2,450 research outputs found
Experimental evaluation of joint designs for a space-shuttle orbiter ablative leading edge
The thermal performance of two types of ablative leading-edge joints for a space-shuttle orbiter were tested and evaluated. Chordwise joints between ablative leading-edge segments, and spanwise joints between ablative leading-edge segments and reusable surface insulation tiles were exposed to simulated shuttle heating environments. The data show that the thermal performance of models with chordwise joints to be as good as jointless models in simulated ascent-heating and orbital cold-soak environments. The suggestion is made for additional work on the joint seals, and, in particular, on the effects of heat-induced seal-material surface irregularities on the local flow
Charm in nuclear reactions in sqrt(s)=17 and 19 GeV
Consequences resulting from the D Dbar excess derived indirectly by the NA50
experiment in S+U and Pb+Pb collisions at sqrt(s)=19, 17 GeV, relevant for the
identification of the QCD phase transition in these collisions, are discussed.
The dependence of open and closed charm yields in Pb+Pb collisions on the
number of participating nucleons (N) indicates non thermal charm production and
J/Psi dissociation, stronger than the absorption seen in any other elementary
hadron. The J/Psi in central Pb+Pb collisions could originate dominantly from c
cbar pair coalescence out of a hadronizing quark and gluon environment.
Furthermore, the J/Psi appears to be suppressed in S+U collisions at sqrt(s)=19
GeV, as opposed to current interpretations. A significant change in the
(J/Psi)/D Dbar ratio as well as in the number density of kaons is observed
above energy density approx. 1 GeV/fm^3, suggesting a change of phase at this
energy density, and underlining the importance of direct open charm
measurements.Comment: (23 pages, 7 figures
Evidence for chemical equilibration at RHIC
This contribution focuses on the results of statistical model calculations at
RHIC energies, including recently available experimental data. Previous
calculations of particle yield ratios showed good agreement with measurements
at SPS and lower energies, suggesting that the composite system possesses a
high degree of chemical equilibrium at freeze-out. The effect of feeddown
contamination on the model parameters is discussed, and the sensitivity of
individual ratios to the model parameters (, ) is illustrated.Comment: Talk presented at Strange Quarks in Matter 2001, Frankfurt, September
24-29, 2001. Proceedings to be published by J. Phys. G. 8 pages with 4
figure
Subthreshold K+ production in deuteron and alpha induced nuclear reactions
Double differential cross sections have been measured for pi+ and K+ emitted
around midraidity in d+A and He+A collisions at a beam kinetic energy of 1.15
GeV/nucleon. The total pi+ yield increases by a factor of about 2 when using an
alpha projectile instead of a deuteron whereas the K+ yield increases by a
factor of about 4. According to transport calculations, the K+ enhancement
depends both on the number of hadron-hadron collisions and on the energy
available in those collisions: their center-of-mass energy increases with
increasing number of projectile nucleons
Mapping out the QCD phase transition in multiparticle production
We analyze multiparticle production in a thermal framework for 7 central nucleus nucleus collisions, + annihilation into hadrons on the Z resonance and 4 hadronic reactions (p+p and p+ with partial centrality selec tion), with center of mass energies ranging from = 2.6 GeV (per nucleon pair) to 1.8 TeV. Thermodynamic parameters at chemical freeze-out (temperature and baryon and strangeness fugacities) are obtained from appropriate fits, generally improving in quality for reactions subjected to centrality cuts. All systems with nonvanishing fugacities are extrapolated along trajectories of equal energy density, density and entropy density to zero fugacities. The so obtained temperatures extrapolated to zero fugacities as a function of initial energy density universally show a strong rise followed by a saturating limit of = 155 6 20 MeV. We interpret this behaviour as mapping out the boundary between quark gluon plasma and hadronic phases. The ratio of strange antiquarks to light ones as a function of the initial energy density shows the same behaviour as the temperature, saturating at a value of 0.365 0.033 0.07. No distinctive feature of 'strangeness enhancement' is seen for heavy ion collisions relative to hadronic and leptonic reactions, when compared at the same initial energy density
Open Charm Enhancement in Pb+Pb Collisions at SPS
The statistical coalescence model for the production of open and hidden charm
is considered within the canonical ensemble formulation. The data for the
J/\psi multiplicity in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 A GeV are used for the model
prediction of the open charm yield. We find a strong enhancement of the open
charm production, by a factor of about 2--4, over the standard hard-collision
model extrapolation from nucleon-nucleon to nucleus-nucleus collisions. A
possible mechanism of the open charm enhancement in A+A collisions at the SPS
energies is proposed.Comment: 4 pages, Late
Open and Hidden Charm Production in Heavy Ion Collisions at Ultrarelativistic Energies
We consider the production of the open charm and J/psi mesons in heavy ion
collisions at BNL RHIC. We discuss several recently developed pictures for
J/psi production and argue that a measurement at RHIC energies is crucial for
disentangling these different descriptions.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 5 PS-figures. v3: Fig.6 is adde
The High E_T Drop of J/psi to Drell-Yan Ratio from the Statistical c anti-c Coalescence Model
The dependence of the J/psi yield on the transverse energy E_T in heavy ion
collisions is considered within the statistical c anti-c coalescence model. The
model fits the NA50 data for Pb+Pb collisions at the CERN SPS even in the
high-E_T region (E_T > 100 GeV). Here E_T-fluctuations and E_T-losses in the
dimuon event sample naturally create the celebrated drop in the J/psi to
Drell-Yan ratio.Comment: 14 pages, REVTeX, 1 PS-figure. v2: References are corrected and
update
On the quest for unification - simplicity and antisimplicity
The road towards unification of elementary interactions is thought to start
on the solid ground of a universal local gauge principle. I discuss the
different types of bosonic gauge symmetries in gravitational and
nongravitational (standard model) interactions and their extensions both
fermionic, bosonic and with respect to space-time dimensions. The apparently
paradoxical size and nature of the cosmological constant is sketched, which at
first sight does not readily yield a clue as to the envelopping symmetry
structure of a unified theory. Nevertheless a tentative outlook is given
encouraging to proceed on this road.Comment: 29 pages, 4 figure
Is the analysis of flow at the CERN SPS reliable?
Several heavy ion experiments at SPS have measured azimuthal distributions of
particles with respect to the reaction plane. These distributions are deduced
from two-particle azimuthal correlations under the assumption that they result
solely from correlations with the reaction plane. In this paper, we investigate
other sources of azimuthal correlations: transverse momentum conservation,
which produces back-to-back correlations, resonance decays, HBT correlations
and final state interactions. These correlations increase with impact
parameter: most of them vary with the multiplicity N like 1/N. When they are
taken into account, the experimental results of the NA49 collaboration at SPS
are significantly modified. These correlations might also explain an important
fraction of the pion directed flow observed by WA98. Data should be reanalyzed
taking into account carefully these non--flow correlations.Comment: Revised version (minor corrections), 13 pages, LaTeX, 6 Postscript
figures included. Submitted to Physical Review
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