Publications

Order by: publication date number of citations

• The geometry of Casimir W-algebras

  Raphaël Belliard, Bertrand Eynard, Sylvain Ribault

  SciPost Phys. 5, 051 (2018) · published 23 November 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a simply laced Lie algebra, $\widehat{\mathfrak{g}}_1$ the corresponding affine Lie algebra at level one, and $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$ the corresponding Casimir W-algebra. We consider $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$-symmetric conformal field theory on the Riemann sphere. To a number of $\mathcal{W}(\mathfrak{g})$-primary fields, we associate a Fuchsian differential system. We compute correlation functions of $\widehat{\mathfrak{g}}_1$-currents in terms of solutions of that system, and construct the bundle where these objects live. We argue that cycles on that bundle correspond to parameters of the conformal blocks of the W-algebra, equivalently to moduli of the Fuchsian system.

• Finite-time bounds on the probabilistic violation of the second law of thermodynamics

  Harry J. D. Miller, Martí Perarnau-Llobet

  SciPost Phys. 14, 072 (2023) · published 17 April 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Jarzynski's equality sets a strong bound on the probability of violating the second law of thermodynamics by extracting work beyond the free energy difference. We derive finite-time refinements to this bound for driven systems in contact with a thermal Markovian environment, which can be expressed in terms of the geometric notion of thermodynamic length. We show that finite-time protocols converge to Jarzynski's bound at a rate slower than $1/\sqrt{\tau}$, where $\tau$ is the total time of the work-extraction protocol. Our result highlights a new application of minimal dissipation processes and demonstrates a connection between thermodynamic geometry and the higher order statistical properties of work.

• The composition of cosmic rays according to the data on EAS cores

  S. B. Shaulov, V. A. Ryabov, S. E. Pyatovsky, A. L. Shepetov, V. V. Zhukov

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 13, 014 (2023) · published 28 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The main purpose of this work is to find the causes of the break of the cosmic ray spectrum at an energy of 3 PeV, which is called the knee. The solution of the problem is associated with the determination of the nuclear composition of cosmic rays in the knee area. The conclusions of this work are based on the analysis of the characteristics of the EAS cores obtained using X-ray emulsion chambers. According to these data, a number of anomalous effects are observed in the knee region, such as scaling violation in the spectra of secondary hadrons, an excess of muons in EAS with gamma families and others. At the same energies equivalent to 1-100 PeV the laboratory system colliders show scaling behavior. So analysis of the data on the EAS cores suggests that the knee in their spectrum is formed by a component of cosmic rays of a non-nuclear nature, possibly consisting of stable (quasi-stable) particles of hypothetical strange quark matter, which named strangelets. This is the only model of the knee compatible with the magnetic rigidity of the nuclear spectra break R=100 TV. In fact, stranglets are stable heavy quasi-nuclei with a positive electric charge of Z=30-1000, so the mechanism of their acceleration coincides with the nuclear one. The break of the cosmic ray spectrum can be associated with a significantly larger mass of strangelets compared to nuclei.

• Recent results from LHCb for astroparticle physics

  Hans Dembinski on behalf of the LHCb collaboration

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 13, 016 (2023) · published 28 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The LHCb experiment is a general-purpose forward spectrometer designed for the study of heavy flavour physics at the LHC. The acceptance in the pseudorapidity range $2 < \eta < 5$ with full tracking and particle identification capabilities down to very small transverse momentum make LHCb also ideal to study hadron production in the forward region. Measuring and modelling these processes is essential for the simulation of interactions of high-energy cosmic rays with matter, like Earth's atmosphere or the interstellar medium. We present recently published analyses from the LHCb collaboration relevant for this application.

• Mesoscopic electron transport and atomic gases, a review of Frank W. J. Hekking's scientific work

  Luigi Amico, Denis M. Basko, F Sebastián Bergeret, Olivier Buisson, Hervé Courtois, Rosario Fazio, Wiebke Guichard, Anna Minguzzi, Jukka Pekola, Gerd Schön

  SciPost Phys. 5, 009 (2018) · published 27 July 2018 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Frank W. J. Hekking performed his PhD work on "Aspects of Electron Transport in Semiconductor Nanostructures" at the TU Delft in 1992. He then worked as a postdoc at the University of Karlsruhe, the University of Minnesota, the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, and the Ruhr University at Bochum. In 1999 he joined the LPMMC (Laboratoire de Physique et Mod\' elisation des Milieux Condens\' es) in Grenoble and was appointed Professor at the Universit\' e Joseph Fourier and afterwards Universit\' e Grenoble Alpes. Frank Hekking was nominated as a member of the Institut Universitaire de France, for the periods 2002-2007 and 2012-2017. This review provides an overview of his scientific contributions to several fields of mesoscopic electron transport and superconductivity as well as atomic gases, and is organized along sections describing the different themes.

