Femtoscopy and energy-momentum conservation effects in proton-proton collisions at 900 GeV in ALICE

Two particle correlations are used to extract information about the characteristic size of the system for proton-proton collisions at 900 GeV measured by the ALICE (A Large Ion Collider experiment) detector at CERN. The correlation functions obtained show the expected Bose-Einstein effect for identical particles, but there are also long range correlations present that shift the baseline from the expected flat behavior. A possible source of these correlations is the conservation of energy and momentum, especially for small systems, where the energy available for particle production is limited. A new technique, first introduced by the STAR collaboration, of quantifying these long range correlations using energy-momentum conservation considerations is presented here. It is shown that the baseline of the two particle correlation function can be described using this technique.Comment: Hot Quarks 2010 conference proceedings, to appear in Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS

Constituent quark models and pentaquark baryons

We discuss certain general features of the pentaquark picture for the theta, its 10bar_F partner, Xi_{3/2}, and possible heavy quark analogues. Models employing spin-dependent interactions based on either effective Goldstone boson exchange or effective color magnetic exchange are also used to shed light on possible corrections to the Jaffe-Wilczek and Karliner-Lipkin scenarios. Some model-dependent features of the pentaquark picture (splitting patterns and relative decay couplings) are also discussed in the context of these models.Comment: 4 pages. Prepared for the Proceedings of the 1st APS Topical Group on Hadronic Physics (GHP) meeting, FNAL, Oct. 24-26, 200

Conductance through the disclination dipole defect in metallic carbon nanotubes

The electronic transport properties of a metallic carbon nanotube with the five-seven disclination pair characterized by a lattice distortion vector are investigated. The influence of the disclination dipole includes induced curvature and mixing of two sublattices. Both these factors are taken into account via a self-consistent perturbation approach. The conductance and the Fano factor are calculated within the transfer-matrix technique. PACS: 73.63.Fg, 72.80.Rj, 72.10.F

Recent Results on Strangeness Production at RHIC

Due to its large acceptance, the STAR experiment has acquired a wealth of data on strangeness production for a variety of collisions systems and energies, from p+p to Au+Au. By using the yields and spectra, we address the evolution of the bulk system, including strangeness enhancement and the flavour dependence of radial and elliptic flow. Utilising the fact that we can identify strange baryons and mesons, we investigate different hadronization mechanisms in the intermediate and high p$_{T}$ regions. The ratios of the particle yields, measured to high p$_{T}$, are used to further investigate the range and applicability of the previously reported anomalous baryon production. We also study two-particle azimuthal correlations of identified particles in order to investigate any flavour dependence of jet fragmentation in the available p$_{T}$ range. Data was presented for a number of different collision systems and energies.Comment: Proceedings of SQM'06 Conference, LA, 2006 (submitted to J. Phys. G