Variances of Population Projections: Comparison of Two Approaches

There has been a recent upsurge of interest in probabilistic population projections. Two methods have been suggested in the literature for forecasting the inputs into those projections: (1) a random lines (RL) approach, and (2) a simple autoregressive approach (AR(1)). The purpose of this paper is to study analytically the differences produced by the two methods. We do this in the context of a model of variability in population growth rates. Two cases are considered: One where there is no population age structure and one where there is one. In both, we find that the variance using the AR(1) approach is initially smaller than that of the RL approach, but that over time the variance using the RL approach grows more rapidly leading to an instant of time when the variances are equal

Collective flow in central Au-Au collisions at 150, 250 and 400 A MeV

Radial collective flow and thermalization are studied in gold on gold collisions at 150, 250 and 400 A MeV bombarding energies with a relativistically covariant formulation of a QMD code. We find that radial flow and "thermal" energies calculated for all the charged fragments agree reasonably with the experimental values. The experimental hardware filter at small angles used in the FOPI experiments at higher energies selects mainly the thermalized particles.Comment: 4 pages with 4 EPS figures included. Version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Theoretical study of incoherent phi photoproduction on a deuteron target

We study the photoproduction of phi mesons in deuteron, paying attention to the modification of the cross section from bound protons to the free ones with the aim of comparing with recent results at LEPS. For this purpose we take into account Fermi motion in single scattering and rescattering of the phi to account for phi absorption on a second nucleon as well as the rescattering of the proton. We find that the contribution of the double scattering is much smaller than the typical cross section of gamma p to phi p in free space, which implies a very small screening of the phi production in deuteron. The contribution from the proton rescattering, on the other hand, is found to be not negligible compared to the cross section of gamma p to phi p in free space, and leads to a moderate reduction of the phi photoproduction cross section on a deuteron at forward angles if LEPS set up is taken into account. The Fermi motion allows contribution of the single scattering in regions forbidden by phase space in the free case. In particular, we find that for momentum transferred squared close to the maximum value, the Fermi motion changes drastically the shape of d sigma / dt, to the point that the ratio of this cross section to the free one becomes very sensitive to the precise value of t chosen, or the size of the bin used in an experimental analysis. Hence, this particular region of t does not seem the most indicated to find effects of a possible phi absorption in the deuteron. This reaction is studied theoretically as a function of t and the effect of the experimental angular cuts at LEPS is also discussed, providing guidelines for future experimental analyses of the reaction.Comment: 17 pages, 16 figure

Forward coherent ϕ\phi-meson photoproduction from deuterons near threshold

Differential cross sections and decay asymmetries for coherent $\phi$-meson photoproduction from deuterons were measured for the first time at forward angles using linearly polarized photons at $E_{\gamma}$= 1.5-2.4 GeV. This reaction offers a unique way to directly access natural-parity Pomeron dynamics and gluon exchange at low energies. The cross sections at zero degrees increase with increasing photon energy. The decay asymmetries demonstrate a complete dominance of natural-parity exchange processes, showing that isovector unnatural-parity $\pi$-meson exchange is small. Nevertheless the deduced cross sections of $\phi$-mesons from nucleons contributed by isoscalar t-channel exchange processes are not well described by the conventional Pomeron model.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Final published versio

Josephson Coupling and Fiske Dynamics in Ferromagnetic Tunnel Junctions

We report on the fabrication of Nb/AlO_x/Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18}/Nb superconductor/insulator/ferromagnetic metal/superconductor (SIFS) Josephson junctions with high critical current densities, large normal resistance times area products, high quality factors, and very good spatial uniformity. For these junctions a transition from 0- to \pi-coupling is observed for a thickness d_F ~ 6 nm of the ferromagnetic Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} interlayer. The magnetic field dependence of the \pi-coupled junctions demonstrates good spatial homogeneity of the tunneling barrier and ferromagnetic interlayer. Magnetic characterization shows that the Pd_{0.82}Ni_{0.18} has an out-of-plane anisotropy and large saturation magnetization, indicating negligible dead layers at the interfaces. A careful analysis of Fiske modes provides information on the junction quality factor and the relevant damping mechanisms up to about 400 GHz. Whereas losses due to quasiparticle tunneling dominate at low frequencies, the damping is dominated by the finite surface resistance of the junction electrodes at high frequencies. High quality factors of up to 30 around 200 GHz have been achieved. Our analysis shows that the fabricated junctions are promising for applications in superconducting quantum circuits or quantum tunneling experiments.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Flavour and Collider Interplay for SUSY at LHC7

