Azimuthal Asymmetry of Prompt Photons in Nuclear Collisions

The azimuthal elliptic asymmetry v2 observed in heavy ion collisions, is usually associated with properties of the medium created in the final state. We compute the azimuthal asymmetry which is due to multiple interactions of partons at the initial stage of nuclear collisions, and which is also present in $pA$ collisions. In our approach the main source of azimuthal asymmetry is the combination of parton multiple interactions with the steep variation of the nuclear density at the edge of nuclei. We apply the light-cone dipole formalism to compute the azimuthal asymmetry of prompt photons yield from parton-nucleus, proton-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions at the RHIC energy.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures, Eq.(4) corrected, figures and references updated. The version to appear in Nucl. Phys.

Diquark Bose-Einstein Condensation and Nuclear Matter

We study a possible transition between symmetric nuclear matter and the diquark Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) matter at zero temperature. We find that chiral restoration transition is first order and coincides with deconfinement. We investigate various possible coexistence patterns which may emerge from the first order deconfinement phase transition by assuming different values for the critical deconfinement chemical potential. If deconfinement takes place at higher chemical potential, there exists a mixed phase of nuclear and chirally restored diquark BEC matter. This coexistence region extends over a large density region for a bigger diquark BEC or a weaker diquark-diquark interaction. For model parameters with heavy diquark in vaccum, phase transition to diquark matter becomes of second-order. We also show that in the case of precocious deconfinement, droplets of nucleons and droplets of chirally restored Bose-Einstein condensed diquarks coexist surrounded by non-trivial vacuum. We show that a early deconfinement and a weak repulsive diquark-diquark interaction soften the equation of state. We propose a scenario in which nuclear matter saturates due to the formation of the diquark BEC and deconfinement phenomena. In this picture, instead of repulsive vector-meson exchange the compressibility of the equation of state is related to a repulsive diquark-diquark interaction. In general, we emphasize the importance of a diquark BEC phase at rather low density before quark BCS-pairing transition.Comment: 29 pages, 9 figures (eps), references added, Conclusion extended, version to appear in Nucl.Phys.

Direct photons at forward rapidities in high-energy pp collisions

We investigate direct photon production in pp collisions at the energies of RHIC, CDF and LHC, at different rapidities employing various color-dipole models. The cross section peaks at forward rapidities due to the abelian dynamics of photon radiation. This opens new opportunities for measurement of direct photons at forward rapidities, where the background from radiative hadronic decays is strongly suppressed. Our model calculations show that photon production is sensitive to the gluon saturation effects, and strongly depends on the value of the anomalous dimension.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, minor clarifications added. The version to appear in PL

A light-front coupled cluster method

A new method for the nonperturbative solution of quantum field theories is described. The method adapts the exponential-operator technique of the standard many-body coupled-cluster method to the Fock-space eigenvalue problem for light-front Hamiltonians. This leads to an effective eigenvalue problem in the valence Fock sector and a set of nonlinear integral equations for the functions that define the exponential operator. The approach avoids at least some of the difficulties associated with the Fock-space truncation usually used.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; to appear in the proceedings of LIGHTCONE 2011, 23-27 May 2011, Dalla

Cronin effect for protons and pions in pA collisions

Pions and protons production cross-sections are analyzed in proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions at the RHIC energy at midrapidity. We employ the pQCD factorization scheme supplemented with the color-dipole formalism to investigate the Cronin effect. We calculate the broadening in the color-dipole approach for different centralities. Our main goal is to investigate, in a parameter-free manner within a unified framework, how much of the cronin effect for both pions and baryons comes from the transverse momentum broadening due to initial partons multi-scatterings. We conclude that final-state effects in pA collisions are important. Uncertainties in nuclear shadowing of various parton distributions and parton fragmentation functions are also discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Electromagnetic Casimir densities for a wedge with a coaxial cylindrical shell

Vacuum expectation values of the field square and the energy-momentum tensor for the electromagnetic field are investigated for the geometry of a wedge with a coaxal cylindrical boundary. All boundaries are assumed to be perfectly conducting and both regions inside and outside the shell are considered. By using the generalized Abel-Plana formula, the vacuum expectation values are presented in the form of the sum of two terms. The first one corresponds to the geometry of the wedge without the cylindrical shell and the second term is induced by the presence of the shell. The vacuum energy density induced by the shell is negative for the interior region and is positive for the exterior region. The asymptotic behavior of the vacuum expectation values are investigated in various limiting cases. It is shown that the vacuum forces acting on the wedge sides due to the presence of the cylindrical boundary are always attractive.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Repulsive Casimir-Polder forces from cosmic strings

We investigate the Casimir-Polder force acting on a polarizable microparticle in the geometry of a straight cosmic string. In order to develop this analysis we evaluate the electromagnetic field Green tensor on the imaginary frequency axis. The expression for the Casimir-Polder force is derived in the general case of anisotropic polarizability. In dependence of the eigenvalues for the polarizability tensor and of the orientation of its principal axes, the Casimir-Polder force can be either repulsive or attractive. Moreover, there are situations where the force changes the sign with separation. We show that for an isotropic polarizability tensor the force is always repulsive. At large separations between the microparticle and the string, the force varies inversely as the fifth power of the distance. In the non-retarded regime, corresponding to separations smaller than the relevant transition wavelengths, the force decays as the inverse fourth power of the distance. In the case of anisotropic polarizability, the dependence of the Casimir-Polder potential on the orientation of the polarizability tensor principal axes also leads to the moment of force acting on the particle.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010–19: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

