383 research outputs found
Heavy Quark Dynamics in the QGP
We assess transport properties of heavy quarks in the Quark-Gluon Plasma
(QGP) that show a strong non-perturbative behavior. A T-matrix approach based
on a potential taken from lattice QCD hints at the presence of heavy-quark (HQ)
resonant scattering with an increasing strength as the temperature, ,
reaches the critical temperature, T_c \simeq 170 \; \MeV for deconfinement
from above. The implementation of HQ resonance scattering along with a
hadronization via quark coalescence under the conditions of the plasma created
in heavy-ion collisions has been shown to correctly describe both the nuclear
modification factor, , and the elliptic flow, , of single
electrons at RHIC and have correctly predicted the of D mesons at LHC
energy.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, Proceedings of EPIC@LHC Workshop, 6-8 July, Bar
Heavy-Quark Spectra at RHIC and Resonances in the QGP
Thermalization and collective flow of charm (c) and bottom (b) quarks are
evaluated from elastic parton scattering via "D"- and "B"-meson resonances in
an expanding, strongly interacting quark-gluon plasma at RHIC. Pertinent drag
and diffusion coefficients are implemented into a relativistic Langevin
simulation to compute transverse-momentum spectra and azimuthal flow
asymmetries (v_2) of c- and b-quarks. Upon hadronization (including coalescence
and fragmentation) and semileptonic D- and B-decays, the resulting electron
spectra (R_{AA} and v_2) are compared to recent RHIC data.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for Quark Matter 2005; v2:
Acknowledgment adde
Quantum state of a free spin-1/2 particle and the inextricable dependence of spin and momentum under Lorentz transformations
We revise the Dirac equation for a free particle and investigate Lorentz
transformations on spinors. We study how the spin quantization axis changes
under Lorentz transformations, and evince the interplay between spin and
momentum in this context.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, published as a Review in the IJQ
Dynamics and Hadronization at intermediate transverse momentum at RHIC
The ultra-relativistic heavy-ion program at RHIC has shown that at
intermediate transverse momenta (-6 GeV) standard (independent)
parton fragmentation can neither describe the observed baryon-to-meson ratios
nor the empirical scaling of the hadronic elliptic flow () according to
the number of valence quarks. Both aspects find instead a natural explanation
in a coalescence plus fragmentation approach to hadronization. After a brief
review of the main results for light quarks, we focus on heavy quarks showing
that a combined fragmentation and quark-coalescence framework is relevant also
here. Moreover, within relativistic Langevin simulations we find evidence for
the importance of heavy-light resonances in the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) to
explain the strong energy loss and collective flow of heavy-quark spectra as
inferred from non-photonic electron observables. Such heavy-light resonances
can pave the way to a unified understanding of the microscopic structure of the
QGP and its subsequent hadronization by coalescence.Comment: Proceedings of the International Workshop on QCD - Martina Franca
(Italy), June 2007. To be published in AIP. 6 pages, 6 figure
Heavy-Quark Diffusion, Flow and Recombination at RHIC
We discuss recent developments in assessing heavy-quark interaction in the
Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). While induced gluon radiation is expected to be the
main energy-loss mechanism for fast-moving quarks, we focus on elastic
scattering which prevails toward lower energies, evaluating both perturbative
(gluon-exchange) and nonperturbative (resonance formation) interactions in the
QGP. The latter are treated within an effective model for D- and B-meson
resonances above T_c as motivated by current QCD lattice calculations.
Pertinent diffusion and drag constants, following from a Fokker-Planck
equation, are implemented into an expanding fireball model for Au-Au collisions
at RHIC using relativistic Langevin simulations. Heavy quarks are hadronized in
a combined fragmentation and coalescence framework, and resulting
electron-decay spectra are compared to recent RHIC data. A reasonable
description of both nuclear suppression factors and elliptic flow up to momenta
of ~5 GeV supports the notion of a strongly interacting QGP created at RHIC.
Consequences and further tests of the proposed resonance interactions are
discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 14 figures, contribution to the proceedings for the
"International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter 2006
Nonequilibrium evolution of Phi**4 theory in 1+1 dimensions in the 2PPI formalism
We consider the out-of-equilibrium evolution of a classical condensate field
and its quantum fluctuations for a Phi**4 model in 1+1 dimensions with a
symmetric and a double well potential. We use the 2PPI formalism and go beyond
the Hartree approximation by including the sunset term. In addition to the mean
field phi= the 2PPI formalism uses as variational parameter a time
dependent mass M**2(t) which contains all local insertions into the Green
function. We compare our results to those obtained in the Hartree
approximation. In the symmetric Phi**4 theory we observe that the mean field
shows a stronger dissipation than the one found in the Hartree approximation.
