Beam Energy Evolution of HBT Systematics at the AGS

We present preliminary results of the first pion interferometry (HBT) excitation function at intermediate AGS energies. The beam energy evolution of the correlations' dependence on mT, centrality, and emission angle with respect to the reaction plane are discussed. Comparisons with predictions of the RQMD cascade model are made.Comment: to appear in proceedings of Quark Matter '9

Probing the dark matter profile of hot clusters and the M-T relation with XMM-Newton

We present results based on XMM-Newton observations of a small sample of hot galaxy clusters. Making a full use of XMM-Newton's spectro-imaging capabilities, we have extracted the radial temperature profile and gas density profile, and with this information, calculated the total mass profile of each cluster (under the assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium and spherical symmetry). Comparing the individual scaled total mass profiles, we have probed the Universality of rich cluster mass profiles over a wide range of radii (from 0.01 to 0.7 the virial radius). We have also tested the shape of cluster mass profiles by comparing with the predicted profiles from numerical simulations of hierarchical structure formation. We also derived the local mass-temperature (M-T) scaling relation over a range of temperature going from 4 to 9 keV, that we compare with theoretical predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, Advances in Space Research in press (proceedings of the COSPAR 2004 Assembly, Paris

Recent HBT results in Au+Au and p+p collisions from PHENIX

We present Hanbury-Brown Twiss measurements from the PHENIX experiment at RHIC for final results for charged kaon pairs from sqrt{s_{NN}} = 200 GeV Au+Au collisions and preliminary results for charged pion pairs from sqrt{s} = 200 GeV p+p collisions. We find that for kaon pairs from Au+Au, each traditional 3D Gaussian radius shows approximately the same linear increase as a function of N^{1/3}_{part}. An imaging analysis reveals a significant non-Gaussian tail for r \gtrsim 10 fm. The presence of a tail for kaon pairs demonstrates that similar non-Gaussian tails observed in earlier pion measurements cannot be fully explained by decays of long-lived resonances. The preliminary analysis of pions from sqrt{s} = 200 GeV p+p minimum biased collisions show correlations which are well suited to traditional 3D HBT radii extraction via the Bowler-Sinyukov method, and we present R_out, R_side, and R_long as a function of mean transverse pair mass.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures - To appear in the conference proceedings for Quark Matter 2009, March 30 - April 4, Knoxville, Tennesse

Research on the reasoning, teaching and learning of probability and uncertainty

In this editorial, we set out the aims in the call to publish papers on informal statistical inference, randomness, modelling and risk. We discuss how the papers published in this issue have responded to those aims. In particular, we note how the nine papers contribute to some of the major debates in mathematics and statistics education, often taking contrasting positions. Such debates range across: (1) whether knowledge is fractured or takes the form of mental models; (2) heuristic or intuitive thinking versus operational thinking as for example in dual process theory; (3) the role of different epistemic resources, such as perceptions, modelling, imagery, in the development of probabilistic reasoning; (4) how design and situation impact upon probabilistic learning

Fundamentalism and terrorism: The contemporary religious challenge

For nearly a century the term ‘fundamentalism’ has referred primarily to a set of specific Christian beliefs and an allied ultra-conservative attitude. However, usage of the term has broadened: ‘fundamentalism’, as a term indicating the position of a ‘closed mind’ coupled with a negative – even hostile – stance toward the status quo, has migrated into political discourse and the wider religious realm. Fundamentalism broadly names a religio-political perspective found in most, if not all, major religions. Most disturbingly, it is now associated with variant forms of religious extremism and thus religiously-oriented terrorism. And it is Islamic modalities of terrorism that, rightly or wrongly, have come to take centre-stage in current world affairs. This lecture will argue that the religious fundamentalism with which Islamist extremism is associated follows an identifiable paradigm that has wider applicability. Religious ‘fundamentalism’ denotes, among other things, a paradigm that paves the way from the relative harmlessness of an idiosyncratic and dogmatic belief system, to the harmful reality of religiously driven and fanatically followed pathways to terrorist activity. The lecture will attempt to describe and analyse this paradigm with reference to contemporary concerns

Enemy at the gate? Models of response to contemporary religious plurality

Ours is age of plurality in all things. Yet, plurality has always been the case: difference, diversity, multiplicity – that which tends to disconnectedness in whatever sphere of human life – has ever been the lot of humanity. Religion is no exception. Yet while most religions would hold that unity – the uniformity and coherence suggestive of an inherent connectedness – is a sine qua non, the lived reality of religious people everywhere is often the context of, and contention with, a disconnectedness which is consequent upon difference of viewpoint, variety of experience, clash of interpretation, and competing claims for religious allegiance and identity. This can be the case both within any one major religious tradition as well as between them. Given the ubiquitous nature of religion and the pressing need for improved interreligious relations in many parts of the world, the question of how the fact of religious plurality is apprehended from within the religions themselves is critical. Naturally every religion proffers its own hermeneutic of the religiously ‘other’. Typically, this has included variations on the themes of exclusivity and inclusiveness

Refractive Distortions of Two-Particle Correlations from Classical Trajectory Calculations

Calculations of two-particle correlations usually assume particles interact only pair-wise after their final collisions with third bodies. By considering classical trajectories, we show that interactions with the mean field can alter the spatial dimensions of the outgoing phase-space-density profiles by tens of percent, consistent with more complicated quantum complications.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

General Charge Balance Functions, A Tool for Studying the Chemical Evolution of the Quark-Gluon Plasma

In the canonical picture of the evolution of the quark-gluon plasma during a high-energy heavy-ion collision, quarks are produced in two waves. The first is during the first fm/c of the collision, when gluons thermalize into the QGP. After a roughly isentropic expansion that roughly conserves the number of quarks, a second wave ensues at hadronization, 5-10 fm/c into the collision. Since each hadron contains at least two quarks, the majority of quark production occurs at this later time. For each quark produced in a heavy-ion collision, an anti-quark of the same flavor is created at the same point in space-time. Charge balance functions identify, on a statistical basis, the location of balancing charges for a given hadron, and given the picture above one expects the distribution in relative rapidity of balancing charges to be characterized by two scales. After first demonstrating how charge balance functions can be created using any pair of hadronic states, it will be shown how one can identify and study both processes of quark production. By considering balance functions of several hadronic species, and by performing illustrative calculations, this class of measurement appears to hold the prospect of providing the field's most stringent insight into the chemical evolution of the QGP.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure (explanations and steps added to derivations, typos fixed, minor error in calculation fixed and some signs fixed

Christian discipleship and interfaith engagement

Ever since the famous 1910 Edinburgh World Mission conference Christian individuals and the Christian Church have been increasingly challenged to relate in new ways to people of other faiths. Reflecting on the relationship between Christian discipleship and interfaith engagement this article addresses three questions. Can a biblical basis for such engagement be discerned? What is the impact of the "Great Commission" at the end of Matthew's gospel (28:18-20)? How might a new understanding of mission and discipleship relate to concerns about interreligious dialogue? In other words, can Christian discipleship actively enable positive interfaith relations and engagement with adherents of other faiths? In conclusion, the article points to a number of considerations that might indeed contribute to just such an understanding of discipleship