Separation of strangeness from antistrangeness in the phase transition from quark to hadron matter: Possible formation of strange quark matter in heavy-ion collisions

We present a mechanism for the separation of strangeness from antistrangeness in the deconfinement transition. For a net strangeness of zero in the total system, the population of s quarks is greatly enriched in the quark-gluon plasma, while the s¯ quarks drift into the hadronic phase. This separation could result in ‘‘strangelet’’ formation, i.e., metastable blobs of strange-quark matter, which could serve as a unique signature for quark-gluon plasma formation in heavy-ion collisions. PACS: 25.70.Np, 12.38.M

Black Holes at LHC?

Strategies for identifying speculative mini black hole events (due to large extra dimensions) at future colliders are reviewed. Estimates for production cross sections, Hawking radiation, di-jet suppression and multi- mono-jet emission are surveyed. We further report on a class of effective entropy formulas that could lead to the formation of a final black hole remnant state, BHR. Such BHRs could be both electrically charged and uncharged. Charged BHRs should be observable by single stiff charged tracks in the detectors. Collinear hadronic jets with a large missing transverse momentum are presented as new observable signal for electrically neutral black holes.Comment: added references to old version, 9 pages, accepted at J. Phys.

Uniform decrease of alpha-global field power induced by intermittent photic stimulation of healthy subjects

Nineteen-channel EEGs were recorded from the scalp surface of 30 healthy subjects (16 males and 14 females, mean age: 34 years, SD: 11.7 years) at rest and under trains of intermittent photic stimulation (IPS) at rates of 5, 10 and 20 Hz. Digitalized data were submitted to spectral analysis with fast fourier transformation providing the basis for the computation of global field power (GFP). For quantification, GFP values in the frequency ranges of 5, 10 and 20 Hz at rest were divided by the corresponding data obtained under IPS. All subjects showed a photic driving effect at each rate of stimulation. GFP data were normally distributed, whereas ratios from photic driving effect data showed no uniform behavior due to high interindividual variability. Suppression of alpha-power after IPS with 10 Hz was observed in about 70% of the volunteers. In contrast, ratios of alpha-power were unequivocal in all subjects: IPS at 20 Hz always led to a suppression of alpha-power. Dividing alpha-GFP with 20-Hz IPS by alpha-GFP at rest (R = a-GFPIPS/a-GFPrest) thus resulted in ratios lower than 1. We conclude that ratios from GFP data with 20-Hz IPS may provide a suitable paradigm for further investigations. Key words: EEG, Brain mapping, Intermittent photic stimulation, IPS, Global field power ratio

Drug-related deaths in the United Kingdom

The dissertation summarizes the drug-related death phenomenon in the UK emphasizing England and Wales and compares the figures with international development, particularly in the EU. Legal regulation, in particular the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971 and its amendments strive for classifying drugs and label illicit drugs or their exceptional use. Moreover, legislation gives us a bundle of measures to investigate drugs misuse and especially drug-related deaths, allocating the duties of the police, coroner and judiciary. Opiates, especially heroin, cocaine and stimulants are still the major drugs involved in the UK, which largely – with the exception of cocaine – reflects the situation on the continent. The distribution of age of death shows a tendency from the range of 20 to 30 years towards men in their forties during the last decades. Overall, the UK, Scandinavia and the Baltic states have leading numbers drug-related deaths. New Psychoactive Substances are a new challenge in Europe but the UK may be especially affected by this unfortunate wave. All authorities world-wide have to deal with this 'hydra' of new psychoactive substances (NPS) due to infinite chemical variations and unlimited supply. Nevertheless, heroin and cocaine still belong to the most noxious drugs with regard to the fatal outcome. The problem of drug-related deaths starts with the neurobiology of addiction including cerebral reward cycles which disinhibit prefrontal control, leading to craving and drug intake, even if severe somatic damage occurred. This fatal course does not depend on a particular drug but may be concerned as the final part the fatal reward pathway. In general, noradrenalin, serotonin and dopamine are involved, although some drugs may act on specific receptors such as opiates or cannabinoids. Unfortunately, the pharmacology of the NPSs is often not well known, and this lack of information will increase the risk of drug-related deaths or delinquency in future. Autonomy, paternalism and liberty form a field of tension in democracy, so that preventive measures must respect individual rights. Restrictive strategies alone show a limited success. It will be the concerted action of law, judiciary, police, science, educators, social work and medicine among others to strengthen future generations. We struggle hard against drugs and the sequelae but we should never give up.:Abstract 7 1 Introduction 8 2 Definitions and Epidemiology 9 3 Legal Aspects 13 4 Psychology and neurobiology of drug abuse 16 5 Toxicology and drug-effect relation 18 6 Pharmacokinetics and routes of administration 19 7 Some notes concerning drug detection 22 8 Drugs and mechanisms of action 24 9 New Psychoactive Drugs 33 10 Legal compounds for illegal use 37 11 Dying from drugs – a clinical view 39 12 Prevention strategies 40 References 42 Appendix 56 Figures and Tables Abbreviation

