34,655 research outputs found
Quark-Gluon-Plasma Formation at SPS Energies?
By colliding ultrarelativistic ions, one achieves presently energy densities
close to the critical value, concerning the formation of a quark-gluon-plasma.
This indicates the importance of fluctuations and the necessity to go beyond
the investigation of average events. Therefore, we introduce a percolation
approach to model the final stage ( fm/c) of ion-ion collisions, the
initial stage being treated by well-established methods, based on strings and
Pomerons. The percolation approach amounts to finding high density domains, and
treating them as quark-matter droplets. In this way, we have a {\bf realistic,
microscopic, and Monte--Carlo based model which allows for the formation of
quark matter.} We find that even at SPS energies large quark-matter droplets
are formed -- at a low rate though. In other words: large quark-matter droplets
are formed due to geometrical fluctuation, but not in the average event.Comment: 7 Pages, HD-TVP-94-6 (1 uuencoded figure
Deposing the Cool Corona of KPD 0005+5106
The ROSAT PSPC pulse height spectrum of the peculiar He-rich hot white dwarf
KPD 0005+5106 provided a great surprise when first analysed by Fleming, Werner
& Barstow (1993). It defied the best non-LTE modelling attempts in terms of
photospheric emission from He-dominated atmospheres including C, N and O and
was instead interpreted as the first evidence for a coronal plasma around a
white dwarf. We show here that a recent high resolution Chandra LETGS spectrum
has more structure than expected from a thermal bremsstrahlung continuum and
lacks the narrow lines of H-like and He-like C expected from a coronal plasma.
Moreover, a coronal model requires a total luminosity more than two orders of
magnitude larger than that of the star itself. Instead, the observed 20-80 AA
flux is consistent with photospheric models containing trace amounts of heavier
elements such as Fe. The soft X-ray flux is highly sensitive to the adopted
metal abundance and provides a metal abundance diagnostic. The weak X-ray
emission at 1 keV announced by O'Dwyer et al (2003) instead cannot arise from
the photosphere and requires alternative explanations. We echo earlier
speculation that such emission arises in a shocked wind. Despite the presence
of UV-optical O VIII lines from transitions between levels n=7-10, no X-ray O
VIII Ly alpha flux is detected. We show that O VIII Lyman photons can be
trapped by resonant scattering within the emitting plasma and destroyed by
photoelectric absorption.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the Astrophysical Journa
Disaggregated Credit Flows and Growth in Central Europe
The aim of this paper is to explore the link between credit and output in the context of a developed transition economy. Salient credit market features of these economies are (i) credit market imperfections leading to constraints on growth and (ii) the rapidly growing importance during transition of their financial sectors (the insurance, pension funds and real estate sectors). We develop a framework of credit and output including separate measures for credit to the real sector and financial sectors and for credit constraints, taking account of the role of trade credit. In our empirical work we focus on the Czech Republic because of the level of its financial development and data quality. In VAR and ARIMA analyses we find that our disaggregated measures for credit flows are better predictors of nominal growth than traditional, aggregate measures.Credit, growth, transition, central Europe, Czech Republic
Chandra and FUSE spectroscopy of the hot bare stellar core H1504+65
H1504+65 is an extremely hot hydrogen-deficient white dwarf with an effective
temperature close to 200,000 K. We present new FUV and soft X-ray spectra
obtained with FUSE and Chandra, which confirm that H1504+65 has an atmosphere
primarily composed of carbon and oxygen. The Chandra LETG spectrum (60-160
Angstroem) shows a wealth of photospheric absorption lines from highly ionized
oxygen, neon, and - for the first time identified in this star - magnesium and
suggests relatively high Ne and Mg abundances. This corroborates an earlier
suggestion that H1504+65 represents a naked C/O stellar core or even the C/O
envelope of an O-Ne-Mg white dwarf.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in A&
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