18294133
Thermal effects on two photon decays of pseudoscalars
We study the effect of finite temperatures and Fermion density on the effective pseudo-scalar-photon vertex induced by the triangle diagram. The manifestly covariant calculations show that when the pseudo-scalar mass is much less than the temperature, then there is a large enhancement of the decay rate. Alternatively, when the temperature is much higher than the Fermion mass, or the Fermion chemical potential is large, the lifetime is enhanced. Other related processes, and applications of these results to cosmology and astrophysics, are discussed.
119431013
A precise determination of T_c in QCD from scaling
Existing lattice data on the QCD phase transition are analyzed in renormalized perturbation theory. In quenched QCD it is found that T_c scales for lattices with only 3 time slices, and that T_c/Lambda_msbar=1.15 \pm 0.05. A preliminary estimate in QCD with two flavours of dynamical quarks shows that this ratio depends on the quark mass. For realistic quark masses we estimate T_c/Lambda_msbar=0.49 \pm 0.02. We also investigate the equation of state in quenched QCD at 1-loop order in renormalised perturbation theory.
123004962
Flavour degrees of freedom and the transition temperature in QCD
We study the finite temperature transition in QCD with four flavours of dynamical quarks. Our simulation is performed on an 8×16 3 lattice for quarks of mass ma=0.01. At the coupling β c =5.15, we find long-lived metastable states, as well as an abrupt change in the entropy density, suggesting a first order phase transition. Using presently available results from corresponding calculations of the hadron masses and the chiral condensate, this gives us a transition temperature T c ≅100 MeV, which is a factor two lower than the transition temperature found in quenched QCD.
122166973
The phase diagram of QCD: methods and logic of the comparison of experiments and theory
Abstract A small review of the phase diagram of QCD is presented. This is followed by a discussion of the conditions under which experimental data on the fluctuations of conserved quantities in heavy-ion collisions can be treated in the grand canonical ensemble. A robust method for detecting the presence of a nearby critical point in experiments is given. There is a short discussion of the need for non-Gaussian error analysis.
121387686
Hybrid Monte Carlo simulations of a two-dimensional gauge theory
Through a study of the dynamics of the two-dimensional U(1) pure gauge theory we find exponential slowing down in barrier penetration problems. We verify that the dynamical critical exponent in HMC can be tuned exactly to 1, and that normal and gauge fixed updates have equal cost.
17443615
Lattice QCD for RHIC
I briefly introduce the methods by which lattice QCD predictions for RHIC are obtained. Next I deal with lattice determinations of strangeness production and event-to-event fluctuations of conserved quantities. I also present a new diagrammatic method for computing derivatives with respect to chemical potentials, and conclude with discussions of some tests of thermal perturbation theory which follow.
118955676
Phase transition in a statistical model for nuclear multifragmentation
We use a simplified model which is based on the same physics as inherent in most statistical models for nuclear multifragmentation. The simplified model allows exact calculations for thermodynamic properties of systems of large number of particles. This enables us to study a phase transition in the model. A first order phase transition can be tracked down. There are significant differences between this phase transition and some other well-known cases. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
17387019
Inhomogeneous nucleation in a quark-hadron phase transition
The effect of subcritical hadron bubbles on a first-order quark-hadron phase transition is studied. These subcritical hadron bubbles are created due to thermal fluctuations, and can introduce a finite amount of phase mixing (quark phase mixed with hadron phase) even at and above the critical temperature. For reasonable choices of surface tension and correlation length, as obtained from the lattice QCD calculations, we show that the amount of phase mixing at the critical temperature remains below the percolation threshold. Thus, as the system cools below the critical temperature, the transition proceeds through the nucleation of critical-size hadron bubbles from a metastable quark-gluon phase (QGP), within an inhomogeneous background populated by an equilibrium distribution of subcritical hadron bubbles. The inhomogeneity of the medium results in a substantial reduction of the nucleation barrier for critical bubbles. Using the corrected nucleation barrier, we estimate the amount of supercooling for different parameters controlling the phase transition, and briefly discuss its implications to cosmology and heavy-ion collisions.
122167852
MULTIPLE PHOTON PRODUCTION IN QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS
Multiple production of photons in high-energy processes in quantum electrodynamics is investigated, and the electron-positron annihilation is specially discussed in detail. It is found that at very high energies in cosmic rays, multiple production of up to four or five observable photons can easily take place. But, the probability, according to quantum electrodynamics, for the multiple production of a larger number of observable photons is quite small.
119152931
Specific heat and bimodality in canonical and grand canonical versions of the thermodynamic model
We address two issues in the thermodynamic model for nuclear disassembly. Surprisingly large differences in results for specific heat were seen in predictions from the canonical and grand canonical ensembles when the nuclear system passes from liquid-gas coexistence to the pure gas phase. We are able to pinpoint and understand the reasons for such and other discrepancies when they appear. There is a subtle but important difference in the physics addressed in the two models. In particular if we reformulate the parameters in the canonical model to better approximate the physics addressed in the grand canonical model, calculations for observables converge. Next we turn to the issue of bimodality in the probability distribution of the largest fragment in both canonical and grand canonical ensembles. We demonstrate that this distribution is very closely related to average multiplicities. The relationship of the bimodal distribution to phase transition is discussed.
123088134
Proton optical model potential at sub-Coulomb energies for medium weight nuclei
The ($p$,$n$) reaction excitation functions for eleven nuclei from $A=45 \mathrm{to} 80$ measured at proton energies below \ensuremath{\sim}5 MeV have been analyzed utilizing the optical model. The real potential parameters used in the present work have been obtained by suitably combining the proton optical model parameters determined between 3 and 60 MeV. Large energy dependence of the real potential at energies below 5 MeV has been observed. The imaginary potential depths determined in the present analysis exhibit an anomalous behavior when plotted as a function of mass number $A$. By utilizing the low and intermediate energy proton data, an attempt has been made to obtain a "global" set of optical parameters in the proton energy range between 4 and 180 MeV, for medium weight nuclei.