Name: STARS2013 - 2nd Caribbean Symposium on Cosmology, Gravitation, Nuclear and Astroparticle Physics / SMFNS2013 - 3rd International Symposium on Strong Electromagnetic Fields and Neutron Stars
Start: 2013-05-04T08:00:00-04:00
End: 2013-05-10T18:00:00-04:00
Location: Havana/Varadero - CUBA

STARS2013 - 2nd Caribbean Symposium on Cosmology, Gravitation, Nuclear and Astroparticle Physics / SMFNS2013 - 3rd International Symposium on Strong Electromagnetic Fields and Neutron Stars

from Saturday, May 4, 2013 (8:00 AM) to Friday, May 10, 2013 (6:00 PM)

Monday, April 29, 2013
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Friday, May 3, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013

8:30 AM REGISTRATION
REGISTRATION
8:30 AM - 9:15 AM

9:15 AM Welcome
Welcome
9:15 AM - 9:30 AM
9:30 AM Stellar Black Holes at the Dawn of the Universe - I. F. Mirabel (CEA-Saclay, France and CONICET, Argentina)
Stellar Black Holes at the Dawn of the Universe (STARS2013)
- I. F. Mirabel (CEA-Saclay, France and CONICET, Argentina)
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
The 'final frontier' in studies of cosmic structure formation is the epoch of cosmic reionization, when the cold neutral Intergalactic Medium (IGM) was heated and reionized by primordial galaxies, a few hundred million years after the Big Bang. I propose that a large fraction of the first generations of massive stars in primordial galaxies ended as black holes and neutron stars in High Mass X-ray Binaries, and that besides the ultraviolet radiation from their massive stellar progenitors, feedback from accreting stellar black holes was an additional, important source of heating and reionization of the IGM. X-rays and relativistic jets from the large populations of HMXBs, determined the early thermal history of the universe and maintained it ionized over large volumes of space. This has a direct impact on the properties of the faintest galaxies at high redshifts, the smallest dwarf galaxies in the local universe, and on the existing and future surveys at radio wavelengths of atomic hydrogen in the early universe.
10:15 AM An Effective Theory for Nuclear Matter with Genuine Many-Body Forces - César A. Z. Vasconcellos (Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
An Effective Theory for Nuclear Matter with Genuine Many-Body Forces (STARS2013)
- César A. Z. Vasconcellos (Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
Nuclear science has developed many excellent descriptions that embody various properties of the nucleus, and nuclear matter at low, medium and high densities. However, a full microscopic understanding of nuclear systems is still lacking. The aim of our theoretical research group is to shed some light on such challenges and particularly on open questions facing the high density nuclear many-body problem. Here we focus our attention on the conceptual issue of naturalness and its role in shaping the baryon-meson phase space dynamics in the description of the equation of state (EoS) of nuclear matter. In particular, in order to stimulate possible new directions of research, we discuss relevant aspects of a recently developed relativistic effective theory for nuclear matter with natural parametric couplings and genuine many-body forces. Among other topics we discuss in this work the connection of this theory with other known effective QHD models of the literature and its potentiality in describing a new physics for dense matter.
10:45 AM Coffee break
Coffee break
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
11:15 AM A Mini-Review on Mini-Black Holes from the Mini-Big Bang - Marcus Bleicher (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
A Mini-Review on Mini-Black Holes from the Mini-Big Bang
- Marcus Bleicher (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies and Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
We review the main ideas behind the predictions of mini black holes for the LHC. These ideas come into discussion about 15 years ago together with the idea of a reduced Planck scale, known as TeV gravity. A main ingredient of these Models, namely the ADD model and the RS model was the idea of additional space-like dimensions which would lead to a dissolution of the gravitational interactions at large distance, but allowing for strong gravitational interactions at small distances. The main outcome, among others less prominent one, was the prediction of black hole production at LHC, the famous 'LHC as a black hole factory' prediction. We present these ideas now in the light of the recent results from ATLAS and CMS and will conclude that the current data situation puts tight constraints on these exciting Quantum Gravity phenomena.
