Upper limit for thermal direct photon production in heavy-ion collisions at 60 and 200A·GeV

The production of direct photons has been investigated in reactions ofp and¹⁶O projectiles at 60 and 200A·GeV with C and Au nuclei. Photon and ⁰ spectra have been measured in the pseudorapidity range 1.52.1 for the transverse momentum region 0.4 GeV/cp _T 2.8 GeV/c employing the lead-glass spectrometer SAPHIR. An upper limit of 15% at the 90% confidence level for the direct photon signal relative to the neutral pion production is obtained from the comparison of measured photon spectra with Monte Carlo simulations of the hadronic background based on the reconstructed yield of ⁰ and mesons. Consequences for a possible phase transition to a quark-gluon plasma are discussed.     

Differential inhibition of postnatal brain,spinal cord and body growth by a growth hormone antagonist

Background  

Growth hormone (GH) plays an incompletely understood role in the development of the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we use transgenic mice expressing a growth hormone antagonist (GHA) to explore the role of GH in regulating postnatal brain, spinal cord and body growth into adulthood. The GHA transgene encodes a protein that inhibits the binding of GH to its receptor, specifically antagonizing the trophic effects of endogenous GH.     

Comment on “On the Anomalon Interpretation of 40Ar + Cu Collisions at 0.9 and 1.8 AGeV”

A recent article interpreted the experiment by Dersch et al. on the formation of ²⁴Na in ⁴⁰Ar + Cu interactions in a very simple manner. The results from emulsion experiments performed with 3.6 AGeV ²²Ne were adapted for the interpretation of the experiments with 1.8 AGeV ⁴⁰Ar. The model used the same mean value for the energy of minimum ionizing protons and pions at all angles. It is argued that a more complex approach is needed for a satisfactory interpretation.     

Effects of City-Size Heterogeneity on Epidemic Spreading in a Metapopulation: A Reaction-Diffusion Approach

We review and introduce a generalized reaction-diffusion approach to epidemic spreading in a metapopulation modeled as a complex network. The metapopulation consists of susceptible and infected individuals that are grouped in subpopulations symbolizing cities and villages that are coupled by human travel in a transportation network. By analytic methods and numerical simulations we calculate the fraction of infected people in the metapopulation in the long time limit, as well as the relevant parameters characterizing the epidemic threshold that separates an epidemic from a non-epidemic phase. Within this model, we investigate the effect of a heterogeneous network topology and a heterogeneous subpopulation size distribution. Such a system is suited for epidemic modeling where small villages and big cities exist simultaneously in the metapopulation. We find that the heterogeneous conditions cause the epidemic threshold to be a non-trivial function of the reaction rates (local parameters), the network’s topology (global parameters) and the cross-over population size that separates “village dynamics” from “city dynamics”.     

Transverse momentum distributions of neutral pions from central and peripheral16O+Au collisions at 200A·GeV

The production of neutral pions by the interaction of 200A·GeV p and¹⁶O projectiles with a Au target has been studied in the pseudorapidity range 1.5≦η≦2.1. Transverse momentum spectra have been measured between 0.4 GeV/c and 3.6 GeV/c and their dependence on the centrality of the collision has been investigated. The peripheral-collision spectra display a marked change of slope with a hard component starting at about 1.8 GeV/c, in contrast to central-collision data. The data are discussed in comparison to p+p and α+α data from the ISR.     

Fault-tolerant linear optical quantum computing with small-amplitude coherent States

Quantum computing using two coherent states as a qubit basis is a proposed alternative architecture with lower overheads but has been questioned as a practical way of performing quantum computing due to the fragility of diagonal states with large coherent amplitudes. We show that using error correction only small amplitudes (alpha>1.2) are required for fault-tolerant quantum computing. We study fault tolerance under the effects of small amplitudes and loss using a Monte Carlo simulation. The first encoding level resources are orders of magnitude lower than the best single photon scheme.     

Target fragmentation in proton-nucleus and16O-nucleus reactions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon

Target remnants withZ<3 from proton-nucleus and¹⁶O-nucleus reactions at 60 and 200 GeV/nucleon were measured in the angular range from 30° to 160° (?1.7<η<1.3) employing the Plastic Ball detector. The excitation energy of the target spectator matter in central oxygen-induced collisions is found to be high enough to allow for complete disintegration of the target nucleus into fragments withZ<3. The average longitudinal momentum transfer per proton to the target in central collisions is considerably higher in the case of¹⁶O-induced reactions (≈300 MeV/c) than in proton-induced reactions (≈130 MeV/c). The baryon rapidity distributions are roughly in agreement with one-fluid hydrodynamical calculations at 60 GeV/nucleon¹⁶O+Au but are in disagreement at 200 GeV/nucleon, indicating the higher degree of transparency at the higher bombarding energy. Both, the transverse momenta of target spectators and the entropy produced in the target fragmentation region are compared to those attained in head-on collisions of two heavy nuclei at Bevalac energies. They are found to be comparable or do even exceed the values for the participant matter at beam energies of about 1–2 GeV/nucleon.     

On the scattering of sound by a magnetic field in a MHD fluid

We investigate the effect of a localized magnetic field on the propagation of sound in an infinite fluid described by the magnetohydrodynamic equations (MHD). An externally imposed magnetic field will scatter an acoustic wave, and the scattered wave is related to the spatial structure of the magnetic field. Measuring it is thus a non-intrusive probe for the magnetic field. Simple examples likely to be encountered in practice are worked out, and estimates are given that suggest the practical feasability of this diagnostic tool in current MHD experiments.Received: 1 May 2003, Published online: 15 October 2003PACS: 42.25.Fx Diffraction and scattering - 47.65.+a Magnetohydrodynamics and electrohydrodynamics - 52.35.Dm Sound waves     

Spectroelectrochemical cell for in situ studies of solid oxide fuel cells

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are able to produce electricity and heat from hydrogen‐ or carbon‐containing fuels with high efficiencies and are considered important cornerstones for future sustainable energy systems. Performance, activation and degradation processes are crucial parameters to control before the technology can achieve breakthrough. They have been widely studied, predominately by electrochemical testing with subsequent micro‐structural analysis. In order to be able to develop better SOFCs, it is important to understand how the measured electrochemical performance depends on materials and structural properties, preferably at the atomic level. A characterization of these properties under operation is desired. As SOFCs operate at temperatures around 1073 K, this is a challenge. A spectroelectrochemical cell was designed that is able to study SOFCs at operating temperatures and in the presence of relevant gases. Simultaneous spectroscopic and electrochemical evaluation by using X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is possible.