A fresh look at diffractive J/ψJ/\psi photoproduction at HERA, with predictions for THERA

We quantify perturbative and non-perturbative QCD effects in the exclusive $J/\psi$-photoproduction cross section, and in the shrinkage of the differential cross section with respect to momentum transfer, $t$. We predict that in the high energy THERA region there will always be a significant contribution to this process that rises quickly with energy. This implies that the taming of the rise of the cross section with energy, due to both the expansion of spatially-small fluctuations in the photon and to higher twist effects, is rather gradual.Comment: Published version, 29 pages, 16 figures, uses JHEP.cls. Substantially rewritten to better emphasize the generality of the results in response to the referee's comments. Predictions for MRST LO partons added, calculations and discussion of the real part of the amplitude and of alpha prime improved. Five of the original figures modified. Two new plots, of the dipole cross section for two different values of parameter lambda, and of energy dependence of alpha prime, added. Three additional references include

Revealing the black-body regime of small-x deep-inelastic scattering through final-state signals

We derive the major characteristics of inclusive and diffractive final states in deep-inelastic scattering off heavy nuclei for the-high energy (small-x) kinematics in which the limit of complete absorption is reached for the dominant hadronic fluctuations in the virtual photon (the black-body limit of the process). Both the longitudinal and transverse distributions of the leading hadrons are found to be strikingly different from the corresponding ones within the leading-twist approximation, and hence provide unambiguous signals for the onset of the black-body limit.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, final version published in PR

Unitarity and the QCD-improved dipole picture

As a consequence of QCD factorization theorems, a wide variety of inclusive and exclusive cross sections may be formulated in terms of a universal colour dipole cross section at small $x$. It is well known that for small transverse size dipoles this cross section is related to the leading-log gluon density. Using the measured pion-proton cross section as a guide, we suggest a reasonable extrapolation of the dipole cross section to the large transverse size region. We point out that the observed magnitude and small $x$ rise of the gluon density from conventional fits implies that the DGLAP approximation has a restricted region of applicability. We found that `higher twist' or unitarity corrections are required in, or close to, the HERA kinematic region, even for small `perturbative' dipoles for scattering at central impact parameters. This means that the usual perturbative leading twist description, for moderate virtualities, $1 < Q^2 < 10$ GeV$^2$, has rather large `higher twist' corrections at small $x$. In addition, for these virtualities, we also find sizeable contributions from large non-perturbative dipoles (b \gsim 0.4 fm) to $F_2$, and also to $F_L$. This also leads to deviations from the standard leading twist DGLAP results, at small $x$ and moderate $Q^2$. Our model also describes the low $Q^2$ data very well without any further tuning. We generalize the Gribov unitarity limit for the structure functions of a hadron target to account for the blackening of the interaction at central impact parameters and to include scattering at peripheral impact parameters which dominate at extremely large energies.Comment: Final version, 38 pages, 16 figures, 1 table. A successful comparison to all low Q^2 HERA data is included. The discussion has been completely rewritten and extended to include both a detailed comparison with other models for the dipole cross section and also a new section on the approach to the black limit in DIS, including various new predictions. 23 new references have been added and several figures change

Optimal payload rate limit algorithm for zero-G manipulators

An algorithm for continuously computing safe maximum relative velocities for two bodies joined by a manipulator is discussed. The maximum velocities are such that if the brakes are applied at that instant, the ensuing travel between the bodies will be less than or equal to a predetermined amount. An improvement in the way this limit is computed for space manipulators is shown. The new method is explained, test cases are posed, and the results of these tests are displayed and discussed

Survival of fossils under extreme shocks induced by hypervelocity impacts

Experimental data are shown for survival of fossilized diatoms undergoing shocks in the GPa range. The results were obtained from hypervelocity impact experiments which fired fossilized diatoms frozen in ice into water targets. After the shots, the material recovered from the target water was inspected for diatom fossils. Nine shots were carried out, at speeds from 0.388 to 5.34?km?s?1, corresponding to mean peak pressures of 0.2–19?GPa. In all cases, fragmented fossilized diatoms were recovered, but both the mean and the maximum fragment size decreased with increasing impact speed and hence peak pressure. Examples of intact diatoms were found after the impacts, even in some of the higher speed shots, but their frequency and size decreased significantly at the higher speeds. This is the first demonstration that fossils can survive and be transferred from projectile to target in hypervelocity impacts, implying that it is possible that, as suggested by other authors, terrestrial rocks ejected from the Earth by giant impacts from space, and which then strike the Moon, may successfully transfer terrestrial fossils to the Moon

Diffractive Photoproduction of Υ\Upsilon at HERA

Predictions for the diffractive photoproduction of the $\Upsilon$-family at HERA energies, within the framework of the analysis by Frankfurt, Koepf and Strikman, are presented. Two novel effects lead to a significant enhancement of the original calculation: the non-diagonal (or skewed) kinematics, calculated to leading-log($Q^2$) accuracy, and the large magnitude of the real part of the amplitude. The resultant cross sections are found to agree fairly well with recent preliminary data from ZEUS and H1. A strong correlation between the mass of the diffractively produced state and the energy dependence of the cross section is found. In particular, a considerably stronger rise in energy is predicted than that found in $J/\psi$-production.Comment: 13 pages, latex2e, 5 figures, 5 tables. Revised version corrects a bug in the original code, the effect is to reduce the normalization by about 40%. Figures 3-5 updated. Minor modifications and clarifications included in the text in response to referees report. Qualitative conclusions remain unchange

Learning physics in context: a study of student learning about electricity and magnetism

This paper re-centres the discussion of student learning in physics to focus on context. In order to do so, a theoretically-motivated understanding of context is developed. Given a well-defined notion of context, data from a novel university class in electricity and magnetism are analyzed to demonstrate the central and inextricable role of context in student learning. This work sits within a broader effort to create and analyze environments which support student learning in the sciencesComment: 36 pages, 4 Figure