Kinetics of Photon Radiation off an e-e+ Plasma created from the Vacuum in a Strong Laser Field

We consider the one-photon annihilation mechanism in a electron - positron quasiparticle plasma (EPP) created from the vacuum in a strong subcritical laser field due to the dynamical Schwinger mechanism. On the basis of a kinetic theory approach we show that the secondary photons have a radiation spectrum proportional to 1/k (flicker noise). This effect is very small for EPP excitations in the optical spectrum but can reach quite observable values in the gamma - ray region.Comment: 6 page

Cluster virial expansion for quark and nuclear matter

We employ the $\Phi-$ derivable approach to many particle systems with strong correlations that can lead to the formation of bound states (clusters) of different size. We define a generic form of $\Phi-$ functionals that is fully equivalent to a selfconsistent cluster virial expansion up to the second virial coefficient for interactions among the clusters. As examples we consider nuclei in nuclear matter and hadrons in quark matter, with particular attention to the case of the deuterons in nuclear matter and mesons in quark matter. We derive a generalized Beth-Uhlenbeck equation of state, where the quasiparticle virial expansion is extended to include arbitrary clusters. The approach is applicable to nonrelativistic potential models of nuclear matter as well as to relativistic field theoretic models of quark matter. It is particularly suited for a description of cluster formation and dissociation in hot, dense matter.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the XXII International Baldin Seminar on High Energy Physics Problems, 15-20 September 2014, JINR Dubna, Russi

Modern compact star observations and the quark matter EoS

A hybrid equation of state for dense matter is presented that satisfies phenomenological constraints from modern compact star observations which indicate high maximum masses of about 2 M_sun and large radii of R> 12 km. The corresponding isospin symmetric equation of state is consistent with flow data analyses of heavy-ion collisions. The transition from nuclear to two-flavor color superconducting quark matter at n approximately 0.55 fm^{-3} is almost a crossover.Comment: 2 pages, 2 figures; Proceedings of the Erice School on 'Radioactive Beams, Nuclear Dynamics and Astrophysics' to be published in 'Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys.

Thermodynamic instabilities in dynamical quark models with complex conjugate mass poles

We show that the CJT thermodynamic potential of dynamical quark models with a quark propagator represented by complex conjugate mass poles inevitably exhibits thermodynamic instabilities. We find that the minimal coupling of the quark sector to a Polyakov loop potential can strongly suppress but not completely remove such instabilities. This general effect is explicitly demonstrated in the framework of a covariant, chirally symmetric, effective quark model.Comment: Minor typos corrected, submitted versio

Health and wellbeing benefits of conservation in New Zealand

Abstract: Despite a long-held popular belief that nature is ‘healthy’ for people, exactly how or even whether this is true has only recently been subject to scientific scrutiny. This report reviews key literature relevant to the relationship between conservation and health and wellbeing (HWB) benefits, with a particular focus on public conservation areas (PCAs) managed by the New Zealand Department of Conservation (DOC). The review takes a broad approach both to the types of natural environments that may offer HWB benefits and to the scope of HWB.Overall, there is a large body of internationally relevant modern research that suggests that exposure to natural environments has direct positive effects on human HWB. However, much of this research was either anecdotal or descriptive. Of the relatively small number of experimental studies that have rigorously tested differences between natural and non-natural settings, many of the positive effects were not statistically significant or related to very small sample groups. Therefore, further investigation of activities undertaken in PCAs and their HWB outcomes is required to better understand conservation/human HWB relationships in New Zealand. The report identifies sources of data and expertise that are required to further analyse the relationships between conservation investment and human health, discusses the value of conservation investment as measured by health outcomes, and describes measures that would improve the alignment between conservation management and potential HWB benefits in New Zealand. Recommendations focus on requirements for research relevant to New Zealand natural areas, and the need for an integrated approach between DOC, other managers of public natural areas, and managers and stakeholders in the health and volunteering sectors

Aspects of perturbative quantum field theory on non-commutative spaces

In this contribution to the proceedings of the Corfu Summer Institute 2015, I give an overview over quantum field theories on non-commutative Moyal space and renormalization. In particular, I review the new features and challenges one faces when constructing various scalar, fermionic and gauge field theories on Moyal space, and especially how the UV/IR mixing problem was solved for certain models. Finally, I outline more recent progress in constructing a renormalizable gauge field model on non-commutative space, and how one might attempt to prove renormalizability of such a model using a generalized renormalization scheme adapted to the non-commutative (and hence non-local) setting.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figures; invited talk presented at the "Workshop on Noncommutative Field Theory and Gravity" in Corfu, Greece, 21-27 September 2015, to appear in the proceedings of the Corfu Summer Institute 2015 "School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity