119419540
Analyticity and the phase diagram of QCD
Some consequences of the analyticity of the free energy (pressure) of QCD at finite chemical potential are deduced. Lattice simulations at imaginary chemical potential are possible due to the positivity of the measure. We show that such a theory cannot be interpreted as a thermodynamic system with a phase diagram in the usual sense. However, simulations at imaginary chemical potential are useful because the free energy can be analytically continued and information on the thermodynamic system at real chemical potential can be extracted by two means-either by the usual method of Taylor expansions, or by using this data to extract Yang-Lee zeroes of the grand-canonical partition function. We also comment on the structure of zeroes expected for the usual picture of the phases of QCD, following a discussion of the physics of imaginary chemical potential.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
121431296
Optical model calculation of exciton decay rates
The decay rate of an exciton is calculated using the imaginary part of both the phenomenological optical potential of Becchetti and Greenless and the microscopic potential of Jeukenne et al., The decay rate thus calculated is found to be about the same for proton- and neutron-induced reactions and weakly sensitive to mass number. Kalbach's two body matrix element, obtained from the analysis of precompound reactions using the Williams exciton model, also leads to a decay rate in agreement with the phenomenological potential estimate. However, the exciton model of Gadioli et al. is inconsistent with optical model estimates. Further, remarks are made on the concept of a mean free path in finite nuclear matter.
122702152
SEARCH FOR TACHYONS IN EXTENSIVE AIR SHOWERS
The authors have searched for precursors to air showers using a 0.64 m2 scintillation detector system located under a thick layer of absorber inside a multiplate cloud chamber. They find no evidence for a finite flux of tachyon-like particles in an operating time of 3621 hours compared with the observation of six events in 40 hours with a 2.1 m2 detector as reported by Ashton et al. (1977).
118634033
Comparison of statistical multifragmentation model simulations with canonical thermodynamic model results : A few representative cases
The statistical multifragmentation model (SMM) has been widely used to explain experimental data of intermediate energy heavy ion collisions. A later entrant in the field is the canonical thermodynamic model (CTM) which is also being used to fit experimental data. The basic physics of both the models is the same, namely that fragments are produced according to their statistical weights in the available phase space. However, they are based on different statistical ensembles, and the methods of calculation are different: while the SMM uses Monte Carlo simulations, the CTM solves recursion relations. In this Letter we compare the predictions of the two models for a few representative cases.
123622657
Many-particle density of states in a finite-dimensional vector space
Abstract We demonstrate that the statistical mechanics methods for obtaining the density of states, when applied to a finite dimensional vector space, leads to a Gaussian distribution in the lowest order. Successive approximations lead naturally to the Gram-Charlier series.
17242237
High-rigidity Forbush decreases: due to CMEs or shocks?
Aims. We seek to identify the primary agents causing Forbush decreases (FDs) in high-rigidity cosmic rays observed from the Earth. In particular, we ask if these FDs are caused mainly by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun that are directed towards the Earth, or by their associated shocks. Methods. We used the muon data at cutoff rigidities ranging from 14 to 24 GV from the GRAPES-3 tracking muon telescope to identify FD events. We selected those FD events that have a reasonably clean profile, and can be reasonably well associated with an Earth-directed CME and its associated shock. We employed two models: one that considers the CME as the sole cause of the FD (the CME-only model) and one that considers the shock as the only agent causing the FD (the shock-only model). We used an extensive set of observationally determined parameters for both models. The only free parameter in these models is the level of MHD turbulence in the sheath region, which mediates cosmic ray diffusion (into the CME for the CME-only model, and across the shock sheath for the shock-only model). Results. We find that good fits to the GRAPES-3 multi-rigidity data using the CME-only model require turbulence levels in the CME sheath region that are only slightly higher than those estimated for the quiescent solar wind. On the other hand, reasonable model fits with the shock-only model require turbulence levels in the sheath region that are an order of magnitude higher than those in the quiet solar wind. Conclusions. This observation naturally leads to the conclusion that the Earth-directed CMEs are the primary contributors to FDs observed in high-rigidity cosmic rays.