Search

We investigate the meson-baryon interaction in coupled channels with the quantum numbers of the pentaquarks $P_{bss}$ and $P_{bsss}$. The interaction is derived from an extension of the local hidden gauge approach to the heavy quark sector, which has demonstrated accurate results compared to experiments involving $\Omega_{b}$, $\Xi_{b}$ states, and pentaquarks $P_{c}$ and $P_{cs}$. In our study, we identify several molecular states with small decay widths within the chosen set of coupled channels. The spin-parity ($J^P$) of these states is as follows: $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-$ for pseudoscalar-baryon (${\frac{1}{2}}^+$) coupled channels, $J^P={\frac{3}{2}}^-$ for pseudoscalar-baryon (${\frac{3}{2}}^+$) coupled channels, $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-$ and ${\frac{3}{2}}^-$ for vector-baryon (${\frac{1}{2}}^+$) coupled channels, and $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-$, ${\frac{3}{2}}^-$, ${\frac{5}{2}}^-$ for vector-baryon (${\frac{3}{2}}^+$) coupled channels. We search for the poles of these states and evaluate their couplings to the different channels., Comment: 8 pages, 1 figures

We start from a recently favored picture in which the $\Lambda_c(2940)$ and $\Lambda_c(2910)$ correspond mostly to $ND^*$ bound states with $J^P = 1/2^-,\, 3/2^-$ and then add a $D$ as a third particle, looking for the possible binding of the $DND^*$ three body system within the framework of the Fixed Center Approximation. We find that the system is bound with respect to the corresponding $\Lambda_c^* D$ threshold with a binding of about $60$ MeV and a width of about $90$ MeV. Alternatively we assume a cluster of $ND$ and a $D^*$ meson interacting with the cluster and we find similar results. The observation of these states of $J^P = 1/2^+,\, 3/2^+$ would provide new and valuable information concerning the $DN$ and $D^* N$ interaction, an issue of current debate., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

We propose the reaction $\psi(3686) \to \bar{\Xi}^+ \bar{K}^0 \Sigma^{*-}$, with the $\Sigma^{*-}$ decaying to $\pi^- \Lambda$ in order to show evidence for the existence of two $\Xi(1820)$ states, one around $1824$ MeV and narrow, and another one around $1875$ MeV and wide. The phase space for $\bar{K}^0 \Sigma^{*-}$ production reduces the effect of the lower mass resonance, magnifying the effect of the higher mass resonance that shows clearly over the phase space. The estimated rate of the production is bigger than the one of the $\psi(3686) \to \bar{\Xi}^+ K^- \Lambda$ reaction, where a clear peak for $\Xi(1820)$ was observed by the BESIII collaboration, what makes the Beijing facility ideal to carry out the reaction proposed., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table

In this work we compare the predictions for the scattering length and effective range of the channels $K^0 \Sigma^+, K^+ \Sigma^0 , K^+ \Lambda$ and $\eta p$, assuming the $N^*(1535)$ state as a molecular state of these channels, or an original genuine state, made for instance from three quarks. Looking at very different scenarios, what we conclude is that the predictions of these two pictures are drastically different, to the point that we advise the measurement of these magnitudes, accessible for instance by measuring correlation functions, in order to gain much valuable information concerning the nature of this state.

In this note we study the tensor and vector exchange contributions to the elastic reactions involving the pseudoscalars mesons $\pi^+ \pi^-$, $K^{+}K^{-}$ and $D^{+}D^{-}$. In the case of the tensor-exchange contributions we assume that an intermediate tensor $f_2(1270)$ is dynamically generated from the interaction of two virtual $\rho$ mesons, with the use of a pole approximation. The calculation of the two-loop amplitude is facilitated since the triangle loops can be factorized and computed separately. The results show very small contributions coming from the tensor-exchange mechanisms when compared with those from the vector-exchange processes. We compare our results for $\pi \pi$ and $K\bar{K}$ scattering with those obtained in other works where the $f_2(1270)$ is considered as an ordinary $q\bar{q}$ meson. Our picture provides a smaller contribution but of similar order of magnitude for pion scattering and stabilizes the results in the case of $K\bar{K}$, allowing us to make estimates for $D\bar{D}$ scattering., Comment: 12 pages; 6 figures; revised version with several improvements; a comparison with other works is made

