407 research outputs found
Critical exponents and phase transition in gold nuclei fragmentation at energies 10.6 and 4.0 GeV/nucleon
An attempt to extract critical exponents gamma, beta and tau from data on
gold nuclei fragmentation due to interactions with nuclear emulsion at energies
4.0 A GeV and 10.6 A GeV is presented. Based on analysis of Campi's 2nd charge
moments, two subsets of data at each energy are selected from the inclusive
data, corresponding to 'liquid' and 'gas' phases. The extracted values of
critical exponents from the selected data sets are in agreement with
predictions of 'liquid-gas' model of phase transition.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure
Spin-polarized transport through a single-level quantum dot in the Kondo regime
Nonequilibrium electronic transport through a quantum dot coupled to
ferromagnetic leads (electrodes) is studied theoretically by the nonequilibrium
Green function technique. The system is described by the Anderson model with
arbitrary correlation parameter . Exchange interaction between the dot and
ferromagnetic electrodes is taken into account {\it via} an effective molecular
field. The following situations are analyzed numerically: (i) the dot is
symmetrically coupled to two ferromagnetic leads, (ii) one of the two
ferromagnetic leads is half-metallic with almost total spin polarization of
electron states at the Fermi level, and (iii) one of the two electrodes is
nonmagnetic whereas the other one is ferromagnetic. Generally, the Kondo peak
in the density of states (DOS) becomes spin-split when the total exchange field
acting on the dot is nonzero. The spin-splitting of the Kondo peak in DOS leads
to splitting and suppression of the corresponding zero bias anomaly in the
differential conductance.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
On a possible photon origin of the most-energetic AGASA events
In this work the ultra high energy cosmic ray events recorded by the AGASA
experiment are analysed. With detailed simulations of the extensive air showers
initiated by photons, the probabilities are determined of the photonic origin
of the 6 AGASA events for which the muon densities were measured and the
reconstructed energies exceeded 10^20 eV. On this basis a new, preliminary
upper limit on the photon fraction in cosmic rays above 10^20 eV is derived and
compared to the predictions of exemplary top-down cosmic-ray origin models.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables; presented at XIII ISVHECRI, Pylos,
Greec
Simulation of Ultra-High Energy Photon Propagation in the Geomagnetic Field
The identification of primary photons or specifying stringent limits on the
photon flux is of major importance for understanding the origin of ultra-high
energy (UHE) cosmic rays. We present a new Monte Carlo program allowing
detailed studies of conversion and cascading of UHE photons in the geomagnetic
field. The program named PRESHOWER can be used both as an independent tool or
together with a shower simulation code. With the stand-alone version of the
code it is possible to investigate various properties of the particle cascade
induced by UHE photons interacting in the Earth's magnetic field before
entering the Earth's atmosphere. Combining this program with an extensive air
shower simulation code such as CORSIKA offers the possibility of investigating
signatures of photon-initiated showers. In particular, features can be studied
that help to discern such showers from the ones induced by hadrons. As an
illustration, calculations for the conditions of the southern part of the
Pierre Auger Observatory are presented.Comment: 41 pages, 9 figures, added references in introduction, corrected
energy in row 1 of Table 3, extended caption of Table
Atmospheric multiple scattering of fluorescence and Cherenkov light emitted by extensive air showers
Atmospheric scattering of light emitted by an air shower not only attenuates
direct fluorescence light from the shower, but also contributes to the observed
shower light. So far only direct and singly-scattered Cherenkov photons have
been taken into account in routine analyses of the observed optical image of
air showers. In this paper a Monte Carlo method of evaluating the contribution
of multiply scattered light to the optical air shower image is presented, as
well as results of simulations and a parameterization of scattered light
contribution to measured shower signal.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures, accepted for publication in NIM
Strongly damped nuclear collisions: zero or first sound ?
The relaxation of the collective quadrupole motion in the initial stage of a
central heavy ion collision at beam energies AMeV is studied
within a microscopic kinetic transport model. The damping rate is shown to be a
non-monotonic function of E_{lab} for a given pair of colliding nuclei. This
fact is interpreted as a manifestation of the zero-to-first sound transition in
a finite nuclear system.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Characteristics of geomagnetic cascading of ultra-high energy photons at the southern and northern sites of the Pierre Auger Observatory
Cosmic-ray photons above 10^19 eV can convert in the geomagnetic field and
initiate a preshower, i.e. a particle cascade before entering the atmosphere.
We compare the preshower characteristics at the southern and northern sites of
the Pierre Auger Observatory. In addition to a shift of the preshower patterns
on the sky due to the different pointing of the local magnetic field vectors,
the fact that the northern Auger site is closer to the geomagnetic pole results
in a different energy dependence of the preshower effect: photon conversion can
start at smaller energies, but large conversion probabilitites (>90%) are
reached for the whole sky at higher energies compared to the southern Auger
site. We show how the complementary preshower features at the two sites can be
used to search for ultra-high energy photons among cosmic rays. In particular,
the different preshower characteristics at the northern Auger site may provide
an elegant and unambiguous confirmation if a photon signal is detected at the
southern site.Comment: 25 pages, 14 figures, minor changes, conclusions unchanged, Appendix
A replaced, accepted by Astroparticle Physic
Upper limit on the photon fraction in highest-energy cosmic rays from AGASA data
A new method to derive an upper limit on photon primaries from small data
sets of air showers is developed which accounts for shower properties varying
with the primary energy and arrival direction. Applying this method to the
highest-energy showers recorded by the AGASA experiment, an upper limit on the
photon fraction of 51% (67%) at a confidence level of 90% (95%) for primary
energies above 1.25 * 10^20 eV is set. This new limit on the photon fraction
above the GZK cutoff energy constrains the Z-burst model of the origin of
highest-energy cosmic rays.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Analysis extended to account for primary energy
resolution; conclusions unchanged. Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let
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