The signaling function of carotenoid-based plumage is mainly determined by the concentration of pigments in feathers. For this reason, most studies of the proximate control of coloration focus on ...processes during and preceding moult. In great tits Parus major, past research demonstrates that carotenoid-based plumage coloration honestly indicates male quality and, thus, may be a sexually selected signal. In this study, we investigate how dirt and preen oil influence the coloration of carotenoid-based feathers in the great tit. We collected six feathers from each individual bird; three feathers served as controls while the remaining three feathers were washed with a chloroform/methanol mixture to remove soil and preen waxes. We assessed plumage coloration using digital photography. This cleaning procedure slightly enhanced ornamentation; the experimentally cleaned feathers expressed hues shifted towards shorter wavelengths and expressed brighter overall coloration than control feathers. This is the first experimental study conducted on wild birds demonstrating that, in addition to pigment concentration, the presence of preen waxes and soils on feathers may contribute to variation in coloration.
.
The centrality determination for Au + Au collisions at 1.23
A
GeV, as measured with HADES at the GSI-SIS18, is described. In order to extract collision geometry related quantities, such as the ...average impact parameter or number of participating nucleons, a Glauber Monte Carlo approach is employed. For the application of this model to collisions at this relatively low centre-of-mass energy of
s
NN
=
2
.
42
GeV special investigations were performed. As a result a well defined procedure to determine centrality classes for ongoing analyses of heavy-ion data is established.
We present the first observation of K^{-} and ϕ absorption within nuclear matter by means of π^{-}-induced reactions on C and W targets at an incident beam momentum of 1.7 GeV/c studied with HADES ...at SIS18/GSI. The double ratio (K^{-}/K^{+})_{W}/(K^{-}/K^{+})_{C} is found to be 0.319±0.009(stat)_{-0.012}^{+0.014}(syst) indicating a larger absorption of K^{-} in heavier targets as compared to lighter ones. The measured ϕ/K^{-} ratios in π^{-}+C and π^{-}+W reactions within the HADES acceptance are found to be equal to 0.55±0.04(stat)_{-0.07}^{+0.06}(syst) and to 0.63±0.06(stat)_{-0.11}^{+0.11}(syst), respectively. The similar ratios measured in the two different reactions demonstrate for the first time experimentally that the dynamics of the ϕ meson in nuclear medium is strongly coupled to the K^{-} dynamics. The large difference in the ϕ production off C and W nuclei is discussed in terms of a strong ϕN in-medium coupling. These results are relevant for the description of heavy-ion collisions and the structure of neutron stars.
High-precision measurements of flow coefficients
v
n
(
n
=
1
-
4
) for protons, deuterons and tritons relative to the first-order spectator plane have been performed in Au+Au collisions at
s
NN
=
2.4
... GeV with the High-Acceptance Di-Electron Spectrometer (HADES) at the SIS18/GSI. Flow coefficients are studied as a function of transverse momentum
p
t
and rapidity
y
cm
over a large region of phase-space and for several classes of collision centrality. A clear mass hierarchy, as expected by relativistic hydrodynamics, is found for the slope of
v
1
,
d
v
1
/
d
y
′
|
y
′
=
0
where
y
′
is the scaled rapidity, and for
v
2
at mid-rapidity. Scaling with the number of nucleons is observed for the
p
t
dependence of
v
2
and
v
4
at mid-rapidity, which is indicative for nuclear coalescence as the main process responsible for light nuclei formation.
v
2
is found to scale with the initial eccentricity
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
, while
v
4
scales with
⟨
ϵ
2
⟩
2
and
⟨
ϵ
4
⟩
. The multi-differential high-precision data on
v
1
,
v
2
,
v
3
, and
v
4
provides important constraints on the equation-of-state of compressed baryonic matter.
Hadron production (
π
±
, proton,
Λ
,
K
S
0
,
K
±
) in
π
-
+
C
and
π
-
+
W
collisions is investigated at an incident pion beam momentum of
1.7
GeV
/
c
. This comprehensive set of data measured with ...HADES at SIS18/GSI significantly extends the existing world data on hadron production in pion induced reactions and provides a new reference for models that are commonly used for the interpretation of heavy-ion collisions. The measured inclusive differential production cross-sections are compared with state-of-the-art transport model (GiBUU, SMASH) calculations. The (semi-) exclusive channel
π
-
+
A
→
Λ
+
K
S
0
+
X
, in which the kinematics of the strange hadrons are correlated, is also investigated and compared to a model calculation. Agreement and remaining tensions between data and the current version of the considered transport models are discussed.
A feasibility study has been performed in order to investigate the performance of the HADES detector to measure the electromagnetic decays of the hyperon resonances
Σ
(
1385
)
0
,
Λ
(
1405
)
and
...Λ
(
1520
)
as well as the production of double strange baryon systems
Ξ
-
and
Λ
Λ
in p + p reactions at a beam kinetic energy of
4.5
GeV
. The existing HADES detector will be upgraded by a new Forward Detector, which extends the detector acceptance into a range of polar angles that plays a crucial role for these investigations. The analysis of each channel is preceded by a consideration of the production cross-sections. Afterwards the expected signal count rates using a target consisting of either liquid hydrogen or polyethylene are summarized.
We investigate identical pion HBT intensity interferometry in central Au+Au collisions at 1.23A GeV. High-statistics π−π− and π+π+ data are measured with HADES at SIS18/GSI. The radius parameters, ...derived from the correlation function depending on relative momenta in the longitudinally comoving system and parametrized as three-dimensional Gaussian distribution, are studied as function of transverse momentum. A substantial charge-sign difference of the source radii is found, particularly pronounced at low transverse momentum. The extracted source parameters agree well with a smooth extrapolation of the center-of-mass energy dependence established at higher energies, extending the corresponding excitation functions down towards a very low energy.