A Case Study on Artefact-based RE Improvement in Practice

Most requirements engineering (RE) process improvement approaches are solution-driven and activity-based. They focus on the assessment of the RE of a company against an external norm of best practices. A consequence is that practitioners often have to rely on an improvement approach that skips a profound problem analysis and that results in an RE approach that might be alien to the organisational needs. In recent years, we have developed an RE improvement approach (called \emph{ArtREPI}) that guides a holistic RE improvement against individual goals of a company putting primary attention to the quality of the artefacts. In this paper, we aim at exploring ArtREPI's benefits and limitations. We contribute an industrial evaluation of ArtREPI by relying on a case study research. Our results suggest that ArtREPI is well-suited for the establishment of an RE that reflects a specific organisational culture but to some extent at the cost of efficiency resulting from intensive discussions on a terminology that suits all involved stakeholders. Our results reveal first benefits and limitations, but we can also conclude the need of longitudinal and independent investigations for which we herewith lay the foundation

LHCb pentaquarks in constituent quark models

The recently discovered $P_c(4380)^+$ and $P_c(4450)^+$ states at LHCb have masses close to the $\bar D\Sigma_c^*$ and $\bar D^*\Sigma_c$ thresholds, respectively, which suggest that they may have significant meson-baryon molecular components. We analyze these states in the framework of a constituent quark model which has been applied to a wide range of hadronic observables, being the model parameters, therefore, completely constrained. The $P_c(4380)^+$ and $P_c(4450)^+$ are studied as molecular states composed by charmed baryons and open charm mesons. Several bound states with the proper binding energy are found in the $\bar D\Sigma_c^*$ and $\bar D^*\Sigma_c$ channels. We discuss the possible assignments of these states from their decay widths. Moreover, two more states are predicted, associated with the $\bar D\Sigma_c$ and $\bar D^* \Sigma_c^*$ thresholds.Comment: 5 pages, 2 table

The confined hydrogen atom with a moving nucleus

We study the hydrogen atom confined to a spherical box with impenetrable walls but, unlike earlier pedagogical articles on the subject, we assume that the nucleus also moves. We obtain the ground-state energy approximately by means of first--order perturbation theory and by a more accurate variational approach. We show that it is greater than the one for the case in which the nucleus is clamped at the center of the box. Present approach resembles the well-known treatment of the helium atom with clamped nucleus

Separation and fractionation of order and disorder in highly polydisperse systems

Microcanonical Monte Carlo simulations of a polydisperse soft-spheres model for liquids and colloids have been performed for very large polydispersity, in the region where a phase-separation is known to occur when the system (or part of it) solidifies. By studying samples of different sizes, from N=256 to N=864, we focus on the nature of the two distinct coexisting phases. Measurements of crystalline order in particles of different size reveal that the solid phase segregates between a crystalline solid with cubic symmetry and a disordered phase. This phenomenon is termed fractionation.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Heavy mesons in the Quark Model

Since the discovery of the $J/\psi$, the quark model was very successful in describing the spectrum and properties of heavy mesons including only $q\bar q$ components. However since 2003, with the discovery of the $X(3872)$, many states that can not be accommodated on the naive quark model have been discovered, and they made unavoidable to include higher Fock components on the heavy meson states. We will give an overview of the success of the quark model for heavy mesons and point some of the states that are likely to be more complicated structures such as meson-meson molecules.Comment: Contribution to the Proceedings of the 15th International Workshop on Meson Physics - MESON201

The X(3872) and other possible XYZXYZ molecular states

We perform a coupled channel calculation of the $DD^*$ and $c\bar c$ sectors in the framework of a constituent quark model. The interaction for the $DD^*$ states is obtained using the Resonant Group Method (RGM) and the underlying quark interaction model. The coupling with the two quark system is performed using the $^3 P_0$ model. The X(3872) is found as a molecular state with a sizable $c\bar c$ component. A comparison with Belle and BaBar data has been done, finding a good agreement. Other possible molecular molecular states are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings to the Hadron 2009 - XIII International Conference on Hadron Spectroscopy, Florida State University (USA

Towards Guidelines for Preventing Critical Requirements Engineering Problems

Context] Problems in Requirements Engineering (RE) can lead to serious consequences during the software development lifecycle. [Goal] The goal of this paper is to propose empirically-based guidelines that can be used by different types of organisations according to their size (small, medium or large) and process model (agile or plan-driven) to help them in preventing such problems. [Method] We analysed data from a survey on RE problems answered by 228 organisations in 10 different countries. [Results] We identified the most critical RE problems, their causes and mitigation actions, organizing this information by clusters of size and process model. Finally, we analysed the causes and mitigation actions of the critical problems of each cluster to get further insights into how to prevent them. [Conclusions] Based on our results, we suggest preliminary guidelines for preventing critical RE problems in response to context characteristics of the companies.Comment: Proceedings of the 42th Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications, 201

Equilibrium fluid-solid coexistence of hard spheres

We present a tethered Monte Carlo simulation of the crystallization of hard spheres. Our method boosts the traditional umbrella sampling to the point of making practical the study of constrained Gibb's free energies depending on several crystalline order-parameters. We obtain high-accuracy estimates of the fluid-crystal coexistence pressure for up to 2916 particles (enough to accommodate fluid-solid interfaces). We are able to extrapolate to infinite volume the coexistence pressure (p_{co}=11.5727(10) k_B T/\sigma^3) and the interfacial free energy (\gamma_{100}=0.636(11) k_B T/\sigma^2).Comment: 6 pages, 4 pdf figures. Version to be published in PRL. Appendices contain Supplemental Materia