Some remarks about simulation of cosmic ray phenomena with use of nuclear interaction models based on the current SPS proton-antiproton data

The x-y controversy is studied by introducing models with as many features (except for x and y distributions) in common, as possible, to avoid an extrapolation problem, only primary energies of 500 TeV are considered. To prove the point, Monte Carlo simulations are performed of EAS generated by 500 TeV vertical primary protons. Four different nuclear interaction models were used. Two of them are described elsewhere. Two are: (1) Model M-Y00 - with inclusive x and y distributions behaving in a scaling way; and (2) Model M-F00 - at and below ISR energies (1 TeV in Lab) exactly equivalent to the above, then gradually changing to provide the distributions in rapidity at 155 TeV as given by SPS proton-antiproton. This was achieved by gradual decrease in the scale unit in x distributions of produced secondaries, as interaction energy increases. Other modifications to the M-Y00 model were made

Hadron cross sections at ultra high energies and unitarity bounds on diffraction dissociation

It was shown that if unitarity bounds on diffractive cross sections are valid at ultra high energies then diffractive dominance models which ascribe the increase in total hadron-hadron cross sections to diffractive processes only are ruled out. Calculations also show that cosmic ray cross sections derived from air shower experiments at ultra high energies clearly rule out models for hadron-hadron cross sections with nat.log ns energy dependence and favor those with nat.log n(2)s variation

Electrons, muons and hadrons in extensive air showers and how do they depend on nuclear interaction model, part 2

Some of the results of Monte Carlo simulations of extensive air showers for nuclear interactions models are presented. The most significant part of scaling violation effect is generated by the inclusion of rising cross-section. Among the models considered the lowest value for Eo/N(max) is obtained when rapidly rising cross-section and charge exchange are both included (model R-F01). The value is still 1.38 GeV/electron. Except at the highest energies, the sensitivity to atomic mass of the primary is greater than to specific assumptions about multiple production

Measurement of long-range steric repulsions between microspheres due to an adsorbed polymer

We have measured the interparticle potential between pairs of micron-sized silica spheres induced by adsorbed polyethylene oxide polymer using a line-scanned optical tweezer. We found this long-range steric repulsion to be exponential over the range of energies (0.1kBT–5kBT) and polymer molecular weights (452 000–1 580 000) studied, and that the potential scaled with the polymer’s radius of gyration RG. The potential’s exponential decay length was about 0.6RG and its range was about 4RG, although both parameters varied significantly from one pair of spheres to another. The potential’s exponential prefactor was greater than mean-field predictions

Helical Packings and Phase Transformations of Soft Spheres in Cylinders

The phase behavior of helical packings of thermoresponsive microspheres inside glass capillaries is studied as a function of volume fraction. Stable packings with long-range orientational order appear to evolve abruptly to disordered states as particle volume fraction is reduced, consistent with recent hard sphere simulations. We quantify this transition using correlations and susceptibilities of the orientational order parameter psi_6. The emergence of coexisting metastable packings, as well as coexisting ordered and disordered states, is also observed. These findings support the notion of phase transition-like behavior in quasi-1D systems.Comment: 5 pages, with additional 4 pages of supplemental material, accepted to Physical Review E: Rapid Communication

Measurement of correlations between low-frequency vibrational modes and particle rearrangements in quasi-two-dimensional colloidal glasses

We investigate correlations between low-frequency vibrational modes and rearrangements in two-dimensional colloidal glasses composed of thermosensitive microgel particles which readily permit variation of sample packing fraction. At each packing fraction, the particle displacement covariance matrix is measured and used to extract the vibrational spectrum of the "shadow" colloidal glass (i.e., the particle network with the same geometry and interactions as the sample colloid but absent damping). Rearrangements are induced by successive, small reductions in packing fraction. The experimental results suggest that low-frequency quasi-localized phonon modes in colloidal glasses, i.e., modes that present low energy barriers for system rearrangements, are spatially correlated with rearrangements in this thermal system