Ultrarelativistic collisions of heavy atomic nuclei produce an extremely hot and dense phase of matter, known as quark–gluon plasma (QGP), which behaves like a near-perfect fluid with the smallest ...specific shear viscosity—the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density—of any known substance1. Due to its transience (lifetime ~ 10−23 s) and microscopic size (10−14 m), the QGP cannot be observed directly, but only through the particles it emits; however, its characteristics can be inferred by matching the output of computational collision models to experimental observations. Previous work, using viscous relativistic hydrodynamics to simulate QGP, has achieved semiquantitative constraints on key physical properties, such as its specific shear and bulk viscosity, but with large, poorly defined uncertainties2–8. Here, we present the most precise estimates so far of QGP properties, including their quantitative uncertainties. By applying established Bayesian parameter estimation methods9 to a dynamical collision model and a wide variety of experimental data, we extract estimates of the temperature-dependent specific shear and bulk viscosity simultaneously with related initial-condition properties. The method is extensible to other collision models and experimental data and may be used to characterize additional aspects of high-energy nuclear collisions.
A quantitatively reliable theoretical description of the dynamics of fluctuations in nonequilibrium is indispensable in the experimental search for the QCD critical point by means of ...ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions. In this paper we consider the fluctuations of the net-baryon density which becomes the slow, critical mode near the critical point. Due to net-baryon number conservation the dynamics is described by the fluid dynamical diffusion equation, which we extend to contain a white noise stochastic current. Including nonlinear couplings from the 3d Ising model universality class in the free energy functional, we solve the fully interacting theory in a finite size system. We observe that purely Gaussian white noise generates non-Gaussian fluctuations, but finite size effects and exact net-baryon number conservation lead to significant deviations from the expected behavior in equilibrated systems. In particular the skewness shows a qualitative deviation from infinite volume expectations. With this benchmark established we study the real-time dynamics of the fluctuations. We recover the expected dynamical scaling behavior and observe retardation effects and the impact of critical slowing down near the pseudocritical temperature.
Mounting evidence of recent spectromicroscopic insights have revealed that the distribution of mineral‐associated organic matter (OM) at the microscale and nanoscale is organized heterogeneously in ...patchy and piled‐up arrangements of varying thickness. Spectromicroscopic approaches could show local deterministic features of distinct OM and mineral composition that influence the heterogeneous lateral OM distribution. OM–OM interactions shape vertical and three‐dimensional OM structures with potentially multilayered composition. Conceptualizing mineral‐associated OM as patchy‐distributed and piled‐up has critical implications for our understanding of soil ecosystem functions as it defines their functional properties in compartmentalized regions at the microscale and nanoscale. The concentrated storage of OM associated to only a minor part of mineral surfaces implies that carbon sequestration may be decoupled from a direct limitation by the amount of fine mineral particles while sustaining mineral surface functionality in other parts. At the microscale and nanoscale, differences in altered surface properties, compartmentalized microhabitats, and biotic architectures shape a conceptual understanding where OM storage and other soil functions are driven by spatially resolved interactions. This novel conceptual framework warrants experimental approaches to incorporate the patchy and piled‐up arrangement of OM and upscale potential effects of its heterogeneous arrangement to systematically understand the effectiveness of soil functions.
In any biological system with memory, the state of the system depends on its history. Epigenetic memory maintains gene expression states through cell generations without a change in DNA sequence and ...in the absence of initiating signals. It is immensely powerful in biological systems - it adds long-term stability to gene expression states and increases the robustness of gene regulatory networks. The Polycomb group (PcG) and Trithorax group (TrxG) proteins can confer long-term, mitotically heritable memory by sustaining silent and active gene expression states, respectively. Several recent studies have advanced our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of this epigenetic memory during DNA replication and mitosis.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
The largest terrestrial organic carbon pool, carbon in soils, is regulated by an intricate connection between plant carbon inputs, microbial activity, and the soil matrix. This is manifested ...by how microorganisms, the key players in transforming plant-derived carbon into soil organic carbon, are controlled by the physical arrangement of organic and inorganic soil particles. Here we conduct an incubation of isotopically labelled litter to study effects of soil structure on the fate of litter-derived organic matter. While microbial activity and fungal growth is enhanced in the coarser-textured soil, we show that occlusion of organic matter into aggregates and formation of organo-mineral associations occur concurrently on fresh litter surfaces regardless of soil structure. These two mechanisms—the two most prominent processes contributing to the persistence of organic matter—occur directly at plant–soil interfaces, where surfaces of litter constitute a nucleus in the build-up of soil carbon persistence. We extend the notion of plant litter, i.e., particulate organic matter, from solely an easily available and labile carbon substrate, to a functional component at which persistence of soil carbon is directly determined.
Ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) are thought to have produced a state of matter called the quark-gluon plasma, ...characterized by a very small shear-viscosity to entropy-density ratio eta/s, near the lower bound predicted for that quantity by anti-de Sitter space/conformal field theory methods. As the produced matter expands and cools, it evolves through a phase described by a hadron gas with rapidly increasing eta/s. We calculate eta/s as a function of temperature in this phase both in and out of chemical equilibrium and find that its value poses a challenge for viscous relativistic hydrodynamics, which requires small values of eta/s in order to successfully describe the collective flow observables at the RHIC. We therefore conclude that the origin of the low viscosity matter at the RHIC must be in the partonic phase of the reaction.
A new robust method to extract the specific shear viscosity (η/s)(QGP) of a quark-gluon plasma (QGP) at temperatures T(c) < T ≲ 2T(c) from the centrality dependence of the eccentricity-scaled ...elliptic flow v2/ε measured in ultrarelativistic heavy-ion collisions is presented. Coupling viscous fluid dynamics for the QGP with a microscopic transport model for hadronic freeze-out we find for 200 A GeV Au + Au collisions that v2/ε is a universal function of multiplicity density (1/S)(dN(ch)/dy) that depends only on the viscosity but not on the model used for computing the initial fireball eccentricity ε. Comparing with measurements we find 1<4π(η/s)(QGP) < 2.5 where the uncertainty range is dominated by model uncertainties for the values of ε used to normalize the measured v2.
A
bstract
We develop a framework of coupled transport equations for open heavy flavor and quarkonium states, in order to describe their transport inside the quark-gluon plasma. Our framework is ...capable of studying simultaneously both open and hidden heavy flavor observables in heavy-ion collision experiments and can account for both, uncorrelated and correlated recombination. Our recombination implementation depends on real-time open heavy quark and antiquark distributions. We carry out consistency tests to show how the interplay among open heavy flavor transport, quarkonium dissociation and recombination drives the system to equilibrium. We then apply our framework to study bottomonium production in heavy-ion collisions. We include ϒ(1
S
), ϒ(2
S
), ϒ(3
S
),
χ
b
(1
P
) and
χ
b
(2
P
) in the framework and take feed-down contributions during the hadronic gas stage into account. Cold nuclear matter effects are included by using nuclear parton distribution functions for the initial primordial heavy flavor production. A calibrated 2 + 1 dimensional viscous hydrodynamics is used to describe the bulk QCD medium. We calculate both the nuclear modification factor
R
AA
of all bottomonia states and the azimuthal angular anisotropy coefficient
v
2
of the ϒ(1
S
) state and find that our results agree reasonably with experimental measurements. Our calculations indicate that correlated cross-talk recombination is an important production mechanism of bottomonium in current heavy-ion experiments. The importance of correlated recombination can be tested experimentally by measuring the ratio of
R
AA
(
χ
b
(1
P
)) and
R
AA
(ϒ(2
S
)).
Steric and electronic effects play a very important role in chemistry, as these effects influence the shape and reactivity of molecules. Herein, an easy-to-perform approach to assess and quantify ...steric properties of Lewis acids with differently substituted Lewis acidic centers is reported. This model applies the concept of the percent buried volume (%
) to fluoride adducts of Lewis acids, as many fluoride adducts are crystallographically characterized and are frequently calculated to judge fluoride ion affinities (FIAs). Thus, data such as cartesian coordinates are often easily available. A list of 240 Lewis acids together with topographic steric maps and cartesian coordinates of an oriented molecule suitable for the SambVca 2.1 web application is provided, together with different FIA values taken from the literature. Diagrams of %
as a scale for steric demand
FIA as a scale for Lewis acidity provide valuable information about stereo-electronic properties of Lewis acids and an excellent evaluation of steric and electronic features of the Lewis acid under consideration. Furthermore, a novel LAB-Rep model (Lewis acid/base repulsion model) is introduced, which judges steric repulsion in Lewis acid/base pairs and helps to predict if an arbitrary pair of Lewis acid and Lewis base can form an adduct with respect to their steric properties. The reliability of this model was evaluated in four selected case studies, which demonstrate the versatility of this model. For this purpose, a user-friendly Excel spreadsheet was developed and is provided in the ESI, which works with listed buried volumes of Lewis acids %
and of Lewis bases %
, and no results from experimental crystal structures or quantum chemical calculations are necessary to evaluate steric repulsion in these Lewis acid/base pairs.
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