Greynat, D., de Rafael, E., & Vulvert, G. (2014). Asymptotic behaviour of pion-pion total cross-sections. J. High Energy Phys., 03(3), 107–21pp.
Abstract: We derive a sum rule which shows that the Froissart-Martin bound for the asymptotic behaviour of the pi pi total cross sections at high energies, if modulated by the Lukaszuk-Martin coefficient of the leading log(2)s behaviour, cannot be an optimal bound in QCD. We next compute the total cross sections for pi(+)pi(-), pi(+/-)pi(0) and pi(0)pi(0) scattering within the framework of the constituent chiral quark model (C chi QM) in the limit of a large number of colours N-c and discuss their asymptotic behaviours. The same pi pi cross sections are also discussed within the general framework of Large-N-c QCD and we show that it is possible to make an Ansatz for the isospin I = 1 and I = 0 spectrum which satisfy the Froissart-Martin bound with coefficients which, contrary to the Lukaszuk-Martin coefficient, are not singular in the chiral limit and have the correct Large-N-c counting. We finally propose a simple phenomenological model which matches the low energy behaviours of the sigma(total)(pi +/-pi 0)(s) cross section predicted by the CxQM with the high energy behaviour predicted by the Large-N-c Ansatz. The magnitude of these cross sections at very high energies is of the order of those observed for the pp and pp scattering total cross sections.
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Greynat, D., Sesma, J., & Vulvert, G. (2014). Derivatives of the Pochhammer and reciprocal Pochhammer symbols and their use in epsilon-expansions of Appell and Kampe de Feriet functions. J. Math. Phys., 55(4), 043501–16pp.
Abstract: Useful expressions of the derivatives, to any order, of Pochhammer and reciprocal Pochhammer symbols with respect to their arguments are presented. They are building blocks of a procedure, recently suggested, for obtaining the e-expansion of functions of the hypergeometric class related to Feynman integrals. The procedure is applied to some examples of such kind of functions taken from the literature.
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Granero, D., Perez-Calatayud, J., Vijande, J., Ballester, F., & Rivard, M. J. (2014). Limitations of the TG-43 formalism for skin high-dose-rate brachytherapy dose calculations. Med. Phys., 41(2), 021703–8pp.
Abstract: Purpose: In skin high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy, sources are located outside, in contact with, or implanted at some depth below the skin surface. Most treatment planning systems use the TG-43 formalism, which is based on single-source dose superposition within an infinite water medium without accounting for the true geometry in which conditions for scattered radiation are altered by the presence of air. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the dosimetric limitations of the TG-43 formalism in HDR skin brachytherapy and the potential clinical impact. Methods: Dose rate distributions of typical configurations used in skin brachytherapy were obtained: a 5 cm x 5 cm superficial mould; a source inside a catheter located at the skin surface with and without backscatter bolus; and a typical interstitial implant consisting of an HDR source in a catheter located at a depth of 0.5 cm. Commercially available HDR Co-60 and Ir-192 sources and a hypothetical Yb-169 source were considered. The Geant4Monte Carlo radiation transport code was used to estimate dose rate distributions for the configurations considered. These results were then compared to those obtained with the TG-43 dose calculation formalism. In particular, the influence of adding bolus material over the implant was studied. Results: For a 5 cm x 5 cm Ir-192 superficial mould and 0.5 cm prescription depth, dose differences in comparison to the TG-43 method were about -3%. When the source was positioned at the skin surface, dose differences were smaller than -1% for Co-60 and Ir-192, yet -3% for Yb-169. For the interstitial implant, dose differences at the skin surface were -7% for Co-60, -0.6% for Ir-192, and -2.5% for Yb-169. Conclusions: This study indicates the following: (i) for the superficial mould, no bolus is needed; (ii) when the source is in contact with the skin surface, no bolus is needed for either Co-60 and Ir-192. For lower energy radionuclides like Yb-169, bolus may be needed; and (iii) for the interstitial case, at least a 0.1 cm bolus is advised for Co-60 to avoid underdosing superficial target layers. For Ir-192 and Yb-169, no bolus is needed. For those cases where no bolus is needed, its use might be detrimental as the lack of radiation scatter may be beneficial to the patient, although the 2% tolerance for dose calculation accuracy recommended in the AAPM TG-56 report is not fulfilled.
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Gottardo, A. et al, Gadea, A., & Algora, A. (2014). Isomeric decay spectroscopy of the Bi-217 isotope. Phys. Rev. C, 90(3), 034317–6pp.
Abstract: The structure of the neutron-rich bismuth isotope Bi-217 has been studied for the first time. The fragmentation of a primary U-238 beam at the FRS-RISING setup at GSI was exploited to perform gamma-decay spectroscopy, since μs isomeric states were expected in this nucleus. Gamma rays following the decay of a t(1/2) = 3 μs isomer were observed, allowing one to establish the low-lying structure of Bi-217. The level energies and the reduced electric quadrupole transition probability B(E2) from the isomeric state are compared to large-scale shell-model calculations.
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Gonzalez-Sevilla, S. et al, Bernabeu Verdu, J., Civera, J. V., Garcia, C., Lacasta, C., Marco, R., et al. (2014). A double-sided silicon micro-strip Super-Module for the ATLAS Inner Detector upgrade in the High-Luminosity LHC. J. Instrum., 9, P02003–37pp.
Abstract: The ATLAS experiment is a general purpose detector aiming to fully exploit the discovery potential of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. It is foreseen that after several years of successful data-taking, the LHC physics programme will be extended in the so-called High-Luminosity LHC, where the instantaneous luminosity will be increased up to 5 x 10(34) cm(-2) s(-1). For ATLAS, an upgrade scenario will imply the complete replacement of its internal tracker, as the existing detector will not provide the required performance due to the cumulated radiation damage and the increase in the detector occupancy. The current baseline layout for the new ATLAS tracker is an all-silicon-based detector, with pixel sensors in the inner layers and silicon micro-strip detectors at intermediate and outer radii. The super-module is an integration concept proposed for the strip region of the future ATLAS tracker, where double-sided stereo silicon micro-strip modules are assembled into a low-mass local support structure. An electrical super-module prototype for eight double-sided strip modules has been constructed. The aim is to exercise the multi-module readout chain and to investigate the noise performance of such a system. In this paper, the main components of the current super-module prototype are described and its electrical performance is presented in detail.
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