Improved Lower Bounds for the Critical Probability of Oriented Bond Percolation in Two Dimensions

We present a coupled decreasing sequence of random walks on Z that dominate the edge process of oriented bond percolation in two dimensions. Using the concept of random walk in a strip, we describe an algorithm that generates an increasing sequence of lower bounds that converges to the critical probability of oriented percolation p_c. From the 7th term on, these lower bounds improve upon 0.6298, the best rigorous lower bound at present, establishing 0.63328 as a rigorous lower bound for p_c. Finally, a Monte Carlo simulation technique is presented; the use thereof establishes 0.64450 as a non-rigorous five-digit-precision (lower) estimate for p_c. Mathematics Subject Classification (1991): 60K35 Supported by CNPq (grant N.301637/91-1). Supported by a grant from CNPq.     

What can we learn from hydrodynamic analysis at RHIC?

We can establish a new picture, the perfect fluid sQGP core and the dissipative hadronic corona, of the space-time evolution of produced matter in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC. It is also shown that the picture works well also in the forward rapidity region through an analysis based on a new class of the hydro-kinetic model and that this is a manifestation of the rapid increase of the entropy density in the vicinity of QCD critical temperature, namely, deconfinement.     

On the importance of low-energy beta beams for supernova neutrino physics

We argue that isotropization and, consequently, thermalization of the system of gluons and quarks produced in an ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collision does not follow from Feynman diagram analysis to any order in the coupling constant. We conclude that the apparent thermalization of quarks and gluons, leading to success of perfect fluid hydrodynamics in describing heavy-ion collisions at RHIC, can only be attributed to the non-perturbative QCD effects not captured by Feynman diagrams. We proceed by modeling these non-pertrubative thermalization effects using viscous hydrodynamics. We point out that matching Color Glass Condensate inital conditions with viscous hydrodynamics leads to a continuous evolution of all the components of the energy-momentum tensor and, unlike the case of ideal hydrodynamics, does not give rise to a discontinuity in the longitudinal pressure. An important consequence of such a matching is a relationship between the thermalization time and shear viscosity: we observe that small viscosity leads to short thermalization time.     

A first experimental approach to the 15O + α elastic scattering

The ¹⁵O(α,α)¹⁵O elastic scattering is investigated using a ¹⁵O radioactive beam and a He gas cell limited by Mylar windows. The width of a ¹⁹Ne state at an excitation energy of 5.35MeV is measured as Γ_α = 3.2±1.6keV, in agreement with charge symmetry estimate.     

Laser spectroscopy of high spin isomers – a review

This review summarizes the experimental data on charge radii differences among ground state and high spin isomeric states determined by high-resolution laser spectroscopic methods. A comparison is presented between radii changes obtained from the isomeric shifts in the atomic spectra and from the quadrupole moments of both ground and isomeric states under the assumption that the radii changes are determined by the difference of the quadrupole deformations. Special attention is paid to isomers arising from the break-up of nucleon pairs and isomers of odd–odd nuclei. The characteristic features of the radii changes for isomeric states of different origin are discussed.     

Elastic scattering via quark structure of nucleons

In the framework of the Glauber multiple-scattering theory, the elastic collisions of proton-proton (pp) at the center-of-mass energies = 23.5, 30.7, 44.7, and 52.8 GeV and alpha-proton (p) at = 88 and 89 GeV are analyzed by considering the quark structure of their constituents. The differential cross-section containing the full multiple-scattering series between their quarks is calculated using Gaussian forms for the quark density and quark-quark (QQ) scattering amplitudes. The results obtained from the quark model and the conventional nucleon model are compared with the experimental data. The comparison shows that the nucleon model reproduces the experimental data more satisfactorily than the quark model, and both approaches have limited success in describing the data at such energies. The agreement with the experimental data is improved by the inclusion of the phase variation.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Nuclearity in a New Perspective

In this Letter we try to settle some confused points concerning the use of the notion of p-nuclearity in the mathematical and physical literature, pointing out that the nuclearity index in the physicists’ sense vanishes for any p> 1. Our discussion of these issues suggests a new perspective, in terms of ε-entropy and operator spaces, which might permit connections to be drawn between phase space criteria and quantum energy inequalities.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 81T05, 47B10, 47L25.     

A phenomenological theory of the isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition

In this paper we discuss the direct isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition on the basis of a phenomenological theory. The model free energy is written in terms of the coupled order parameters including the spontaneous polarization. We present a detailed analysis of the different phases that can occur and analyze the question under which conditions a direct isotropic to chiral smectic-C phase transition is possible when compared to other phase transitions. On the basis of this model the isotropic-smectic-C^* transition is always of first order. The theoretical predictions are compared with the available experimental results.-1     

On the Positivity of the Coefficients of a Certain Polynomial Defined by Two Positive Definite Matrices

It is shown that the polynomialp(t) = Tr[(A+tB)^m]has positive coefficients when m = 6 and A and B are any two 3-by-3 complex Hermitian positive definite matrices. This case is the first that is not covered by prior, general results. This problem arises from a conjecture raised by Bessis, Moussa, and Villani in connection with a long-standing problem in theoretical physics. The full conjecture, as shown recently by Lieb and Seiringer, is equivalent to p(t) having positive coefficients for any m and any two n-by-n positive definite matrices. We show that, generally, the question in the real case reduces to that of singular A and B, and this is a key part of our proof.     

Peripatetic Highlights in Bern

This tour of significant scientific sites in Bern uses the local legacy of its most illustrious scientists, Albert Einstein (1879–1955) and Fritz Houtermans (1903–1966), as its guiding thread through the old town and the university district.Ann M.Hentschel is translator of the correspondence volumes of The Collected Papers of Albert Einstein and is currently employed by the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Bern to write the guide for a city tour of Einsteins old haunts in Bern for the coming jubilee of special relativity in 2005. For the historical companion guidebook, see Hentschel and Grasshoff, Albert Einstein (ref. 4) and the website <.