Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

B. Mueller

Publications and source records attributed to B. Mueller.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Dynamics of shock propagation and nucleosynthesis conditions in O-Ne-Mg core supernovae

It has been recently proposed that the shocked surface layers of exploding O-Ne-Mg cores provide the conditions for r-process nucleosynthesis, because their rapid expansion and high entropies enable heavy r-process isotopes to form even in an environment with very low initial neutron excess of the matter. We show here that the most sophisticated available hydrodynamic simulations (in spherical and axial symmetry) do not support this new r-process scenario because they fail to provide the necessary conditions of temperature, entropy, and expansion timescale by significant factors. This suggests that, either the formation of r-process elements works differently than suggested by Ning et al. (2007, NQM07), or that some essential core properties with influence on the explosion dynamics might be different from those predicted by Nomoto's progenitor model.

astro-ph↗

Supernova explosions and the birth of neutron stars

We report here on recent progress in understanding the birth conditions of neutron stars and the way how supernovae explode. More sophisticated numerical models have led to the discovery of new phenomena in the supernova core, for example a generic hydrodynamic instability of the stagnant supernova shock against low-mode nonradial deformation and the excitation of gravity-wave activity in the surface and core of the nascent neutron star. Both can have supportive or decisive influence on the inauguration of the explosion, the former by improving the conditions for energy deposition by neutrino heating in the postshock gas, the latter by supplying the developing blast with a flux of acoustic power that adds to the energy transfer by neutrinos. While recent two-dimensional models suggest that the neutrino-driven mechanism may be viable for stars from about 8 solar masses to at least 15 solar masses, acoustic energy input has been advocated as an alternative if neutrino heating fails. Magnetohydrodynamic effects constitute another way to trigger explosions in connection with the collapse of sufficiently rapidly rotating stellar cores, perhaps linked to the birth of magnetars. The global explosion asymmetries seen in the recent simulations offer an explanation of even the highest measured kick velocities of young neutron stars.

astro-ph↗

Quasifree Lambda, Sigma^0, and Sigma^- electroproduction from 1,2H, 3,4He, and carbon

Kaon electroproduction from light nuclei and hydrogen, using 1H, 2H, 3He, 4He, and Carbon targets has been measured at Jefferson Laboratory. The quasifree angular distributions of Lambda and Sigma hyperons were determined at Q^2= 0.35(GeV/c)^2 and W= 1.91GeV. Electroproduction on hydrogen was measured at the same kinematics for reference.

nucl-ex↗

Effects of Inelastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering on Supernova Dynamics and Radiated Neutrino Spectra

Based on the shell model for Gamow-Teller and the Random Phase Approximation for forbidden transitions, we have calculated reaction rates for inelastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (INNS) under supernova (SN) conditions, assuming a matter composition given by Nuclear Statistical Equilibrium. The rates have been incorporated into state-of-the-art stellar core-collapse simulations with detailed energy-dependent neutrino transport. While no significant effect on the SN dynamics is observed, INNS increases the neutrino opacities noticeably and strongly reduces the high-energy tail of the neutrino spectrum emitted in the neutrino burst at shock breakout. Relatedly the expected event rates for the observation of such neutrinos by earthbound detectors are reduced by up to about 60%.

astro-ph↗

Charge modulation driven Fermi surface of Pb-Bi2201

It is well known that the (1x5) superstructure of Bi cuprate superconductors will be suppressed due to optimum doping with Pb. Nevertheless, a Fermi surface map of (Pb,La)-Bi2201 (Pb = 0.4 and La = 0.4) determined by angular resolved photoemission (ARPES) revealed additional Fermi surface features. Low energy electron diffraction and X-ray diffraction of these samples showed no sign of any superstructure. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), on the other hand, revealed two distinct modulations of the charge density, one of (1x32) and a second of (6x6) periodicity. The wave vectors of both modulations have been extracted and used to simulate the corresponding Fermi surface, which is compared with the experimental one. The origin of these modulations is discussed in terms of dopant ordering.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Determination of the pion charge form factor for Q^2=0.60-1.60 GeV^2

