121 research outputs found
Self-consistent solution for the polarized vacuum in a no-photon QED model
We study the Bogoliubov-Dirac-Fock model introduced by Chaix and Iracane
({\it J. Phys. B.}, 22, 3791--3814, 1989) which is a mean-field theory deduced
from no-photon QED. The associated functional is bounded from below. In the
presence of an external field, a minimizer, if it exists, is interpreted as the
polarized vacuum and it solves a self-consistent equation.
In a recent paper math-ph/0403005, we proved the convergence of the iterative
fixed-point scheme naturally associated with this equation to a global
minimizer of the BDF functional, under some restrictive conditions on the
external potential, the ultraviolet cut-off and the bare fine
structure constant . In the present work, we improve this result by
showing the existence of the minimizer by a variational method, for any cut-off
and without any constraint on the external field.
We also study the behaviour of the minimizer as goes to infinity
and show that the theory is "nullified" in that limit, as predicted first by
Landau: the vacuum totally kills the external potential. Therefore the limit
case of an infinite cut-off makes no sense both from a physical and
mathematical point of view.
Finally, we perform a charge and density renormalization scheme applying
simultaneously to all orders of the fine structure constant , on a
simplified model where the exchange term is neglected.Comment: Final version, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Ge
Ion Collisions in Very Strong Electric Fields
A Classical Trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) simulation has been made of
processes of charge exchange and ionization between an hydrogen atom and fully
stripped ions embedded in very strong static electric fields (
V/m), which are thought to exist in cosmic and laser--produced plasmas.
Calculations show that the presence of the field affects absolute values of the
cross sections, enhancing ionization and reducing charge exchange. Moreover,
the overall effect depends upon the relative orientation between the field and
the nuclear motion. Other features of a null-field situation, such as scaling
laws, are revisited.Comment: Latex, 13 pages, 11 figures (available upon request), to be published
in Journal of Physics
e+e--pair production in Pb-Au collisions at 158 GeV per nucleon
We present the combined results on electron-pair production in 158 GeV/n
{Pb-Au} (= 17.2 GeV) collisions taken at the CERN SPS in 1995 and
1996, and give a detailed account of the data analysis. The enhancement over
the reference of neutral meson decays amounts to a factor of 2.31 for semi-central collisions (28%
) when yields are integrated over 200 MeV/ in
invariant mass. The measured yield, its stronger-than-linear scaling with
, and the dominance of low pair strongly suggest an
interpretation as {\it thermal radiation} from pion annihilation in the
hadronic fireball. The shape of the excess centring at 500
MeV/, however, cannot be described without strong medium modifications of
the meson. The results are put into perspective by comparison to
predictions from Brown-Rho scaling governed by chiral symmetry restoration, and
from the spectral-function many-body treatment in which the approach to the
phase boundary is less explicit.Comment: 39 pages, 40 figures, to appear in Eur.Phys.J.C. (2005
Flow and non-flow event anisotropies at the SPS
A study of differential elliptic event anisotropies (v_2) of charged
particles and high-pt pions in 158 AGeV/c Pb+Au collisions is presented.
Results from correlations with respect to the event plane and from two-particle
azimuthal correlations are compared. The latter give systematically higher v_2
values at pt>1.2GeV/c providing possibly an evidence of a non-flow semihard
component.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, Quark Matter 2002, Nantes, to appear in Nucl.
Phys.
New Results on Pb-Au Collisions at 40 AGeV from the CERES/NA45 Experiment
In 1999 the CERES/NA45 ran at the CERN SPS with a beam energy of 40
GeV/nucleon. The data set comprises about 8.7 millions Pb-Au events with a
trigger selection corresponding to approximately the most central 30% of the
geometrical cross section. Results on low-mass electron pair analysis are
presented.
The upgrade of the experimental setup with the radial drift TPC has allowed
to enhance hadron physics capabilities of the experiment. New results on hadron
spectra (including Lambda) and flow are presented.Comment: Talk at the International Nuclear Physics Conference INPC2001,
Berkeley, CA, July 29th - August 3rd 200
Recent results from Pb-Au collisions at 158 GeV/c per nucleon obtained with the CERES spectrometer
During the 1996 lead run time, CERES has accumulated 42 million events,
corresponding to a factor of 5 more statistics than in 1995 and 2.5 million
events of a special photon-run. We report on the results of the low-mass
ee-pair analysis. Since the most critical item is the poor
signal-to-background ratio we also discuss the understanding of this
background, in absolute terms, with the help of a detailed Monte Carlo
simulation. We show preliminary results of the photon analysis and summarize
the results of the hadron analysis preliminarily reported on already at QM'97Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, Proceedings of the XIV Int. Conf. on
Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions,Quark Matter 99, Torino, Italy, May 10 - 15, 199
Event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum in 40, 80, and 158 A GeV/c Pb-Au collisions
Measurements of event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum
in Pb-Au collisions at 40, 80, and 158 A GeV/c are presented. A significant
excess of mean p_T fluctuations at mid-rapidity is observed over the
expectation from statistically independent particle emission. The results are
somewhat smaller than recent measurements at RHIC. A possible non-monotonic
behaviour of the mean p_T fluctuations as function of collision energy, which
may have indicated that the system has passed the critical point of the QCD
phase diagram in the range of mu_B under investigation, has not been observed.
