The JPhysG Publisher’s pick: pick of the picks

By Colin Adcock on May 8, 2015

Two years ago, JPhysG began a monthly Publisher’s pick, to single out excellent research and give it extra visibility. Its second anniversary seems like a good time to cast a look back over our choices and choose some highlights.

There are 27 papers to choose from – some months we couldn’t pick just one! Lets take a look at my five ‘pick of the picks’.

1) Updated measurements of exclusive J/ψ and ψ(2S) production cross-sections in pp collisions at √7 TeV
R Aaij et al (The LHCb Collaboration) 2014 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 41 055002

Why? It’s a very nice piece of work from the LHCb collaboration at CERN. The very first of my Publisher’s picks was actually the precursor to this work, and the quality of both is such that at least one of them has to be included.

2) Global collective flow in heavy ion reactions from the beginnings to the future
L P Csernai and H Stöcker 2014 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 41 124001

This article is a fine example of our reviews in JPhysG, and is part of our focus issue celebrating the 40th anniversary of collective flow in heavy ion collisions. It brings the author through the early developments in the field and up to the present day, looking forward to new insights and understanding.

3) Error estimates of theoretical models: a guide
J Dobaczewski, W Nazarewicz and P-G Reinhard 2014 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 41 074001

Alongside outstanding original research and topical reviews, JPhysG publishes work which is of vital use to the community. Published less than a year ago, this guide has received critical acclaim from many in the nuclear community. INSPIRE lists dozens of citations already – a figure that is rising each month. This article was followed by the ISNET focus issue, giving further insight into how we can link experiment with theory in nuclear physics.

4) Double beta decay searches of ¹³⁴Xe, ¹²⁶Xe and ¹²⁴Xe with large scale Xe detectors
N Barros, J Thurn and K Zuber 2014 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 41 115105

Double beta decay is a popular mechanism in the search for new physics and this paper adds considerably to these efforts. Want some more? In 2012 one of the authors, Kai Zuber (TU Dresden) guest edited a highly recognised focus issue on double beta decay.

5) Probing new physics scenarios in accelerator and reactor neutrino experiments
A Di Iura, I Girardi and D Meloni 2015 J. Phys. G: Nucl. Part. Phys. 42 065003

I want to finish on the above paper, not because it’s the latest pick, but because I think it’s a great example of bringing together data from two different experiments, in this case Daya Bay and T2K. There is a great deal happening for neutrino physics at the moment, and it will be important for collaborations and experiments to work together. I look forward to seeing more of this kind of analysis.

And those are my choices. I made some difficult decisions and some very nice papers aren’t on this list, so you may well disagree.

Want to see your paper selected as a Publisher’s pick? Choose to publish with JPhysG, and your paper could be highlighted alongside some of the best work in the journal.

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