12:00 PM On the metric of the space of states in a modified QCD - Alejandro Cabo Montes de Oca (Departamento de Física Teórica, ICIMAF, La Habana, Cuba)
On the metric of the space of states in a modified QCD (STARS2013)
- Alejandro Cabo Montes de Oca (Departamento de Física Teórica, ICIMAF, La Habana, Cuba)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
The form of the resulting Feynman propagators in the recently proposed local and gauge invariant QCD for massive fermions, suggests the existence of indefinite metric associated to quark states, a property that might relate it with the known Lee-Wick theories. Thus, the nature of the asymptotic free quark states in the theory is investigated here. For this purpose the quadratic part of the quark action is quantized. As opposite to the case in the standard QCD, the free fermion theory does not show Hamiltonian constraints. The propagation modes include a family of massless waves, which is identical to the ones in massless QCD, and a complementary set of massive oscillations. After expressing the full interacting Lagrangian in terms of new field variables, it follows that the theory can be quantized in way that the massive modes show positive metric. The massless ones on the contrary have negative norms. Thus, the massive quark states of the modified theory, in the quantization adopted, become basically the same ones as in the usual QCD. It is remarked that, since QCD is expected to not exhibit gluon or quark asymptotic states, the presence of negative metric massless modes does not not constitute a definite drawback of the theory. In addition, the fact that the positive metric quark states are massive, seem to be a positive feature of the model, being consistent with the approximate existence of asymptotically free states in high energy processes.
12:30 PM Lunch break
Lunch break
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
2:00 PM Loop Quantum Gravity - Olivier Piguet (Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil)
Loop Quantum Gravity (STARS2013)
- Olivier Piguet (Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Brazil)
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
The purpose of this talk is to give a short general introduction to Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), beginning with some motivations for quantizing General Relativity, listing various attempts and then focusing on the case of LQG.
2:30 PM Astronomical tests of General Relativity and the pseudo–complex field theory - Thomas Boller (Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial physics, Garching, Germany)
Astronomical tests of General Relativity and the pseudo–complex field theory (STARS2013)
- Thomas Boller (Max-Planck-Institute for extraterrestrial physics, Garching, Germany)
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
Gravitation is very well described by Einstein’s General Gelativity. However, several theoretical predictions like the existence of curvature singularities and event horizons are under debate. This motivated to modify the standard theory of gravity. Here, we contrast predictions made by General Relativity with the pseudo–complex field theory proposed recently. Among them we study the gravitational redshift effect, perihelion shift, orbital motion, timing measurements and spectral lines. We consider supermassive black holes as ideal testbeds to test the theoretical predictions in the regime of strong gravity. In particular, we investigate the innermost centers of active galaxies and the Galactic Centre. This involves high–performance astronomical instruments of the next generation. We present feasibility studies for existing X-ray missions and with the upcoming GRAVITY near-infrared instrument to be mounted at the Very Large Telescope.
3:15 PM Integral Field Spectroscopy and the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) - Martin Roth (Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Germany)
Integral Field Spectroscopy and the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) (STARS2013)
- Martin Roth (Leibniz Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Germany)
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
The discovery of dark energy as a mysterious force that is accelerating the expansion of the universe has become one of the most exciting problems of modern astrophysics. Not coincidentally, the Nobel Price for Physics in 2011 was awarded to Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess, whose work on distant supernova distance determinations eventually lead to this discovery. Yet the very nature of Dark Energy is not understood at all. Various groups worldwide are trying to measure the way the expansion of our universe changes with cosmic time in order to test theories of dark energy. Amongst those efforts, the Hobby Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment attempts to map the spatial distribution of 0.8 million Lyman-alpha emitting galaxies (LAE) with redshifts 1.9 < z < 3.5 over a 420 sq. deg. area (9 Gpc^3) in the north Galactic cap to constrain the expansion history of the Universe to 1% and provide significant constraints on the evolution of dark energy. As opposed to targeted redshift surveys, emission line surveys that are planned to discover LAE with integral field spectroscopy (IFS) offer significant gains over conventional narrowband imaging techniques, and provide greater sensitivity and wavelength coverage, as well as true spectroscopy. I shall present a general overview over IFS, discuss different competing IFS technologies, and explain the unique features of VIRUS, the Visible Integral-field Replicable Unit Spectrograph, which is currently being built for the Hobby-Eberly-Telescope at McDonald Observatory, Texas.
3:45 PM Coffee break
Coffee break
3:45 PM - 4:15 PM
4:15 PM Bouncing models and inflation - Nelson Pinto-Neto (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Bouncing models and inflation (STARS2013)
- Nelson Pinto-Neto (Centro Brasileiro de Pesquisas Físicas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
After making a review on the possible scenarios for the early Universe, I will make a critical comparison among viable inflationary and bouncing models for the primordial Universe which I will describe, and discuss how the usual problems of the standard cosmological model are addressed by them in order to investigate if they can be distinguished by future observations.
4:45 PM Weighed scalar averaging over inhomogeneous cosmological models - Roberto Sussman (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICN-UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico)
Weighed scalar averaging over inhomogeneous cosmological models (STARS2013)
- Roberto Sussman (Instituto de Ciencias Nucleares, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (ICN-UNAM), Mexico D.F., Mexico)
4:45 PM - 5:15 PM
Averaging the fully tensorial Einstein equations and their solutions (spacetimes) is an open problem in General Relativity. I present and discuss the proper 3-volume scalar averaging formalism endowed with a non-trivial weight factor, and its application to inhomogeneous cosmologies (LTB and Szekeres models). This formalism leads to a fully determined system of evolution equations for the averaged covariant scalars and their fluctuations and perturbations, allowing for a deeper coordinate independent theoretical understanding of the deviation from FLRW homogeneity, either in terms of a rigorous formalism of exact perturbations over an FLRW abstract background, or through a definition of gravitational entropy in a phase space made by weighed averages of the density and Hubble scalar velocity. I discuss how this weighed scalar averaging can be applied to more general geometries and to various theoretically relevant issues in GR.
5:15 PM The geometry of the pseudo-complex General Relativity - Mirko Schäfer (FIAS, University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
The geometry of the pseudo-complex General Relativity (STARS2013)
- Mirko Schäfer (FIAS, University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany)
5:15 PM - 5:45 PM
The coordinates of standard General Relativity are extended to pseudo-complex variables. In the eight dimension space the geometric differential structure is investigated. Mapping to the physical subspace with real coordinates leaves a remnant of the pseudo-complex structure, which adds terms to the Lagrangian. The Einstein equations are modified, adding the contributions of an energy-momentum tensor, describing repulsive dark energy. As a consequence, the event horizon of the black hole vanishes and transforms it into a gray hole.
7:00 PM Welcome cocktail
Welcome cocktail
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Sunday, May 5, 2013
9:30 AM Parton-hadron dynamics in heavy-ion collisions - Elena Bratkovskaya (ITP and FIAS, Uni. Frankfurt, Germany)
Parton-hadron dynamics in heavy-ion collisions (STARS2013)
- Elena Bratkovskaya (ITP and FIAS, Uni. Frankfurt, Germany)
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
The dynamics of partons and hadrons in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions is analyzed within the novel Parton-Hadron-String Dynamics (PHSD) transport approach, which is based on a dynamical quasiparticle model for partonic phase (DQPM) including a dynamical hadronization scheme. The PHSD model reproduces a large variety of observables from SPS to LHC energies, e.g. as quark-number scaling of elliptic flow, transverse mass and rapidity spectra of charged hadrons, dilepton spectra, direct photon spectra, collective flow coefficients etc., which are associated with the observation of a sQGP. The 'highlights' of the latest results will be presented and open questions/perspectives will be discussed.
