Probing dense QCD matter in the laboratory: The CBM experiment at FAIR

The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Darmstadt will provide unique research opportunities for the investigation of fundamental open questions related to nuclear physics and astrophysics, including the exploration of QCD matter under extreme conditions, which governs the structure and dynamics of cosmic objects and phenomena like neutron stars, supernova explosions, and neutron star mergers. The physics program of the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment is devoted to the production and investigation of dense nuclear matter, with a focus on the high-density equation-of-state (EOS), and signatures for new phases of dense QCD matter. According to the present schedule, the CBM experiment will receive the first beams from the FAIR accelerators in 2025. This article reviews promising observables, outlines the CBM detector system, and presents results of physics performance studies.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures. Physica Scripta 202

Studies of dense nuclear matter at NICA

Laboratory experiments with high-energetic heavy-ion collisions offer the opportunity to explore fundamental properties of nuclear matter, such as the high-density equation-of-state, which governs the structure and dynamics of cosmic objects and phenomena like neutron stars, supernova explosions, and neutron star mergers. A particular goal and challenge of the experiments is to unravel the microscopic degrees-of-freedom of strongly interaction matter at high density, including the search for phase transitions, which may feature a region of phase coexistence and a critical endpoint. As the theory of strong interaction is not able to make firm predictions for the structure and the properties of matter high baryon chemical potentials, the scientific progress in this field is driven by experimental results. The mission of future experiments at FAIR and NICA, which will complement the running experimental programs at GSI, CERN, and RHIC, is to explore new diagnostic probes, which never have been measured before at collision energies, where the highest net-baryon densities will be created. The most promising observables, which are expected to shed light on the nature of high-density QCD matter, comprise the collective flow of identified particles including multi-strange (anti-) hyperons, fluctuations and correlations, lepton pairs, and charmed particles. In the following, the perspectives for experiments in the NICA energy range will be discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 21 figures, Physics introduction to the Technical Design Report on the Inner Tracking System of the MPD experiment at NIC

Partition Statistics Equidistributed with the Number of Hook Difference One Cells

Let $\lambda$ be a partition, viewed as a Young diagram. We define the hook difference of a cell of $\lambda$ to be the difference of its leg and arm lengths. Define $h_{1,1}(\lambda)$ to be the number of cells of $\lambda$ with hook difference one. In the paper of Buryak and Feigin (arXiv:1206.5640), algebraic geometry is used to prove a generating function identity which implies that $h_{1,1}$ is equidistributed with $a_2$, the largest part of a partition that appears at least twice, over the partitions of a given size. In this paper, we propose a refinement of the theorem of Buryak and Feigin and prove some partial results using combinatorial methods. We also obtain a new formula for the q-Catalan numbers which naturally leads us to define a new q,t-Catalan number with a simple combinatorial interpretation

Strange Particles and Neutron Stars - Experiments at Gsi

Experiments on strangeness production in nucleus-nucleus collisions at SIS energies address fundamental aspects of modern nuclear physics: the determination of the nuclear equation-of-state at high baryon densities and the properties of hadrons in dense nuclear matter. Experimental data and theoretical results will be reviewed. Future experiments at the FAIR accelerator aim at the exploration of the QCD phase diagram at highest baryon densities.Comment: %Invited talk given at the International Invited talk given at the International Symposium on Heavy Ion Physics (ISHIP 2006) April 3-6 2006, FIAS, Frankfurt, Germany Frankfurt, German

Sγ3 switch sequences function in place of endogenous Sγ1 to mediate antibody class switching

Immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) class switch recombination (CSR) replaces the initially expressed IgH Cμ exons with a set of downstream IgH constant region (CH) exons. Individual sets of CH exons are flanked upstream by long (1–10-kb) repetitive switch (S) regions, with CSR involving a deletional recombination event between the donor Sμ region and a downstream S region. Targeting CSR to specific S regions might be mediated by S region–specific factors. To test the role of endogenous S region sequences in targeting specific CSR events, we generated mutant B cells in which the endogenous 10-kb Sγ1 region was replaced with wild-type (WT) or synthetic 2-kb Sγ3 sequences or a synthetic 2-kb Sγ1 sequence. We found that both the inserted endogenous and synthetic Sγ3 sequences functioned similarly to a size-matched synthetic Sγ1 sequence to mediate substantial CSR to IgG1 in mutant B cells activated under conditions that stimulate IgG1 switching in WT B cells. We conclude that Sγ3 can function similarly to Sγ1 in mediating endogenous CSR to IgG1. The approach that we have developed will facilitate assays for IgH isotype–specific functions of other endogenous S regions