Is binary sequential decay compatible with the fragmentation of nuclei at high energy?

We use a binary sequential decay model in order to describe the fragmentation of a nucleus induced by the high energy collisions of protons with Au nuclei. Overall agreement between measured and calculated physical observables is obtained. We evaluate and analyse the decay times obtained with two different parametrisations of the decay rates and discuss the applicability of the model to high energy fragmentation.Comment: 6 pages, 4 eps figures. Small changes at the end of the text. More arguments are given in the discussion of the time scale of the proces

Microscopic systems with and without Coulomb interaction, fragmentation and phase transitions in finite nuclei

We test the influence of the Coulomb interaction on the thermodynamic and cluster generation properties of a system of classical particles described by different lattice models. Numerical simulations show that the Coulomb interaction produces essentially a shift in temperature of quantities like the specific heat but not qualitative changes. We also consider a cellular model. The thermodynamic properties of the system are qualitatively unaltered.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures. New comments concerning the effect of the Coulomb interaction on the caloric curve. Justification of the criterion which defines bound clusters. Further comments about the identification of the order of the transition. To be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Phase space characteristics of fragmenting nuclei described as excited disordered systems

We investigate the thermodynamical content of a cellular model which describes nuclear fragmentation as a process taking place in an excited disordered system. The model which reproduces very well the size distribution of fragments does not show the existence of a first order phase transition.Comment: 14 pages, TeX type, 7 figure

Site occupation constraints in mean-field approaches of quantum spin systems at finite temperature

We study the effect of site occupation on the description of quantum spin systems at finite temperature and mean-field level. We impose each lattice site to be occupied by a single electron. This is realized by means of a specific prescription. The outcome of the prescription is compared to the result obtained by means of a projection procedure which fixes the site occupation to one particle per site on an average. The comparison is performed for different representations of the Hamiltonian in Fock space leading to different types of mean-field solutions. The behaviour of order parameters is analyzed for each choice of the mean-field and constraint which fixes the occupation rate at each site. Sizable quantitative differences between the outcomes obtained with the two different constraints are observed.Comment: 18 pages, 2 figure

Integrated On-Farm Decision Making: Economic Implications of Increased Variation in Litter Size

Increased litter sizes and associated piglet performance consequences, challenge swine producers. Stochastic modeling captured bioeconomic performance of individual piglets. As average litter size increased from 8.8 to 20.8 piglets, costs and revenues per head marketed from the demonstration herd decreased and total profit increased at a decreasing rate.stochastic modeling, farm business management, swine litter size, Agribusiness, Farm Management, Livestock Production/Industries,

About the determination of critical exponents related to possible phase transitions in nuclear fragmentation

We introduce a method based on the finite size scaling assumption which allows to determine numerically the critical point and critical exponents related to observables in an infinite system starting from the knowledge of the observables in finite systems. We apply the method to bond percolation in 2 dimensions and compare the results obtained when the bond probability p or the fragment multiplicity m are chosen as the relevant parameter.Comment: 12 pages, TeX, 4 figure

Localization Properties of Two Interacting Electrons in a Disordered Quasi One-Dimensional Potential

We study the transport properties of two electrons in a quasi one-dimensional disordered wire. The electrons are subject to both, a disorder potential and a short range two-body interaction. Using the approach developed by Iida et al. [ Ann. Phys. (N.Y.) 200 (1990) 219 ], the supersymmetry technique, and a suitable truncation of Hilbert space, we work out the two-point correlation function in the framework of a non-linear sigma model. We study the loop corrections to arbitrary order. We obtain a remarkably simple and physically transparent expression for the change of the localization length caused by the two-body interaction.Comment: 10 page

Thermodynamics of a finite system of classical particles with short and long range interactions and nuclear fragmentation

We describe a finite inhomogeneous three dimensional system of classical particles which interact through short and (or) long range interactions by means of a simple analytic spin model. The thermodynamic properties of the system are worked out in the framework of the grand canonical ensemble. It is shown that the system experiences a phase transition at fixed average density in the thermodynamic limit. The phase diagram and the caloric curve are constructed and compared with numerical simulations. The implications of our results concerning the caloric curve are discussed in connection with the interpretation of corresponding experimental data.Comment: 11pages, LaTeX, 6 figures. Major change : A new section dealing with numerical simulations in the framework of a cellular model has been adde