10:15 AM Probing flavor changing neutral currents and CP violation in the two-Higgs doublet model - José Halim Montes de Oca (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico D.F., Mexico)
Probing flavor changing neutral currents and CP violation in the two-Higgs doublet model (STARS2013)
- José Halim Montes de Oca (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico D.F., Mexico)
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM
We discuss the formulation of the general two-Higgs doublet model type III, which incorporates flavor changing neutral scalar interactions (FCNSI) and CP violation from several sources. FCNSI and CP violation can arise from Yukawa terms meanwhile Higgs potential can contribute as source of explicit or spontaneous CP violation. We discuss the case that includes CP violation with Yukawa textures to control FCNSI and evaluate the branching fractions for some Higgs scalar, which may allow to test the patterns of FCNSI and CP violation, that arises in these models.
10:45 AM Coffee break / Poster Session
Coffee break / Poster Session
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM
11:15 AM The centrality dependence of multiplicity and of the spectra of identified particles is a core-corona effect - Joerg Aichelin (SUBATECH, University of Nantes)
The centrality dependence of multiplicity and of the spectra of identified particles is a core-corona effect (STARS2013)
- Joerg Aichelin (SUBATECH, University of Nantes)
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
To understand the centrality dependence of measured observables, like the multiplicity < pt^2 > and the elliptic flow of identified particles at midrapidity as well as the elliptic flow of charges hadrons, has been a challenge for theory since many years. Although the multiplicity of different particles in central collisions corresponds exactly to the expectation for a completely thermalized source the centrality dependence is incompatible with this assumption. A while ago it has been realized that even in the most central collisions there remain particles (usually close to the surface of the interaction zone) which do not come to equilibrium (corona particles) whereas others come to a local equilibrium (core particles). Corona particles produce hadrons like pp collision. The relative fraction of corona particles can be calculated in the Glauber approach. It increases with decreasing centrality and this is the origin of the centrality dependence of the observables. In this core-corona model [1] there is no free parameter. Later this model has been extended to dynamical variables like the centrality dependence of < pt > of identified particles. Even more important, it has reproduced quantitatively the centrality dependence of the elliptic flow of charged particles without any new parameter [2]. Recently we have extended the core-corona model to describe the centrality dependence of spectra of identified particle from the low energy RHIC 7.7 AGeV to LHC energies. Surprisingly we find that all spectra are in good agreement with the core-corona model. This agreement includes the centrality dependence of the spectral slope which varies for some particles by a factor of two or more between central and peripheral collisions. In the presentation we will display the model and make comparisons with the EPOS event generator which is based as well on the distinction between core and corona particles and describes the rapidity dependence of many observables. Then we demonstrate that the centrality dependence of the spectra. The interpretation of the results in physical terms concludes the presentation. [1] J. Aichelin and K. Werner, Phys. Rev. C 79 (2009) 064907 [Erratum-ibid. C 81 (2010) 029902] [arXiv:0810.4465 [nucl-th]]. [2] J. Aichelin and K. Werner, J. Phys. G 37 (2010) 094006 [arXiv:1008.5351 [nucl-th]].
12:00 PM Re-accelerating expansion of the Universe revealed by type IA supernovae and Planck data - Shuang-Nan Zhang (Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing, China)
Re-accelerating expansion of the Universe revealed by type IA supernovae and Planck data (STARS2013)
- Shuang-Nan Zhang (Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing, China)
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
The possibility that we are living in an expanding underdensed region has made many to debate if dark energy is needed to explain the apparent over-dimming of distant Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia). In this report, we first show that the currently best measured local Hubble constant is larger than the cosmological Hubble constant, i.e., our local universe is expanding faster than the distant universe. We then show that this local Hubble bubble is significantly underdensed due to the low peculiar velocities of Type Ia supernovae hosts within it, compared to galaxies outside it. Finally we demonstrate that the existence of this bubble is consistent with the concordance cosmological model dominated by dark energy.
