QCD and Rescattering in Nuclear Targets

We review the extension of the factorization formalism of perturbative QCD to soft rescattering associated with hard processes in nuclei.Comment: Latex 16 pages, including 18 figures, to appear in the Proceedings of Hard Probe Collaboratio

Momentum Flow Correlations from Event Shapes: Factorized Soft Gluons and Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

The distributions of two-jet event shapes contain information on hadronization in QCD. Near the two-jet limit, these distributions can be described by convolutions of nonperturbative event shape functions with the same distributions calculated in resummed perturbation theory. The shape functions, in turn, are determined by correlations of momentum flow operators with each other and with light-like Wilson lines, which describe the coupling of soft, wide-angle radiation to jets. We observe that leading power corrections to the mean values of event shapes are determined by the correlation of a single momentum flow operator with the relevant Wilson lines. This generalizes arguments for the universality of leading power corrections based on the low-scale behavior of the running coupling or resummation. We also show how a study of the angularity event shapes can provide information on correlations involving multiple momentum flow operators, giving a window to the system of QCD dynamics that underlies the variety of event shape functions. In deriving these results, we review, develop and compare factorization techniques in conventional perturbative QCD and soft-collinear effective theory (SCET). We give special emphasis to the elimination of double counting of momentum regions in these two formalisms.Comment: 25 pages revtex

Complexation of Secondary Amides to Chromium(III): the X-Ray Structure of a Molecule with Two Modes of Monodentate Organic Amide Co-ordination

The X-ray crystal structure of the dimer [Cr{H(chba-Et)}(py)_2]_(2)·2py [H_(4)(chba-Et)= 1,2-bis(3,5-dichloro-2-hydroxybenzamido) ethane, py = pyridine] establishes, for the first time, the existence of N-co-ordination of an organic amide to Cr^III, the N-atom and carbonyl O-atom of two separate amide groups being co-ordinated to each Cr^III centre [Cr–N 2.030(6) and Cr–O 1.976(5)Å]; the potentially tetra-anionic chelating ligand leads to a variety of co-ordination modes

Dilepton production near partonic threshold in transversely polarized proton-antiproton collisions

It has recently been suggested that collisions of transversely polarized protons and antiprotons at the GSI could be used to determine the nucleon's transversity densities from measurements of the double-spin asymmetry for the Drell-Yan process. We analyze the role of higher-order perturbative QCD corrections in this kinematic regime, in terms of the available fixed-order contributions as well as of all-order soft-gluon resummations. We find that the combined perturbative corrections to the individual unpolarized and transversely polarized cross sections are large. We trace these large enhancements to soft gluon emission near partonic threshold, and we suggest that with a physically-motivated cut-off enhancements beyond lowest order are moderated relative to resummed perturbation theory, but still significant. The unpolarized dilepton cross section for the GSI kinematics may therefore provide information on the relation of perturbative and nonperturbative dynamics in hadronic scattering. The spin asymmetry turns out to be rather robust, relatively insensitive to higher orders, resummation, and the cut-offs.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figures as eps. Some discussion and references added. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Schistosomiasis as a disease of stem cells

Schistosomiasis is a devastating parasitic disease caused by flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. The complex life cycles and developmental plasticity of these parasites have captured the attention of parsitologists for decades, yet little is known on the molecular level about the developmental underpinnings that have allowed these worms to thrive as obligate parasites. Here, we describe basic schistosome biology and highlight how understanding the functions of stem cells in these worms will transform our understanding of these parasites. Indeed, we propose that schistosomiasis is fundamentally as disease of stem cells. We hope this review will attract new interest in the basic developmental biology of these important organisms

