Radiative corrections to deeply virtual Compton scattering

We discuss possibilities of measurement of deeply virtual Compton scattering amplitudes via different asymmetries in order to access the underlying skewed parton distributions. Perturbative one-loop coefficient functions and two-loop evolution kernels, calculated recently by a tentative use of residual conformal symmetry of QCD, are used for a model dependent numerical estimation of scattering amplitudes.Comment: 9 pages LaTeX, 3 figures, czjphyse.cls required Talk given by D. M\"uller at Inter. Workshop ``PRAHA-Spin99'', Prague, Sept. 6-11, 199

Signals of the QCD Critical Point in Hydrodynamic Evolutions

The presence of a critical point in the QCD phase diagram can deform the trajectories describing the evolution of the expanding fireball in the QCD phase diagram. The deformation of the hydrodynamic trajectories will change the transverse velocity dependence of the proton-antiproton ratio when the fireball passes in the vicinity of the critical point. An unusual transverse velocity dependence of the anti-proton/proton ratio in a narrow beam energy window would thus signal the presence of the critical point.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, 21st International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (QM2009) 30 Mar - 4 Apr 2009, Knoxville, Tennesse

Optical fibers with interferometric path length stability by controlled heating for transmission of optical signals and as components in frequency standards

We present a simple method to stabilize the optical path length of an optical fiber to an accuracy of about 1/100 of the laser wavelength. We study the dynamic response of the path length to modulation of an electrically conductive heater layer of the fiber. The path length is measured against the laser wavelength by use of the Pound-Drever-Hall method; negative feedback is applied via the heater. We apply the method in the context of a cryogenic resonator frequency standard.Comment: Expanded introduction and outlook. 9 pages, 5 figure

Correlations in the Parton Recombination Model

We describe how parton recombination can address the recent measurement of dynamical jet-like two particle correlations. In addition we discuss the possible effect realistic light-cone wave-functions including higher Fock-states may have on the well-known elliptic flow valence-quark number scaling law.Comment: 4 pages, two figures, proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Ultrarelativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions: Quark Matter 2005 (QM 2005), Budapest, Hungary, 4-9 Aug 200

Thermal Recombination: Beyond the Valence Quark Approximation

Quark counting rules derived from recombination models agree well with data on hadron production at intermediate transverse momenta in relativistic heavy-ion collisions. They convey a simple picture of hadrons consisting only of valence quarks. We discuss the inclusion of higher Fock states that add sea quarks and gluons to the hadron structure. We show that, when recombination occurs from a thermal medium, hadron spectra remain unaffected by the inclusion of higher Fock states. However, the quark number scaling for elliptic flow is somewhat affected. We discuss the implications for our understanding of data from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

A methodology for determining amino-acid substitution matrices from set covers

We introduce a new methodology for the determination of amino-acid substitution matrices for use in the alignment of proteins. The new methodology is based on a pre-existing set cover on the set of residues and on the undirected graph that describes residue exchangeability given the set cover. For fixed functional forms indicating how to obtain edge weights from the set cover and, after that, substitution-matrix elements from weighted distances on the graph, the resulting substitution matrix can be checked for performance against some known set of reference alignments and for given gap costs. Finding the appropriate functional forms and gap costs can then be formulated as an optimization problem that seeks to maximize the performance of the substitution matrix on the reference alignment set. We give computational results on the BAliBASE suite using a genetic algorithm for optimization. Our results indicate that it is possible to obtain substitution matrices whose performance is either comparable to or surpasses that of several others, depending on the particular scenario under consideration

Parton rescattering and screening in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We study the microscopic dynamics of quarks and gluons in relativistic heavy ion collisions in the framework of the Parton Cascade Model. We use lowest order perturbative QCD cross sections with fixed lower momentum cutoff p_0. We calculate the time-evolution of the Debye-screening mass for Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV per nucleon pair. The screening mass is used to determine a lower limit for the allowed range of p_0. We also determine the energy density reached through hard and semi-hard processes at RHIC, obtain a lower bound for the rapidity density of charged hadrons produced by semihard interactions, and analyze the extent of perturbative rescattering among partons.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, uses RevTeX 4.0; revised version with minor corrections and one updated figur

Isospin Fluctuations from a Thermally Equilibrated Hadron Gas

Partition functions, multiplicity distributions, and isospin fluctuations are calculated for canonical ensembles in which additive quantum numbers as well as total isospin are strictly conserved. When properly accounting for Bose-Einstein symmetrization, the multiplicity distributions of neutral pions in a pion gas are significantly broader as compared to the non-degenerate case. Inclusion of resonances compensates for this broadening effect. Recursion relations are derived which allow calculation of exact results with modest computer time.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Wavepacket Dynamics in Yang-Mills Theory

We discuss the results of numerical simulations of colliding wavepackets in $SU(2)$ Yang--Mills theory. We investigate their behavior as a function of amplitude and momentum distribution. We find regions in our parameter space in which initial wave packets scatter into final configurations with dramatically different momentum distributions. These results constitute new classical trajectories with multiparticle boundary conditions. We explain their relevance for the calculation of scattering amplitudes in the semiclassical approximation. Finally, we give directions for future work.Comment: 11 pgs. text, 11 optional figs using PiCTeX and epsf, new version contains improved discussion of scaling properties of results and one additional figure

Next-to-next-to-leading order prediction for the photon-to-pion transition form factor

We evaluate the next-to-next-to-leading order corrections to the hard-scattering amplitude of the photon-to-pion transition form factor. Our approach is based on the predictive power of the conformal operator product expansion, which is valid for a vanishing $\beta$-function in the so-called conformal scheme. The Wilson--coefficients appearing in the non-forward kinematics are then entirely determined from those of the polarized deep-inelastic scattering known to next-to-next-to-leading accuracy. We propose different schemes to include explicitly also the conformal symmetry breaking term proportional to the $\beta$-function, and discuss numerical predictions calculated in different kinematical regions. It is demonstrated that the photon-to-pion transition form factor can provide a fundamental testing ground for our QCD understanding of exclusive reactions.Comment: 62 pages LaTeX, 2 figures, 9 tables; typos corrected, some references added, to appear in Phys. Rev.