12:30 PM Lunch break
Lunch break
12:30 PM - 2:00 PM
2:00 PM Gravitational waves from the cosmological QCD phase transition - German Lugones (Federal University of ABC, Santo André, Brazil)
Gravitational waves from the cosmological QCD phase transition (STARS2013)
- German Lugones (Federal University of ABC, Santo André, Brazil)
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
We study the evolution of turbulence in the early universe at the QCD epoch using a state-of-the-art equation of state derived from lattice QCD simulations. Since the transition is a crossover we assume that temperature and velocity fluctuations were generated by some event in the previous history of the Universe and survive until the QCD epoch due to the extremely large Reynolds number of the primordial fluid. The fluid at the QCD epoch is assumed to be non-viscous, based on the fact that the viscosity per entropy density of the quark gluon plasma obtained from heavy-ion collision experiments at the RHIC and the LHC is extremely small. Our hydrodynamic simulations show that the velocity spectrum is very different from the Kolmogorov power law considered in studies of primordial turbulence that focus on first order phase transitions. This is due to the fact that there is no continuous injection of energy in the system and the viscosity of the fluid is negligible. Thus, as kinetic energy cascades from the larger to the smaller scales, a large amount of kinetic energy is accumulated at the smallest scales due to the lack of dissipation. We have obtained the spectrum of the gravitational radiation emitted by the motion of the fluid finding that, if typical velocity and temperature fluctuations have an amplitude (∆v) /c ≥ 10^(-2) and/or (∆T)/Tc ≥ 10^(-3), they would be detected by eLISA at frequencies larger than ~ 10^(-4) Hz. Reference: V. R. C. M. Roque and G. Lugones, to appear in Phys. Rev. D
2:30 PM A review of latest results of the Pierre Auger Observatory - Carola Dobrigkeit (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil)
A review of latest results of the Pierre Auger Observatory (STARS2013)
- Carola Dobrigkeit (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil)
2:30 PM - 3:15 PM
The main goal of the Pierre Auger Observatory is to study cosmic rays with energies above 1 EeV with unprecedented statistics and learn about the origin and nature of these extremely energetic particles. We will review the latest results obtained by the Auger Observatory concerning the energy spectrum, arrival directions, mass composition and flux limits of non-charged particles and further discuss implications of these results.
3:15 PM About the gauge-Higgs unification in warped space - Elizabeth Rodriguez Querts (Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba)
About the gauge-Higgs unification in warped space (STARS2013)
- Elizabeth Rodriguez Querts (Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba)
3:15 PM - 3:45 PM
We address the problem of gauge-Higgs unification in a Randall-Sundrum I space, extended with one compact dimension, by considering that the 4D Higgs boson is a part of the extra dimensional components of the gauge fields.
3:45 PM Coffee break / Poster Session
Coffee break / Poster Session
3:45 PM - 4:15 PM
4:15 PM Higgs mechanism and symmetry breaking in strong magnetic field - Hugo Perez Rojas (Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba)
Higgs mechanism and symmetry breaking in strong magnetic field (STARS2013)
- Hugo Perez Rojas (Instituto de Cibernética, Matemática y Física (ICIMAF), La Habana, Cuba)
4:15 PM - 4:45 PM
We discuss the effect of a strong magnetic field in the behavior of the symmetry of an electrically neutral electroweak plasma. We analyze the case of a strong magnetic field and low temperatures as compared with the W rest energy. If the magnetic field is large enough, it is self-consistently maintained. Charged vector bosons play the most important role, leading only to a decrease of the symmetry breaking parameter, the symmetry restoration not being possible.
6:00 PM Old Havana tour
Old Havana tour
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM