Pulsar Braking Index: A Test of Emission Models?
Pulsar braking torques due to magnetodipole radiation and the unipolar generator are considered, which results in a braking index n of less than 3 and could be employed to test the emission models. Improved equations for the pulsar braking index and magnetic field are presented, which are true if the rotation energy-loss rate equals the sum of the energy-loss rate of dipole radiation and of relativistic particles powered by a unipolar generator. The magnetic field calculated conventionally could be good enough, but only if it were modified by a factor of at most ~0.6. Both inner and outer gaps may coexist in the magnetosphere of the Vela pulsar.

title: H-cluster stars
abstract: The study of dense matter at ultra-high density has a very long history, which is meaningful for us to understand not only cosmic events in extreme circumstances but also fundamental laws of physics. It is well known that the state of cold matter at supra-nuclear density depends on the non-perturbative nature of quantum chromo-dynamics (QCD) and is essential for modeling pulsars. A so-called H-cluster matter is proposed in this paper as the nature of dense matter in reality. 
In compact stars at only a few nuclear densities but low temperature, quarks could be interacting strongly with each other there. That might render quarks grouped in clusters, although the hypothetical quark-clusters in cold dense matter has not been confirmed due to the lack of both theoretical and experimental evidence. Motivated by recent lattice QCD simulations of the H-dibaryons (with structure uuddss), we are therefore considering here a possible kind of quark-clusters, H-clusters, that could emerge inside compact stars during their initial cooling, as the dominant components inside (the degree of freedom could then be H-clusters there).Taking into account the in-medium stiffening effect, we find that at baryon densities of compact stars $H$-cluster matter could be more stable than nuclear matter. We also find that for the H-cluster matter with lattice structure, the equation of state could be so stiff that it would seem to be "superluminal" in most dense region. However, the real sound speed for H-cluster matter is in fact hard to calculate, so at this stage we do not put constraints on our model from the usual requirment of causality.

title: The Extremely Long-period X-Ray Source in a Young Supernova Remnant: A Thorne-Żytkow Object Descendant?
abstract: The origin of the 6.67 hr period X-ray source, 1E161348-5055, in the young supernova remnant RCW 103 is puzzling. We propose that it may be the descendant of a Thorne-Żytkow Object (TŻO). A TŻO may at its formation have a rapidly spinning neutron star as a core and a slowly rotating envelope. We found that the core could be braked quickly to an extremely long spin period by the coupling between its magnetic field and the envelope, and that the envelope could be disrupted by some powerful bursts or exhausted via stellar wind. If the envelope is disrupted after the core has spun down, the core will become an extremely long-period compact object, with a slow proper motion speed, surrounded by a supernova-remnant-like shell. These features all agree with the observations of 1E161348-5055. TŻOs are expected to have produced extraordinarily high abundances of lithium and rapid proton process elements that would remain in the remnants and could be used to test this scenario.

title: PSR B1257+12: a quark star with planets?
abstract: A recent observation has shown that PSR B1257+12 could have quite small X‐ray emitting area, only about 2000 m2, which is more than three orders smaller than the canonical polar cap size. We suggest here that PSR B1257+12 could be a low‐mass quark star with radius of R≃0.6 km and mass of M≃3×10−4 M⊙. Such a low‐mass quark star system may form in an accretion induced collapse process or a collision process of two quark stars.

