611 research outputs found
Growth and Coagulation in a Herding Model
We discuss various existing models which mimic the herding effect in financial markets and introduce a new model of herding which incorporates both growth and coagulation. In this model, at each time step either (i) with probability p the system grows through the introduction of a new agent or (ii) with probability q=1-p two groups are selected at random and coagulate. We show that the size distribution of these groups has a power law tail with an exponential cut-off. A variant of our basic model is also discussed where rates are proportional to the size of a grou
Observations of quasi-periodic solar X-ray emission as a result of MHD oscillations in a system of multiple flare loops
We investigate the solar flare of 20 October 2002. The flare was accompanied
by quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) of both thermal and nonthermal hard X-ray
emissions (HXR) observed by RHESSI in the 3-50 keV energy range. Analysis of
the HXR time profiles in different energy channels made with the Lomb
periodogram indicates two statistically significant time periods of about 16
and 36 seconds. The 36-second QPP were observed only in the nonthermal HXR
emission in the impulsive phase of the flare. The 16-second QPP were more
pronounced in the thermal HXR emission and were observed both in the impulsive
and in the decay phases of the flare. Imaging analysis of the flare region, the
determined time periods of the QPP and the estimated physical parameters of
magnetic loops in the flare region allow us to interpret the observations as
follows. 1) In the impulsive phase energy was released and electrons were
accelerated by successive acts with the average time period of about 36 seconds
in different parts of two spatially separated, but interacting loop systems of
the flare region. 2) The 36-second periodicity of energy release could be
caused by the action of fast MHD oscillations in the loops connecting these
flaring sites. 3) During the first explosive acts of energy release the MHD
oscillations (most probably the sausage mode) with time period of 16 seconds
were excited in one system of the flare loops. 4) These oscillations were
maintained by the subsequent explosive acts of energy release in the impulsive
phase and were completely damped in the decay phase of the flare.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure
Identified particles in Au+Au collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV
The yields of identified particles have been measured at RHIC for Au+Au
collisions at sqrt{s_NN} = 200 GeV using the PHOBOS spectrometer. The ratios of
antiparticle to particle yields near mid-rapidity are presented. The first
measurements of the invariant yields of charged pions, kaons and protons at
very low transverse momenta are also shown.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, Contribution to Quark Matter 2002, Nantes,
France, July 200
Universal Behavior of Charged Particle Production in Heavy Ion Collisions
The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has measured the multiplicity of primary
charged particles as a function of centrality and pseudorapidity in Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 19.6, 130 and 200 GeV. Two kinds of universal
behavior are observed in charged particle production in heavy ion collisions.
The first is that forward particle production, over a range of energies,
follows a universal limiting curve with a non-trivial centrality dependence.
The second arises from comparisons with pp/pbar-p and e+e- data.
N_tot/(N_part/2) in nuclear collisions at high energy scales with sqrt(s) in a
similar way as N_tot in e+e- collisions and has a very weak centrality
dependence. This feature may be related to a reduction in the leading particle
effect due to the multiple collisions suffered per participant in heavy ion
collisions.Comment: 4 Pages, 5 Figures, contributed to the Proceedings of Quark Matter
2002, Nantes, France, 18-24 July 200
Global Observations from PHOBOS
Particle production in Au+Au collisions has been measured in the PHOBOS
experiment at RHIC for a range of collision energies. Three empirical
observations have emerged from this dataset which require theoretical
examination. First, there is clear evidence of limiting fragmentation. Namely,
particle production in central Au+Au collisions, when expressed as
(), becomes energy independent at high energy for a
broad region of around . This energy-independent region grows
with energy, allowing only a limited region (if any) of longitudinal
boost-invariance. Second, there is a striking similarity between particle
production in e+e- and Au+Au collisions (scaled by the number of participating
nucleon pairs). Both the total number of produced particles and the
longitudinal distribution of produced particles are approximately the same in
e+e- and in scaled Au+Au. This observation was not predicted and has not been
explained. Finally, particle production has been found to scale approximately
with the number of participating nucleon pairs for . This scaling
occurs both for the total multiplicity and for high \pT particles (3 <\pT<
4.5 GeV/c).Comment: QM2002 plenary talk, 10 pages, 11 figure
Recent Results from PHOBOS at RHIC
The PHOBOS experiment at RHIC has recorded measurements for Au-Au collisions
spanning nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies from 19.6 GeV to 200 GeV.
Global observables such as elliptic flow and charged particle multiplicity
provide important constraints on model predictions that characterize the state
of matter produced in these collisions. The nearly 4 pi acceptance of the
PHOBOS experiment provides excellent coverage for complete flow and
multiplicity measurements. Results including beam energy and centrality
dependencies are presented and compared to elementary systems.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings from PANIC02 in Osaka, Japa
Development of a genotyping microarray for Usher syndrome
BACKGROUND: Usher syndrome, a combination of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and sensorineural hearing loss with or without vestibular dysfunction, displays a high degree of clinical and genetic heterogeneity. Three clinical subtypes can be distinguished, based on the age of onset and severity of the hearing impairment, and the presence or absence of vestibular abnormalities. Thus far, eight genes have been implicated in the syndrome, together comprising 347 protein-coding exons. METHODS: To improve DNA diagnostics for patients with Usher syndrome, we developed a genotyping microarray based on the arrayed primer extension (APEX) method. Allele-specific oligonucleotides corresponding to all 298 Usher syndrome-associated sequence variants known to date, 76 of which are novel, were arrayed. RESULTS: Approximately half of these variants were validated using original patient DNAs, which yielded an accuracy of >98%. The efficiency of the Usher genotyping microarray was tested using DNAs from 370 unrelated European and American patients with Usher syndrome. Sequence variants were identified in 64/140 (46%) patients with Usher syndrome type I, 45/189 (24%) patients with Usher syndrome type II, 6/21 (29%) patients with Usher syndrome type III and 6/20 (30%) patients with atypical Usher syndrome. The chip also identified two novel sequence variants, c.400C>T (p.R134X) in PCDH15 and c.1606T>C (p.C536S) in USH2A. CONCLUSION: The Usher genotyping microarray is a versatile and affordable screening tool for Usher syndrome. Its efficiency will improve with the addition of novel sequence variants with minimal extra costs, making it a very useful first-pass screening tool
Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2
A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is
reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and
quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated
luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV
and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172
GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95%
confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2,
depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and
quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited
fermio
Search for charginos in e+e- interactions at sqrt(s) = 189 GeV
An update of the searches for charginos and gravitinos is presented, based on
a data sample corresponding to the 158 pb^{-1} recorded by the DELPHI detector
in 1998, at a centre-of-mass energy of 189 GeV. No evidence for a signal was
found. The lower mass limits are 4-5 GeV/c^2 higher than those obtained at a
centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV. The (\mu,M_2) MSSM domain excluded by
combining the chargino searches with neutralino searches at the Z resonance
implies a limit on the mass of the lightest neutralino which, for a heavy
sneutrino, is constrained to be above 31.0 GeV/c^2 for tan(beta) \geq 1.Comment: 22 pages, 8 figure
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