A path integral for heavy-quarks in a hot plasma

We propose a model for the propagation of a heavy-quark in a hot plasma, to be viewed as a first step towards a full description of the dynamics of heavy quark systems in a quark-gluon plasma, including bound state formation. The heavy quark is treated as a non relativistic particle interacting with a fluctuating field, whose correlator is determined by a hard thermal loop approximation. This approximation, which concerns only the medium in which the heavy quark propagates, is the only one that is made, and it can be improved. The dynamics of the heavy quark is given exactly by a quantum mechanical path integral that is calculated in this paper in the Euclidean space-time using numerical Monte Carlo techniques. The spectral function of the heavy quark in the medium is then reconstructed using a Maximum Entropy Method. The path integral is also evaluated exactly in the case where the mass of the heavy quark is infinite; one then recovers known results concerning the complex optical potential that controls the long time behavior of the heavy quark. The heavy quark correlator and its spectral function is also calculated semi-analytically at the one-loop order, which allows for a detailed description of the coupling between the heavy quark and the plasma collective modes

Scientific Highlights of the HETE-2 Mission

The HETE-2 mission has been highly productive. It has observed more than 250 GRBs so far. It is currently localizing 25 - 30 GRBs per year, and has localized 43 GRBs to date. Twenty-one of these localizations have led to the detection of X-ray, optical, or radio afterglows, and as of now, 11 of the bursts with afterglows have known redshifts. HETE-2 has confirmed the connection between GRBs and Type Ic supernovae, a singular achievement and certainly one of the scientific highlights of the mission so far. It has provided evidence that the isotropic-equivalent energies and luminosities of GRBs are correlated with redshift, implying that GRBs and their progenitors evolve strongly with redshift. Both of these results have profound implications for the nature of GRB progenitors and for the use of GRBs as a probe of cosmology and the early universe. HETE-2 has placed severe constraints on any X-ray or optical afterglow of a short GRB. It is also solving the mystery of "optically dark' GRBs, and revealing the nature of X-ray flashes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, to appear in proc. "The Restless High-Energy Universe", Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam; revised text, added ref

Physics research on the TCV tokamak facility: from conventional to alternative scenarios and beyond

The research program of the TCV tokamak ranges from conventional to advanced-tokamak scenarios and alternative divertor configurations, to exploratory plasmas driven by theoretical insight, exploiting the device’s unique shaping capabilities. Disruption avoidance by real-time locked mode prevention or unlocking with electron-cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) was thoroughly documented, using magnetic and radiation triggers. Runaway generation with high-Z noble-gas injection and runaway dissipation by subsequent Ne or Ar injection were studied for model validation. The new 1 MW neutral beam injector has expanded the parameter range, now encompassing ELMy H-modes in an ITER-like shape and nearly non-inductive H-mode discharges sustained by electron cyclotron and neutral beam current drive. In the H-mode, the pedestal pressure increases modestly with nitrogen seeding while fueling moves the density pedestal outwards, but the plasma stored energy is largely uncorrelated to either seeding or fueling. High fueling at high triangularity is key to accessing the attractive small edge-localized mode (type-II) regime. Turbulence is reduced in the core at negative triangularity, consistent with increased confinement and in accord with global gyrokinetic simulations. The geodesic acoustic mode, possibly coupled with avalanche events, has been linked with particle flow to the wall in diverted plasmas. Detachment, scrape-off layer transport, and turbulence were studied in L- and H-modes in both standard and alternative configurations (snowflake, super-X, and beyond). The detachment process is caused by power ‘starvation’ reducing the ionization source, with volume recombination playing only a minor role. Partial detachment in the H-mode is obtained with impurity seeding and has shown little dependence on flux expansion in standard single-null geometry. In the attached L-mode phase, increasing the outer connection length reduces the in–out heat-flow asymmetry. A doublet plasma, featuring an internal X-point, was achieved successfully, and a transport barrier was observed in the mantle just outside the internal separatrix. In the near future variable-configuration baffles and possibly divertor pumping will be introduced to investigate the effect of divertor closure on exhaust and performance, and 3.5 MW ECRH and 1 MW neutral beam injection heating will be added

Highly specific protease-based approach for detection of porphyromonas gingivalis in diagnosis of periodontitis

Porphyromonas gingivalis is associated with the development of periodontitis. Here we describe the development of a highly specific protease-b

Observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts by HETE-2

The High Energy Transient Explorer 2 (HETE-2), launched in October 2000, is currently localizing gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) at a rate of approximately 20/yr, many in real time. As of August 2003, HETE-2 had localized 43 GRBs; 16 localizations had led to the detection of an X-ray, optical, or radio afterglows. The prompt position notification of HETE-2 enabled probing the nature of so-called "dark bursts" for which no optical afterglows were found despite of accurate localizations. In some cases, the optical afterglow was found to be intrinsically faint , and its flux declined rapidly. In another case, the optical emission was likely to be extinguished by the dust in the vicinity of the GRB source. The bright afterglows of GRB021004 and GRB030329 were observed in unprecedented details by telescopes around the world. Strong evidence for the association of long GRBs with the core-collapse supernovae was found. HETE-2 has localized almost as many X-ray rich GRBs as classical GRBs. The nature of the X-ray rich GRBs and X-ray flashes have been studied systematically with HETE-2, and they are found to have many properties in common with the classical GRBs, suggesting that they are a single phenomenon