Baryon anomaly and strong color fields in Pb+Pb collisions at 2.76A TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

With the HIJING/BBbar v2.0 heavy ion event generator, we explore the phenomenological consequences of several high parton density dynamical effects predicted in central Pb+Pb collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) energies. These include (1) jet quenching due to parton energy loss (dE/dx), (2) strangeness and hyperon enhancement due to strong longitudinal color field (SCF), and (3) enhancement of baryon-to-meson ratios due to baryon-anti-baryon junctions (JJbar) loops and SCF effects. The saturation/minijet cutoff scale p0(s)and effective string tension kappa(s,A) are constrained by our previous analysis of LHC p+p data and recent data on the charged multiplicity for Pb+Pb collisions reported by the ALICE collaboration. We predict the hadron flavor dependence (mesons and baryons) of the nuclear modification factor RAA(pT)$ and emphasize the possibility that the baryon anomaly could persist at the LHC up to pT=10 GeV, well beyond the range observed in central Au+Au collisions at RHIC energies.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figures, revtex4, text modifications, added references, accepted for publication Phys. Rev. C (2011

Galaxies with Shells in the Illustris Simulation: Metallicity Signatures

Stellar shells are low surface brightness arcs of overdense stellar regions, extending to large galactocentric distances. In a companion study, we identified 39 shell galaxies in a sample of 220 massive ellipticals ($\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{200crit}}>6\times10^{12}\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$) from the Illustris cosmological simulation. We used stellar history catalogs to trace the history of each individual star particle inside the shell substructures, and we found that shells in high-mass galaxies form through mergers with massive satellites (stellar mass ratios $\mu_{\mathrm{stars}}\gtrsim1:10$). Using the same sample of shell galaxies, the current study extends the stellar history catalogs in order to investigate the metallicity of stellar shells around massive galaxies. Our results indicate that outer shells are often times more metal-rich than the surrounding stellar material in a galaxy's halo. For a galaxy with two different satellites forming $z=0$ shells, we find a significant difference in the metallicity of the shells produced by each progenitor. We also find that shell galaxies have higher mass-weighted logarithmic metallicities ([Z/H]) at $2$-$4\,\mathrm{R}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ compared to galaxies without shells. Our results indicate that observations comparing the metallicities of stars in tidal features, such as shells, to the average metallicities in the stellar halo can provide information about the assembly histories of galaxies.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures. Article published in a special issue of MDPI Galaxies after the conference "On the Origin (and Evolution) of Baryonic Galaxy Halos", Galapagos Islands, 201

Formation and Incidence of Shell Galaxies in the Illustris Simulation

Shells are low surface brightness tidal debris that appear as interleaved caustics with large opening angles, often situated on both sides of the galaxy center. In this paper, we study the incidence and formation processes of shell galaxies in the cosmological gravity+hydrodynamics Illustris simulation. We identify shells at redshift z=0 using stellar surface density maps, and we use stellar history catalogs to trace the birth, trajectory and progenitors of each individual star particle contributing to the tidal feature. Out of a sample of the 220 most massive galaxies in Illustris ($\mathrm{M}_{\mathrm{200crit}}>6\times10^{12}\,\mathrm{M}_{\odot}$), $18\%\pm3\%$ of the galaxies exhibit shells. This fraction increases with increasing mass cut: higher mass galaxies are more likely to have stellar shells. Furthermore, the fraction of massive galaxies that exhibit shells decreases with increasing redshift. We find that shell galaxies observed at redshift $z=0$ form preferentially through relatively major mergers ($\gtrsim$1:10 in stellar mass ratio). Progenitors are accreted on low angular momentum orbits, in a preferred time-window between $\sim$4 and 8 Gyrs ago. Our study indicates that, due to dynamical friction, more massive satellites are allowed to probe a wider range of impact parameters at accretion time, while small companions need almost purely radial infall trajectories in order to produce shells. We also find a number of special cases, as a consequence of the additional complexity introduced by the cosmological setting. These include galaxies with multiple shell-forming progenitors, satellite-of-satellites also forming shells, or satellites that fail to produce shells due to multiple major mergers happening in quick succession.Comment: 27 pages, 18 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS (new figures 3 and D1 + additional minor changes to match accepted version

Two-way interplays between capital buffers, credit and output: evidence from French banks

We assess the extent to which capital buffers (the capital banks hold in excess of the regulatory minimum) exacerbate rather than reduce the cyclical behavior of credit. We empirically study the relationships between output gap, capital buffers and loan growth with firm-level data for French banks over the period 1993—2009. Our findings reveal that bank capital buffers intensify the cyclical credit fluctuations arising from the output gap developments, all the more as better quality capital is considered. Moreover, by performing Granger causality tests at the bank level, we find evidence of a two-way causality between capital buffers and loan growth, pointing to mutually reinforcing mechanisms. Overall, those empirical results lend support to a countercyclical financial regulation that focuses on highest-quality capital and aims at smoothing loan growth.Bank Capital Regulation, Procyclicality, Capital Buffers, Business Cycle Fluctuations, Basel III.