequilibrium.Comment: 21 page

Vortices in the two-dimensional Simple Exclusion Process

We show that the fluctuations of the partial current in two dimensional diffusive systems are dominated by vortices leading to a different scaling from the one predicted by the hydrodynamic large deviation theory. This is supported by exact computations of the variance of partial current fluctuations for the symmetric simple exclusion process on general graphs. On a two-dimensional torus, our exact expressions are compared to the results of numerical simulations. They confirm the logarithmic dependence on the system size of the fluctuations of the partialflux. The impact of the vortices on the validity of the fluctuation relation for partial currents is also discussed.Comment: Revised version to appear in Journal of Statistical Physics. Minor correction