The centrality dependence of mean p_T fluctuations in Pb-Au is consistent with
an extrapolation from pp collisions assuming that the non-statistical
fluctuations scale with multiplicity. The results are compared to calculations
by the RQMD and UrQMD event generators.Comment: 28 pages, 10 figure
Enhanced production of low-mass electron-positron pairs in 40-AGeV Pb-Au collisions at the CERN SPS
We report on first measurements of low-mass electron pairs in Pb-Au collisions at the lower SPS beam energy of 40 AGeV. The pair yield integrated over the range of invariant masses 0.2 e+ e- annihilation with a modified rho-propagator. They may be linked to chiral symmetry restoration and support the notion that the in-medium modifications of the rho are more driven by baryon density than by temperature.We report on first measurements of low-mass electron pairs in Pb-Au collisions at the lower SPS beam energy of 40 AGeV. The pair yield integrated over the range of invariant masses 0.2<m<1 GeV/c^2 is enhanced by a factor of 5.1+-1.3(stat)+-1.0/1.5(syst data/decays) over the expectation from neutral meson decays, more than previously observed at the higher energy of 158 AGeV. The results are discussed with reference to model calculations based on pi+ pi- -> e+ e- annihilation with a modified rho-propagator. They may be linked to chiral symmetry restoration and support the notion that the in-medium modifications of the rho are more driven by baryon density than by temperature
Proof of concept, randomized, placebo-controlled study of the effect of simvastatin on the course of age-related macular degeneration
BACKGROUND: HMG Co-A reductase inhibitors are ubiquitous in our community yet their potential role in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) remains to be determined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of simvastatin on AMD progression and the effect modification by polymorphism in apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and complement factor H (CFH) genes. DESIGN: A proof of concept double-masked randomized controlled study. PARTICIPANTS: 114 participants aged 53 to 91 years, with either bilateral intermediate AMD or unilateral non-advanced AMD (with advanced AMD in fellow eye), BCVA ≥ 20/60 in at least one eye, and a normal lipid profile. INTERVENTION: Simvastatin 40 mg/day or placebo, allocated 1:1. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Progression of AMD either to advanced AMD or in severity of non-advanced AMD. Results. The cumulative AMD progression rates were 70% in the placebo and 54% in the simvastatin group. Intent to treat multivariable logistic regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, smoking and baseline AMD severity, showed a significant 2-fold decrease in the risk of progression in the simvastatin group: OR 0.43 (0.18-0.99), p = 0.047. Post-hoc analysis stratified by baseline AMD severity showed no benefit from treatment in those who had advanced AMD in the fellow eye before enrolment: OR 0.97 (0.27-3.52), p = 0.96, after adjusting for age, sex and smoking. However, there was a significant reduction in the risk of progression in the bilateral intermediate AMD group compared to placebo [adjusted OR 0.23 (0.07-0.75), p = 0.015]. The most prominent effect was observed amongst those who had the CC (Y402H) at risk genotype of the CFH gene [OR 0.08 (0.02-0.45), p = 0.004]. No evidence of harm from simvastatin intervention was detected. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Simvastatin may slow progression of non-advanced AMD, especially for those with the at risk CFH genotype CC (Y402H). Further exploration of the potential use of statins for AMD, with emphasis on genetic subgroups, is warranted. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR) ACTRN1260500032065
The CERES/NA45 Radial Drift Time Projection Chamber
The design, calibration, and performance of the first radial drift Time
Projection Chamber (TPC) are presented. The TPC was built and installed at the
CERES/NA45 experiment at the CERN SPS in the late nineties, with the objective
to improve the momentum resolution of the spectrometer. The upgraded experiment
took data twice, in 1999 and in 2000. After a detailed study of residual
distortions a spatial resolution of 340 um in the azimuthal and 640 um in the
radial direction was achieved, corresponding to a momentum resolution of Dp/p =
sqrt{(1% * p/GeV)^2 + (2%)^2}.Comment: 57 pages, 59 figure
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