SCET approach to regularization-scheme dependence of QCD amplitudes

We investigate the regularization-scheme dependence of scattering amplitudes in massless QCD and find that the four-dimensional helicity scheme (FDH) and dimensional reduction (DRED) are consistent at least up to NNLO in the perturbative expansion if renormalization is done appropriately. Scheme dependence is shown to be deeply linked to the structure of UV and IR singularities. We use jet and soft functions defined in soft-collinear effective theory (SCET) to efficiently extract the relevant anomalous dimensions in the different schemes. This result allows us to construct transition rules for scattering amplitudes between different schemes (CDR, HV, FDH, DRED) up to NNLO in massless QCD. We also show by explicit calculation that the hard, soft and jet functions in SCET are regularization-scheme independent.Comment: 46 pages, 6 figure

Computation of H→ggH\to gg in FDH and DRED: renormalization, operator mixing, and explicit two-loop results

The $H\to gg$ amplitude relevant for Higgs production via gluon fusion is computed in the four-dimensional helicity scheme (FDH) and in dimensional reduction (DRED) at the two-loop level. The required renormalization is developed and described in detail, including the treatment of evanescent $\epsilon$-scalar contributions. In FDH and DRED there are additional dimension-5 operators generating the $H g g$ vertices, where $g$ can either be a gluon or an $\epsilon$-scalar. An appropriate operator basis is given and the operator mixing through renormalization is described. The results of the present paper provide building blocks for further computations, and they allow to complete the study of the infrared divergence structure of two-loop amplitudes in FDH and DRED

Comment on "Local accumulation times for source, diffusion, and degradation models in two and three dimensions" [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 104121 (2013)]

In a recent paper, Gordon, Muratov, and Shvartsman studied a partial differential equation (PDE) model describing radially symmetric diffusion and degradation in two and three dimensions. They paid particular attention to the local accumulation time (LAT), also known in the literature as the mean action time, which is a spatially dependent timescale that can be used to provide an estimate of the time required for the transient solution to effectively reach steady state. They presented exact results for three-dimensional applications and gave approximate results for the two-dimensional analogue. Here we make two generalizations of Gordon, Muratov, and Shvartsman’s work: (i) we present an exact expression for the LAT in any dimension and (ii) we present an exact expression for the variance of the distribution. The variance provides useful information regarding the spread about the mean that is not captured by the LAT. We conclude by describing further extensions of the model that were not considered by Gordon,Muratov, and Shvartsman. We have found that exact expressions for the LAT can also be derived for these important extensions..

Mixing and reaction efficiency in closed domains

We present a numerical study of mixing and reaction efficiency in closed domains. In particular we focus our attention on laminar flows. In the case of inert transport the mixing properties of the flows strongly depend on the details of the Lagrangian transport. We also study the reaction efficiency. Starting with a little spot of product we compute the time needed to complete the reaction in the container. We found that the reaction efficiency is not strictly related to the mixing properties of the flow. In particular, reaction acts as a "dynamical regulator".Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

“some kind of thing it aint us but yet its in us”: David Mitchell, Russell Hoban, and metafiction after the millennium

This article appraises the debt that David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas owes to the novels of Russell Hoban, including, but not limited to, Riddley Walker. After clearly mapping a history of Hoban’s philosophical perspectives and Mitchell’s inter-textual genre-impersonation practice, the article assesses the degree to which Mitchell’s metatextual methods indicate a nostalgia for by-gone radical aesthetics rather than reaching for new modes of its own. The article not only proposes several new backdrops against which Mitchell’s novel can be read but also conducts the first in-depth appraisal of Mitchell’s formal linguistic replication of Riddley Walker

ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array simulation chain, data reduction software, and archive in the framework of the Cherenkov Telescope Array

The Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA) is a worldwide project aimed at building the next-generation ground-based gamma-ray observatory. Within the CTA project, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) is developing an end-to-end prototype of the CTA Small-Size Telescopes with a dual-mirror (SST-2M) Schwarzschild-Couder configuration. The prototype, named ASTRI SST-2M, is located at the INAF "M.C. Fracastoro" observing station in Serra La Nave (Mt. Etna, Sicily) and is currently in the scientific and performance validation phase. A mini-array of (at least) nine ASTRI telescopes has been then proposed to be deployed at the Southern CTA site, by means of a collaborative effort carried out by institutes from Italy, Brazil, and South-Africa. The CTA/ASTRI team is developing an end-to-end software package for the reduction of the raw data acquired with both ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array, with the aim of actively contributing to the global ongoing activities for the official data handling system of the CTA observatory. The group is also undertaking a massive Monte Carlo simulation data production using the detector Monte Carlo software adopted by the CTA consortium. Simulated data are being used to validate the simulation chain and evaluate the ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array performance. Both activities are also carried out in the framework of the European H2020-ASTERICS (Astronomy ESFRI and Research Infrastructure Cluster) project. A data archiving system, for both ASTRI SST-2M prototype and mini-array, has been also developed by the CTA/ASTRI team, as a testbed for the scientific archive of CTA. In this contribution, we present the main components of the ASTRI data handling systems and report the status of their development.Comment: Proceedings of the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017), Bexco, Busan, Korea. All CTA contributions at arXiv:1709.0348

The rise of thermophilic sea urchins and the expansion of barren grounds in the Mediterranean Sea

Recent ecological studies have shown a strong relation between temperature, echinoids and their grazing effects on macro-algal communities. In this study, we speculate that climate warming may result in an increasingly favourable environment for the reproduction and development of the sea urchin Arbacia lixula. The relationship between increased A. lixula density and the extent of barren grounds in the Mediterranean Sea is also discussed

To dd, or not to dd: Recent developments and comparisons of regularization schemes

We give an introduction to several regularization schemes that deal with ultraviolet and infrared singularities appearing in higher-order computations in quantum field theories. Comparing the computation of simple quantities in the various schemes, we point out similarities and differences between them.Comment: 61 pages, 12 figures; version sent to EPJC, references update

Deep centers in a free-standing GaN layer

Schottky barrierdiodes, on both Ga and N faces of a ∼300-μm-thick free-standing GaN layer, grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy(HVPE) on Al2O3 followed by laser separation, were studied by capacitance–voltage and deep level transient spectroscopy(DLTS) measurements. From a 1/C2 vs V analysis, the barrier heights of Ni/Au Schottky contacts were determined to be different for the two polar faces: 1.27 eV for the Ga face, and 0.75 eV for the N face. In addition to the four common DLTS traps observed previously in other epitaxial GaN including HVPE-grown GaN a new trap B′ with activation energyET=0.53 eV was found in the Ga-face sample. Also, trap E1 (ET=0.18 eV), believed to be related to the N vacancy, was found in the N-face sample, and trap C (ET=0.35 eV) was in the Ga-face sample. Trap C may have arisen from reactive-ion-etching damage

Precision measurement of the neutrino velocity with the ICARUS detector in the CNGS beam

During May 2012, the CERN-CNGS neutrino beam has been operated for two weeks for a total of 1.8 10^17 pot in bunched mode, with a 3 ns narrow width proton beam bunches, separated by 100 ns. This tightly bunched beam structure allows a very accurate time of flight measurement of neutrinos from CERN to LNGS on an event-by-event basis. Both the ICARUS-T600 PMT-DAQ and the CERN-LNGS timing synchronization have been substantially improved for this campaign, taking ad-vantage of additional independent GPS receivers, both at CERN and LNGS as well as of the deployment of the "White Rabbit" protocol both at CERN and LNGS. The ICARUS-T600 detector has collected 25 beam-associated events; the corresponding time of flight has been accurately evaluated, using all different time synchronization paths. The measured neutrino time of flight is compatible with the arrival of all events with speed equivalent to the one of light: the difference between the expected value based on the speed of light and the measured value is tof_c - tof_nu = (0.10 \pm 0.67stat. \pm 2.39syst.) ns. This result is in agreement with the value previously reported by the ICARUS collaboration, tof_c - tof_nu = (0.3 \pm 4.9stat. \pm 9.0syst.) ns, but with improved statistical and systematic errors.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures, 1 tabl