Non-Newtonian gravity in finite nuclei
In this talk, we report our recent study of constraining the non-Newtonian gravity at femtometer scale. We incorporate the Yukawa-type non-Newtonian gravitational potential consistently to the Skyrme functional form using the exact treatment for the direct contribution and density-matrix expansion method for the exchange contribution. The effects from the non-Newtonian potential on finite nuclei properties are then studied together with a well-tested Skyrme force. Assuming that the framework without non-Newtonian gravity can explain the binding energies and charge radii of medium to heavy nuclei within 2% error, we set an upper limit for the strength of the non-Newtonian gravitational potential at femtometer scale.

title: Density matrix expansion for the MDI interaction
abstract: By assuming that the isospinand momentum-dependent MDI interaction has a form similar to the Gogny-like effective two-body interaction with a Yukawa finite-range term and the momentum dependence only originates from the finite-range exchange interaction, we determine its parameters by comparing the predicted potential energy density functional in uniform nuclear matter with what has been usually given and used extensively in transport models for studying isospin effects in intermediate-energy heavy-ion collisions as well as in investigating the properties of hot asymmetric nuclear matter and neutron star matter. We then use the density matrix expansion to derive from the resulting finite-range exchange interaction an effective Skyrme-like zero-range interaction with density-dependent parameters. As an application, we study the transition density and pressure at the inner edge of neutron star crusts using the stability conditions derived from the linearized Vlasov equation for the neutron star matter.

title: Effects of hadronic potentials on elliptic flows in relativistic heavy ion collisions
abstract: Within the framework of a multiphase transport (AMPT) model that includes both initial partonic and final hadronic interactions, we show that including mean-field potentials in the hadronic phase leads to a splitting of the elliptic flows of particles and their antiparticles, providing thus a plausible explanation of the different elliptic flows between $p$ and ${\bar p}$, $K^+$ and $K^-$, and $\pi^+$ and $\pi^-$ observed in recent Beam Energy Scan (BES) program at the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC).

title: Specific viscosity of neutron-rich nuclear matter from a relaxation time approach
abstract: The specific viscosity of neutron-rich nuclear matter is studied from the relaxation time approach using an isospin- and momentum-dependent interaction and the nucleon-nucleon cross sections taken as those from the experimental data modified by the in-medium effective masses as used in the isospin-dependent BoltzmannUehling-Uhlenbeck (IBUU) transport model calculations. The relaxation time of neutrons is larger while that of protons is smaller in neutron-rich nuclear matter compared with that in symmetric nuclear matter, and this leads to a larger specific viscosity in neutron-rich nuclear matter. In addition, the specific viscosity decreases with increasing temperature because of more frequent collisions and weaker Pauli blocking effect at higher temperatures. At lower temperatures the specific viscosity increases with increasing density due to the Pauli blocking effect, while at higher temperatures it slightly decreases with increasing density as a result of smaller in-medium effective masses at higher densities.

title: Transition Density and Pressure at the Inner Edge of Neutron Star Crusts
abstract: Using the nuclear symmetry energy that has been recently constrained by the isospin diffusion data in intermediate-energy heavy ion collisions, we have studied the transition density and pressure at the inner edge of neutron star crusts, and they are found to be 0.040 fm$^{-3}$ $\leq \rho_{t}\leq 0.065$ fm$^{-3}$ and 0.01 MeV/fm$^{3}$ $\leq P_{t}\leq 0.26$ MeV/fm$^{3}$, respectively, in both the dynamical and thermodynamical approaches. We have also found that the widely used parabolic approximation to the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter gives significantly higher values of core-crust transition density and pressure, especially for stiff symmetry energies. With these newly determined transition density and pressure, we have obtained an improved relation between the mass and radius of neutron stars.

title: Shear viscosity of nuclear matter
abstract: In this talk I report my recent study on the shear viscosity of neutron-rich nuclear matter from a relaxation time approach. An isospinand momentum-dependent interaction is used in the study. Effects of density, temperature, and isospin asymmetry of nuclear matter on its shear viscosity have been discussed. Similar to the symmetry energy, the symmetry shear viscosity is defined and its density and temperature dependence are studied.

title: Extracting the jet transport coefficient from jet quenching in high-energy heavy-ion collisions
abstract: Within five different approaches to parton propagation and energy loss in dense matter, a phenomenological study of experimental data on suppression of large $p_T$ single inclusive hadrons in heavy-ion collisions at both RHIC and LHC was carried out. The evolution of bulk medium used in the study for parton propagation was given by 2+1D or 3+1D hydrodynamic models which are also constrained by experimental data on bulk hadron spectra. Values for the jet transport parameter $\hat q$ at the center of the most central heavy-ion collisions are extracted or calculated within each model, with parameters for the medium properties that are constrained by experimental data on the hadron suppression factor $R_{AA}$. For a quark with initial energy of 10 GeV we find that $\hat q\approx 1.2 \pm 0.3$ GeV$^2$/fm at an initial time $\tau_0=0.6$ fm/$c$ in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s}=200$ GeV/n and $\hat q\approx 1.9 \pm 0.7 $ GeV$^2$/fm in Pb+Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s}=2.76 $ TeV/n. Compared to earlier studies, these represent significant convergence on values of the extracted jet transport parameter, reflecting recent advances in theory and the availability of new experiment data from the LHC.