BACKGROUND: Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. METHODS: The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk–outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. FINDINGS: Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4·45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4·01–4·94) deaths and 105 million (95·0–116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44·4% (41·3–48·4) of all cancer deaths and 42·0% (39·1–45·6) of all DALYs. There were 2·88 million (2·60–3·18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50·6% [47·8–54·1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1·58 million (1·36–1·84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36·3% [32·5–41·3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20·4% (12·6–28·4) and DALYs by 16·8% (8·8–25·0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34·7% [27·9–42·8] and 33·3% [25·8–42·0]). INTERPRETATION: The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden

Mapping local patterns of childhood overweight and wasting in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2017

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4 (62.3 (55.1�70.8) million) to 6.4 (58.3 (47.6�70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization�s Global Nutrition Target of <5 in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2 (30 (22.8�38.5) million) in 2000 to 6.0 (55.5 (44.8�67.9) million) children aged under 5 years in 2017. Areas most affected by double burden of malnutrition were located in Indonesia, Thailand, southeastern China, Botswana, Cameroon and central Nigeria. Our estimates provide a new perspective to researchers, policy makers and public health agencies in their efforts to address this global childhood syndemic. © 2020, The Author(s)

Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality and life expectancy, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

BACKGROUND: Assessments of age-specific mortality and life expectancy have been done by the UN Population Division, Department of Economics and Social Affairs (UNPOP), the United States Census Bureau, WHO, and as part of previous iterations of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD). Previous iterations of the GBD used population estimates from UNPOP, which were not derived in a way that was internally consistent with the estimates of the numbers of deaths in the GBD. The present iteration of the GBD, GBD 2017, improves on previous assessments and provides timely estimates of the mortality experience of populations globally. METHODS: The GBD uses all available data to produce estimates of mortality rates between 1950 and 2017 for 23 age groups, both sexes, and 918 locations, including 195 countries and territories and subnational locations for 16 countries. Data used include vital registration systems, sample registration systems, household surveys (complete birth histories, summary birth histories, sibling histories), censuses (summary birth histories, household deaths), and Demographic Surveillance Sites. In total, this analysis used 8259 data sources. Estimates of the probability of death between birth and the age of 5 years and between ages 15 and 60 years are generated and then input into a model life table system to produce complete life tables for all locations and years. Fatal discontinuities and mortality due to HIV/AIDS are analysed separately and then incorporated into the estimation. We analyse the relationship between age-specific mortality and development status using the Socio-demographic Index, a composite measure based on fertility under the age of 25 years, education, and income. There are four main methodological improvements in GBD 2017 compared with GBD 2016: 622 additional data sources have been incorporated; new estimates of population, generated by the GBD study, are used; statistical methods used in different components of the analysis have been further standardised and improved; and the analysis has been extended backwards in time by two decades to start in 1950. FINDINGS: Globally, 18·7% (95% uncertainty interval 18·4–19·0) of deaths were registered in 1950 and that proportion has been steadily increasing since, with 58·8% (58·2–59·3) of all deaths being registered in 2015. At the global level, between 1950 and 2017, life expectancy increased from 48·1 years (46·5–49·6) to 70·5 years (70·1–70·8) for men and from 52·9 years (51·7–54·0) to 75·6 years (75·3–75·9) for women. Despite this overall progress, there remains substantial variation in life expectancy at birth in 2017, which ranges from 49·1 years (46·5–51·7) for men in the Central African Republic to 87·6 years (86·9–88·1) among women in Singapore. The greatest progress across age groups was for children younger than 5 years; under-5 mortality dropped from 216·0 deaths (196·3–238·1) per 1000 livebirths in 1950 to 38·9 deaths (35·6–42·83) per 1000 livebirths in 2017, with huge reductions across countries. Nevertheless, there were still 5·4 million (5·2–5·6) deaths among children younger than 5 years in the world in 2017. Progress has been less pronounced and more variable for adults, especially for adult males, who had stagnant or increasing mortality rates in several countries. The gap between male and female life expectancy between 1950 and 2017, while relatively stable at the global level, shows distinctive patterns across super-regions and has consistently been the largest in central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia, and smallest in south Asia. Performance was also variable across countries and time in observed mortality rates compared with those expected on the basis of development. INTERPRETATION: This analysis of age-sex-specific mortality shows that there are remarkably complex patterns in population mortality across countries. The findings of this study highlight global successes, such as the large decline in under-5 mortality, which reflects significant local, national, and global commitment and investment over several decades. However, they also bring attention to mortality patterns that are a cause for concern, particularly among adult men and, to a lesser extent, women, whose mortality rates have stagnated in many countries over the time period of this study, and in some cases are increasing