Local and Global relations between the number of contacts and density in monodisperse sphere packs

The topological structure resulting from the network of contacts between grains (\emph{contact network}) is studied for large samples of monosized spheres with densities (fraction of volume occupied by the spheres) ranging from 0.59 to 0.64. We retrieve the coordinates of each bead in the pack and we calculate the average coordination number by using three different methods. We show that, in the range of density investigated, the coordination number is larger than 4 and it increases with the packing fraction. At local level we also observe a positive correlation between local packing fraction and number of neighbors. We discover a dependence between the local densities of configurations with few neighbors in contact and the global sample-denities. This might indicate that local configurations with small number of neighbors are able to deform plastically when the sample is compactifying. PACS: 45.70.-n, Granular Systems; 45.70.Cc, Static sandpiles; Granular Compaction.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Comment on `A simple explanation of the non-appearance of physical gluons and quarks'

In a recent paper by Johan Hansson [hep-ph/0208137] it is claimed that the non-appearance of quarks and gluons as physical particles is an automatic result of the nonabelian nature of the color interaction in quantum chromodynamics. It is shown that the arguments given by Hansson are insufficient to support his claim by giving simple counter arguments.Comment: 3 pages, LATE

Dynamical partitions of space in any dimension

Topologically stable cellular partitions of D dimensional spaces are studied. A complete statistical description of the average structural properties of such partition is given in term of a sequence of D/2-1 (or (D-1)/2) variables for D even (or odd). These variables are the average coordination numbers of the 2k-dimensional polytopes (2k < D) which make the cellular structure. A procedure to built D dimensional space partitions trough cell-division and cell-coalescence transformations is presented. Classes of structures which are invariant under these transformations are found and the average properties of such structures are illustrated. Homogeneous partitions are constructed and compared with the known structures obtained by Voronoi partitions and sphere packings in high dimensions.Comment: LaTeX 5 eps figures, submetted to J. Phys.

Aspects of the derivative coupling model in four dimensions

A concise discussion of a 3+1-dimensional derivative coupling model, in which a massive Dirac field couples to the four-gradient of a massless scalar field, is given in order to elucidate the role of different concepts in quantum field theory like the regularization of quantum fields as operator valued distributions, correlation distributions, locality, causality, and field operator gauge transformations.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, corresponding to the published versio

Bound-free pair production cross section in heavy-ion colliders from the equivalent photon approach

Exact calculations of the electron-positron pair production by a single photon in the Coulomb field of a nucleus with simultaneous capture of the electron into the K-shell are discussed for different nuclear charges. Using the equivalent photon method of Weizsaecker and Williams, a simple expression for the bound-free production of electron-positron pairs by colliding very-high-energy fully stripped heavy ions is derived for nuclei of arbitrary charge.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, style file include

Scalar models of formally interacting non-standard quantum fields in Minkowski space-time

For decades, a lot of work has been devoted to the problem of constructing a non-trivial quantum field theory in four-dimensional space time. This letter addresses the attempts to construct an algebraic quantum field theory in the framework of non-standard theories like hyperfunction or ultra-hyperfunction quantum field theory. For this purpose model theories of formally interacting neutral scalar fields are constructed and some of their characteristic properties like two-point functions are discussed. The formal self-couplings are obtained from local normally-ordered analytic redefinitions of the free scalar quantum field, mimicking a non-trivial structure of the resulting Lagrangians and equations of motion.Comment: 4 pages, 6 references and a conclusion section added, abstract slightly modifie