The data analysis for the reaction H(e,e' pi^+)n, which was used to determine values for the charged pion form factor Fpi for values of Q^2=0.6-1.6 GeV^2, has been repeated with careful inspection of all steps and special attention to systematic uncertainties. Also the method used to extract Fpi from the measured longitudinal cross section was critically reconsidered. Final values for the separated longitudinal and transverse cross sections and the extracted values of Fpi are presented.

nucl-ex↗

Theory of Core-Collapse Supernovae

Advances in our understanding and the modeling of stellar core-collapse and supernova explosions over the past 15 years are reviewed, concentrating on the evolution of hydrodynamical simulations, the description of weak interactions and nuclear equation of state effects, and new insights into the nucleosynthesis occurring in the early phases of the explosion, in particular the neutrino-p process. The latter is enabled by the proton-richness of the early ejecta, which was discovered because of significant progress has been made in the treatment of neutrino transport and weak interactions. This progress has led to a new generation of sophisticated Newtonian and relativistic hydrodynamics simulations in spherical symmetry. Based on these, it is now clear that the prompt bounce-shock mechanism is not the driver of supernova explosions, and that the delayed neutrino-heating mechanism can produce explosions without the aid of multi-dimensional processes only if the progenitor star has an ONeMg core inside a very dilute He-core, i.e., has a mass in the 8--10 solar mass range. Hydrodynamic instabilities of various kinds have indeed been recognized to occur in the supernova core and to be of potential importance for the explosion. Neutrino-driven explosions, however, have been seen in two-dimensional simulations with sophisticated neutrino transport so far only when the star has a small iron core and low density in the surrounding shells as being found in stars near 10--11 solar masses. The explosion mechanism of more massive progenitors is still a puzzle. It might involve effects of three-dimensional hydrodynamics or might point to the relevance of rapid rotation and magnetohydrodynamics, or to still incompletely explored properties of neutrinos and the high-density equation of state.

astro-ph↗

Hamiltonian Dynamics of Yang-Mills Fields on a Lattice

We review recent results from studies of the dynamics of classical Yang-Mills fields on a lattice. We discuss the numerical techniques employed in solving the classical lattice Yang-Mills equations in real time, and present results exhibiting the universal chaotic behavior of nonabelian gauge theories. The complete spectrum of Lyapunov exponents is determined for the gauge group SU(2). We survey results obtained for the SU(3) gauge theory and other nonlinear field theories. We also discuss the relevance of these results to the problem of thermalization in gauge theories.

nucl-th↗

Elliptic flow of resonances at RHIC: probing final state interactions and the structure of resonances

We propose the measurement of the elliptic flow of hadron resonances at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider as a tool to probe the amount of hadronic final state interactions for resonances at intermediate and large transverse momenta. This can be achieved by looking at systematic deviations of the measured flow coefficient $v_2$ from the scaling law given by the quark recombination formalism. Our method can be generalized to explore the structure of exotic particles, such as the recently found pentaquark $Θ^+ (1540)$.

nucl-th↗

Beyond Quantum Field Theory: Chaotic Lattices?

We review the idea of chaotic quantization, based on the dynamics of classical lattice gauge systems as well as on non-abelian plasma physics in the infrared limit. The basic conjecture between Planck constant and properties of the five dimensional classical theory (h=aT) is demonstrated numerically for the U(1) lattice gauge group.

hep-lat↗

Parton rescattering and screening in Au+Au collisions at RHIC

We study the microscopic dynamics of quarks and gluons in relativistic heavy ion collisions in the framework of the Parton Cascade Model. We use lowest order perturbative QCD cross sections with fixed lower momentum cutoff p_0. We calculate the time-evolution of the Debye-screening mass for Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV per nucleon pair. The screening mass is used to determine a lower limit for the allowed range of p_0. We also determine the energy density reached through hard and semi-hard processes at RHIC, obtain a lower bound for the rapidity density of charged hadrons produced by semihard interactions, and analyze the extent of perturbative rescattering among partons.

nucl-th↗

How does the chain extension of poly (acrylic acid) scale in aqueous solution? A combined study with light scattering and computer simulation

