Squeezed correlations of strange particle-antiparticles

Squeezed correlations of hadron-antihadron pairs are predicted to appear if their masses are modified in the hot and dense medium formed in high energy heavy ion collisions. If discovered experimentally, they would be an unequivocal evidence of in-medium mass shift found by means of hadronic probes. We discuss a method proposed to search for this novel type of correlation, illustrating it by means of D_s-mesons with in-medium shifted masses. These particles are expected to be more easily detected and identified in future upgrades at RHIC.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures with parts a) and b), SQM 2009 contribution; added acknowledgmen

Squeezed K^+ K^- correlations in high energy heavy ion collisions

The hot and dense medium formed in high energy heavy ion collisions may modify some hadronic properties. In particular, if hadron masses are shifted in-medium, it was demonstrated that this could lead to back-to-back squeezed correlations (BBC) of particle-antiparticle pairs. Although well-established theoretically, the squeezed correlations have not yet been discovered experimentally. A method has been suggested for the empirical search of this effect, which was previously illustrated for phi-phi pairs. We apply here the formalism and the suggested method to the case of K^+ K^- pairs, since they may be easier to identify experimentally. The time distribution of the emission process plays a crucial role in the survival of the BBC's. We analyze the cases where the emission is supposed to occur suddenly or via a Lorentzian distribution, and compare with the case of a Levy distribution in time. Effects of squeezing on the correlation function of identical particles are also analyzed.Comment: 9 pages and 6 figures (figures 2 to 6 contain 4 plots each). Paragraph added to text, figures 2 to 6 revised for improving visualizatio

HBT Interferometry: Historical Perspective

I review the history of HBT interferometry, since its discovery in the mid 1950's, up to the recent developments and results from BNL/RHIC experiments. I focus the discussion on the contributions to the subject given by members of our Brazilian group.Comment: 32 pages, 42 figures; corrected typos, replaced corrupted figure

Disappearance of Squeezed Back-to-Back Correlations - a new signal of hadron freeze-out from a supercooled Quark Gluon Plasma

We briefly discuss four different possible types of transitions from quark to hadronic matter and their characteristic signatures in terms of correlations. We also highlight the effects arising from mass modification of hadrons in hot and dense hadronic matter, as well as their quantum statistical consequences: the appearance of squeezed quantum states and the associated experimental signatures, i.e., the back-to-back correlations of particle - anti-particle pairs. We briefly review the theoretical results of these squeezed quanta, generated by in-medium modified masses, starting from the first indication of the existence of surprising particle - anti-particle correlations, and ending by considering the effects of chiral dynamics on these correlation patterns. A prerequisite for such a signature is the experimental verification that these theoretically predicted back-to-back correlation of particle anti-particle pairs are, in fact, observable in high energy heavy ion reactions. Therefore, the experimental observation of back-to-back correlations in high energy heavy ion reactions would be a unique signature, proving the existence of in-medium mass modification of hadronic states. On the other hand, their disappearance at some threshold centrality or collision energy would indicate that the hadron formation mechanism would have qualitatively changed: asymptotic hadrons above such a threshold are not formed from medium modified hadrons anymore, but rather by new degrees of freedom characterizing the medium. Furthermore, the disappearance of the squeezed BBC could also serve as a signature of a sudden, non-equilibrium hadronization scenario from a supercooled quark-gluon plasma phase.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Presented at 2nd Workshop on Particle Correlation and Femtoscopy (WPCF 2006), Sao Paulo, Brazil, 9-11 Sep 2006. Brazilian Journal of Physics (2007) in pres

Testing the Resolving Power of 2-D K^+ K^+ Interferometry

Adopting a procedure previously proposed to quantitatively study two-dimensional pion interferometry, an equivalent 2-D chi^2 analysis was performed to test the resolving power of that method when applied to less favorable conditions, i.e., if no significant contribution from long lived resonances is expected, as in kaon interferometry. For that purpose, use is made of the preliminary E859 K^+ K^+ interferometry data from Si+Au collisions at 14.6 AGeV/c. As expected, less sensitivity is achieved in the present case, although it still is possible to distinguish two distinct decoupling geometries. The present analysis seems to favor scenarios with no resonance formation at the AGS energy range, if the preliminary K^+ K^+ data are confirmed. The possible compatibility of data with zero decoupling proper time interval, conjectured by the 3-D experimental analysis, is also investigated and is ruled out when considering more realistic dynamical models with expanding sources. These results, however, clearly evidence the important influence of the time emission interval on the source effective transverse dimensions. Furthermore, they strongly emphasize that the static Gaussian parameterization, commonly used to fit data, cannot be trusted under more realistic conditions, leading to distorted or even wrong interpretation of the source parameters!Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, 4 Postscript figures include

Searching for squeezed particle-antiparticle correlations in high energy heavy ion collisions

Squeezed correlations of particle-antiparticle pairs were predicted to exist if the hadron masses were modified in the hot and dense medium formed in high energy heavy ion collisions. Although well-established theoretically, they have not yet been observed experimentally. We suggest here a clear method to search for such signal, by analyzing the squeezed correlation functions in terms of measurable quantities. We illustrate this suggestion for simulated phi-phi pairs at RHIC energies.Comment: Revised extended text, one plot added, one figure was moved to another page in the paper (total of 3 figures, Fig. (2) having parts a, b and c); added acknowledgmen

HBT Interferometry for Sonoluminescence Bubble

The two-photon correlation of the light pulse emitted from a sonoluminescence bubble is discussed. It is shown that several important information about the mechanism of light emission, such as the time-scale and the shape of the emission region could be obtained from the HBT interferometry. We also argue that such a measurement may serve to reject one of the two currently suggested emission mechanisms, i.e., thermal process versus dynamical Casimir effect.Comment: 13 pages, RevTeX, 2 eps figures include

Integrated Thermal-structural-electromagnetic Design Optimization of Large Space Antenna Reflectors

The requirements for low mass and high electromagnetic (EM) performance in large, flexible space antenna structures is motivating the development of a systematic procedure for antenna design. In contrast to previous work which concentrated on reducing rms distortions of the reflector surface, thereby indirectly increasing antenna performance, the current work involves a direct approach to increasing electromagnetic performance using mathematical optimization. The thermal, structural, and EM analyses are fully integrated in the context of an optimization procedure, and consequently, the interaction of the various responses is accounted for directly and automatically. Preliminary results are presented for sizing cross-sectional areas of a tetrahedral truss reflector. The results indicate potential for this integrated procedure from the standpoint of mass reduction, performance increase, and efficiency of the design process

A computer simulator for development of engineering system design methodologies

A computer program designed to simulate and improve engineering system design methodology is described. The simulator mimics the qualitative behavior and data couplings occurring among the subsystems of a complex engineering system. It eliminates the engineering analyses in the subsystems by replacing them with judiciously chosen analytical functions. With the cost of analysis eliminated, the simulator is used for experimentation with a large variety of candidate algorithms for multilevel design optimization to choose the best ones for the actual application. Thus, the simulator serves as a development tool for multilevel design optimization strategy. The simulator concept, implementation, and status are described and illustrated with examples