The current 7 TeV run of the LHC experiment shall be able to probe gluino and squark masses up to values larger than 1 TeV. Assuming that hints for SUSY are found in the jets plus missing energy channel by the end of a 5 fb$^{-1}$ run, we explore the flavour constraints on three models with a CMSSM-like spectrum: the CMSSM itself, a Seesaw extension of the CMSSM, and Flavoured CMSSM. In particular, we focus on decays that might have been measured by the time the run is concluded, such as $B_s\to\mu\mu$ and $\mu\to e\gamma$. We also analyse constraints imposed by neutral meson bounds and electric dipole moments. The interplay between collider and flavour experiments is explored through the use of three benchmark scenarios, finding the flavour feedback useful in order to determine the model parameters and to test the consistency of the different models.Comment: 44 pages, 15 figures; v3: minor corrections, added references, updated figures. Version accepted for publicatio

Focal CA3 hippocampal subfield atrophy following LGI1 VGKC-complex antibody limbic encephalitis

Magnetic resonance imaging has linked chronic voltage-gated potassium channel (VGKC) complex antibody-mediated limbic encephalitis with generalized hippocampal atrophy. However, autoantibodies bind to specific rodent hippocampal subfields. Here, human hippocampal subfield (subiculum, cornu ammonis 1-3, and dentate gyrus) targets of immunomodulation-treated LGI1 VGKC-complex antibody-mediated limbic encephalitis were investigated using in vivo ultra-high resolution (0.39 x 0.39 x 1.0 mm³) 7.0T magnetic resonance imaging [n = 18 patients, 17 patients (94%) positive for LGI1 antibody and one patient negative for LGI1/CASPR2 but positive for VGKC-complex antibodies, mean age: 64.0 ± 2.55 years, median 4 years post-limbic encephalitis onset; n = 18 controls]. First, hippocampal subfield quantitative morphometry indicated significant volume loss confined to bilateral CA3 [F(1,34) = 16.87, P 3 months from symptom onset) were associated with CA3 atrophy. Third, whole-brain voxel-by-voxel morphometry revealed no significant grey matter loss. Fourth, CA3 subfield atrophy was associated with severe episodic but not semantic amnesia for postmorbid autobiographical events that was predicted by variability in CA3 volume. The results raise important questions about the links with histopathology, the impact of the observed focal atrophy on other CA3-mediated reconstructive and episodic mechanisms, and the role of potential antibody-mediated pathogenicity as part of the pathophysiology cascade in humans

System Size and Energy Dependence of Jet-Induced Hadron Pair Correlation Shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV

We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum (1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from {dijets} in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from \Delta\phi=\pi in central and semi-central collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.Comment: 464 authors from 60 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Improved Measurement of Double Helicity Asymmetry in Inclusive Midrapidity pi^0 Production for Polarized p+p Collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV

We present an improved measurement of the double helicity asymmetry for pi^0 production in polarized proton-proton scattering at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV employing the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The improvements to our previous measurement come from two main factors: Inclusion of a new data set from the 2004 RHIC run with higher beam polarizations than the earlier run and a recalibration of the beam polarization measurements, which resulted in reduced uncertainties and increased beam polarizations. The results are compared to a Next to Leading Order (NLO) perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics (pQCD) calculation with a range of polarized gluon distributions.Comment: 389 authors, 4 pages, 2 tables, 1 figure. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D, Rapid Communications. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm