Physics

A new method for studying two-particle transverse momentum ($P_T$) correlations in soft hadronic interactions is proposed. It is shown that Monte Carlo models: PYTHIA 6 and Geant4 FTF (FRITIOF), give different predictions for the correlations in proton–proton interactions. The correlations are connected with Schwinger’s mechanism of particle creation. These correlations can be studied in current and future experiments in high energy physics, in particular, at the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA). Full article

The Casimir forces between metals or good conductors have been checked experimentally. Semiconductors and especially dielectrics have not been investigated because of the surface charges, which generate strong electrostatic forces. Here, it is proposed to study the Casimir interaction of a dielectric and metal using a thin dielectric layer deposited on an optically thick metallic substrate. If the thickness of the layer is a few tens of nanometers, the electrostatic force due to charging can be compensated for by applying an extra voltage between the metallic plates. On the other hand, the contribution of the dielectric layer to the Casimir force is sufficiently large to extract information about the interaction between the bulk dielectric and metal. Full article

Classical radiation from a single relativistically accelerating electron is investigated where the temperature characterizing the system highlights the dependence on acceleration. In the context of the dynamic Casimir effect with Planck-distributed photons and thermal black hole evaporation, we demonstrate analytic consistency between the ideas of constant acceleration and equilibrium thermal radiation. For ultra-relativistic speeds, we demonstrate a long-lasting constant peel acceleration and constant power emission, which is consistent with the idea of balanced equilibrium of Planck-distributed particle radiation. Full article

In the classical approach to dealing with near-field radiative heat exchange between two closely spaced bodies, no coupling between the different heat carriers inside the materials and thermal photons is usually considered. Here, we provide an overview of the current state of research on this coupling between solids of different sizes while paying specific attention to the impact of the conduction regime inside the solids on the conduction–radiation coupling. We describe how the shape of the solids affects this coupling, and show that it can be located at the origin of a drastic change in the temperature profiles inside each body and the heat flux exchanged between them. These results could have important implications in the fields of nanoscale thermal management, near-field solid-state cooling, and nanoscale energy conversion. Full article

The experimental data from VENUS, TOPAS, OPAL, DELPHI, ALEPH and L3 Collaborations collected from 1989 to 2003 are applied to study the quantum electrodynamics (QED) framework through the direct contact interaction term approach, using the annihilation reaction $e^{+}{e}^{-}\to \gamma \gamma \left(\gamma \right)$. The analysis involves performing a ${\chi }^2$-test to detect the presence of an excited electron $e^{*}$, and and evidence of non-point like behavior in the $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ annihilation zone. The analysis yields compelling results, showing a significant signal at a confidence level of approximately 5 standard deviations. These findings suggest the existence of an excited electron with a mass of 308 ± 14 GeV and indicate the presence of a contact interaction characterized by a cutoff scale of 1253.53 ± 226 GeV. Furthermore, the interpretation of the cutoff scale result in terms of a radius of (1.57 ± 0.07) × 10⁻¹⁷ cm raises an intriguing possibility regarding the electron’s non-pointness. Full article

This paper is devoted to nonequilibrium systems in the physics approach to social systems. Equilibrium systems have been considered in the recenly published first part of the review. The style of the paper combines the features of a tutorial and a review, which, from one side, makes it simpler to read for nonspecialists aiming at grasping the basics of social physics, and from the other side, describes several rather recent original models containing new ideas that could be of interest to experienced researchers in the field. Full article

This paper is devoted to the current status of the novel fully active 3D (three-dimensional) fine-grained scintillator detector SuperFGD as a main part of the near off-axis detector upgrade program for the T2K experiment. The following important components related to the SuperFGD such as SuperFGD electronics and mechanics, wavelength shifting (WLS) fibers, and light emitting diode (LED) calibration system are also discussed here as well as the detector’s near future. Full article