title: A Tapered Dielectric Structure for Laser Acceleration at Low Energy
abstract: This paper extends the physics of the Micro-Accelerator Platform (MAP), which is in development as an optical structure for laser acceleration of relativistic electrons. The MAP is a resonant, optical-scale, slab-symmetric device that is fabricated from dielectric materials using layer-deposition techniques. For stand-alone applications, low-energy electrons ( ~ 0.3) must be synchronously accelerated to relativistic speeds for injection into the MAP. Even lower energies are desired for other particle species (e.g. protons or muons). In this paper, we present design and simulation studies on a tapered geometry and associated coupling scheme that can produce synchronous acceleration at < 1 within a MAP-like structure.

title: Kinematics and chemistry of the hot core in G20.08–0.14N
abstract: We present Submillimeter Array observations of the massive star-forming region G20.08-0.14N at 335 and 345 GHz. With the SMA data, 41 molecular transitions were detected related to 11 molecular species and their isotopologues, including SO2, SO, C34S, NS, C17O, SiO, CH3OH, HC3N, H13CO+, HCOOCH3 and NH2CHO. In G20.08-0.14N, 10 transition lines of the detected 41 transition lines belong to SO2, which dominates the appearance of the submillimeter-wave spectrum. To obtain the spatial kinematic distribution of molecules in G20.08-0.14N, we chose the strongest and unblended lines for the channel maps. The channel maps of C34S an SiO, together with their position-velocity diagrams, present that there are two accretion flows in G20.08-0.14N. Additionally, SiO emission shows a collimated outflow at the NE-SW direction. The direction of the outflow is for the first time revealed. The rotational temperature and the column density of CH3OH are 105 K and 3.1*10^{17} cm^{-2}, respectively. Our results confirm that a hot core is associated with G20.08-0.14N. The hot core is heated by a protostar radiation at it center, not by the external excitation from shocks. The images of the spatial distribution of different species have shown that the different molecules are located at the different positions of the hot core. Through comparing the spatial distributions and abundances of the molecules, we discuss possible chemical processes for producing the complex sulfur-bearing, nitrogen-bearing and oxygen-bearing molecules in G20.08-0.14N.

title: SUBMILLIMETER ARRAY AND VERY LARGE ARRAY OBSERVATIONS IN THE HYPERCOMPACT H II REGION G35.58-0.03
abstract: The formation of hypercompact (HC) H II regions is an important stage in massive star formation. Spectral line and continuum observations can explore its dynamic conditions. We present high angular resolution observations carried out with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA) toward the HC H II region G35.58-0.03. With the 1.3?mm SMA and 1.3?cm VLA, we detected a total of about 25 transitions of 8 different species and their isotopologues (CO, CH3CN, SO2, CH3CCH, OCS, CS, H, and NH3). G35.58-0.03 consists of an HC H II core with electron temperature ?K, emission measure EM 1.9 ? 109?pc?cm?6, local volume electron density ne = 3.3 ? 105?cm?3, and a same width of radio recombination line FWHM? 43.2?km s?1 for both H30? and H38? at its intrinsic core size ~3714 AU. The H30? line shows evidence of an ionized outflow driving a molecular outflow. Based on the derived Lyman continuum flux, there should be an early-type star equivalent to O6.5 located inside the H II region. From the continuum spectral energy distribution from 3.6?cm, 2.0?cm, 1.3?cm, 1.3?mm and 0.85?mm to 0.45?mm, we distinguished the free-free emission (25% ~ 55%) from the warm dust component (75%?~ 45%) at 1.3?mm. The molecular envelope shows evidence of infall and outflow with an infall rate of 0.05 M ? yr?1 and a mass loss rate of 5.2 ? 10?3 M ? yr?1. The derived momentum (~0.05 M ? km s?1) is consistent between the infalling and outflowing gas per year. It is suggested that the infall is predominant and the envelope mass of dense core is increasing rapidly, but the accretion in the inner part might already be halted.

title: On Computing Upper Limits to Source Intensities
abstract: A common problem in astrophysics is determining how bright a source could be and still not be detected in an observation. Despite the simplicity with which the problem can be stated, the solution involves complicated statistical issues that require careful analysis. In contrast to the more familiar confidence bound, this concept has never been formally analyzed, leading to a great variety of often ad hoc solutions. Here we formulate and describe the problem in a self-consistent manner. Detection significance is usually defined by the acceptable proportion of false positives (background fluctuations that are claimed as detections, or Type I error), and we invoke the complementary concept of false negatives (real sources that go undetected, or Type II error), based on the statistical power of a test, to compute an upper limit to the detectable source intensity. To determine the minimum intensity that a source must have for it to be detected, we first define a detection threshold and then compute the probabilities of detecting sources of various intensities at the given threshold. The intensity that corresponds to the specified Type II error probability defines that minimum intensity and is identified as the upper limit. Thus, an upper limit is a characteristic of the detection procedure rather than the strength of any particular source. It should not be confused with confidence intervals or other estimates of source intensity. This is particularly important given the large number of catalogs that are being generated from increasingly sensitive surveys. We discuss, with examples, the differences between these upper limits and confidence bounds. Both measures are useful quantities that should be reported in order to extract the most science from catalogs, though they answer different statistical questions: an upper bound describes an inference range on the source intensity, while an upper limit calibrates the detection process. We provide a recipe for computing upper limits that applies to all detection algorithms.