The CKM matrix and CP Violation

The status of CP violation and the CKM matrix is reviewed. Direct CP violation in B decay has been established and the measurement of sin(2beta) in \psi K modes reached 5% accuracy. I discuss the implications of these, and of the possible deviations of the CP asymmetries in b->s modes from that in \psi K. The first meaningful measurements of alpha and gamma are explained, together with their significance for constraining both the SM and new physics in B-Bbar mixing. I also discuss implications of recent developments in the theory of nonleptonic decays for B->pi K rates and CP asymmetries, and for the polarization in charmless B decays to two vector mesons.Comment: Plenary talk at 32nd International Conference on High Energy Physics (ICHEP'04), August 16-22, 2004, Beijing, China. v2: Table 5 corrected, minor changes in some averages (updated to hfag, that include correlations between S and C). v3: Figure 8 fixed, minor final change

Importance of standardizing raw milk quality for the enhancement of Croatian market competitiveness

In the European Union member states (EU), it is necessary to evaluate hygienic condition of milk in order to determine milk price. Similar requirement was set by the Republic of Croatia in 2000. The Rulebook defines minimal quality criteria that fresh raw milk must have in order to be purchased. Upon completion of analysis, milk is classified into quality classes, each having a defined price. Increased value of somatic cell count (SCC) (higher than 400.000/ml) and MO (higher than 100.000/ml) directly decreases the raw milk price, while higher content of fat and protein causes its increase. Since the system of market milk price formation was established, producers have been stimulated to produce milk of higher quality: in a total of milk being purchased, the highest quality milk share increased from 23.3% to 34.2%. Referring to a trend of milk purchase price reduction in the EU, and considering the current high milk purchase price in Croatia, Croatian producers have an opportunity to improve conditions in milk industry before the country joins the EU. Current milk production needs to be increased and milk quality also needs to be improved, in order to make Croatian milk production more competitive on the European, as well as world market.milk quality, competitiveness, market, Croatia, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Livestock Production/Industries, Marketing,

Intrinsic curvature of curves and surfaces and a Gauss-Bonnet theorem in the Heisenberg group

We use a Riemannnian approximation scheme to define a notion of intrinsic Gaussian curvature for a Euclidean C2 -smooth surface in the Heisenberg group H away from characteristic points, and a notion of intrinsic signed geodesic curvature for Euclidean C2 -smooth curves on surfaces. These results are then used to prove a Heisenberg version of the Gauss–Bonnet theorem. An application to Steiner’s formula for the Carnot–Carathéodory distance in H is provided

Persistent dynamic attractors in activity patterns of cultured neuronal networks

Three remarkable features of the nervous system—complex spatiotemporal patterns, oscillations, and persistent activity—are fundamental to such diverse functions as stereotypical motor behavior, working memory, and awareness. Here we report that cultured cortical networks spontaneously generate a hierarchical structure of periodic activity with a strongly stereotyped population-wide spatiotemporal structure demonstrating all three fundamental properties in a recurring pattern. During these "superbursts," the firing sequence of the culture periodically converges to a dynamic attractor orbit. Precursors of oscillations and persistent activity have previously been reported as intrinsic properties of the neurons. However, complex spatiotemporal patterns that are coordinated in a large population of neurons and persist over several hours—and thus are capable of representing and preserving information—cannot be explained by known oscillatory properties of isolated neurons. Instead, the complexity of the observed spatiotemporal patterns implies large-scale self-organization of neurons interacting in a precise temporal order even in vitro, in cultures usually considered to have random connectivity

Optimization in Networks

The recent surge in the network modeling of complex systems has set the stage for a new era in the study of fundamental and applied aspects of optimization in collective behavior. This Focus Issue presents an extended view of the state of the art in this field and includes articles from a large variety of domains where optimization manifests itself, including physical, biological, social, and technological networked systems.Comment: Opening article of the CHAOS Focus Issue "Optimization in Networks", available at http://link.aip.org/link/?CHA/17/2/htmlto

X-ray frequency combs from optically controlled resonance fluorescence

An x-ray pulse-shaping scheme is put forward for imprinting an optical frequency comb onto the radiation emitted on a driven x-ray transition, thus producing an x-ray frequency comb. A four-level system is used to describe the level structure of N ions driven by narrow-bandwidth x rays, an optical auxiliary laser, and an optical frequency comb. By including many-particle enhancement of the emitted resonance fluorescence, a spectrum is predicted consisting of equally spaced narrow lines which are centered on an x-ray transition energy and separated by the same tooth spacing as the driving optical frequency comb. Given a known x-ray reference frequency, our comb could be employed to determine an unknown x-ray frequency. While relying on the quality of the light fields used to drive the ensemble of ions, the model has validity at energies from the 100 eV to the keV range.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure