33 research outputs found
Unstable particles in matter at a finite temperature: the rho and omega mesons
Unstable particles (such as the vector mesons) have an important role to play
in low mass dilepton production resulting from heavy ion collisions and this
has been a subject of several investigations. Yet subtleties, such as the
implications of the generalization of the Breit-Wigner formula for nonzero
temperature and density, e.g. the question of collisional broadening, the role
of Bose enhancement, etc., the possibility of the kinematic opening (or
closing) of decay channels due to environmental effects, the problem of double
counting through resonant and direct contributions, are often given
insufficient emphasis. The present study attempts to point out these features
using the rho and omega mesons as illustrative examples. The difference between
the two versions of the Vector Meson Dominance Model in the present context is
also presented. Effects of non-zero temperature and density, through vector
meson masses and decay widths, on dilepton spectra are studied, for
concreteness within the framework of a Walecka-type model, though most of the
basic issues highlighted apply to other scenarios as well.Comment: text and figures modifie
Constraints on possible phase transitions above the nuclear saturation density
We compare different models for hadronic and quark phases of cold baryon-rich
matter in an attempt to find a deconfinement phase transition between them. For
the hadronic phase we consider Walecka-type mean-field models which describe
well the nuclear saturation properties. We also use the variational chain model
which takes into account correlation effects. For the quark phase we consider
the MIT bag model, the Nambu-Jona-Lasinio and the massive quasiparticle models.
By comparing pressure as a function of baryon chemical potential we find that
crossings of hadronic and quark branches are possible only in some exceptional
cases while for most realistic parameter sets these branches do not cross at
all. Moreover, the chiral phase transition, often discussed within the
framework of QCD motivated models, lies in the region where the quark phases
are unstable with respect to the hadronic phase. We discuss possible physical
consequences of these findings.Comment: 28 pages, 18 PostScript figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
On the reheating stage after inflation
We point out that inflaton decay products acquire plasma masses during the
reheating phase following inflation. The plasma masses may render inflaton
decay kinematicaly forbidden, causing the temperature to remain frozen for a
period at a plateau value. We show that the final reheating temperature may be
uniquely determined by the inflaton mass, and may not depend on its coupling.
Our findings have important implications for the thermal production of
dangerous relics during reheating (e.g., gravitinos), for extracting bounds on
particle physics models of inflation from Cosmic Microwave Background
anisotropy data, for the production of massive dark matter candidates during
reheating, and for models of baryogenesis or leptogensis where massive
particles are produced during reheating.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures. Submitted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Effective field theory
I give a brief review of effective field theory, disscussing the contribution
of Feza G\"ursey in particular and focusing on the literature I am most
familiar with.Comment: 17 pages, no figs, macros appended, plain te
Transport Coefficients and Analytic Continuation in Dual 1+1 Dimensional Models at Finite Temperature
The conductivity of a finite temperature 1+1 dimensional fermion gas
described by the massive Thirring model is shown to be related to the retarded
propagator of the dual boson sine-Gordon model. Duality provides a natural
resummation which resolves infra-red problems, and the boson propagator can be
related to the fermion gas at non-zero temperature and chemical potential or
density. In addition, at high temperatures, we can apply a dimensional
reduction technique to find resummed closed expressions for the boson
self-energy and relate them to the fermion conductivity. Particular attention
is paid to the discussion of analytic continuation. The resummation implicit in
duality provides a powerful alternative to the standard diagrammatic evaluation
of transport coefficients at finite temperature.Comment: 41 pages, 6 figure
Electromagnetic probes
We introduce the seminal developments in the theory and experiments of
electromagnetic probes for the study of the dynamics of relativistic heavy ion
collisions and quark gluon plasma.Comment: 47 pages, 33 Figures; Lectures delivered by Dinesh K. Srivastava at
QGP Winter School (QGPWS08) at Jaipur, India, February 1-3, 200
Practicing Imperfect Forgiveness
Forgiveness is typically regarded as a good thing - even a virtue - but acts of forgiveness can vary widely in value, depending on their context and motivation. Faced with this variation, philosophers have tended to reinforce everyday concepts of forgiveness with strict sets of conditions, creating ideals or paradigms of forgiveness. These are meant to distinguish good or praiseworthy instances of forgiveness from problematic instances and, in particular, to protect the self-respect of would-be forgivers. But paradigmatic forgiveness is problematic for a number of reasons, including its inattention to forgiveness as a gendered trait. We can account for the values and the risks associated with forgiving far better if we treat it as a moral practice and not an ideal
Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19
Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease
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The Compensated Pulsed Alternator Program: A Review
Since 1978 the Center for Electromechanics at the University of Texas at Austin (CEM-UT) has pursued a program to develop a class of electromechanical devices, rated for pulsed duty, which are capable of delivering one to ten megajoules to a load in less than one millisecond. 1 Initial work has centered on driving xenon flashlamps (500 μsec) and charging high energy density energy transfer capacitors (<100 μsec). A 200 kJ (3.5 MJ stored) engineering prototype compensated pulsed alternator and a smaller scale (100 kJ stored) active rotary flux compressor have been designed, fabricated, and tested. Experimental results have been factored into machine design algorithms and circuit simulation codes to form conceptual designs of full scale pulse generators. Engineering problems remain to be solved, including the design of high packing factor air gap windings, reliable electrical insulation systems having mechanical shear strength (in excess of 27 MPa), and inexpensive laminated steel rotor and stator structures. Proposed solutions to these problems are presented, and near term and long range program goals are summarized for both resistive and capacitive loads.Center for Electromechanic
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Development of a 9 MJ Electric Gun System and Range
The Task B effort officially began in 1986 with the announcement of the Electromagnetic Gun Weapon System Program (EMGWS). The goal of this subtask was to demonstrate a single shot EM gun suitable for establishing parameters and supporting projectile development. The requirements for this effort (table 1) involved gun performance, firing frequency, constructing a test firing facility, and the ability to bring that facility on line in one years time.Center for Electromechanic