Skyrme models and nuclear matter equation of state

We investigate the role of pressure in a class of generalised Skyrme models. We introduce pressure as the trace of the spatial part of the energy-momentum tensor and show that it obeys the usual thermodynamical relation. Then, we compute analytically the mean-field equation of state in the high and medium pressure regimes by applying topological bounds on compact domains. The equation of state is further investigated numerically for the charge one skyrmions. We identify which term in a generalised Skyrme model is responsible for which part in the equation of state. Further, we compare our findings with the corresponding results in the Walecka model

Critical properties of the one-dimensional spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in the presence of a uniform field

In the presence of a uniform field the one-dimensional spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model develops zero frequency excitations at field-dependent 'soft mode' momenta. We determine three types of critical quantities, which we extract from the finite-size dependence of the lowest excitation energies, the singularities in the static structure factors and the infrared singularities in the dynamical structure factors at the soft mode momenta. We also compare our results with the predictions of conformal field theory.Comment: 12 pages, REVTEX, 7 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Fragmentation of spherical radioactive heavy nuclei as a novel probe of transient effects in fission

Peripheral collisions with radioactive heavy-ion beams at relativistic energies are discussed as an innovative approach for probing the transient regime experienced by fissile systems evolving towards quasi-equilibrium. A dedicated experiment using the advanced technical installations of GSI, Darmstadt, permitted to realize ideal conditions for the investigation of relaxation effects in the meta-stable well. Combined with a highly sensitive experimental signature, it provides a measure of the transient effects with respect to the flux over the fission barrier. Within a two-step reaction process, 45 proton-rich unstable spherical isotopes produced by projectile-fragmentation of a stable 238U beam have been used as secondary projectiles. The fragmentation of the radioactive projectiles on lead results in nearly spherical compound nuclei which span a wide range in excitation energy and fissility. The decay of these excited systems by fission is studied with a dedicated set-up which permits the detection of both fission products in coincidence and the determination of their atomic numbers with high resolution. The width of the fission-fragment nuclear charge distribution is shown to be specifically sensitive to pre-saddle transient effects and is used to establish a clock for the passage of the saddle point. The comparison of the experimental results with model calculations points to a fission delay of (3.3+/-0.7).10-21s for initially spherical compound nuclei, independent of excitation energy and fissility. This value suggests a nuclear dissipation strength at small deformation of (4.5+/-0.5).1021s-1. The very specific combination of the physics and technical equipment exploited in this work sheds light on previous controversial conclusions.Comment: 38 pages, 15 figure

Precision Measurement of a Particle Mass at the Linear Collider

Precision measurement of the stop mass at the ILC is done in a method based on cross-sections measurements at two different center-of-mass energies. This allows to minimize both the statistical and systematic errors. In the framework of the MSSM, a light stop, compatible with electro-weak baryogenesis, is studied in its decay into a charm jet and neutralino, the Lightest Supersymmetric Particle(LSP), as a candidate of dark matter. This takes place for a small stop-neutralino mass difference.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 3tables, Conference(Workshop)-LCWS/ILC2007-June,2,200

Non-Fermi liquid signatures in the Hubbard Model due to van Hove singularities

When a van-Hove singularity is located in the vicinity of the Fermi level, the electronic scattering rate acquires a non-analytic contribution. This invalidates basic assumptions of Fermi liquid theory and within perturbative treatments leads to a non-Fermi liquid self-energy and transport properties.Such anomalies are shown to also occur in the strongly correlated metallic state. We consider the Hubbard model on a two-dimensional square lattice with nearest and next-nearest neighbor hopping within the single-site dynamical mean-field theory. At temperatures on the order of the low-energy scale $T_0$ an unusual maximum emerges in the imaginary part of the self-energy which is renormalized towards the Fermi level for finite doping. At zero temperature this double-well structure is suppressed, but an anomalous energy dependence of the self-energy remains. For the frustrated Hubbard model on the square lattice with next-nearest neighbor hopping, the presence of the van Hove singularity changes the asymptotic low temperature behavior of the resistivity from a Fermi liquid to non-Fermi liquid dependency as function of doping. The results of this work are discussed regarding their relevance for high-temperature cuprate superconductors.Comment: revised version, accepted in Phys.Rev.