Trace Anomaly as Signature of Conformality in Neutron Stars.

We discuss an interpretation that a peak in the sound velocity in neutron star matter, as suggested by the observational data, signifies strongly coupled conformal matter. The normalized trace anomaly is a dimensionless measure of conformality leading to the derivative and the nonderivative contributions to the sound velocity. We find that the peak in the sound velocity is attributed to the derivative contribution from the trace anomaly that steeply approaches the conformal limit.

Improved geometrical scaling at the LHC.

We show that geometrical scaling exhibited by the p(T) spectra measured by the CMS Collaboration at the LHC is substantially improved if the exponent λ of the saturation scale depends on p(T). This dependence is shown to be the same as the dependence of small x exponent of F(2) structure function in deep inelastic scattering taken at the scale p(T) ≃ Q/2.