Rho Meson Propagation and Dilepton Enhancement in Hot Hadronic Matter

A realistic model for the free rho meson with coupling to two-pion states is employed to calculate the rho propagator in a hot and dense hadron gas. The medium modifications are based on hadronic rescattering processes: intermediate two-pion states are renormalized through interactions with surrounding nucleons and deltas, and rho meson scattering is considered off nucleons, deltas, pions and kaons. Constraints from gauge invariance as well as the full off-shell dynamics of the interactions are accounted for. Within the vector dominance model we apply the resulting in-medium rho spectral function to compute $e^+e^-$ production rates from $\pi^+\pi^-$ annihilation. The calculation of corresponding $e^+e^-$ spectra as recently measured in central collisions of heavy-ions at CERN/SpS energies gives reasonable agreement with the experimental data.Comment: 27 pages RevTeX, 9 eps-figures, submitted to Nucl. Phys.

Medium Modifications of the Rho Meson at CERN/SPS Energies

Rho meson propagation in hot hadronic matter is studied in a model with coupling to $\pi\pi$ states. Medium modifications are induced by a change of the pion dispersion relation through collisions with nucleons and $\Delta's$ in the fireball. Maintaining gauge invariance dilepton production is calculated and compared to the recent data of the CERES collaboration in central S+Au collisions at 200 GeV/u. The observed enhancement of the rate below the rho meson mass can be largely accounted for.Comment: 10 pages RevTeX and 2 figures (uuencoded .ps-files

Medium Modifications of Charm and Charmonium in High-Energy Heavy-Ion Collisions

The production of charmonia in heavy-ion collisions is investigated within a kinetic theory framework simultaneously accounting for dissociation and regeneration processes in both quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and hadron-gas phases of the reaction. In-medium modifications of open-charm states (c-quarks, D-mesons) and the survival of J/psi mesons in the QGP are included as inferred from lattice QCD. Pertinent consequences on equilibrium charmonium abundances are evaluated and found to be especially relevant to explain the measured centrality dependence of the psi'/psi ratio at SPS. Predictions for recent In-In experiments, as well as comparisons to current Au-Au data from RHIC, are provided.Comment: 4 Latex pages including 4 eps figures and IOP style files. Talk given at the 17th International Conference on Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, Quark Matter 2004, Oakland, CA USA, 11-17 Jan 2004. To appear in J. Phys.

A Schematic Model For Density-Dependent Vector Meson Masses

A schematic two-level model consisting of a "collective" bosonic state and an "elementary" meson is constructed that provides interpolation from a hadronic description (a la Rapp/Wambach) to B/R scaling for the description of properties of vector mesons in dense medium. The development is based on a close analogy to the degenerate schematic model of Brown for giant resonances in nuclei.Comment: 20 pages, latex with 8 figures: Talk given by GEB at AIP Klaus Kinder-Geiger Memorial Meeting, 3 October 199

Medium Dependence of the Vector-Meson Mass: Dynamical and/or Brown-Rho Scaling?

We discuss the similarities and differences for the theories of Rapp, Wambach and collaborators (called R/W in short) and those based on Brown-Rho scaling (called B/R), as applied to reproduce the dileptons measured by the CERES collaboration in the CERN experiments. In both theories the large number of dileptons at invariant masses $\sim$~$m_\rho/2$ are shown to be chiefly produced by a density-dependent $\rho$-meson mass. In R/W the medium dependence is dynamically calculated using hadronic variables defined in the matter-free vacuum. In B/R scaling it follows from movement towards chiral symmetry restoration due to medium-induced vacuum change, and is described in terms of constituent (or quasiparticle) quarks. We argue that the R/W description should be reliable up to densities somewhat beyond nuclear density, where hadrons are the effective variables. At higher density there should be a crossover to constituent quarks as effective variables scaling according to B/R. In the crossover region, the two descriptions must be ``dual''.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX, incl. 5 eps-figures and appb.sty; Talk given at the Workshop on 'The Structure of Mesons, Baryons and Nuclei', Cracow, May 1998, in honor of J. Speth's 60th birthday, to be published in Acta Physica Polonica

Quarkonia and Heavy-Quark Relaxation Times in the Quark-Gluon Plasma

A thermodynamic T-matrix approach for elastic 2-body interactions is employed to calculate spectral functions of open and hidden heavy-quark systems in the Quark-Gluon Plasma. This enables the evaluation of quarkonium bound-state properties and heavy-quark diffusion on a common basis and thus to obtain mutual constraints. The two-body interaction kernel is approximated within a potential picture for spacelike momentum transfers. An effective field-theoretical model combining color-Coulomb and confining terms is implemented with relativistic corrections and for different color channels. Four pertinent model parameters, characterizing the coupling strengths and screening, are adjusted to reproduce the color-average heavy-quark free energy as computed in thermal lattice QCD. The approach is tested against vacuum spectroscopy in the open (D, B) and hidden (Psi and Upsilon) flavor sectors, as well as in the high-energy limit of elastic perturbative QCD scattering. Theoretical uncertainties in the static reduction scheme of the 4-dimensional Bethe-Salpeter equation are elucidated. The quarkonium spectral functions are used to calculate Euclidean correlators which are discussed in light of lattice QCD results, while heavy-quark relaxation rates and diffusion coefficients are extracted utilizing a Fokker-Planck equation.Comment: 33 pages, 28 figure

Field permeability determination of partially saturated fine grained soil

The determination of water permeability through a soil is necessary to estimate seepage losses from small reservoirs. At the present time, the methods available to conduct this determination in partially saturated fine grained soils are expensive and in most cases not commensurate with the cost or importance of the individual structure. This investigation was conducted to evaluate the use of a proposed, potentially inexpensive field procedure in this situation. A modified borehole apparatus was utilized in field tests to determine the permeability of a partially saturated soil deposit in place. Undisturbed samples from the same location were tested in the laboratory by several recommended procedures. It was found that the range of permeability values obtained in the field correlated closely to the range of values obtained by detailed laboratory testing --Abstract, page ii

Theory and Phenomenology of Vector Mesons in Medium

Electromagnetic probes promise to be direct messengers of (spectral properties of) hot and dense matter formed in heavy-ion collisions, even at soft momentum transfers essential for characterizing possible phase transitions. We examine how far we have progressed toward this goal by highlighting recent developments, and trying to establish connections between lattice QCD, effective hadronic models and phenomenology of dilepton production.Comment: 8 pages latex incl. 12 ps/eps files; invited plenary talk at Quark Matter 2006 conference, Shanghai (China), Nov. 14-20, 200