Fluctuations and the QCD phase diagram

In this contribution the role of quantum fluctuations for the QCD phase diagram is discussed. This concerns in particular the importance of the matter back-reaction to the gluonic sector. The impact of these fluctuations on the location of the confinement/deconfinement and the chiral transition lines as well as their interrelation are investigated. Consequences of our findings for the size of a possible quarkyonic phase and location of a critical endpoint in the phase diagram are drawn.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physics of Atomic Nucle

Dynamical Simulations of Lattice QCD

Lattice calculations of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) are continuously becoming more realistic. Where Ukawa famously concluded only fourteen years ago that simulations including two physically light sea quarks are basically impossible even with today’s computers, algorithmic developments over the last years have changed this situation drastically. Nowadays up and down quark masses light enough to control the chiral extrapolation reliably are standard and also the sea quark effects of strange (and charm) quark are included.Modern lattice simulations are an intricate interplay between a large variety of numerical methods on one side and the computer hardware on the other side. The main areas of progress have been the solvers used for the Dirac equation, fermion determinant factorisations and better integrators for the molecular dynamics which is at the heart of most algorithms used for QCD simulations.In lattice QCD simulations the path integral is computed via a Markov Chain Monte Carlo method. In virtually all projects with dynamical fermions a variant of the Hybrid Monte Carlo algorithm is employed to generate the Markov chain, where the fields are updated using molecular dynamics. But there is considerable freedom in how to include the fermion determinant into the simulation. Factorisations of this determinant have been essential in the progress of recent years, being successful in particular together with improved integrators of the molecular dynamics.The solution of the Dirac equation constitutes the most computer time consuming element of simulations with fermions. The dramatic speedup for small fermion mass due to locally deflated solvers5, 6 has therefore had a significant impact on what is possible in the simulations. These algorithms have practically eliminated the increase in cost of the solution as the quark mass is lowered

On the appearance of hyperons in neutron stars

By employing a recently constructed hyperon-nucleon potential the equation of state of \beta-equilibrated and charge neutral nucleonic matter is calculated. The hyperon-nucleon potential is a low-momentum potential which is obtained within a renormalization group framework. Based on the Hartree-Fock approximation at zero temperature the densities at which hyperons appear in neutron stars are estimated. For several different bare hyperon-nucleon potentials and a wide range of nuclear matter parameters it is found that hyperons in neutron stars are always present. These findings have profound consequences for the mass and radius of neutron stars.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, RevTeX4; summary and conclusions are strengthened, to appear in PR

Analysis of electron-positron momentum spectra of metallic alloys as supported by first-principles calculations

Electron-positron momentum distributions measured by the coincidence Doppler broadening method can be used in the chemical analysis of the annihilation environment, typically a vacancy-impurity complex in a solid. In the present work, we study possibilities for a quantitative analysis, i.e., for distinguishing the average numbers of different atomic species around the defect. First-principles electronic structure calculations self-consistently determining electron and positron densities and ion positions are performed for vacancy-solute complexes in Al-Cu, Al-Mg-Cu, and Al-Mg-Cu-Ag alloys. The ensuing simulated coincidence Doppler broadening spectra are compared with measured ones for defect identification. A linear fitting procedure, which uses the spectra for positrons trapped at vacancies in pure constituent metals as components, has previously been employed to find the relative percentages of different atomic species around the vacancy [A. Somoza et al. Phys. Rev. B 65, 094107 (2002)]. We test the reliability of the procedure by the help of first-principles results for vacancy-solute complexes and vacancies in constituent metals.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B on September 19 2006. Revised version submitted on November 8 2006. Published on February 14 200

Individual Values and SME Environmental Engagement

We study the values on which managers of small and medium-sized enterprises draw when constructing their personal and organizational-level engagement with environmental issues, particularly climate change. Values play an important mediating role in business environmental engagement but relatively little research has been conducted on individual values in smaller organizations. Using the Schwartz Value System (SVS) as a framework for a qualitative analysis, we identify four ‘ideal-types’ of SME managers and provide rich descriptions of the ways in which values shape their constructions of environmental engagement. In contrast to previous research, which is framed around a binary divide between self-enhancing and self-transcending values, our typology distinguishes between individuals drawing primarily on Power or on Achievement values, and indicates how a combination of Achievement and Benevolence values is particularly significant in shaping environmental engagement. This demonstrates the theoretical usefulness of focusing on a complete range of values. Implications for policy and practice are discussed