The dissipation is roughly exponential in an intermediate time region. In the
theory with spontaneous symmetry breaking, i.e., with a double well potential,
the field amplitude tends to zero, i.e., to the symmetric configuration. This
is expected on general grounds: in 1+1 dimensional quantum field theory there
is no spontaneous symmetry breaking for T >0, and so there should be none at
finite energy density (microcanonical ensemble), either. Within the time range
of our simulations the momentum spectra do not thermalize and display
parametric resonance bands.Comment: 14 pages, 18 encapsulated postscript figures; v2 minor changes, new
appendix, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.
Wear Compliance and Activity in Children Wearing Wrist and Hip-Mounted Accelerometers.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to (i) explore children's compliance to wearing wrist and hip-mounted accelerometers, (ii) compare children's physical activity (PA) derived from wrist and hip raw accelerations, and (iii) examine differences in raw and counts PA measured by hip-worn accelerometry. METHODS: One hundred and twenty nine 9-10 y old children wore a wrist-mounted GENEActiv accelerometer (GAwrist) and a hip-mounted ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer (AGhip) for 7 d. Both devices measured raw accelerations and the AGhip also provided counts-based data. RESULTS: More children wore the GAwrist than the AGhip regardless of wear time criteria applied (p<.001 - .035). Raw data signal vector magnitude (SVM; r = .68), moderate PA (MPA; r = .81), vigorous PA (VPA; r = .85), and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA; r = .83) were strongly associated between devices (p<.001). GAwrist SVM (p = .001), MPA (p = .037), VPA (p = .002), and MVPA (p = .016) were significantly greater than AGhip. According to GAwrist raw data, 86.9% of children engaged in at least 60 min MVPA[BULLET OPERATOR]d, compared to 19% for AGhip. ActiGraph MPA (raw) was 42.00 ± 1.61 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d compared to 35.05 ± 0.99 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (counts) (p=.02). Actigraph VPA was 7.59 ± 0.46 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (raw) and 37.06 ± 1.85 min[BULLET OPERATOR]d (counts; p=.19). CONCLUSION: In children accelerometer wrist placement promotes superior compliance than the hip. Raw accelerations were significantly higher for GAwrist compared to AGhip, possibly due to placement location and technical differences between devices. AGhip PA calculated from raw accelerations and counts differed substantially, demonstrating that PA outcomes derived from cutpoints for raw output and counts cannot be directly compared
Association of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and daylight exposure with sleep in an ageing population: findings from the Whitehall accelerometer sub-study
Background: Ageing is accompanied by changes in sleep, while poor sleep is suggested as a risk factor for several health outcomes. Non-pharmacological approaches have been proposed to improve sleep in elderly; their impact remains to be investigated. The aim of this study was to examine the independent day-to-day associations of physical behaviours and daylight exposure with sleep characteristics among older adults. Methods: Data were drawn from 3942 participants (age range: 60–83 years; 27% women) from the Whitehall II accelerometer sub-study. Day-to-day associations of objectively-assessed daytime physical behaviours (sedentary behaviour, light-intensity physical activity (LIPA), moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), mean acceleration, physical activity chronotype) and daylight exposure (proportion of waking window with light exposure > 1000 lx and light chronotype) with sleep characteristics were examined using mixed models. Results: A 10%-increase in proportion of the waking period spent sedentary was associated with 5.12-minute (4.31, 5.92) later sleep onset and 1.76-minute shorter sleep duration (95%confidence interval: 0.86, 2.66). Similar increases in LIPA and MVPA were associated with 6.69 (5.67, 7.71) and 4.15 (2.49, 5.81) earlier sleep onset respectively and around 2-minute longer sleep duration (2.02 (0.87, 3.17) and 2.23 (0.36, 4.11), respectively), although the association was attenuated for MVPA after adjustment for daylight exposure (1.11 (− 0.84, 3.06)). A 3-hour later physical activity chronotype was associated with a 4.79-minute later sleep onset (4.15, 5.43) and 2.73-minute shorter sleep duration (1.99, 3.47). A 10%-increase in proportion of waking period exposed to light> 1000 lx was associated with 1.36-minute longer sleep (0.69, 2.03), independently from mean acceleration. Associations found for sleep duration were also evident for duration of the sleep windows with slightly larger effect size (for example, 3.60 (2.37, 4.82) minutes for 10%-increase in LIPA), resulting in associations with sleep efficiency in the opposite direction (for example, − 0.29% (− 0.42, − 0.16) for 10%-increase in LIPA). Overall, associations were stronger for women than for men. Conclusions: In this study, higher levels of physical activity and daylight exposure were associated with slightly longer sleep in older adults. Given the small effect sizes of the associations, increased physical activity and daylight exposure might not be enough to improve sleep
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