FYI ------------------------------------------------------ Flemming Videbaek Physics Department Brookhaven National Laboratory tlf: 631-344-4106 fax 631-344-1334 e-mail: videbaek@bnl.gov ----- Original Message ----- From: "William A. Zajc" <zajc@columbia.edu> To: "Wit Busza" <busza@mit.edu>; "John. Harris@Yale. Edu" <john.harris@yale.edu>; "Flemming Videbaek" <videbaek@bnl.gov> Cc: "Thomas Kirk" <tkirk@bnl.gov> Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 6:14 PM Subject: PHENIX High pT PRL accepted, plans to nominate for Focus coverage > Dear Colleagues: > > I am pleased to inform you that our manuscript on high pT particle production has been > accepted for publication in Physical Review Letters. > > I am sure you have all seen as part of the standard notification from PRL the > following: > > > SELF-NOMINATION FOR FOCUS, PHYSICS NEWS UPDATE, AND MEDIA PROMOTION: A > > joint APS/AIP news team is working to place physics-related stories in > > national media outlets in the US. Also APS' Physical Review Focus > > (http://focus.aps.org/) and AIP's Physics News Update > > (http://www.aip.org/physnews/update/) maintain web sites and email > > lists that describe selected papers for a broad audience of > > journalists, students, physicists, and the public. If you feel your > > paper may be of interest to any of these audiences, please write a > > one-paragraph summary that explains what you did and why it's important > > at the level of a college educated NON-SCIENTIST. Send your plain text > > summary (no Latex or attachments) as soon as possible to > > PRLsummaries@aps.org with the subject line "author summary LL9999" > > (replacing "LL9999" with your paper's accession code). Submission of a > > summary does not guarantee that your work will be covered by APS, AIP, > > or the media. > > I am writing to inform you that we have decided to do this (self-nominate) > for this particular paper. Below is our attempt at the requested > one paragraph summary: > > > Hot nuclear matter is strikingly different from cold nuclear matter. > > That is the conclusion of researchers who measured the production of fast > > particles produced at large angles in high energy collisions between two > > gold nuclei at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). "Head-on" > > collisions at RHIC recently produced the hottest, densest matter ever > > formed in the laboratory. According to our current understanding, the > > densities and pressures created in these collisions are similar to those > > found a few millionths of a second after the Big Bang. Measurements > > reported in the ___ __ issue of PRL show a clear deficit of energetic > > particles compared to previous work with lower energy collisions, > > suggesting that the hot dense nuclear matter is unusually opaque. > > Some comments: > > 1. We've tried to emulate the style of other Focus paragraphs (see sample > included at the end of this message). They seem to be deliberately weak > on institutional attributions; I suspect even the RHIC plug may be a > reach here. > > 2. We have made every attempt to be understated, i.e., no "jet quenching", no > "new state of matter". > > 3. We have no plans to do this for every subsequent PHENIX submission. In my > judgment, this is the only one that passes the threshold in the sample of > our existing three and next few PRL's. > > 4. There is no guarantee that our self-nomination will be accepted. This is > decided by APS/AIP editors that publish Focus. > > 4. We have not formally submitted this to PRL yet. I want to be completely > open about our plans to do this. While it is outside the purview of the > formal agreement we have (it is not an announcement or a press conference, > it's simply a highlighting of a published result as potentially interesting to > a larger audience), I would rather err on the side of conservatism than > upset this carefully negotiated agreement and the spirit of good will in > which it has been applied. > > Best regards, > > Bill > > ============================================================================ ============= > > > > ============================================================================ ======= > > > > > > THE MOST ACCURATE DEFECT MEASUREMENT > > > Fault lines between pure crystals affect conductivity in > > > superconductors and the properties of semiconductors in computer > > > chips, so researchers are keen to measure them precisely. A new > > > technique, reported in the 11 December PRL, uses an electron beam to > > > measure so-called stacking faults to an accuracy of a trillionth of > > > a meter (1 pm), ten times better than previous techniques. Taking > > > advantage of the purity of a coherent electron beam, the authors > > > detected the interference of electrons transmitted through large > > > regions of pure crystal on each side of the defect. The technique > > > may improve understanding of crystal interfaces and their > > > relationship with material properties. > > > (Lijun Wu, Yimei Zhu, and J. Tafto, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5126. > > > COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/v6/st26.html > > > Link to the paper: http://publish.