The Strong Interaction at the Collider and Cosmic-Rays Frontiers

First data on inclusive particle production measured in proton–proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) are compared to predictions of various hadron-interaction Monte Carlos (qgsjet, epos and sibyll) used commonly in high-energy cosmic-ray physics. While reasonable overall agreement is found for some of the models, none of them reproduces consistently the ${\sqrt{s}}$ evolution of all the measured observables. We discuss the implications of the new LHC data for the modeling of the non-perturbative and semihard parton dynamics in hadron–hadron and cosmic-rays interactions at the highest energies studied today.     

Access to β‐Lactams by Enantioselective Palladium(0)‐Catalyzed C(sp3)H Alkylation

β‐Lactams are very important structural motifs because of their broad biological activities as well as their propensity to engage in ring‐opening reactions. Transition‐metal‐catalyzed C? H functionalizations have emerged as strategy enabling yet uncommon highly efficient disconnections. In contrast to the significant progress of Pd⁰‐catalyzed C? H functionalization for aryl–aryl couplings, related reactions involving the formation of saturated C(sp³)? C(sp³) bonds are elusive. Reported here is an asymmetric C? H functionalization approach to β‐lactams using readily accessible chloroacetamide substrates. Important aspects of this transformation are challenging C(sp³)? C(sp³) and strain‐building reductive eliminations to for the four‐membered ring. In general, the β‐lactams are formed in excellent yields and enantioselectivities using a bulky taddol phosphoramidite ligand in combination with adamantyl carboxylic acid as cocatalyst.     

Selberg''s integral and linear forms in zeta values

Using Selberg's integral, we present some new Euler-type integral representations of certain nearly poised hypergeometric series. These integrals are also shown to produce linear forms in odd and/or even zeta values that generalize previous work of the author.     

Plasticity localization ahead of a crack tip modeled by 2D discrete dislocation dynamics

The formation of a plastic zone in the presence of a crack, in a bicrystal, is modeled by two-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics. The influence of a large number of parameters is studied: the misorientation, the emission from the crack tip and the obstacle density which modifies the internal stress (hardening) and degree of localization of mobile dislocations (slip bands). Emphasis is put on obtaining the best ductility, since the focus is on face centered cubic materials. Finally, a strong effect of the plastic model on the dynamics and on the secondary slip (intensity and localization), beyond the influence of the initial distribution of sources and obstacles, is reported.     

Pinning-depinning of the contact line on nanorough surfaces

We study the pinning-depinning phenomenon of a contact line on a solid surface decorated by a random array of nanometric structures. For this purpose, we have investigated the contact angle hysteresis behaviour of six different wetting and non-wetting fluids with surface tensions varying from 25 to 72mN m^-1. For low values of the areal density of defects φ_d, the hysteresis H increases linearly with φ_d indicating that “individual” defects pin the contact line. Then, from a given value of φ_d, the hysteresis H becomes to decrease with increasing φ_d, indicating a new kind of collective depinning. These two regimes were observed for all fluids used. In both cases, our experimental results are compared with the theoretical predictions for contact angle hysteresis induced by single or multiple topographical defects. We ascribe the decrease of H to the formation of cavities along the wetting front.     

Plastic response of a 2D Lennard-Jones amorphous solid: Detailed analysis of the local rearrangements at very slow strain rate

We analyze in detail the atomistic response of a model amorphous material submitted to plastic shear in the athermal, quasi-static limit. After a linear stress-strain behavior, the system undergoes a noisy plastic flow. We show that the plastic flow is spatially heterogeneous. Two kinds of plastic events occur in the system: quadrupolar localized rearrangements, and shear bands. The analysis of the individual motion of a particle shows also two regimes: a hyper-diffusive regime followed by a diffusive regime, even at zero temperature.     

Approximations rationnelles des valeurs de la fonction Gamma aux rationnels

As a corollary of a more general result, we present new rational approximations un/vn to the value of the Gamma function at a given rational point, where un and vn are solutions of a linear recurrence of order 3 with polynomials coefficients.