We search for a $B$ decay mode where one can find a peak for a $D \bar{D}$ bound state predicted in effective theories and in Lattice QCD calculations, which has also been claimed from some reactions that show an accumulated strength in $D \bar{D}$ production at threshold. We find a good candidate in the $B^+\to K^+ \eta\eta$ reaction, by looking at the $\eta\eta$ mass distribution. The reaction proceeds via a first step in which one has the $B^+\to D_s^{*+} \bar{D}^0$ reaction followed by $D_s^{*+}$ decay to $D^0 K^+$ and a posterior fusion of $D^0 \bar{D}^0$ to $\eta \eta$, implemented trough a triangle diagram that allows the $D^0 \bar{D}^0$ to be virtual and produce the bound state. The choice of $\eta\eta$ to see the peak is based on results of calculations that find the $\eta\eta$ among the light pseudoscalar channels with stronger coupling to the $D \bar{D}$ bound state. We find a neat peak around the predicted mass of that state in the $\eta\eta$ mass distribution, with an integrated branching ratio for $B^+\to K^+$ ($D\bar{D}$, bound) ; ($D\bar{D}$, bound) $\to \eta \eta$ of the order of $1.5 \times 10^{-4}$, a large number for hadronic $B$ decays, which should motivate its experimental search.

We study the molecular probability of the $X(3872)$ in the $D^0 \bar D^{*0}$ and $D^+ D^{*-}$ channels in several scenarios. One of them assumes that the state is purely due to a genuine nonmolecular component. However, it gets unavoidably dressed by the meson components to the point that in the limit of zero binding of the $D^0 \bar D^{*0}$ component becomes purely molecular. Yet, the small but finite binding allows for a nonmolecular state when the bare mass of the genuine state approaches the $D^0 \bar D^{*0}$ threshold, but, in this case the system develops a small scattering length and a huge effective range for this channel in flagrant disagreement with present values of these magnitudes. Next we discuss the possibility to have hybrid states stemming from the combined effect of a genuine state and a reasonable direct interaction between the meson components, where we find cases in which the scattering length and effective range are still compatible with data, but even then the molecular probability is as big as $95 \%$. Finally, we perform the calculations when the binding stems purely from the direct interaction between the meson-meson components. In summary we conclude, that while present data definitely rule out the possibility of a dominant nonmolecular component, the precise value of the molecular probability requires a more precise determination of the scattering length and effective range of the $D^0 \bar D^{*0}$ channel, as well as the measurement of these magnitudes for the $D^+ D^{*-}$ channel which have not been determined experimentally so far.

High-entropy ceramics (HECs) are solid solutions of inorganic compounds with one or more Wyckoff sites shared by equal or near-equal atomic ratios of multi-principal elements. Material design and property tailoring possibilities emerge from this new class of materials. Here, we report the discovery of superconductivity around 2.35 K and topological properties in the (Ti0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2Hf0.2Ta0.2)C high-entropy carbide ceramic (HECC), which has not been observed before in any of the investigated HECC. Density functional theory calculations showed that six type-II Dirac points exist in (Ti0.2Zr0.2Nb0.2Hf0.2Ta0.2)C, which mainly contributed from the t2g orbitals of transition metals and the p orbitals of C. Due to the stability of the structure, we also observed robust superconductivity under pressure in this HEC superconductor. This study expands the physical properties of HECs, which may become a new material platform for superconductivity research, especially for studying the coupling between superconductivity and topological physics., Comment: 30 pages, 5 figures

Throughout its history, Operational Research has evolved to include a variety of methods, models and algorithms that have been applied to a diverse and wide range of contexts. This encyclopedic article consists of two main sections: methods and applications. The first aims to summarise the up-to-date knowledge and provide an overview of the state-of-the-art methods and key developments in the various subdomains of the field. The second offers a wide-ranging list of areas where Operational Research has been applied. The article is meant to be read in a nonlinear fashion. It should be used as a point of reference or first-port-of-call for a diverse pool of readers: academics, researchers, students, and practitioners. The entries within the methods and applications sections are presented in alphabetical order. The authors dedicate this paper to the 2023 Turkey/Syria earthquake victims. We sincerely hope that advances in OR will play a role towards minimising the pain and suffering caused by this and future catastrophes.

