Diffractive dissociation in proton-nucleus collisions at collider energies

The cross section for the nuclear diffractive dissociation in proton-lead collisions at the LHC is estimated. Based on the current theoretical uncertainties for the single (target) diffactive cross section in hadron-hadron reactions one obtains sigma_SD(5.02 TeV) = 19.67 \pm 5.41 mb and sigma_SD(8.8 TeV) = 18.76 \pm 5.77 mb, respectively. The invariant mass M_X for the reaction pPb -> pX is also analyzed. Discussion is performed on the main theoretical uncertainties associated to the calculations.Comment: 04 pages, 2 figures. Final version to be published in European Physical Journal A - "Hadrons and Nuclei

Sonine approximation for collisional moments of granular gases of inelastic rough spheres

We consider a dilute granular gas of hard spheres colliding inelastically with coefficients of normal and tangential restitution $\alpha$ and $\beta$, respectively. The basic quantities characterizing the distribution function $f(\mathbf{v},\bm{\omega})$ of linear ($\mathbf{v}$) and angular ($\bm{\omega}$) velocities are the second-degree moments defining the translational ($T^\text{tr}$) and rotational ($T^\text{rot}$) temperatures. The deviation of $f$ from the Maxwellian distribution parameterized by $T^\text{tr}$ and $T^\text{rot}$ can be measured by the cumulants associated with the fourth-degree velocity moments. The main objective of this paper is the evaluation of the collisional rates of change of these second- and fourth-degree moments by means of a Sonine approximation. The results are subsequently applied to the computation of the temperature ratio $T^\text{rot}/T^\text{tr}$ and the cumulants of two paradigmatic states: the homogeneous cooling state and the homogeneous steady state driven by a white-noise stochastic thermostat. It is found in both cases that the Maxwellian approximation for the temperature ratio does not deviate much from the Sonine prediction. On the other hand, non-Maxwellian properties measured by the cumulants cannot be ignored, especially in the homogeneous cooling state for medium and small roughness. In that state, moreover, the cumulant directly related to the translational velocity differs in the quasi-smooth limit $\beta\to -1$ from that of pure smooth spheres ($\beta=-1$). This singular behavior is directly related to the unsteady character of the homogeneous cooling state and thus it is absent in the stochastic thermostat case.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures; v2: some parts rewritten, new references added; published in a special topic decicated to Carlo Cercignan