Collective and fractal properties of pion jets in the space of 4-velocities at intermediate energies

Experimental results obtained by studying collective and fractal properties of soft pion jets in the space of relative 4-velocities at intermediate energies are presented. The mean square of the distance between secondary particles and the jet axis is found to be significantly smaller in the case of pion-proton interactions at initial energies of about 3 GeV than in the case of hadron-hadron collisions at similar energies. This reduction leads to a power-law dependence of this quantity on the interaction energy in the energy range between about 2 and 4 GeV, and this makes it possible to estimate the lower boundary of the region where color degrees of freedom manifest themselves in pion-jet production. The cluster dimensions of pion jets in various reactions were obtained for the first time. Fractional values of this dimension may be a manifestation of fractal properties of pion jets. The change in the mean kinetic energy of particles in the jet and the change in the fractal dimension in response to the change in the collision energy is compatible with the assumption that color degrees of freedom come into play in pion-jet production at intermediate energies.

     

Mesoscopic magnetic inhomogeneities in the low-temperature phase and structure of Sm1−x SrxMnO3 (x < 0.5) perovskite

Results are presented of studies of the ¹⁵⁴Sm_1?x Sr_xMnO₃ system using neutron powder diffraction and small-angle polarized neutron scattering. An analysis of the neutron diffraction spectra showed that at T < 180 K these exhibit typical Jahn-Teller distortions of the manganese-oxygen octahedrons which persist under further cooling and on transition of the sample to a metallic magnetically ordered state. The magnetic contribution to the diffraction is satisfactorily described using the (A _x (A _y )F _z ) model and is interpreted as the coexistence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases. The exaggerated widths of the diffraction lines indicate an appreciable contribution from microdeformations evidently associated with the inhomogeneity of the system. Small-angle polarized neutron scattering showed that the Sm system for x = 0.4 and 0.25 is magnetically inhomogeneous in the low-temperature phase. Ferromagnetic correlations occur on scales of around 200 Å and having dimensions greater than 1000 Å which, combined with the temperature hysteresis of the magnetic small-angle scattering intensity observed for an x = 0.4 sample in the low-temperature phase, suggests that the transition is of a percolation nature.     

Azimuthal anisotropy and formation of an extreme state of strongly interacting matter at the relativistic heavy-ion collider (RHIC)

Experimental results obtained by studying the azimuthal anisotropy of final states in nucleus-nucleus interactions at the energies of the relativistic heavy-ion collider (RHIC) are systematized. The medium is found to exhibit a pronounced collective behavior, which is likely to be formed at an early, parton, stage of the spacetime evolution of product hot and dense matter. Experimental data on the azimuthal anisotropy indicate that strongly interacting matter produced in the final state under extreme conditions behaves as a nearly ideal liquid rather than an ideal gas of quarks and gluons. The experimentally observed suppression of high-transverse-momentum jets and substantial modification of jetlike azimuthal correlations in heavy-ion collisions suggest that the energy loss of partons propagating in high-temperature matter featuring a high density of color charges is extremely large. The dependence of the amount of hardjet suppression in nucleus-nucleus collisions on the orientation of a jet with respect to the reaction plane was first discovered experimentally at RHIC. A strong suppression of the production of high-transverse-momentum particles and jets at RHIC is a unique phenomenon, which was discovered experimentally at lower energies.     

Study of spin-wave dynamics in Fe65Ni35 ferromagnetic via small-angle polarized-neutron scattering

The results of studying the spin dynamics of a classical Fe₆₅Ni₃₅ invar alloy are presented and analyzed. The investigations are performed via small-angle polarized-neutron scattering in the oblique geometry of a magnetic field at various temperatures (T < T _C). This approach is based on the analysis of left-right asymmetry in the magnetic scattering of polarized neutrons. The asymmetry effect arises when the magnetization direction of a sample is inclined with respect to the wave vector of the incident beam. The spin-wave scattering is concentrated within a range bounded by the cutoff angle θ_c determined by the magnetic field: θ _c ² (H) = θ ₀ ² ?(gμ_B H)θ₀/E, where \(\theta _0 = \hbar ^2 \frac{1} {{2Dm_n }}\) , H is the external magnetic field, E is the initial neutron energy, D is the spin-wave stiffness constant, and m _n is the neutron mass. The scattering is blurred by spinwave damping in the vicinity of the cutoff angle. The spin-wave stiffness constant can be obtained from a comparison of the asymmetric contribution to scattering and a model function. The temperature dependence D = D(T) is well defined by the expression D = D ₀ |τ| ^x , where \(\tau = 1 - \frac{T} {{T_C }}\) , x = 0.47 ± 0.01, D ₀ = 137 ± 3 meVŲ, and τ > 0.1 in the entire temperature range. The given method enables us to construct the temperature dependence of the spin-wave stiffness constant with a high accuracy and a small step.     

Coherent coulomb excitation of nuclei and atoms moving through a crystal: The review of main results

The basic characteristics and features of the coherent excitation of particles moving through a crystal—a new physical phenomenon predicted and experimentally discovered at ITEP—are discussed.     

Correlations between pions of low relative momenta

Two-particle pion correlations in exclusive πp and pp interactions at \(\sqrt s = 2.9 - 4\) GeV are studied in the region of low relative 4-momenta. Relevant correlation functions are obtained with allowance for the results of calculations based on the model of quark-gluon strings and the FRITIOF model. Positive correlations that make it possible to estimate the spatial size of the pion source are observed for pairs of identical pions. No correlations are observed for pairs featuring one charged and one neutral pion.     

Possibility of precision experimental verification of time retardation in moving clocks by using coherent excitation of relativistic nuclei in a crystal

Experiments with coherent excitation of relativistic nuclei in a crystal are proposed to investigate Lorentz time retardation. At present, these experiments provide the possibility of precisely (10^?4–10^?5) verifying time retardation for clock velocities corresponding to the Lorentz factor γ～100–200 and larger.