Microscopic theory of pion production and sidewards flow in heavy ion collisions

Nuclear collisions from 0.3 to 2 GeV/nucleon are studied in a microscopic theory based on Vlasov's self-consistent mean field and Uehling-Uhlenbeck's two-body collision term which respects the Pauli principle. The theory explains simultaneously the observed collective flow and the pion multiplicity and gives their dependence on the nuclear equation of state

An Account of the Loss of the Country Ship Forbes and Frazer Sinclair, Her Late Commander

This paper reports on the life of the English Country trader Captain Frazer Sinclair leading up to and following the loss of the Forbes in the Karimata Strait in 1806. It examines the adventure and tenuous times of trading around the Indonesian archipelago after the fall of the VOC and subsequent transfer to the British. Included are the details of Captain Sinclair\u27s trading history, multiple prizes as a privateer, and shipwrecks

Rapidity dependence of entropy production in proton- and nucleus-induced reactions on heavy nuclei

The entropy of hot nuclear systems is deduced from the mass distribution of fragments emitted from high energy proton- and nucleus-induced reactions via a quantum statistical model. It is found that the entropy per baryon, S/A, of intermediate rapidity ("participant") fragments is higher than the entropy of target rapidity ("spectator") fragments. The spectator fragments exhibit S/A values of ≅ 1.8 independent of the projectile energy from 30 MeV/nucleon up to 350 GeV. This value of the entropy coincides with the entropy at which nuclear matter becomes unbound

Irreversibility, steady state, and nonequilibrium physics in relativistic heavy ion collisions

Heavy ion collisions at ultrarelativistic energies offer the opportunity to study the irreversibility of multiparticle processes. Together with the many-body decays of resonances, the multiparticle processes cause the system to evolve according to Prigogine s steady states rather than towards statistical equilibrium. These results are general and can be easily checked by any microscopic string-, transport-, or cascade model for heavy ion collisions. The absence of pure equilibrium states sheds light on the di culties of thermal models in describing the yields and spectra of hadrons, especially mesons, in heavy ion collisions at bombarding energies above 10 GeV/nucleon. PACS numbers: 25.75.-q, 05.70.Ln, 24.10.L

Homogeneous nucleation of quark gluon plasma, finite size effects and longlived metastable objects

The general formalism of homogeneous nucleation theory is applied to study the hadronization pattern of the ultra-relativistic quark-gluon plasma (QGP) undergoing a first order phase transition. A coalescence model is proposed to describe the evolution dynamics of hadronic clusters produced in the nucle- ation process. The size distribution of the nucleated clusters is important for the description of the plasma conversion. The model is most sensitive to the initial conditions of the QGP thermalization, time evolution of the energy den- sity, and the interfacial energy of the plasma hadronic matter interface. The rapidly expanding QGP is first supercooled by about T = T Tc = 4 6%. Then it reheats again up to the critical temperature Tc. Finally it breaks up into hadronic clusters and small droplets of plasma. This fast dynamics occurs within the first 5 10 fm/c. The finite size e ects and fluctuations near the critical temperature are studied. It is shown that a drop of longitudinally expanding QGP of the transverse radius below 4.5 fm can display a long-lived metastability. However, both in the rapid and in the delayed hadronization scenario, the bulk pion yield is emitted by sources as large as 3 4.5 fm. This may be detected experimentally both by a HBT interferometry signal and by the analysis of the rapidity distributions of particles in narrow pT -intervals at small |pT | on an event-by-event basis. PACS numbers: 12.38.Mh, 24.10.Pa, 25.75.-q, 64.60.Q

Black hole relics in large extra dimensions

Recent calculations applying statistical mechanics indicate that in a setting with compactified large extra dimensions a black hole might evolve into a (quasi-)stable state with mass close to the new fundamental scale M f. Black holes and therefore their relics might be produced at the LHC in the case of extra-dimensional topologies. In this energy regime, Hawking's evaporation scenario is modified due to energy conservation and quantum effects. We reanalyse the evaporation of small black holes including the quantisation of the emitted radiation due to the finite surface of the black hole. It is found that observable stable black hole relics with masses sim 1-3 M f would form which could be identified by a delayed single jet with a corresponding hard momentum kick to the relic and by ionisation, e.g. in a TPC

Multiple osteochondromas of the antlers and cranium in a free-ranging white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)

This paper reports a case of multiple osteochondromas affecting the antlers and the left zygomatic bone of a free-ranging adult white-tailed buck (Odocoileus virginianus) from Georgia, USA. Along with a few postcranial bones, the antlered cranium of the individual was found in a severely weathered condition and devoid of any soft tissue. The antlers exhibited five pedunculated exostoses that were composed of cancellous bone and, in their peripheral portions, also mineralized cartilage. The largest of the exostoses, located on the right antler, had a maximum circumference of 55 cm. The exostosis arising from the zygomatic bone was broad-based and much smaller than the exophytic outgrowths on the antlers. Diagnosis of the exostoses as osteochondromas was based on their overall morphology, the normal bone structure in their stalk regions, and the continuity of their spongiosa and cortex with the respective components of the parent bones. Antleromas, i.e., pathological outgrowths developing on antlers as a result of insufficient androgen production, were excluded in the differential diagnosis, based on (1) the apparent maturity and, except for the tumors, normal shape of the antlers and (2) the fact that exostosis formation had also affected the zygomatic bone. Previously only a single case of solitary osteochondroma of an antler has been described in the scientific literature. The case presented here is the first report of multiple osteochondromas in a deer. As antlers are regularly collected as trophies, and huge numbers of them are critically inspected each year, the fact that thus far only two cases of antler osteochondromas have been reported suggests that these tumors are very rare