Matter and antimatter asymmetry in the early universe: new hypothesis of hydrogen formation based on wave-particle duality or electric dipole asymmetry

A new hypothesis of matter formation after the big bang based on either particle-wave duality or electric dipole asymmetry. Both assumptions allow to postulate that the probability of matter formation is slightly higher than that of antimatter formation. As a consequence, this difference of probabilities ∆Pp for protons and ∆Pe with regard to electrons avoided complete annihilation in the beginning

Creation of strange-quark-matter droplets as a unique signature for quark-gluon plasma formation in relativistic heavy-ion collisions

We demonstrate that strangeness separates in the Gibbs-phase coexistence between a baryon-rich quark-gluon plasma and hadron matter, even at T=0. For finite temperatures this is due to the associated production of kaons (containing s¯ quarks) in the hadron phase while s quarks remain in the deconfined phase. The s-s¯ separation results in a strong enhancement of the s-quark abundance in the quark phase. This mechanism is further supported by cooling and net strangeness enrichment due to the prefreezeout evaporation of pions and K+, K0, which carry away entropy and anti- strangeness from the system. Metastable droplets (i.e., stable as far as weak interactions are not regarded) of strange-quark matter (‘‘strangelets’’) can thus be formed during the phase transition. Such cool, compact, long-lived clusters could be experimentally observed by their unusually small Z/A ratio (≤0.1–0.3). Even if the strange-quark-matter phase is not stable under strong interactions, it should be observable by the delayed correlated emission of several hyperons. This would serve as a unique signature for the transient formation of a quark-gluon plasma

Signatures for Black Hole production from hadronic observables at the Large Hadron Collider

The concept of Large Extra Dimensions (LED) provides a way of solving the Hierarchy Problem which concerns the weakness of gravity compared with the strong and electro-weak forces. A consequence of LED is that miniature Black Holes (mini-BHs) may be produced at the Large Hadron Collider in p+p collisions. The present work uses the CHARYBDIS mini-BH generator code to simulate the hadronic signal which might be expected in a mid-rapidity particle tracking detector from the decay of these exotic objects if indeed they are produced. An estimate is also given for Pb+Pb collisions.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, ISHIP 2006 conference proceedin

Extracellular local field potentials in men and women based on a theoretical model of voltage decrease as a function of distance

Extracellular microelectrodes determine the field potential difference adjacent to the neuron and depend on the composition of the tissue, including ohmic resistance and distance from the source. Based on theoretical aspects, a reciprocal voltage versus distance model is postulated, which was assessed by means of clinical neurographical data in men and women. Data of women showed higher voltages and could be slightly better fitted to the model. Voltage amplitude and to a lesser extent rise time (RT) were the only action potential characteristics which could predict the gender in a discriminant analysis model. In conclusion, neurographical studies may be a suitable option to assess ohmic resistance of tissue and composition of tissue in addition to bioimpedance (BIA) methods

Mini black holes at the LHC : discovery through di-jet suppression, mono-jet emission and a supersonic boom in the quark-gluon plasma in ALICE, ATLAS and CMS

We examine experimental signatures of TeV-mass black hole formation in heavy ion collisions at the LHC. We find that the black hole production results in a complete disappearance of all very high p_T (> 500 GeV) back-to-back correlated di-jets of total mass M > M_f ~ 1 TeV. We show that the subsequent Hawking-decay produces multiple hard mono-jets and discuss their detection. We study the possibility of cold black hole remnant (BHR) formation of mass ~ M_f and the experimental distinguishability of scenarios with BHRs and those with complete black hole decay. Finally we point out that a Heckler-Kapusta-Hawking plasma may form from the emitted mono-jets. In this context we present new simulation data of Mach shocks and of the evolution of initial conditions until the freeze-out