In this paper, we review the physics studies to be performed with the Spin Physics Detector (SPD) at the Nuclotron-based Ion Collider fAcility (NICA) which is a multi-purpose experiment designed to study nucleon spin structure in the three dimensions. With capabilities to collide polarized protons and deuterons with center-of-mass energy up to 27 GeV and luminosity up to ${10}^{32}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ for protons (an order of magnitude less for deuterons), the experiment is considered to allow measurements of cross-sections and spin asymmetries of hadronic processes sensitive to the unpolarized and various polarized (helicity, Sivers, Boer-Mulders) gluon distributions inside the nucleons. Results from the SPD will be complimentary to the present high-energy spin experiments at the RHIC (Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider) facility or future experiments such as the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at BNL (Brookhaven National Laboratory) and the AFTER experiment at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) in understanding the spin structure of the basic building blocks of visible matter. Monte Carlo simulation-based results presented here demonstrate the impact of the SPD asymmetry measurements on gluon helicity parton distribution function (PDF) and gluon Sivers functions. With polarized deuteron collisions, the SPD is expected to be the unique laboratory for probing tensor-polarized gluon distributions. Additionally, there are possibilities of colliding other light nuclei, such as carbon, at reduced collision energy and luminosity during the first stage of the experiment. Full article

In the present paper, we describe a 2.5D (two-and-a-half-dimensional) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation that provides a detailed picture of the evolution of cool jets triggered by initial vertical velocity perturbations in the solar chromosphere. We implement random multiple velocity, $V_y$, pulses of amplitude 20–50 km s${}^{-1}$ between 1 Mm and 1.5 Mm in the Sun’s atmosphere below its transition region (TR). These pulses also consist of different switch-off periods between 50 s and 300 s. The applied vertical velocity pulses create a series of magnetoacoustic shocks steepening above the TR. These shocks interact with each other in the inner corona, leading to complex localized velocity fields. The upward propagation of such perturbations creates low-pressure regions behind them, which propel a variety of cool jets and plasma flows in the localized corona. The localized complex velocity fields generate transverse oscillations in some of these jets during their evolution. We study the transverse oscillations of a representative cool jet J${}_1$, which moves up to the height of 6.2 Mm above the TR from its origin point. During its evolution, the plasma flows make the spine of jet J${}_1$ radially inhomogeneous, which is visible in the density and Alfvén speed smoothly varying across the jet. The highly dense J${}_1$, which is triggered along the significantly curved magnetic field lines, supports the propagating transverse wave of period of approximately 195 s with a phase speed of about 125 km s⁻¹. In the distance–time map of density, it is manifested as a transverse kink wave. However, the careful investigation of the distance–time maps of the x- and z-components of velocity reveals that these transverse waves are actually of mixed Alfvénic modes. The transverse wave shows evidence of damping in the jet. We conclude that the cross-field structuring of the density and characteristic Alfvén speed within J${}_1$ causes the onset of the resonant conversion and leakage of the wave energy outward to dissipate these transverse oscillations via resonant absorption. The wave energy flux is estimated as approximately of 1.0 × 10${}^6$ ergs cm${}^{-2}$ s${}^{-1}$. This energy, if it dissipates through the resonant absorption into the corona where the jet is propagated, is sufficient energy for the localized coronal heating. Full article

