Mass Generation for an Ultralight Axion

If a global chiral symmetry is explicitly broken by anomalies in nonabelian gauge theories, a pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson (axion) associated with a spontaneous breakdown of such a global symmetry acquires a mass through nonperturbative instanton effects. We calculate the axion mass assuming a supersymmetric SU(2) gauge theory and show that the axion obtains an extremely small mass when the SU(2) gauge symmetry is broken down at very high energy, say at the Planck scale. We identify the axion with a hypothetical ultralight boson field proposed to account for a small but nonzero cosmological constant suggested from recent cosmological observations.Comment: 11 pages, Late

Localization-delocalization transition in one-dimensional electron systems with long-range correlated disorder

We investigate localization properties of electron eigenstates in one-dimensional (1d) systems with long-range correlated diagonal disorder. Numerical studies on the localization length $\xi$ of eigenstates demonstrate the existence of the localization-delocalization transition in 1d systems and elucidate non-trivial behavior of $\xi$ as a function of the disorder strength. The critical exponent $\nu$ for localization length is extracted for various values of parameters characterizing the disorder, revealing that every $\nu$ disobeys the Harris criterion $\nu > 2/d$.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figuers, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Molecular Hydrogen Emission from Protoplanetary Disks

We have modeled self-consistently the density and temperature profiles of gas and dust in protoplanetary disks, taking into account irradiation from a central star. Making use of this physical structure, we have calculated the level populations of molecular hydrogen and the line emission from the disks. As a result, we can reproduce the observed strong line spectra of molecular hydrogen from protoplanetary disks, both in the ultraviolet (UV) and the near-infrared, but only if the central star has a strong UV excess radiation.Comment: 19 pages, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Dimension-six Proton Decays in the Modified Missing Doublet SU(5) Model

Dimension-five operators for nucleon decays are suppressed in the modified missing doublet (MMD) model in the supersymmetric SU(5) grand unification. We show that nonrenormalizable interactions decrease the unification scale in the MMD model which increases the nucleon decay rate of dimension-six operators by a significant amount. We find that the theoretical lower bound on the proton life time \tau(p \to \e^+ \pi^0) is within the observable range at SuperKamiokande.Comment: 9 pages, Latex, 1 Postscript figure

Shape-phase transitions in odd-mass γ\gamma-soft nuclei with mass A≈130A\approx 130

Quantum phase transitions between competing equilibrium shapes of nuclei with an odd number of nucleons are explored using a microscopic framework of nuclear energy density functionals and a particle-boson core coupling model. The boson Hamiltonian for the even-even core nucleus, as well as the spherical single-particle energies and occupation probabilities of unpaired nucleons, are completely determined by a constrained self-consistent mean-field calculation for a specific choice of the energy density functional and pairing interaction. Only the strength parameters of the particle-core coupling have to be adjusted to reproduce a few empirical low-energy spectroscopic properties of the corresponding odd-mass system. The model is applied to the odd-A Ba, Xe, La and Cs isotopes with mass $A\approx 130$, for which the corresponding even-even Ba and Xe nuclei present a typical case of $\gamma$-soft nuclear potential. The theoretical results reproduce the experimental low-energy excitation spectra and electromagnetic properties, and confirm that a phase transition between nearly spherical and $\gamma$-soft nuclear shapes occurs also in the odd-A systems.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, 9 table

Signatures of shape phase transitions in odd-mass nuclei

Quantum phase transitions between competing ground-state shapes of atomic nuclei with an odd number of protons or neutrons are investigated in a microscopic framework based on nuclear energy density functional theory and the particle-plus-boson-core coupling scheme. The boson-core Hamiltonian, as well as the single-particle energies and occupation probabilities of the unpaired nucleon, are completely determined by constrained self-consistent mean-field calculations for a specific choice of the energy density functional and paring interaction, and only the strength parameters of the particle-core coupling are adjusted to reproduce selected spectroscopic properties of the odd-mass system. We apply this method to odd-A Eu and Sm isotopes with neutron number $N \approx 90$, and explore the influence of the single unpaired fermion on the occurrence of a shape phase transition. Collective wave functions of low-energy states are used to compute quantities that can be related to quantum order parameters: deformations, excitation energies, E2 transition rates and separation energies, and their evolution with the control parameter (neutron number) is analysed.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figures; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Surface density of states of s+-wave Cooper pairs in a two-band model

We calculate surface density of state (SDOS) of s+-wave Cooper pair in two-band superconductor model, where gap functions have different signs between two bands. We find that Andreev bound state appears at surface due to the sign change in the gap function in the interband quasiparticle scattering. However, we do not obtain the zero-energy peak of SDOS in contrast to the d-wave case. The tunneling spectroscopy of s+-wave is much more complex as compared to the d-wave case realized in high-Tc cuprates.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure

A Gauge Mediation Model of Dynamical Supersymmetry Breaking without Color Instability

We construct a gauge mediation model of dynamical supersymmetry breaking (DSB) based on a vector-like gauge theory, in which there is a unique color-preserving true vacuum. The DSB scale $\Lambda/4\pi$ turns out to be as high as $\Lambda/4\pi \simeq 10^{8-9} GeV$, since the transmission of the DSB effects to the standard model sector is completed through much higher loops. This model is perfectly natural and phenomenologically consistent. We also stress that the dangerous D-term problem for the messenger U(1)_m is automatically solved by a charge conjugation symmetry in the vector-like gauge theory.Comment: 11 pages, Late

Measurement of thin films using very long acoustic wavelengths

A procedure for measuring material thickness by means of necessarily-long acoustic wavelengths is examined. The approach utilizes a temporal phase lag caused by the impulse time of wave momentum transferred through a thin layer that is much denser than its surrounding medium. In air, it is predicted that solid or liquid layers below approximately 1/2000 of the acoustic wavelength will exhibit a phase shift with an arctangent functional dependence on thickness and layer density. The effect is verified for thin films on the scale of 10 microns using audible frequency sound (7 kHz). Soap films as thin as 100 nm are then measured using 40 kHz air ultrasound. The method's potential for imaging applications is demonstrated by combining the approach with near-field holography, resulting in reconstructions with sub-wavelength resolution in both the depth and lateral directions. Potential implications at very high and very low acoustic frequencies are discussed.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Applied Physic