Low pT Hadronic Physics with CMS

The pixel detector of CMS can be used to reconstruct very low pT charged particles down to about 0.1 GeV/c. This can be achieved with high efficiency, good resolution and a negligible fake rate for elementary collisions. In the case of central PbPb collisions the fake rate can be kept low for pT > 0.4 GeV/c. In addition, the detector can be employed for identification of neutral hadrons (V0s) and converted photons.Comment: 6 pages. Presented at the Poster Session of Quark Matter 2006 Conference, Shanghai, 14-20 November 2006. Submitted to IJMP

Unusual hyperfine interaction of Dirac electrons and NMR spectroscopy in graphene

Theory of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in graphene is presented. The canonical form of the electron-nucleus hyperfine interaction is strongly modified by the linear electronic dispersion. The NMR shift and spin-lattice relaxation time are calculated as function of temperature, chemical potential, and magnetic field and three distinct regimes are identified: Fermi-, Dirac-gas, and extreme quantum limit behaviors. A critical spectrometer assessment shows that NMR is within reach for fully 13C enriched graphene of reasonable size.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Infinite disorder scaling of random quantum magnets in three and higher dimensions

Using a very efficient numerical algorithm of the strong disorder renormalization group method we have extended the investigations about the critical behavior of the random transverse-field Ising model in three and four dimensions, as well as for Erd\H os-R\'enyi random graphs, which represent infinite dimensional lattices. In all studied cases an infinite disorder quantum critical point is identified, which ensures that the applied method is asymptotically correct and the calculated critical exponents tend to the exact values for large scales. We have found that the critical exponents are independent of the form of (ferromagnetic) disorder and they vary smoothly with the dimensionality.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Significant elastic anisotropy in Ti1−x_{1-x}Alx_xN alloys

Strong compositional-dependent elastic properties have been observed theoretically and experimentally in Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$ N alloys. The elastic constant, C$_{11}$, changes by more than 50% depending on the Al-content. Increasing the Al-content weakens the average bond strength in the local octahedral arrangements resulting in a more compliant material. On the other hand, it enhances the directional (covalent) nature of the nearest neighbor bonds that results in greater elastic anisotropy and higher sound velocities. The strong dependence of the elastic properties on the Al-content offers new insight into the detailed understanding of the spinodal decomposition and age hardening in Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$N alloys.Comment: 3 figures, 3 page

Crackling noise in three-point bending of heterogeneous materials

We study the crackling noise emerging during single crack propagation in a specimen under three-point bending conditions. Computer simulations are carried out in the framework of a discrete element model where the specimen is discretized in terms of convex polygons and cohesive elements are represented by beams. Computer simulations revealed that fracture proceeds in bursts whose size and waiting time distributions have a power law functional form with an exponential cutoff. Controlling the degree of brittleness of the sample by the amount of disorder, we obtain a scaling form for the characteristic quantities of crackling noise of quasi-brittle materials. Analyzing the spatial structure of damage we show that ahead of the crack tip a process zone is formed as a random sequence of broken and intact mesoscopic elements. We characterize the statistics of the shrinking and expanding steps of the process zone and determine the damage profile in the vicinity of the crack tip.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figure

The ``Out-Longitudinal'' Cross Term and Other Model Independent Features of the Two-Particle HBT Correlation Function

Using two specific models and a model independent formalism, we show that an ``out-longitudinal'' cross term should be included in any gaussian fits to correlation data. In addition, we show that correlation radii (including the cross term) measure lengths of homogeneity within the source, not necessarily geometric sizes.Comment: 4 pages, uuencoded compressed postscrip

Significant elastic anisotropy in Ti1−x_{1-x}Alx_xN alloys

Strong compositional-dependent elastic properties have been observed theoretically and experimentally in Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$ N alloys. The elastic constant, C$_{11}$, changes by more than 50% depending on the Al-content. Increasing the Al-content weakens the average bond strength in the local octahedral arrangements resulting in a more compliant material. On the other hand, it enhances the directional (covalent) nature of the nearest neighbor bonds that results in greater elastic anisotropy and higher sound velocities. The strong dependence of the elastic properties on the Al-content offers new insight into the detailed understanding of the spinodal decomposition and age hardening in Ti$_{1-x}$Al$_x$N alloys.Comment: 3 figures, 3 page

First records of the myrmecophilous fungus Laboulbenia camponoti Batra (Ascomycetes: Laboulbeniales) from the Carpathian Basin

Laboulbenia camponoti Batra, 1963 (Ascomycetes: Laboulbeniales), has been found on Camponotus aethiops (Latreille, 1798) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) workers in the Carpathian Basin: in Baziaş, Caraş-Severin (Romania), and Vienna (Austria). Vienna is the northernmost known locality of this fungus (48°12' N). These new observations expand the area of L. camponoti from regions with Mediterranean and subtropical climatic influences to the common borders of the Continental and Pannonian regions. These results show that Camponotus samples from other climatic regions should be examined more closely for this fungal parasite