Baryon and Antibaryon production at RHIC energies in the Dual Parton Model

We compute the mid-rapidity densities of pions, kaons, baryons and antibaryons in $Au$--$Au$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ = 130 GeV in the Dual Parton Model supplemented with final state interactions, and we present a comparison with available data.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Talk given at XXXVII Rencontres de Moriond, Les Arcs, France, March 200

ARES+MOOG - a practical overview of an EW method to derive stellar parameters

The goal of this document is to describe the important practical aspects in the use of an Equivalent Width (EW) method for the derivation of spectroscopic stellar parameters. A general description of the fundamental steps composing any EW method is given, together with possible differences that may be found in different methods used in the literature. Then ARES+MOOG is then used as an example where each step of the method is described in detail. A special focus is given for the specific steps of this method, namely the use of a differential analysis to define the atomic data for the adopted line list, the automatic EW determinations, and the way to find the best parameters at the end of the procedure. Finally, a practical tutorial is given, where we focus on simple exercises useful to illustrate and explain the dependence of the abundances with the assumed stellar parameters. The interdependences are described and a clear procedure is given to find the "final" stellar parameters.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication as a chapter in "Determination of Atmospheric Parameters of B, A, F and G Type Stars", Springer (2014), eds. E. Niemczura, B. Smalley, W. Pyc

The QCD Critical End Point in the Context of the Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio Model

We investigate the phase diagram of the so-called Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model at finite temperature and nonzero chemical potential with three quark flavors. Chiral and deconfinement phase transitions are discussed, and the relevant order-like parameters are analyzed. A special attention is payed to the critical end point (CEP): the influence of the strangeness on the location of the CEP is studied; also the strength of the flavor-mixing interaction alters the CEP location, once when it becomes weaker the CEP moves to low temperatures and can even disappear.Comment: Prepared for Strangeness in Quark Matter 2011, Sept. 18--24, Cracow, Polan

TMCalc - A fast code to derive Teff and [Fe/H] for FGK stars

We present a new direct spectroscopic calibration for a fast estimation of the stellar metallicity [Fe/H]. These calibrations were computed using a large sample of 451 solar-type stars for which we have precise spectroscopic parameters derived from high quality spectra. The new [Fe/H] calibration is based on weak Fe I lines, which are expected to be less dependent on surface gravity and microturbulence, and require only a pre-determination of the effective temperature. This temperature can be obtained using a previously presented line-ratio calibration. We also present a simple code that uses the calibrations and procedures presented in these works to obtain both the effective temperature and the [Fe/H] estimate. The code, written in C, is freely available for the community and may be used as an extension of the ARES code. We test these calibrations for 582 independent FGK stars. We show that the code can be used as a precise and fast indicator of the spectroscopic temperature and metallicity for dwarf FKG stars with effective temperatures ranging from 4500 K to 6500 K and with [Fe/H] ranging from -0.8 dex to 0.4 dex.Comment: 10 pages, 8 Figures, published in A&

How parameters and regularization affect the PNJL model phase diagram and thermodynamic quantities

We explore the phase diagram and the critical behavior of QCD thermodynamic quantities in the context of the so-called Polyakov--Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. We show that this improved field theoretical model is a successful candidate for studying the equation of state and the critical behavior around the critical end point. We argue that a convenient choice of the model parameters is crucial to get the correct description of isentropic trajectories. The effects of the regularization procedure in several thermodynamic quantities is also analyzed. The results are compared with simple thermodynamic expectations and lattice data.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables; PRD versio