Vehicle re-identification (Re-ID) is a critical component of the autonomous driving perception system, and research in this area has accelerated in recent years. However, there is yet no perfect solution to the vehicle re-identification issue associated with the car's surround-view camera system. Our analysis identifies two significant issues in the aforementioned scenario: i) It is difficult to identify the same vehicle in many picture frames due to the unique construction of the fisheye camera. ii) The appearance of the same vehicle when seen via the surround vision system's several cameras is rather different. To overcome these issues, we suggest an integrative vehicle Re-ID solution method. On the one hand, we provide a technique for determining the consistency of the tracking box drift with respect to the target. On the other hand, we combine a Re-ID network based on the attention mechanism with spatial limitations to increase performance in situations involving multiple cameras. Finally, our approach combines state-of-the-art accuracy with real-time performance. We will soon make the source code and annotated fisheye dataset available., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2006.16503

Inspired by structural colors in avian species, various synthetic strategies have been developed to produce non-iridescent, saturated colors using nanoparticle assemblies. Mixtures of nanoparticles varying in particle chemistry (or complex refractive indices) and particle size have additional emergent properties that impact the color produced. For such complex multi-component systems, an understanding of assembled structure along with a robust optical modeling tool can empower scientists to perform intensive structure-color relationship studies and fabricate designer materials with tailored color. Here, we demonstrate how we can reconstruct the assembled structure from small-angle scattering measurements using the computational reverse-engineering analysis for scattering experiments (CREASE) method and then use the reconstructed structure in finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations to predict color. We successfully, quantitatively predict experimentally observed color in mixtures containing strongly absorbing melanin nanoparticles and demonstrate the influence of a single layer of segregated nanoparticles on color produced. The versatile computational approach presented in this work is useful for engineering synthetic materials with desired colors without laborious trial and error experiments., Comment: 23 Pages, 5 Figures, 1 ToC Figure

The crystal structure of solid-state materials with unique lattices is considered one of the main factors determining physical properties, including superconductivity. Materials with honeycomb lattices have inspired intense research interest for their novel properties. A previously unknown compound, Ta4CoSi, are discussed herein and its crystal structure and superconducting properties. It crystallizes in a CuAl2-type structure (space group P4/mcm, No. 124) with the lattice parameters a = b = 6.17755(7){\AA} and c = 4.98443(8) {\AA}, featuring honeycomb networks of Ta-Ta in (110) plane. Superconductivity is observed below the critical temperature of 2.45 K, while lower and upper critical magnetic fields are 9.86 mT and 0.84 T, respectively. Experiments and theoretical calculations show that the honeycomb lattices significantly influence the superconducting properties. This material may thus provide a new platform for investigating the exotic superconductivity of honeycomb networks., Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, The manuscript with the same title will be published by PRB

We study the interaction of meson-baryon coupled channels carrying quantum numbers of $\Omega_{cc}$ , $\Omega_{bb}$ and $\Omega_{bc}$ presently under investigation by the LHCb collaboration. The interaction is obtained from an extension of the local hidden gauge approach to the heavy quark sector that has proved to provide accurate results compared to experiment in the case of $\Omega_{c}$ , $\Xi_{c}$ states and pentaquarks, $P_c$ and $P_{cs}$. We obtain many bound states, with small decay widths within the space of the chosen coupled channels. The spin-parity of the states are $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-$ for coupled channels of pseudoscalar-baryon (${\frac{1}{2}}^+$), $J^P={\frac{3}{2}}^-$ for the case of pseudoscalar-baryon (${\frac{3}{2}}^+$), $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-,{\frac{3}{2}}^-$ for the case of vector-baryon (${\frac{1}{2}}^+$) and $J^P={\frac{1}{2}}^-,{\frac{3}{2}}^-,{\frac{5}{2}}^-$ for the vector-baryon (${\frac{3}{2}}^+$) channels. We look for poles of the states and evaluate the couplings to the different channels. The couplings obtained for the open channels can serve as a guide to see in which reaction the obtained states are more likely to be observed., Comment: 18 pages, 1 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D

We perform a theoretical study of the $D_s^{+}\to \pi^{+}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta$ decay. We look first at the basic $D_s^{+}$ decay at the quark level from external and internal emission. Then hadronize a pair or two pairs of $q\bar{q}$ states to have mesons at the end. Posteriorly the pairs of mesons are allowed to undergo final state interaction, by means of which the $a_0(980)$, $f_0(980)$, $a_1(1260)$, and $b_1(1235)$ resonances are dynamically generated. The $G$-parity is used as a filter of the possible channels, and from those with negative $G$-parity only the ones that can lead to $\pi^{+}\pi^{+}\pi^{-}\eta$ at the final state are kept. Using transition amplitudes from the chiral unitary approach that generates these resonances, and a few free parameters, we obtain a fair reproduction of the six mass distributions reported in BESIII experiment., Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures

We present an approach that allows one to obtain information on the compositeness of molecular states from combined information of the scattering length of the hadronic components, the effective range, and the binding energy. We consider explicitly the range of the interaction in the formalism and show it to be extremely important to improve on the formula of Weinberg obtained in the limit of very small binding and zero range interaction. The method allows obtaining good information also in cases where the binding is not small. We explicitly apply it to the case of the deuteron and the $D^{*}_{s0}(2317)$ and $D^{*}_{s1}(2460)$ states and determine simultaneously the value of the compositeness within a certain range, as well as get qualitative information on the range of the interaction.

