Primitive Illumination Systems for Families of Convex Bodies in the Plane

Let F= {C₁,C₂,...,C} be a family of ndisjoint convex bodies in the plane. We say that a set Vof exterior light sources illuminates F, if for every boundary point of any member of Fthere is a point in Vsuch that is visible from ,i.e. the open line segment joining and is disjoint from F. An illumination system Vis called primitive if no proper subset of Villuminates F. Let p_max(F) denote the maximum number of points forming a primitive illumination system for F, and letp_max(n) denote the minimum of F) taken over all families Fconsisting of ndisjoint convex bodies in the plane. The aim of this paper is to investigate the quantities p_max(F) and p_max(n).     

Proton-proton elastic scattering via the Trojan horse method

We address a successful indirect technique, the Trojan horse method, which allows one to measure the bare nucleus cross section for rearrangement reactions down to astrophysical energies. In particular, we consider here the application of the method to the p-p elastic scattering. This represents an important test of the main feature of the method, namely the suppression of Coulomb effects in the entrance channel due to off-energy-shell effects. In contrast to the on-energy-shell case, the extracted p-p cross section does not exhibit the Coulomb-nuclear interference minimum, as predicted by the half-off-energy shell calculations. This hypothesis is strengthened by the agreement between the Trojan horse p-p data and the calculated on-energy-shell n-n, n-p and nuclear p-p cross sections.     

On the magnitude of the Li + He → B + n reaction cross section at the Big-Bang temperature

The ⁸Li + ⁴He → ¹¹B + n reaction at Ecm<2 MeV$E_{\mathrm{cm}}<2\text{MeV}$ is a process of relevant astrophysical interest for which a remarkable experimental discrepancy between inclusive and exclusive cross-section measurements exists. In this Letter, a new inclusive neutron measurement at Ecm=1.05±0.16 MeV$E_{\mathrm{cm}}=1.05\pm 0.16\text{MeV}$ is given. The radioactive ⁸Li beam was delivered by the EXCYT facility. The cross section was determined by a low-background measurement of the time correlation between the ⁸Li projectile arrival to the target and the following neutron capture in a threshold-less 4π thermalization counter. This new data strengthens the reliability of the previous inclusive reaction cross-section data and altogether are consistent with a significant population of ¹¹B levels at high excitation energy.     

New Advances in the Trojan Horse Method as an Indirect Approach to Nuclear Astrophysics

With the introduction of the Trojan Horse Method, nuclear cross sections between charged particles at astrophysical energies can now be measured. Here the basic features of the method are recalled together with recent results relevant for Nuclear Astrophysics. New applications in connection with plasma physics and industrial energy production are discussed.     

Olami-Feder-Christensen model on different networks

We investigate numerically the Self Organized Criticality (SOC) properties of the dissipative Olami-Feder-Christensen model on small-world and scale-free networks. We find that the small-world OFC model exhibits self-organized criticality. Indeed, in this case we observe power law behavior of earthquakes size distribution with finite size scaling for the cut-off region. In the scale-free OFC model, instead, the strength of disorder hinders synchronization and does not allow to reach a critical state.     

Pole approximation in the quasi-free t + p scattering and the t(p,d)d reaction via the t + d interaction

The t(p,p)t and t(p,d)d channels have been investigated in an indirect way through the ²H(t,tp)n and ²H(t,dd)n three-body reactions performed at E _t = 35.5?MeV in quasi-free kinematics. The agreement with direct data supports the pole approximation at energies above the Coulomb barrier.     

Effective spin-glass Hamiltonian for the anomalous dynamics of the HMF model

We discuss an effective spin-glass Hamiltonian which can be used to study the glassy-like dynamics observed in the metastable states of the Hamiltonian mean field (HMF) model. By means of the Replica formalism, we were able to find a self-consistent equation for the glassy order parameter which reproduces, in a restricted energy region below the phase transition, the microcanonical simulations for the polarization order parameter recently introduced in the HMF model.     

RIBs in-flight production at the Laboratori Nazionali del Sud

Microscopic modeling of complex systems by cellular automata, which deal with particles at lattice sites interacting via simple local rules, involves some arbitrariness besides a drastic simplification of nature. Here we briefly report on some recent work on the influence of dynamic details on the morphological and critical properties of one of such model systems. In particular, we discuss on the similarities and differences between a kinetic nonequilibrium Ising model—which is a prototype for nonequilibrium anisotropic phase transitions—and its off–lattice counterpart, namely, an analogue in which the spatial coordinates of the particles vary continuously. We also pay attention to a related driven lattice model with nearest-neighbor exclusion.