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v85/p5126/) > > > > > > NEUTRINOS REVEAL STAR'S INNER SECRETS > > > Astronomers go to mountaintop observatories to get a good look at > > > the sky, but the best view might be over a mile underground inside > > > neutrino detectors. Neutrinos--neutral particles that regularly fly > > > through the Earth undetected--may provide astronomers with > > > information that light cannot. A paper in the 4 June PRL predicts > > > that neutrinos from proto-neutron stars might reveal the existence > > > of exotic quark matter inside these stars. It also shows that the > > > presence of such matter could lead to the birth of a black hole, an > > > event the authors believe could be detected from neutrino > > > observations. > > > (J. A. Pons et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 5223. > > > Link to the paper: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v86/p5223/ > > > COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/v7/st26.html) > > > > > > (My favorite-- see erratum below:) > > > > > > GOLFING WITH A SINGLE PHOTON > > > Where quantum mysteries are concerned, Schroedinger's cat has nothing > > > on a single photon--at least you'd have some chance of finding the > > > feline, whether dead or alive. In contrast, if you looked for a > > > photon in a small space, within a limited range of momentum, you'd > > > have a negative chance of finding it. This strange result shows up > > > in measurements appearing in the 30 July print issue of PRL and is > > > rooted in Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which limits how > > > precisely you can simultaneously measure an object's position and > > > momentum. > > > (A. I. Lvovsky et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 050402. > > > Link to the paper: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v87/e050402/ > > > COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/v8/st7.html) > > > > > > > > > > > > A CONSTANT THAT ISN'T CONSTANT > > > Analysis of the light from distant quasars has shown that billions > > > of years ago the laws of physics may have been slightly different. A > > > research team has found evidence that the fine structure constant-- > > > which measures the strength with which subatomic particles interact > > > with one another and with light--was different at earlier times in > > > the history of the Universe. The new work, which will appear in the > > > 27 August print issue of PRL, confirms earlier results by the same > > > group, which suggested that six billion years ago the value was > > > about one part in 10^5 smaller. They now have added more data and > > > have ruled out more potential sources of systematic error. If > > > confirmed by other experiments, the finding would profoundly change > > > our understanding of the evolution of the Universe, but not all > > > experts are convinced. > > > (J. K. Webb et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 091301. > > > Link to the paper: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v87/e091301/ > > > COMPLETE Focus story at http://focus.aps.org/v8/st9.html) > > > > > > CLARIFICATION ON NEGATIVE PROBABILITIES > > > In last week's story, the term "probability" was not meant to be > > > taken too literally. Actually it's the Wigner function--a common > > > stand-in for probability--that goes negative. The story has been > > > revised: http://focus.aps.org/v8/st7.html > > > > > > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ > | Prof. W.A. Zajc zajc@columbia.edu | > | http://www.nevis.columbia.edu/~zajc | > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ > | Nevis Address: Campus Address: | > | Nevis Labs Physics Department | > | P.O. Box 137 | > | Columbia University Columbia University | > | Irvington, NY 10533 New York, NY 10027 | > | | > | Phone: (914)-591-2811 (212)-854-8175 | > | FAX : (914)-591-8120 (212)-854-3379 | > | (914)-591-2864 (private) | > | | > | BNL Phone: (516)-344-4443 | > | BNL FAX : (516)-344-3253 | > | | > | Cellular Phone (914)-843-8350 (Urgent messages only please!) | > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ >
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