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is well suitable for searching for monochromatic and sharp $\gamma$-ray structures in the GeV$-$TeV range thanks to its unprecedented high energy resolution. In this work, we search for $\gamma$-ray line structures using five years of DAMPE data. To improve the sensitivity, we develop two types of dedicated data sets (including the BgoOnly data which is the first time to be used in the data analysis for the calorimeter-based gamma-ray observatories) and adopt the signal-to-noise ratio optimized regions of interest (ROIs) for different DM density profiles. No line signals or candidates are found between 10 and 300 GeV in the Galaxy. The constraints on the velocity-averaged cross section for $\chi\chi \to \gamma\gamma$ and the decay lifetime for $\chi \to \gamma\nu$, both at 95% confidence level, have been calculated and the systematic uncertainties have been taken into account. Comparing to the previous Fermi-LAT results, though DAMPE has an acceptance smaller by a factor of $\sim 10$, similar constraints on the DM parameters are achieved and below 100 GeV the lower limits on the decay lifetime are even stronger by a factor of a few. Our results demonstrate the potential of high-energy-resolution observations on dark matter detection., Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures. Update the content to keep up with the published version

We have measured the reflectance of rhenium in the visible region to pressures up to 100 GPa in a diamond anvil cell (DAC). By photographing the reflecting surface, we visually show that there are challenges to obtaining accurate values in a DAC for several reasons and propose some useful procedures. We also show that knowledge of the reflectance of rhenium can overcome the problem of absorption of light by diamonds when studying the reflectance of materials at high pressure in a DAC., Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures

The 3D visual perception for vehicles with the surround-view fisheye camera system is a critical and challenging task for low-cost urban autonomous driving. While existing monocular 3D object detection methods perform not well enough on the fisheye images for mass production, partly due to the lack of 3D datasets of such images. In this paper, we manage to overcome and avoid the difficulty of acquiring the large scale of accurate 3D labeled truth data, by breaking down the 3D object detection task into some sub-tasks, such as vehicle's contact point detection, type classification, re-identification and unit assembling, etc. Particularly, we propose the concept of Multidimensional Vector to include the utilizable information generated in different dimensions and stages, instead of the descriptive approach for the bird's eye view (BEV) or a cube of eight points. The experiments of real fisheye images demonstrate that our solution achieves state-of-the-art accuracy while being real-time in practice., Comment: Accepted by IROS 2021

Motivated by the recent experimental measurements of differential cross sections of the $\Sigma^{-}p$ elastic scattering in the momentum range of $470$ to $850$ MeV$/c$ by the J-PARC E$40$ experiment, we extend our previous studies of $S=-1$ hyperon-nucleon interactions to relatively higher energies up to $900$ MeV$/c$ for both the coupled-channel $\Lambda p\rightarrow(\Lambda p, \Sigma^{+}n, \Sigma^{0}p)$, $\Sigma^{-}p\rightarrow(\Lambda n, \Sigma^{0}n, \Sigma^{-}p)$ and single-channel $\Sigma^{+}p\rightarrow\Sigma^{+}p$ reactions. We show that although the leading order covariant chiral effective field theory is only constrained by the low energy data, it can describe the high energy data reasonably well, in particular, the J-PARC E40 differential cross sections. The predicted cusp structure close to the $\Sigma N$ threshold in the $\Lambda p\to \Lambda p$ reaction agrees with the latest ALICE observation as well as with the results of the next-to-leading order heavy baryon chiral effective theory. On the other hand, the comparison with the latest CLAS data on the $\Lambda p$ cross sections between 0.9 and 2.0 GeV$/c$ clearly indicates the need of higher order chiral potentials for such high momenta. This is also the case for the latest J-PARC data on the $\Sigma p \rightarrow \Lambda n$ differential cross sections. Nevertheless, even for these cases, the predictions are in qualitative agreement with the data, albeit with large uncertainties, implying that the predicted total and differential cross sections are of relevance for ongoing and planned experiments., Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, comparison with the latest J-PARC and CLAS data made, uncertainty estimates updated, to appear in Physical Review C

