Analytic evaluation of Feynman graph integrals

We review the main steps of the differential equation approach to the analytic evaluation of Feynman graphs, showing at the same time its application to the 3-loop sunrise graph in a particular kinematical configuration.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, uses npb.sty. Presented at RADCOR 2002 and Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory, 8-13 September 2002, Kloster Banz, Germany. Revised version: minor typos corrected, one reference adde

The analytic value of a 3-loop sunrise graph in a particular kinematical configuration

We consider the scalar integral associated to the 3-loop sunrise graph with a massless line, two massive lines of equal mass $M$, a fourth line of mass equal to $Mx$, and the external invariant timelike and equal to the square of the fourth mass. We write the differential equation in $x$ satisfied by the integral, expand it in the continuous dimension $d$ around $d=4$ and solve the system of the resulting chained differential equations in closed analytic form, expressing the solutions in terms of Harmonic Polylogarithms. As a byproduct, we give the limiting values of the coefficients of the $(d-4)$ expansion at $x=1$ and $x=0$.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

The analytic value of the sunrise self-mass with two equal masses and the external invariant equal to the third squared mass

We consider the two-loop self-mass sunrise amplitude with two equal masses $M$ and the external invariant equal to the square of the third mass $m$ in the usual $d$-continuous dimensional regularization. We write a second order differential equation for the amplitude in $x=m/M$ and show as solve it in close analytic form. As a result, all the coefficients of the Laurent expansion in $(d-4)$ of the amplitude are expressed in terms of harmonic polylogarithms of argument $x$ and increasing weight. As a by product, we give the explicit analytic expressions of the value of the amplitude at $x=1$, corresponding to the on-mass-shell sunrise amplitude in the equal mass case, up to the $(d-4)^5$ term included.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Added Eq. (5.20) and reference [4

Bench-to-bedside review: Dealing with increased intensive care unit staff turnover: a leadership challenge

Critical care leaders frequently must face challenging situations requiring specific leadership and management skills for which they are, not uncommonly, poorly prepared. Such a fictitious scenario was discussed at a Canadian interdisciplinary critical care leadership meeting, whereby increasing intensive care unit (ICU) staff turnover had led to problems with staff recruitment. Participants discussed and proposed solutions to the scenario in a structured format. The results of the discussion are presented. In situations such as this, the ICU leader should first define the core problem, its complexity, its duration and its potential for reversibility. These factors often reside within workload and staff support issues. Some examples of core problems discussed that are frequently associated with poor retention and recruitment are a lack of a positive team culture, a lack of a favorable ICU image, a lack of good working relationships between staff and disciplines, and a lack of specific supportive resources. Several tools or individuals (typically outside the ICU environment) are available to help determine the core problem. Once the core problem is identified, specific solutions can be developed. Such solutions often require originality and flexibility, and must be planned, with specific short-term, medium-term and long-term goals. The ICU leader will need to develop an implementation strategy for these solutions, in which partners who can assist are identified from within the ICU and from outside the ICU. It is important that the leader communicates to all stakeholders frequently as the process moves forward

Single-shot detection of bacterial spores with Yb-laser-based CARS spectroscopy

We present a system based on a high-energy femtosecond ytterbium laser seeding an optical parametric amplifier and a photonic crystal hollow core fiber (PCHCF) compressor for coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) spectroscopy. The PCHCF provides spectral broadening of the Stokes pulse which is then compressed to a duration matched to that of the pump pulse. In these conditions, the excitation efficiency of vibrational levels in the target molecules is largely improved, as the time gating effect due to the mismatch between the durations of the pump and Stokes pulses is avoided. Experiments are presented along with a theoretical model to quantify expected improvement of sensitivity. The system is used to detect bacterial spores deposited on a surface with a single laser shot at unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio

Standard and epsilon-finite Master Integrals for the rho-Parameter

We have constructed an epsilon-finite basis of master integrals for all new types of one-scale tadpoles which appear in the calculation of the four-loop QCD corrections to the electroweak rho-parameter. Using transformation rules from the epsilon-finite basis to the standard minimal-number-of-lines basis, we obtain as a by-product analytical expressions for few leading terms of the epsilon-expansion of all members of the standard basis. The new master integrals have been computed with the help of the Pade method and by use of difference equations independently.Comment: 26 page

Visualization of Coherent Destruction of Tunneling in an Optical Double Well System

We report on a direct visualization of coherent destruction of tunneling (CDT) of light waves in a double well system which provides an optical analog of quantum CDT as originally proposed by Grossmann, Dittrich, Jung, and Hanggi [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 67}, 516 (1991)]. The driven double well, realized by two periodically-curved waveguides in an Er:Yb-doped glass, is designed so that spatial light propagation exactly mimics the coherent space-time dynamics of matter waves in a driven double-well potential governed by the Schr\"{o}dinger equation. The fluorescence of Er ions is exploited to image the spatial evolution of light in the two wells, clearly demonstrating suppression of light tunneling for special ratios between frequency and amplitude of the driving field.Comment: final versio

The second physical moment of the heavy quark vector correlator at O(alpha_s^3)

The second moment of the heavy quark vector correlator at O(alpha_s^3) is presented. The implications of this result on recent determinations of the charm and bottom quark mass are discussed.Comment: 9 pages, physics discussion extende

Characterization of femtosecond laser written waveguides for integrated biochemical sensing

Fluorescence detection is known to be one of the most sensitive among the different optical sensing techniques. This work focuses on excitation and detection of fluorescence emitted by DNA strands labeled with fluorescent dye molecules that can be excited at a specific wavelength. Excitation occurs via optical channel waveguides written with femtosecond laser pulses applied coplanar with a microfluidic channel on a glass chip. The waveguides are optically characterized in order to facilitate the design of sensing structures which can be applied for monitoring the spatial separation of biochemical\ud species as a result of capillary electrophoresis