title: Are AXPs/SGRs magnetars?
abstract: Anomalous X-ray Pulsars and Soft Gamma-Ray Repeaters have been generally recognized as neutron stars with super strong magnetic fields, namely "magnetars". The "magnetars" manifest that the luminosity in X-ray band are larger than the rotational energy loss rate, i.e. $L_{X}>\dot {E}_{\rm rot}$, and then the radiation energy is coming from the energy of magnetic field. Here it is argued that magnetars may not really exist. Some X-ray and radio observational results are contradicted with the magnetar model. 
(1) The X-ray luminosity of PSR J1852+0040 is much larger than the rotational energy loss rate ($L_{X}/\dot {E}_{\rm rot}\simeq 18)$, but the magnetic field is just $3.1\times 10^{11}$ G. Does this X-ray radiation energy come from the magnetic field? 
(2) In contrast to the above, the magnetic fields of radio pulsars J1847-0130 and PSR J1718-3718 are higher than that of AXP 1E 2259+586, why is the radiation energy of those two radio pulsars still coming from rotational energy? Furthermore, the magnetic field of the newly discovered SGR 0418+5729 with the lowest magnetic field is 3.0 e13 G, lower than the critical magnetic field $B_{\rm C}=4.414$ e13 G) (Esposito et al. 2010). 
(3) Some "magnetars" also emit normal transient radio pulses, what is the essential difference between radio pulsars and the "magnetars"? 
The observational fact arguments will be presented at first, then we discuss in what situation the conventional method to obtain magnetic field could not be correct.

title: The state of cold quark matter: a model-independent view
abstract: From a model-independent point of view, we address the possibility that quark clustering could occur in cold quark matter at realistic baryon densities because of the likely strong coupling between quarks in compact stars.

title: Study of the B(s)0 anti-B(s)0 oscillation frequency using D(s)- lepton+ combinations in Z decays
abstract: A lower limit on the oscillation frequency of the Bs0s0 system is obtained from approximately four million hadronic Z decays accumulated using the ALEPH detector at LEP from 1991 to 1995. Leptons are combined with opposite sign Ds− candidates reconstructed in seven different decay modes as evidence of semileptonic Bs0 decays. Criteria designed to ensure precise proper time reconstruction select 277Ds−l+ combinations. The initial state of these Bs0 candidates is determined using an algorithm optimized to efficiently utilise the tagging information available for each event. The limit at 95% confidence level on the Bs0s0 oscillation frequency is Δms > 6.6 ps−1. The same data is used to update the measurement of the Bs0 lifetime,τs = 1.54−0.13+0.14 (stat) ± 0.04 (syst) ps.

title: First measurement of the quark-to-photon fragmentation function
abstract: Earlier measurements at LEP of isolated hard photons in hadronic Z decays, attributed to radiation from primary quark pairs, have been extended in the ALEPH experiment to include hard photon productioninside hadron jets. Events are selected where all particles combine democratically to form hadron jets, one of which contains a photon with a fractional energyz≥0.7. After statistical subtraction of non-prompt photons, the quark-to-photon fragmentation function,D(z), is extracted directly from the measured 2-jet rate. By taking into account the perturbative contributions toD(z) obtained from anO(ααs) QCD calculation, the unknown non-perturbative component ofD(z) is then determined at highz. Provided due account is taken of hadronization effects nearz=1, a good description of the other event topologies is then found.

title: Analysis of transverse momentum correlations in hadronic Z decays
abstract: In a recent paper, evidence was presented for a significant, positive correlation between the total transverse momenta of particles on opposite hemispheres of hadronic events. A new, model independent analysis of the data has been made. Two components can be distinguished in the correlation, and quantitative estimates of each are given. The results form a significant test of Monte Carlo models and some of the physics behind them.

title: Bose-Einstein correlations in W-pair decays with an event-mixing technique
abstract: Bose-Einstein correlations in W-pair decays are studied using data collected by the ALEPH detector at LEP at e+e- centre-of-mass energies from 183 to 209 GeV. The analysis is based on the comparison of WW-->qqqq events to ``mixed'' events constructed with the hadronic part of WW-->qqlnu events. The data are in agreement with the hypothesis that Bose-Einstein correlations are present only for pions from the same W decay. The JETSET model with Bose-Einstein correlations between pions from different W bosons is disfavoured.

title: Measurement of the branching ratios for J / psi --> gamma pi0, gamma eta, gamma eta' --> 3gamma on the BES