We study the lattice QCD $\Lambda_c N$ phase shifts for the $^3S_1-{}^3D_1$ coupled channel using both the leading order covariant chiral effective theory and the next-to-leading order non-relativistic chiral effective field theory. We show that although it is possible to describe simultaneously the $^3S_1$ and $^3D_1$ phase shifts and the inelasticity $\eta_1$, the fitted energy range is pretty small, only up to $E_\mathrm{c.m.}=5$ MeV. This raises concerns regarding the consistency between leading/next-to-leading order chiral effective field theory and the lattice QCD simulations., Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Communications in Theoretical Physics

Ultrasoft colloidal particle fluctuates due to its flexibility. Such fluctuation is essential for colloidal structure and dynamics, but is challenging to quantify experimentally. We use dendrimers as a model system to study the fluctuation of ultrasoft colloids. By considering the dynamic polydispersity in the small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) model, and introducing the fluctuation of invasive water into the contrast in SANS, we reveal the fluctuating amplitudes of the size and shape of the dendrimer of generation 6 at finite concentrations. The size fluctuation is suppressed while the shape fluctuation increases as the weight fraction of dendrimers passes 11%. With neutron spin echo data, we suggest that such crossover originates from the competition between the inter- and intra-particle dynamics. Further investigation on lower-generation samples shows a contrary result, which suggests a structural basis for these dynamic phenomena., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The strangeness $S=-3$ and $-4$ baryon-baryon interactions are investigated in the relativistic chiral effective field theory at leading order. First, the potentials are derived from the $S=-1$ sector assuming that the corresponding low-energy constants are related to each other via SU(3) flavor symmetry. The comparison with the state-of-the-art lattice QCD simulations, show, however, that SU(3) flavor symmetry breaking effects can not be neglected. In order to take into account these effects, we redetermine two sets of low-energy constants by fitting to the lattice QCD data in the $\Xi\Sigma$ and $\Xi\Xi$ channels respectively. The fitting results demonstrate that the lattice QCD $S$-waves phase shifts for both channels can be described rather well. Without any additional free low-energy constants, the predicted phase shifts for the ${}^3D_1$ channel and the mixing angle $\varepsilon_1$ are also in qualitative agreement with the lattice QCD data for the $S=-3$ channel, while the results for the $S=-4$ channel remain to be checked by future lattice QCD simulations. With the so-obtained low-energy constants, the $S$-wave scattering lengths and effective ranges are calculated for these two channels at the physical point. Finally, in combination with the $S=0$ and $-2$ results obtained in our previous works, we study the evolution of the irreducible representation $27$ in the baryon-baryon interactions as a function of increasing strangeness. It is shown that the attraction decreases dramatically as strangeness increases from $S=0$ to $S=-2$, but then remains relatively stable until $S=-4$. The results indicate that the existence of bound states in the $\Xi\Sigma$ and $\Xi\Xi$ channels is rather unlikely., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

We study the $\Lambda_c N$ interaction in the covariant chiral effective field theory (ChEFT) at leading order. All the relevant low-energy constants are determined by fitting to the lattice QCD simulations from the HAL QCD Collaboration. Extrapolating the results to the physical point, we show that the $\Lambda_c N$ interaction is weakly attractive in the $^1S_0$ channel, but in the $^3S_1$ channel, it is only attractive at extremely low energies and soon turns repulsive for larger laboratory energy. Furthermore, we show that the neglect of the $^3S_1-{}^3D_1$ coupling provided by the leading order covariant ChEFT would result in an attractive interaction in the $^3S_1$ channel at the physical point, which coincides with the previous non-relatistic ChEFT study. As a byproduct, we predict the $^3D_1$ phase shifts and the mixing angel $\varepsilon_1$, which can be checked by future lattice QCD simulations. In addition, we compare the $\Lambda_c N$ interaction with the $\Lambda N$ and $NN$ interactions to study how the baryon-nucleon ($BN$) interactions evolve as a function of the baryon mass with the replacement of a light quark by a strange or charm quark in the baryon ($B$)., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures

Hyperon-nucleon interactions serve as basic inputs to studies of hypernuclear physics and dense (neutron) stars. Unfortunately, a precise understanding of these important quantities have lagged far behind that of the nucleon-nucleon interaction due to lack of high precision experimental data. Historically, hyperon-nucleon interactions are either formulated in quark models or meson exchange models. In recent years, lattice QCD simulations and chiral effective field theory approaches start to offer new insights from first principles. In the present work, we contrast the state of art lattice QCD simulations with the latest chiral hyperon-nucleon forces and show that the leading order relativistic chiral results can already describe the lattice QCD data reasonably well. Given the fact that the lattice QCD simulations are performed with pion masses ranging from the (almost) physical point to 700 MeV, such studies provide a highly non-trivial check on both the chiral effective field theory approaches as well as lattice QCD simulations. Nevertheless more precise lattice QCD simulations are eagerly needed to refine our understanding of hyperon-nucleon interactions., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

Ytterbium (Yb) metal is divalent and nonmagnetic but would be expected under sufficient pressure to become trivalent and magnetic. We have carried out electrical resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements on Yb to pressures as high as 179 GPa over the temperature range 1.4 - 295 K. No evidence for magnetic order is observed. However, above 86 GPa Yb is found to become superconducting near 1.4 K with a transition temperature that increases monotonically with pressure to approximately 4.6 K at 179 GPa. Yb thus becomes the 54th known elemental superconductor., Comment: 3 figures

A new three parameter formula is proposed for ground-state bands in even-even soft rotors or called transitional nuclei. The new formula blends those of very soft nuclei and well deformed nuclei. Especially, it is found in fact that the formula proposed by P. von Brentano et al. can be derived from our formula if some approximations are adopted and it can be explained why in their work the energy-dependent term beta*E can be dropped. Compared to their formula it can be resulted in that the range of validity of our formula will be much broader than theirs., Comment: 8 pages

"Spillover" learning is defined as customers' learning about the quality of a service (or product) from their previous experiences with similar yet not identical services. In this paper, we propose a novel, parsimonious and general Bayesian hierarchical learning framework for estimating customers' spillover learning. We apply our model to a one-year shipping/sales historical data provided by a world-leading third party logistics company and study how customers' experiences from shipping on a particular route affect their future decisions about shipping not only on that route, but also on other routes serviced by the same logistics company. Our empirical results are consistent with information spillovers driving customer choices. Customers also display an asymmetric response such that they are more sensitive to delays than early deliveries. In addition, we find that customers are risk averse being more sensitive to their uncertainty about the mean service quality than to the intrinsic variability of the service. Finally, we develop policy simulation studies to show the importance of accounting for customer learning when a firm considers service quality improvement decisions.

In cargo logistics, a key performance measure is transport risk, defined as the deviation of the actual arrival time from the planned arrival time. Neither earliness nor tardiness is desirable for customer and freight forwarders. In this paper, we investigate ways to assess and forecast transport risks using a half-year of air cargo data, provided by a leading forwarder on 1336 routes served by 20 airlines. Interestingly, our preliminary data analysis shows a strong multimodal feature in the transport risks, driven by unobserved events, such as cargo missing flights. To accommodate this feature, we introduce a Bayesian nonparametric model -- the probit stick-breaking process (PSBP) mixture model -- for flexible estimation of the conditional (i.e., state-dependent) density function of transport risk. We demonstrate that using simpler methods, such as OLS linear regression, can lead to misleading inferences. Our model provides a tool for the forwarder to offer customized price and service quotes. It can also generate baseline airline performance to enable fair supplier evaluation. Furthermore, the method allows us to separate recurrent risks from disruption risks. This is important, because hedging strategies for these two kinds of risks are often drastically different., Comment: 35 pages, 15 figures

The method of characteristics (MOC) is widely used for neutron transport calculation in recent decades. However, the key problem determining whether MOC can be applied in highly heterogeneous geometry is how to combine an effective geometry modeling method with it. Most of the existing MOC codes conventionally describe the geometry model just by lines and arcs with extensive input data. Thus they have difficulty in geometry modeling and ray tracing for complicated geometries. In this study, a new method making use of a CAD-based automatic modeling tool MCAM which is a CAD/Image-based Automatic Modeling Program for Neutronics and Radiation Transport developed by FDS Team in China was introduced for geometry modeling and ray tracing of particle transport to remove those limitations. The diamond -difference scheme was applied to MOC to reduce the spatial discretization errors of the flat flux approximation. Based on MCAM and MOC, a new MOC code was developed and integrated into SuperMC system, whic h is a Super Multi-function Computational system for neutronics and radiation simulation. The numerical results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the new method for neutron transport calculation in MOC., Comment: 8 pages,5 figures,4 tables. Submitted to Chinese Physics C