This work adresses the question of the scaling behaviour of polyelectrolytes in solution for a realistic prototype: We show results of a combined experimental (light scattering) and theoretical (computer simulations) investigation of structural properties of poly (acrylic acid) (PAA). Experimentally, we determined the molecular weight (M_W) and the hydrodynamic radius (R_H) by static light scattering for six different PAA samples in aqueous NaCl-containing solution (0.1-1 mol/L) of polydispersity D_P between 1.5 and 1.8. On the computational side, three different variants of a newly developed mesoscopic force field for PAA were employed to determine R_H for monodisperse systems of the same M_W as in the experiments. The force field effectively incorporates atomistic information and one coarse-grained bead corresponds to one PAA monomer. We find that R_H matches with the experimental data for all investigated samples. The effective scaling exponent for R_H is found to be around 0.55, which is well below its asymptotic value for good solvents. Additionally, data for the radius of gyration (R_G) are presented.

cond-mat.soft↗

Measurement of the vector analyzing power in elastic electron-proton scattering as a probe of double photon exchange amplitudes

We report the first measurement of the vector analyzing power in inclusive transversely polarized elastic electron-proton scattering at Q^2 = 0.1 (GeV/c)^2 and large scattering angles. This quantity should vanish in the single virtual photon exchange, plane wave impulse approximation for this reaction, and can therefore provide information on double photon exchange amplitudes for electromagnetic interactions with hadronic systems. We find a non-zero value of A=-15.4+/-5.4 ppm. No calculations of this observable for nuclei other than spin 0 have been carried out in these kinematics, and the calculation using the spin orbit interaction from a charged point nucleus of spin 0 cannot describe these data.

nucl-ex↗

Real-Time Evolution of Soft Gluon Field Dynamics in Ultra-Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

The dynamics of gluons and quarks in a relativistic nuclear collision are described, within the framework of a classical mean-field transport theory, by the coupled equations for the Yang-Mills field and a collection of colored point particles. The particles are used to represent color source effects of the valence quarks in the colliding nuclei. The possibilities of this approach are studied to describe the real time evolution of small $x$ modes in the classical effective theory in a non-perturbative coherent manner. The time evolution of the color fields is explored in a numerical simulation of the collision of two Lorentz-boosted clouds of color charged particles on a long three-dimensional gauge lattice. We report results on soft gluon scattering and coherent gluon radiation obtained in SU(2) gauge symmetry.

nucl-th↗

Real Time Dynamics of Colliding Gauge Fields and the ''Glue Burst''

The Yang Mills equations provide a classical mean field description of gauge fields. In view of developing a coherent description of the formation of the quark gluon plasma in high energetic nucleus-nucleus collisions we study pure gauge field dynamics in 3+1 dimensions. In collisions of wave packets, numerically simulated on a SU(2) gauge lattice, we study transverse and longitudinal energy currents. For wave packets with different polarizations in color space, we observe a time delayed fragmentation after the collision resulting in a rapid expansion into transverse directions. We call this phenomenon the ''glue burst''. An analysis of the Yang Mills equations reveals the explanation for this behavior. We point out that this effect could play a role in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

nucl-th↗

Gauge Lattice Simulation of the soft QGP Dynamics in Ultra-Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions

In a fully relativistic approach, a RLSM description of nuclei colliding at ultra-relativistic energies can be formulated within the framework of a classical transport theory. The valence quarks of the nucleons are described through collections of classical point-like particles moving in the continuum. They are coupled to soft gluon fields which are described through the Yang Mills equations on a gauge lattice. In a first step, we focus on the range of low-$p_t$ interactions. Results from numerical model simulations of pure gluonic nucleus-nucleus collisions on SU(2) gauge lattices in 3+1 dimensions are presented. They show an effect which we call the glue burst.

hep-ph↗

Gluon Field Dynamics in Ultra-Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collisions: Time evolution on a Gauge Lattice in 3+1 Dimensions

We describe the dynamics of gluons and quarks in a relativistic nuclear collision, within the framework of classical mean-field transport theory, by the coupled equations for the classical Yang-Mills field and a collection of colored point particles. The particles represent the valence quarks in the colliding nuclei. We explore the time evolution of the gauge field in a numerical simulation of the collision of two Lorentz-boosted ``nuclei'' on a long three-dimensional gauge lattice. We report first results on soft gluon scattering and coherent gluon radiation.

nucl-th↗