The Two-loop Anomalous Dimension Matrix for Soft Gluon Exchange

The resummation of soft gluon exchange for QCD hard scattering requires a matrix of anomalous dimensions. We compute this matrix directly for arbitrary 2 to n massless processes for the first time at two loops. Using color generator notation, we show that it is proportional to the one-loop matrix. This result reproduces all pole terms in dimensional regularization of the explicit calculations of massless 2 to 2 amplitudes in the literature, and it predicts all poles at next-to-next-to-leading order in any 2 to n process that has been computed at next-to-leading order. The proportionality of the one- and two-loop matrices makes possible the resummation in closed form of the next-to-next-to-leading logarithms and poles in dimensional regularization for the 2 to n processes.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, revte

Reduction of microtrenching and island formation in oxide plasma etching by employing electron beam charge neutralization

Includes bibliographical references (page 2700).During plasma etching of oxide thin-film patterns, nonuniform charge buildup within etching features results in formation of microtrenches. Near the etch endpoint, the underlying film layer adjacent to the feature edges is exposed first, leaving an oxide island in the feature center and potentially causing underlayer damage before the endpoint is reached. Herein, a directional electron flux is added to the plasma ion flux incident on the etching substrate with the goal of minimizing microtrenching and oxide island formation. Scanning electron microscopic images of patterns etched with added electron irradiation show a reduction in microtrenching and oxide island formation as compared to patterns etched under identical conditions without electron irradiation. A computer simulation shows that the added electron irradiation reduces microtrenching by allowing more uniform ion flux to reach the feature bottom

Nuclear Effects on Heavy Boson Production at RHIC and LHC

We predict W and Z transverse momentum distributions from proton-proton and nuclear collisions at RHIC and LHC. A resummation formalism with power corrections to the renormalization group equations is used. The dependence of the resummed QCD results on the non-perturbative input is very weak for the systems considered. Shadowing effects are discussed and found to be unimportant at RHIC, but important for LHC. We study the enhancement of power corrections due to multiple scattering in nuclear collisions and numerically illustrate the weak effects of the dependence on the nuclear mass.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure

Large area radio frequency plasma for microelectronics processing

Includes bibliographical references (page 874).Radio-frequency (rf) inductively coupled planar plasma (ICP) provides a better way to generate spatially confined high density gas discharge plasmas for microelectronics processing. Commercial processing equipment using this technique is currently available, but is limited in size to 20 cm in diameter by problems with plasma uniformity and antenna dielectric window erosion. We have developed a new planar ICP antenna and dielectric window design that allows for larger dimensions (up to 50 cm in diameter) with good uniformity. The current art ICP antenna requires a thick quartz (or ceramic) plate vacuum window to separate the rf inductor and the plasma. The larger the antenna diameter the thicker the dielectric. The thick dielectric reduces inductive coupling efficiency. The large area coil and associated matching network can introduce plasma uniformity problems. Our device incorporates both the rf inductor and the dielectric window inside the vacuum chamber, allowing space for a thin layer of quartz or other dielectric material. Thus, the dielectric window design is only focused on materials for the given process chemistry to be placed between the coil and the excited plasma, rather than also including mechanical strength to hold a vacuum over a wide area. This thin dielectric layer with our newly designed planar coil coupler allows the plasma to be scaled to a 50 cm diameter while maintaining radial uniformity. In this article we report only plasma ashing results for a 20 cm planar ICP device that shows 2% nonuniformity across 15 cm wafers. The measured flux of atomic oxygen and atomic hydrogen generated by a larger planar ICP scale device is also presented

Transverse electron guns for plasma excitation

Includes bibliographical references (page 4710).We report a plasma gun, which generates on a continuous basis, kilowatt electron beam discharges (e.g., 0.4 A at 4 kV) in an ambient pressure 0.1-1 Torr without differential pumping. Gun design characteristics, operating parameters, and measured beam profiles are given. Electron beam generation on a pulsed basis has also been studied. More than 100 A of beam current has been measured with a Faraday cup biased to - 100 V. A trapped electron beam scheme for achieving efficient deposition of the electron beam energy in a gas medium is described