In this paper, using the concept of multi-pomeron exchange, we develope a Monte Carlo model of interacting quark–gluon strings acting as particle-emitting sources aimed at describing inelastic proton–proton interactions at high energies. The implemented 3D (three-dimensional) dynamics of colour string formation resulted in their finite length in the rapidity space and in the fluctuating event-by-event spatial density. Thus, this results in string cluster formation because of the fusion mechanism and the appearance of long-range multiplicity and mean transverse momentum (mean-$p_T$) correlations in rapidity. We study, via the pseudorapidity dependence, the sensitivity to the details of the 3D dynamical formation of strings for several observables such as the forward–backward correlation coefficient value, strongly intensive quantity, $\mathrm{\Sigma }$, and the “almost” strongly intensive observable, the variance, ${\sigma }_C^2$, of the distribution of the asymmetry coefficient, C. The strongly intensive quantity $\mathrm{\Sigma }$ is used in this study to suppress trivial statistical fluctuations in the number of particles emitting similar types of sources and to reveal the intrinsic fluctuations of a single source. We demonstrate the connection between $\mathrm{\Sigma }$ and such often used observables as cumulants, factorial cumulants, and ${\sigma }_C^2$. We stress the importance of the contribution of “short” strings and the event asymmetry of the initial conditions on the long-range correlation measures. We argue that string cluster formation because of the fusion mechanism explains the collective effects seen in multiplicity and transverse momentum–multiplicity, $⟨p_T⟩$–N, long-range correlation functions. Full article

The paper gives an introduction to the physics approach to social systems providing the main definitions and notions used in the modeling of these systems. The behavior of social systems is illustrated by several quite simple, typical models. The present part considers equilibrium systems. Nonequilibrium systems will be presented in the second part of the review. The style of the paper combines the features of a tutorial and a survey, which, from one side, makes it simpler to read for nonspecialists aiming to grasp the basics of social physics, and from the other side, describes several rather recent original models containing new ideas that could be of interest to experienced researchers in the field. The selection of the material is limited and motivated by the author’s research interests. Full article

In this third of a series on quantum radiation, we further explore the feasibility of using the memories (non-Markovianity) kept in a quantum field to decipher certain information about the early universe. As a model study, we let a massless quantum field be subjected to a parametric process for a finite time interval such that the mode frequency of the field transits from one constant value to another. This configuration thus mimics a statically-bounded universe, where there is an ‘in’ and an ‘out’ state with the scale factor approaching constants, not a continuously evolving one. The field subjected to squeezing by this process should contain some information of the process itself. If an atom is coupled to the field after the parametric process, its response will depend on the squeezing, and any quantum radiation emitted by the atom will carry this information away so that an observer at a much later time may still identify it. Our analyses show that (1) a remote observer cannot measure the generated squeezing via the radiation energy flux from the atom because the net radiation energy flux is canceled due to the correlation between the radiation field from the atom and the free field at the observer’s location. However, (2) there is a chance to identify squeezing by measuring the constant radiation energy density at late times. The only restriction is that this energy density is of the near-field nature and only an observer close to the atom can use it to unravel the information of squeezing. The second part of this paper focuses on (3) the dependence of squeezing on the functional form of the parametric process. By explicitly working out several examples, we demonstrate that the behavior of squeezing does reflect essential properties of the parametric process. Actually, striking features may show up in more complicated processes involving various scales. These analyses allow us to establish the connection between properties of a squeezed quantum field and details of the parametric process which performs the squeezing. Therefore, (4) one can construct templates to reconstitute the unknown parametric processes from the data of measurable quantities subjected to squeezing. In a sequel paper these results will be applied to a study of quantum radiations in cosmology. Full article

The photon production by conversion of gluons $gg\to \gamma$ via quark loop in the framework of the mean-field approach to the QCD (quantunm chromodynamics) vacuum is studied here. According to the domain model of QCD vacuum, the confinement phase is dominated by Abelian (anti-)self-dual gluon fields, while the deconfinement phase is characterized by a strong chromomagnetic field. In the confinement phase, photon production is impossible due to the random spacial orientation of the statistical ensemble of vacuum fields. However, the conditions of Furry theorem are not satisfied in the deconfinement phase, the conversion of gluons is nonzero and, in addition, photon distribution has a strong angular anisotropy. Thus, the photon production in the discussed process acts as one of the important features of transition in quark-gluon plasma to the deconfinement phase. Full article