• All-order renormalization of electric charge in the Standard Model and beyond

  Stefan Dittmaier

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 7, 048 (2022) · published 22 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Electric charge, as defined in the Thomson limit of the electron--photon interaction vertex, is renormalized to all orders both in the Standard Model and in any spontaneously broken gauge theory with gauge group GxU(1) with a group factor U(1) that mixes with electromagnetic gauge symmetry. In the framework of the background-field method the charge renormalization constant $Z_e$ is directly obtained from the photon wave-function renormalization constant, similar to the situation in QED, which proves charge universality as a byproduct. Exploiting charge universality in arbitrary $R_\xi$ gauge by formulating the charge renormalization condition for a ``fake fermion'' that couples only via an infinitesimal electric charge, $Z_e$ can be expressed in terms of renormalization constants that are obtained solely from gauge-boson self-energies.

• Highlights of the results from the GRAPES-3 experiment

  Hariharan Balakrishnan, S. Ahmad, M. Chakraborty, S.R. Dugad, U.D. Goswami, S.K. Gupta, Y. Hayashi, P. Jagadeesan, A. Jain, P. Jain, S. Kawakami, H. Kojima, S. Mahapatra, P.K. Mohanty, R. Moharana, Y. Muraki, P.K. Nayak, T. Nonaka, A. Oshima, D. Pattanaik, B.P. Pant, M. Rameez, K. Ramesh, L.V. Reddy, S. Shibata, F. Varsi, M. Zuberi

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 13, 021 (2023) · published 28 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The GRAPES-3 experiment is a unique, extensive air shower experiment consisting of 400 scintillator detectors spread over 25000 m$^2$ and a 560 m$^2$ muon telescope. The experiment located at Ooty, India, has been collecting data for the past two decades. The unique capabilities of GRAPES-3 have allowed the study of cosmic rays over energies from a few TeV to tens of PeV and beyond. The measurement of the directional flux of muons (E$_\mu$≥1 GeV) by the large muon telescope permits an excellent gamma-hadron separation, which then becomes a powerful tool in the study of multi-TeV gamma-ray sources and the composition of primary cosmic rays. However, the high precision measurements also enable studies of transient atmospheric and interplanetary phenomena such as those produced by thunderstorms and geomagnetic storms. This paper presents some exciting new and recent results, including updates on various ongoing analyses.

• Recent progress on two-loop massless pentabox integrals with one off-shell leg

  D. Canko, A. Kardos, C. G. Papadopoulos, A. V Smirnov, N. Syrrakos, C. Wever

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 7, 037 (2022) · published 21 June 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  Analytic expressions in terms of polylogarithmic functions for all three families of planar two-loop five-point Master Integrals with one off-shell leg are presented. The Simplified Differential Equations approach is the only known way to fulfil this task due to its unique factorisation property of the symbols of the canonical differential equation. The results are relevant to the study of many $2\to 3$ scattering processes of interest at the LHC.

• Asymmetric power dissipation in electronic transport through a quantum point contact

  Carmen Blaas-Anselmi, Félix Helluin, Rodolfo A. Jalabert, Guillaume Weick, Dietmar Weinmann

  SciPost Phys. 12, 105 (2022) · published 25 March 2022 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  We investigate the power dissipated by an electronic current flowing through a quantum point contact in a two-dimensional electron gas. Based on the Landauer-B\"uttiker approach to quantum transport, we evaluate the power that is dissipated on the two sides of the constriction as a function of the Fermi energy, temperature, and applied voltage. We demonstrate that an asymmetry appears in the dissipation, which is most pronounced when the quantum point contact is tuned to a conductance step where the transmission strongly depends on energy. At low temperatures, the asymmetry is enhanced when the temperature increases. An estimation for the position of the maximum dissipation is provided.

• DEASA studies and applications to space physics and muon tomography

  Sonali Bhatnagar

  SciPost Phys. Proc. 13, 023 (2023) · published 29 September 2023 | Toggle abstract · pdf

  The high energy cosmic rays entering the Earth’s atmosphere throw light upon many aspects of Astroparticle and Particle Physics. This work outlines investigative learning about these high energy primaries based on a mini array DEASA in Agra, India. DEASA (Dayalbagh Educational Air Shower Array) consists of eight plastic scintillators each with an area of 1 square meter. This array covers an area of 260 square meters and is the first array in the northern part of our country. A real-life application of these highly energetic particles has been to find the best material to protect the astronaut from them in form of galactic cosmic rays (GCR). Geant4 based hadronic binary model was used in simulation of phantom, vehicle, SEP (Solar Energetic Particles) and GCR shield. The SEP shielding material was fixed as water and GCR shield was varied among aluminum, Polystyrene and Polyethylene. The poly materials were found to be the best due to large amount of hydrogen (H) and low atomic number (Z). In this work the equivalent dose deposited in the phantom with Polystyrene material for GCR shield was calculated to be minimum (107 sievert) as compared to the other materials. In the second application, the high energy muons have been studied to image nuclear caskets through muon tomography. In this Monte Carlo based simulation, a dry cask container containing different number of the UO2 rods have been bombarded with definite energy muons to measure the muon scattering . The parameters computed in this work are energy loss, radiation length and scattering angle which can calibrate these containers for correct identification of nuclear wastage.