Verbundprojekt PARALOR: Parallele Verfahren zur Wegoptimierung in Flugplanung und Logistik

Die Lösung kombinatorischer Optimierungsprobleme ist in vielen Bereichen von Wirtschaft und Technik der Schlüssel zur Steigerung der Effizienz technischer Abläufen, zur Verbesserung der Produktqualität und zur Veringerung von Produktions-, Material- und Transportkosten. Der Einsatz herkömmlicher sequentieller Verfahren ist für praxisrelevante Probleme aufgrund der enormen Rechenzeiterfordernisse nur sehr eingeschränkt möglich. Parallele Systeme bieten eine Möglichkeit, derartige Probleme in vertretbarer Zeit zu lösen. Im Rahmen des Verbundprojektes PARALOR wird untersucht, wie parallele Algorithmen der kombinatorischen Optimierung in konkreten, industriellen Anwendungen aus der Flugplanung sowie der Speditionslogistik effizient eingesetzt werden können. In diesem Artikel werden wesentliche Ergebnisse des Projekts exemplarisch vorgestellt

Mammalian sex determination—insights from humans and mice

Disorders of sex development (DSD) are congenital conditions in which the development of chromosomal, gonadal, or anatomical sex is atypical. Many of the genes required for gonad development have been identified by analysis of DSD patients. However, the use of knockout and transgenic mouse strains have contributed enormously to the study of gonad gene function and interactions within the development network. Although the genetic basis of mammalian sex determination and differentiation has advanced considerably in recent years, a majority of 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis patients still cannot be provided with an accurate diagnosis. Some of these unexplained DSD cases may be due to mutations in novel DSD genes or genomic rearrangements affecting regulatory regions that lead to atypical gene expression. Here, we review our current knowledge of mammalian sex determination drawing on insights from human DSD patients and mouse models

The PANDA Experiment at FAIR

The new generation hadron physics experiment PANDA at the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR), Darmstadt/Germany, will combine an unique combination of a modern multipurpose particle detector and a high precision and high luminosity antiproton beam to address and solve actual puzzles in hadron physics. The central goal of the experiment is the elementary understanding of hadrons using the power of gluon-rich and flavor-blind collision reactions between phase-space cooled antiprotons of 1.5 GeV/c to 15 GeV/c from the High Energy Storage Ring (HESR) and dense hydrogen or nuclear targets. The high precision line-shape scans as well as a detector capable to perform a fully exclusive study of practically all final state particles make the project unique, and allows for example to determine the width of the narrow X(3872) with sub-MeV resolution. Not only the hadron spectroscopy feasibilities are complementary to the presently running experiments such as BESIII, Compass, GlueX or Clas12, but also the physics topics of hyperon physics, proton structure and strange hadrons in nuclei. The PANDA detector with its almost 4pi angular coverage due to an onion-like structured Target Spectrometer in a supra conducting solenoid and a forward dipole spectrometer provides excellent tracking as well as identififcation of charged and neutral particles based on innovative Cherenkov counters, time of flight detectors as well as an electromagnetic calorimeter. The PANDA physics programme and the state-of-the-art detector will be addressed in this talk

Prototype test for the PANDA Barrel DIRC

Excellent hadronic particle identification (PID) in the barrel region of the PANDA experiment at the new Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) at GSI, Darmstadt, will be provided by a DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) counter. It will cover the polar angle range of 22-140 degrees and separate charged pions from kaons for momenta between 0.5 GeV/c and 3.5 GeV/c with a separation power of at least 3 standard deviations.A sophisticated prototype was constructed and tested in a hadronic particle beam at CERN during the fall of 2017 to test the PID performance of the final design. The prototype comprised a narrow bar made from synthetic fused silica, a complex multi-layer spherical lens system, and a prism-shaped fused silica expansion volume. An array of microchannel-plate photomultiplier tubes was used to measure the location and arrival time of the Cherenkov photons. Data were collected for different optics configurations at different beam angles and momenta. Results of the analysis and a comparison to the Geant4 simulation will be presented

The innovative design of the PANDA Barrel DIRC

The fixed target experiment PANDA at the High Energy Storage Ring (HESR) of the Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research in Europe (FAIR) in Darmstadt will open unique possibilities to solve fundamental questions of hadron physics by using a cooled high-intensity antiproton beam.Two fast and compact Ring Imaging Cherenkov detectors using the DIRC (Detection of Internally Reflected Cherenkov light) technology will provide excellent charged particle identification (PID) in the PANDA target spectrometer.The Barrel DIRC will cover the polar angle range from 22° to 144° and cleanly separate pions from kaons for momenta up to 3.5 GeV/c.It consists of 16 optically isolated sectors, each comprising three bars, flat mirrors and focusing lenses, a compact fused silica prism as expansion volume, and 11 Microchannel-Plate PMTs (MCP-PMTs) as photon sensors.The bars are made from synthetic fused silica, have a length of 2400 mm and a cross section of 17 mm x 53 mm, and are built to tight optical and mechanical specifications to preserve the photon angle during many internal reflections and to optimize the light transport efficiency.The spherical lens system is designed to efficiently focus the Cherenkov light on a flat image plane on the back wall of the prism where the photons are detected by the array of MCP-PMTs.Detailed Geant4 simulations were performed to optimize the design for performance and cost and two complementary reconstruction algorithms were developed, one primarily based on photon spatial coordinates, the other emphasizing the precise measurement of the photon propagation time.All the key elements of the PANDA Barrel DIRC design were implemented in several complex prototypes and tested in hadronic particle beams at GSI and CERN.The data obtained were used to tune the simulation, validate the reconstruction methods, and to evaluate the PID performance of the design.We will discuss the technical design of the PANDA Barrel DIRC and present results from the test beam campaigns at the CERN PS in 2017 and 2018