In this paper, we review our findings concerning fractal entropy of microscopic configurations corresponding to the production of $K_S^0$ mesons in AuAu collisions in the z-scaling approach. The entropy is expressed via structural and fragmentation fractal dimensions, and model parameter $c_{\mathrm{AuAu}}$ is interpreted as a specific heat of produced medium. These parameters are related to the respective momentum fractions of the colliding nuclei, the momentum fractions of the scattered constituents that fragment into the produced hadrons, and the multiplicity density of negative particles in the central interaction region. The dependence of the entropy on the collision energy over the range of 7.7–200 GeV for most central and most peripheral events is studied as a function of the transverse momentum of the produced $K_S^0$ mesons. A non-trivial dependence of the entropy on the collision energy with decreasing transverse momentum is found. This reflects the irregularity of the behavior of the specific heat, $c_{\mathrm{AuAu}}$, and can point to a manifestation of phase transition in nuclear matter. Full article

We study the effect of time-fluctuating social influences on the formation of polarization and consensus in a three-party community consisting of two types of voters (“leftists” and “rightists”) holding extreme opinions, and moderate agents acting as “centrists”. The former are incompatible and do not interact, while centrists hold an intermediate opinion and can interact with extreme voters. When a centrist and a leftist/rightist interact, they can become either both centrists or both leftists/rightists. The population eventually either reaches consensus with one of the three opinions, or a polarization state consisting of a frozen mixture of leftists and rightists. As a main novelty, here agents interact subject to time-fluctuating external influences favouring in turn the spread of leftist and rightist opinions, or the rise of centrism. The fate of the population is determined under various scenarios, and it is shown how the rate of change of external influences can drastically affect the polarization and consensus probabilities, as well as the mean time to reach the final state. Full article

A method of determining the position of the readout sectors of a time projection chamber using experimental data is proposed. Considering the results of modeling the response of sensitive elements of the time projection chamber of the multipurpose detector, three types of tracks were reconstructed: cosmic muons, beams of the laser detector system, and muons from the interaction of nuclei. Employing data from the experiment simulation and the proposed method of finding the position and orientation of sectors of the time projection chamber, the accuracy of the chamber alignment is investigated. For cosmic and laser rays, the accuracy is approximately the same. It is about 750 microns for the shift of the origin of the sector and 7 arc minutes for Euler angles. The accuracy in the case of muons born in collisions of nuclei is several times worse. Full article

[email protected] (Scattering Neutrino Detector at the Large Hadron Collider) is a compact and stand-alone experiment to perform measurements with neutrinos produced in the LHC in a hitherto unexplored pseudorapidity region of 7.2 < η < 8.6. The experiment is located in the Tl18 (Target line 18) LHC tunnel, 480 m downstream of the ATLAS detector interaction point. The [email protected] detector is composed of a hybrid system based on an 800 kg target mass of tungsten plates, interleaved with emulsion and electronic trackers, followed downstream by a muon system. This configuration allows us to distinguish all three neutrino flavors, opening a unique opportunity to probe the physics of heavy flavor production in the LHC in a region that is not accessible to the ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and FASER experiments. The detector concept is also well suited to searching for feebly interacting particles via signatures of scattering in the detector target. The first phase of the experiment has been carried out during the ongoing LHC Run 3, and the first data of the LHC Run3 commissioning period are being processed and analyzed. Full article

The two-phase emission detector RED-100 with 130 kg of liquid xenon as a working medium has been exhibited at a distance of 19 m from the core of the VVER-1000/320 nuclear power reactor at the fourth power unit of the Kalinin Nuclear Plant Power in 2021–2022. Due to the high sensitivity of the detector for weak ionization signals (down to single electrons), the detector has been used to search for the elastic coherent scattering of reactor electron antineutrinos off xenon nuclei. However, the observation of ~30 kHz single-electron noise did not quite allow for an effective selection of the useful events. The next experiment with the RED-100 detector is considered to be arranged with 62 kg of liquid argon as a working medium. The advantages of this approach are discussed in this paper. Full article