Temperature effects on the nuclear symmetry energy and symmetry free energy with an isospin and momentum dependent interaction
Within a self-consistent thermal model using an isospin and momentum dependent interaction (MDI) constrained by the isospin diffusion data in heavy-ion collisions, we investigate the temperature dependence of the symmetry energy ${E}_{\mathrm{sym}}(\ensuremath{\rho},T)$ and symmetry free energy ${F}_{\mathrm{sym}}(\ensuremath{\rho},T)$ for hot, isospin asymmetric nuclear matter. It is shown that the symmetry energy ${E}_{\mathrm{sym}}(\ensuremath{\rho},T)$ generally decreases with increasing temperature while the symmetry free energy ${F}_{\mathrm{sym}}(\ensuremath{\rho},T)$ exhibits opposite temperature dependence. The decrement of the symmetry energy with temperature is essentially due to the decrement of the potential energy part of the symmetry energy with temperature. The difference between the symmetry energy and symmetry free energy is found to be quite small around the saturation density of nuclear matter. While at very low densities, they differ significantly from each other. In comparison with the experimental data of temperature dependent symmetry energy extracted from the isotopic scaling analysis of intermediate mass fragments (IMF's) in heavy-ion collisions, the resulting density and temperature dependent symmetry energy ${E}_{\mathrm{sym}}(\ensuremath{\rho},T)$ is then used to estimate the average freeze-out density of the IMF's.

title: Non-Newtonian gravity in finite nuclei
abstract: 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: 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: Isospin-dependent pion in-medium effects on the charged-pion ratio in heavy ion collisions
abstract: Using results from the chiral perturbation theory for the s-wave interaction and the {Delta}-resonance model for the p-wave interaction of pions with nucleons, we evaluated the spectral functions of pions in asymmetric nuclear matter with unequal proton and neutron densities. We find that in hot dense neutron-rich matter the strength of the spectral function of positively charged pions at low energies is somewhat larger than that of negatively charged pions. In a thermal model, this isospin-dependent effect slightly reduces the ratio of negatively charged to positively charged pions that are produced in heavy ion collisions induced by radioactive beams. The relevance of our results to the determination of the nuclear symmetry energy from the measured ratio of negatively to positively charged pions produced in heavy ion collisions is discussed.

title: Locating the inner edge of the neutron star crust using terrestrial nuclear laboratory data
abstract: Within both dynamical and thermodynamical approaches using the equation of state for neutron-rich nuclear matter constrained by the recent isospin diffusion data from heavy-ion reactions in the same subsaturation density range as the neutron star crust, the density and pressure at the inner edge separating the liquid core from the solid crust of neutron stars are determined to be $0.040 {\mathrm{fm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}\ensuremath{\leqslant}{\ensuremath{\rho}}_{t}\ensuremath{\leqslant}0.065 {\mathrm{fm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ and 0.01 MeV/${\mathrm{fm}}^{3}\ensuremath{\leqslant}{P}_{t}\ensuremath{\leqslant}0.26$ MeV/${\mathrm{fm}}^{3}$, respectively. These together with the observed minimum crustal fraction of the total moment of inertia allow us to set a new limit for the radius of the Vela pulsar significantly different from the previous estimate. It is further shown that the widely used parabolic approximation to the equation of state of asymmetric nuclear matter leads systematically to significantly higher core-crust transition densities and pressures, especially with stiffer symmetry energy functionals.

title: Constraining the EOS of Neutron-Rich Nuclear Matter and Properties of Neutron Stars with Heavy-Ion Reactions
abstract: Heavy‐ion reactions especially those induced by radioactive beams provide useful information about the density dependence of the nuclear symmetry energy, thus the Equation of State of neutron‐rich nuclear matter, relevant for many astrophysical studies. The latest developments in constraining the symmetry energy at both sub‐ and supra‐saturation densities from analyses of the isopsin diffusion and the π−/π+ ratio in heavy‐ion collisions using the IBUU04 transport model are discussed. Astrophysical ramifications of the partially constrained symmetry energy on properties of neutron star crusts, gravitational waves emitted by deformed pulsars and the w‐mode oscillations of neutron stars are presented briefly.

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.

title: 3D Simulations for a Micron‐Scale, Dielectric‐Based Acceleration Experiment
abstract: An experimental program to demonstrate a dielectric, slab‐symmetric accelerator structure has been underway for the past two years. These resonant devices are driven by a side‐coupled 800‐nm laser and can be configured to maintain the field profile necessary for synchronous acceleration and focusing of relativistic or nonrelativistic particles. We present 3D simulations of various versions of the structure geometry, including a metal‐walled structure relevant to ongoing cold tests on resonant properties, and an all‐dielectric structure to be constructed for a proof‐of‐principle acceleration experiment.

title: The tricky azimuthal dependence of jet quenching at RHIC and LHC via CUJET2.0
abstract: High transverse momentum neutral pion and charged hadron suppression pattern with respect to reaction plane at RHIC and LHC energies in central and semi-peripheral AA collisions are studied in a perturbative QCD based model, CUJET2.0. CUJET2.0 has dynamical DGLV radiation kernel and Thoma–Gyulassy elastic energy loss, with both being generalized to including multi-scale running strong coupling as well as energy loss probability fluctuations, and the full jet path integration is performed in a low p T flow data constrained medium which has 2+1D viscous hydrodynamical expanding profile. We find that in CUJET2.0, with only one control parameter, α max , the maximum coupling strength, fixed to be 0.26, the computed nuclear modification factor R AA in central and semi-peripheral AA collisions are consistent with RHIC and LHC data at average χ 2 / d.o.f. 1.5 level. Simultaneous agreements with high p T azimuthal anisotropy v 2 data are acquired given average α max over in-plane and out-of-plane paths varying as little as 10%, suggesting a non-trivial dependence of the high p T single particle v 2 on the azimuthally varied strong coupling.

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: Outflow and accretion detections in the young stellar object IRAS 04579+4703
abstract: We present Submillimeter Array observations of the young stellar object IRAS 04579+4703 in the 1.3 mm continuum and in the 12 CO(2−1), 13 CO(2−1), and C 18 O(2−1) lines. The 1.3 mm continuum image reveals a flattened structure with a mass of 13 M � . The 12 CO(2−1) line map and position-velocity diagram, together with the broad wing (full width = 30 km s −1 )o f the 12 CO(2−1) line, clearly show that there is an outflow motion, which originates from an embedded massive YSO in this region. The lengths of the blue-shifted and red-shifted lobes are 0.14 pc and 0.13 pc, respectively. The total gas mass, average dynamical timescale, and