Soccer: is scoring goals a predictable Poissonian process?

The non-scientific event of a soccer match is analysed on a strictly scientific level. The analysis is based on the recently introduced concept of a team fitness (Eur. Phys. J. B 67, 445, 2009) and requires the use of finite-size scaling. A uniquely defined function is derived which quantitatively predicts the expected average outcome of a soccer match in terms of the fitness of both teams. It is checked whether temporary fitness fluctuations of a team hamper the predictability of a soccer match. To a very good approximation scoring goals during a match can be characterized as independent Poissonian processes with pre-determined expectation values. Minor correlations give rise to an increase of the number of draws. The non-Poissonian overall goal distribution is just a consequence of the fitness distribution among different teams. The limits of predictability of soccer matches are quantified. Our model-free classification of the underlying ingredients determining the outcome of soccer matches can be generalized to different types of sports events

Fast vectorized algorithm for the Monte Carlo Simulation of the Random Field Ising Model

An algoritm for the simulation of the 3--dimensional random field Ising model with a binary distribution of the random fields is presented. It uses multi-spin coding and simulates 64 physically different systems simultaneously. On one processor of a Cray YMP it reaches a speed of 184 Million spin updates per second. For smaller field strength we present a version of the algorithm that can perform 242 Million spin updates per second on the same machine.Comment: 13 pp., HLRZ 53/9

The Thorium Molten Salt Reactor : Moving on from the MSBR

A re-evaluation of the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor concept has revealed problems related to its safety and to the complexity of the reprocessing considered. A reflection is carried out anew in view of finding innovative solutions leading to the Thorium Molten Salt Reactor concept. Several main constraints are established and serve as guides to parametric evaluations. These then give an understanding of the influence of important core parameters on the reactor's operation. The aim of this paper is to discuss this vast research domain and to single out the Molten Salt Reactor configurations that deserve further evaluation.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Fast Thorium Molten Salt Reactors started with Plutonium

One of the pending questions concerning Molten Salt Reactors based on the 232Th/233U fuel cycle is the supply of the fissile matter, and as a consequence the deployment possibilities of a fleet of Molten Salt Reactors, since 233U does not exist on earth and is not yet produced in the current operating reactors. A solution may consist in producing 233U in special devices containing Thorium, in Pressurized Water or Fast Neutrons Reactors. Two alternatives to produce 233U are examined here: directly in standard Molten Salt Reactors started with Plutonium as fissile matter and then operated in the Th/233U cycle; or in dedicated Molten Salt Reactors started and fed with Plutonium as fissile matter and Thorium as fertile matter. The idea is to design a critical reactor able to burn the Plutonium and the minor actinides presently produced in PWRs, and consequently to convert this Plutonium into 233U. A particular reactor configuration is used, called unique channel configuration in which there is no moderator in the core, leading to a quasi fast neutron spectrum, allowing Plutonium to be used as fissile matter. The conversion capacities of such Molten Salt Reactors are excellent. For Molten Salt Reactors only started with Plutonium, the assets of the Thorium fuel cycle turn out to be quickly recovered and the reactors characteristics turn out to be equivalent to Molten Salt Reactors operated with 233U only. Using a combination of Molten Salt Reactors started or operated with Plutonium and of Molten Salt Reactors started with 233U, the deployment capabilities of these reactors fully satisfy the condition of sustainability

Equilibrium and out of equilibrium thermodynamics in supercooled liquids and glasses

We review the inherent structure thermodynamical formalism and the formulation of an equation of state for liquids in equilibrium based on the (volume) derivatives of the statistical properties of the potential energy surface. We also show that, under the hypothesis that during aging the system explores states associated to equilibrium configurations, it is possible to generalize the proposed equation of state to out-of-equilibrium conditions. The proposed formulation is based on the introduction of one additional parameter which, in the chosen thermodynamic formalism, can be chosen as the local minima where the slowly relaxing out-of-equilibrium liquid is trapped.Comment: 7 pages, 4 eps figure

Wang-Landau study of the 3D Ising model with bond disorder

We implement a two-stage approach of the Wang-Landau algorithm to investigate the critical properties of the 3D Ising model with quenched bond randomness. In particular, we consider the case where disorder couples to the nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic interaction, in terms of a bimodal distribution of strong versus weak bonds. Our simulations are carried out for large ensembles of disorder realizations and lattices with linear sizes $L$ in the range $L=8-64$. We apply well-established finite-size scaling techniques and concepts from the scaling theory of disordered systems to describe the nature of the phase transition of the disordered model, departing gradually from the fixed point of the pure system. Our analysis (based on the determination of the critical exponents) shows that the 3D random-bond Ising model belongs to the same universality class with the site- and bond-dilution models, providing a single universality class for the 3D Ising model with these three types of quenched uncorrelated disorder.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Peripheral blood leukocyte response and macrophage function during Eimeria adenoeides infection in turkey poults

Intestinal coccidiosis, caused by various species of Eimeria, is an economically important disease of chickens and turkeys. The peripheral blood leukocyte response and macrophage functions during a coccidial infection in turkeys have not been defined. To examine these aspects of innate immunity during primary Eimeria infection in turkeys, 4-week-old poults were orally inoculated with either 50,000 E. adenoeides oocyst (24 infected poults) or water (24 control poults). To monitor the concentrations and proportions of white blood cells (WBC) throughout the course of infection, heparinized blood was collected from 12 infected and 12 control poults prior to inoculation (day 0), and on days 4, 7, and 11 post-inoculation (PI). To study macrophage function, Sephadex-elicited abdominal exudate cells (macrophages) were collected on day 7 PI from 12 infected and 12 control poults. Macrophages were used to study phagocytosis of unopsonized and antibody-opsonized sheep red blood cells (SRBC), production of nitric oxide, and production of cytotoxic factors. E. adenoeides infection was associated with alterations in the concentration of WBC, including a decrease in the numbers of circulating lymphocytes on day 4 and a rise in lymphocytes and heterophils on day 11. Although phagocytic activity was not different in macrophages from infected and control poults, macrophages from infected poults exhibited greater cytotoxic activity. Data from these studies strongly suggest that components of innate immunity were recruited and activated during this primary infection of turkey poults with E. adenoeides. Further investigations are needed to determine the role of these components in limiting primary infection by E. adenoeides

Prompt reactivity determination in a subcritical assembly through the response to a Dirac pulse

The full understanding of the kinetics of a subcritical assembly is a key issue for its online reactivity control. Point kinetics is not sufficient to determine the prompt reactivity of a subcritical assembly through the response to a dirac pulse, in particular in the cases of a large reflector, a small reactor, or a large subcriticality.Taking into account the distribution of intergeneration times, which appears as a robust characteristic of each type of reactor, helps to understand this behaviour.Eventually, a method is proposed for the determination of the prompt reactivity. It provides a decrease rate function depending on the prompt multiplication coefficient Keffp. Fitting a measured decrease rate with this function, calculated once for the reactor, gives the true value of keffp. The robustness of the method is tested. (Elsevier

Thermodynamic Fingerprints of Disorder in Flux Line Lattices and other Glassy Mesoscopic Systems

We examine probability distributions for thermodynamic quantities in finite-sized random systems close to criticality. Guided by available exact results, a general ansatz is proposed for replicated free energies, which leads to scaling forms for cumulants of various macroscopic observables. For the specific example of a planar flux line lattice in a two dimensional superconducting film near H_c1, we provide detailed results for the statistics of the magnetic flux density, susceptibility, heat capacity, and their cross-correlations.Comment: 4 page