Effective Hamiltonians with Relativistic Corrections I: The Foldy--Wouthuysen transformation versus the direct Pauli reduction

Two different methods of obtaining ``effective $2\times 2$ Hamiltonians'' which include relativistic corrections to nonrelativistic calculations are discussed, the standard Foldy--Wouthuysen transformation and what we call the ``direct Pauli reduction''. We wish to investigate under which circumstances the two approaches yield the same result. Using a generic interaction with harmonic time dependence we show that differences in the corresponding effective S--matrices do arise beyond first--order perturbation theory. We attribute them to the fact that the use of the direct reduction effective Hamiltonian involves the additional approximation of neglecting contributions from the negative--energy intermediate states, an approximation which is unnecessary in the Foldy--Wouthuysen case as there the $4\times 4$ Hamiltonian does not connect positive-- and negative--energy states. We conclude that at least in the cases where the relativistic Hamiltonian is known, using the direct Pauli reduction effective Hamiltonian introduces spurious relativistic effects and therefore the Foldy--Wouthuysen reduction should be preferred.Comment: TRIUMF preprint TRI-PP-93-1

Subthreshold phi-meson production in heavy-ion collisions

Within a transport code of BUU type the production of phi-mesons in the reactions Ni+Ni at 1.93 AGeV and Ru+Ru at 1.69 AGeV is studied. New elementary reaction channels rho+N(Delta) to phi+N and pi+N(1520) to phi+N are included. In spite of a substantial increase of the \phi multiplicities by these channels the results stay below the tentative numbers extracted from experimental data.Comment: 17 pages(LaTeX), two new figures adde

Proton-proton bremsstrahlung below and above pion-threshold: the influence of the Δ\Delta-isobar

The proton-proton bremsstrahlung is investigated within a coupled-channel model with the $\Delta$ degree of freedom. The model is consistent with the $NN$ scattering up to 1 GeV and the $\gamma N\Delta$ vertex determined in the study of pion photoproduction reactions. It is found that the $\Delta$ excitation can significantly improve the agreements with the $pp \rightarrow pp\gamma$ at $E_{lab}=280$ MeV. Predictions at $E_{lab}=550$ and $800$ MeV are presented for future experimental tests.Comment: 26 pages Revtex, 12 figures are available from the authors upon request ([email protected]

The role of three-body collisions in phi-meson production processes near threshold

The amplitude of subthreshold phi-meson production is calculated using dominant tree-level diagrams for three-body collisions. It is shown that the production can overwhelmingly be described by two-step processes. The effect of the genuine three-body contribution (i.e. the contribution which cannot be factorized) is discussed. The production rate of phi-mesons is presented for proton induced reactions on carbon.Comment: 19 page

A batch-service queueing model with a discrete batch Markovian arrival process

Queueing systems with batch service have been investigated extensively during the past decades. However, nearly all the studied models share the common feature that an uncorrelated arrival process is considered, which is unrealistic in several real-life situations. In this paper, we study a discrete-time queueing model, with a server that only initiates service when the amount of customers in system (system content) reaches or exceeds a threshold. Correlation is taken into account by assuming a discrete batch Markovian arrival process (D-BMAP), i.e. the distribution of the number of customer arrivals per slot depends on a background state which is determined by a first-order Markov chain. We deduce the probability generating function of the system content at random slot marks and we examine the influence of correlation in the arrival process on the behavior of the system. We show that correlation merely has a small impact on the threshold that minimizes the mean system content. In addition, we demonstrate that correlation might have a significant influence on the system content and therefore has to be included in the model

Destruction of chemical warfare surrogates using a portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Today’s reality is connected with mitigation of threats from the new chemical and biological warfare agents. A novel investigation of cold plasmas in contact with liquids presented in this paper demonstrated that the chemically reactive environment produced by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is potentially capable of rapid destruction of chemical warfare agents in a broad spectrum. The decontamination of three different chemical warfare agent surrogates dissolved in liquid is investigated by using an easily transportable APPJ. The jet is powered by a kHz signal source connected to a low-voltage DC source and with He as working gas. The detailed investigation of electrical properties is performed for various plasmas at different distances from the sample. The measurements of plasma properties in situ are supported by the optical spectrometry measurements, whereas the high performance liquid chromatography measurements before and after the treatment of aqueous solutions of Malathion, Fenitrothion and Dimethyl Methylphosphonate. These solutions are used to evaluate destruction and its efficiency for specific neural agent simulants. The particular removal rates are found to be from 56% up to 96% during 10 min treatment. The data obtained provide basis to evaluate APPJ’s efficiency at different operating conditions. The presented results are promising and could be improved with different operating conditions and optimization of the decontamination process

Whole exome resequencing reveals recessive mutations in TRAP1 in individuals with CAKUT and VACTERL association

Congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) account for approximately half of children with chronic kidney disease and they are the most frequent cause of end-stage renal disease in children in the US. However, its genetic etiology remains mostly elusive. VACTERL association is a rare disorder that involves congenital abnormalities in multiple organs including the kidney and urinary tract in up to 60% of the cases. By homozygosity mapping and whole exome resequencing combined with high-throughput mutation analysis by array-based multiplex PCR and next-generation sequencing, we identified recessive mutations in the gene TNF receptor-associated protein 1 (TRAP1) in two families with isolated CAKUT and three families with VACTERL association. TRAP1 is a heat shock protein 90-related mitochondrial chaperone possibly involved in antiapoptotic and endoplasmic reticulum-stress signaling. Trap1 is expressed in renal epithelia of developing mouse kidney E13.5 and in the kidney of adult rats, most prominently in proximal tubules and in thick medullary ascending limbs of Henle’s loop. Thus, we identified mutations in TRAP1 as highly likely causing CAKUT or CAKUT in VACTERL association

Measurements of DT alpha particle loss near the outer midplane of TFTR

Measurements of DT alpha particle loss to the outer midplane region of TFTR have been made using a radially movable scintillator detector. The conclusion from this data is that mechanisms determining the DT alpha loss to the outer midplane are not substantially different from those for DD fusion products. Some of these results are compared with a simplified theoretical model for TF ripple-induced alpha loss, which is expected to be the dominant classical alpha loss mechanism near the outer midplane. An example of plasma-driven MHD-induced alpha particle loss is shown, but no signs of any ``collective`` alpha instability-induced alpha loss have yet been observed