Neutrino cross-section measurement with neutrinos from muon decay

In this paper we stress the idea that new, more precise neutrino cross-sections measurements at low energies will be necessary to improve the results of future big neutrino detectors, which will be dominated by the contribution of the systematic errors. The use of a muon beam instead of the traditional pion beams is proposed. This choice allows the simultaneous measurement of both, numu and nue interactions and the two helicities, in a clean environment and with a precise knowledge of the beam flux. We show that with approx 10^{15} mu's/year and a moderate mass detector (approx 100 tons) placed close to the muon storage ring, precisions of the order of 10% in sigma(nu) (E_nu bin size of 100 MeV) can be reached for neutrino energies below 2 GeV.Comment: 4 pages, proceeding to NUFACT0

A Possible Origin of Dark Energy

We discuss the possibility that the existence of dark energy may be due to the presence of a spin zero field $\phi(x)$, either elementary or composite. In the presence of other matter field, the transformation $\phi(x)\to \phi(x) +$ constant can generate a negative pressure, like the cosmological constant. In this picture, our universe can be thought as a very large bag, similar to the much smaller MIT bag model for a single nucleon.Comment: 4 pages, no figure, typos correcte

The Rising Light Curves of Type Ia Supernovae

We present an analysis of the early, rising light curves of 18 Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) and the La Silla-QUEST variability survey (LSQ). We fit these early data flux using a simple power-law $(f(t) = {\alpha\times t^n})$ to determine the time of first light $({t_0})$, and hence the rise-time $({t_{rise}})$ from first light to peak luminosity, and the exponent of the power-law rise ($n$). We find a mean uncorrected rise time of $18.98 {\pm} 0.54$ days, with individual SN rise-times ranging from $15.98$ to $24.7$ days. The exponent n shows significant departures from the simple 'fireball model' of $n = 2$ (or ${f(t) \propto t^2}$) usually assumed in the literature. With a mean value of $n = 2.44 {\pm} 0.13$, our data also show significant diversity from event to event. This deviation has implications for the distribution of 56Ni throughout the SN ejecta, with a higher index suggesting a lesser degree of 56Ni mixing. The range of n found also confirms that the 56Ni distribution is not standard throughout the population of SNe Ia, in agreement with earlier work measuring such abundances through spectral modelling. We also show that the duration of the very early light curve, before the luminosity has reached half of its maximal value, does not correlate with the light curve shape or stretch used to standardise SNe Ia in cosmological applications. This has implications for the cosmological fitting of SN Ia light curves.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Time Domain Explorations With Digital Sky Surveys

One of the new frontiers of astronomical research is the exploration of time variability on the sky at different wavelengths and flux levels. We have carried out a pilot project using DPOSS data to study strong variables and transients, and are now extending it to the new Palomar-QUEST synoptic sky survey. We report on our early findings and outline the methodology to be implemented in preparation for a real-time transient detection pipeline. In addition to large numbers of known types of highly variable sources (e.g., SNe, CVs, OVV QSOs, etc.), we expect to find numerous transients whose nature may be established by a rapid follow-up. Whereas we will make all detected variables publicly available through the web, we anticipate that email alerts would be issued in the real time for a subset of events deemed to be the most interesting. This real-time process entails many challenges, in an effort to maintain a high completeness while keeping the contamination low. We will utilize distributed Grid services developed by the GRIST project, and implement a variety of advanced statistical and machine learning techniques.Comment: 5 pages, 2 postscript figures, uses adassconf.sty. To be published in: "ADASS XIV (2004)", Eds. Patrick Shopbell, Matthew Britton and Rick Ebert, ASP Conference Serie

Chiral-loop and vector-meson contributions to eta -> pi pi gamma gamma decays

The process eta -> pi0 pi0 gamma gamma is discussed in Chiral Perturbation Theory (ChPT) extending two recent analyses. Special attention is devoted to one-loop corrections, eta-eta' mixing effects and vector-meson dominance of ChPT counter-terms. The less interesting eta -> pi^+ pi^- gamma gamma transition is briefly discussed too.Comment: 15 pages, 3 Postscript figures, uses epsfig.st

The QUEST large area CCD camera

We have designed, constructed, and put into operation a very large area CCD camera that covers the field of view of the 1.2 m Samuel Oschin Schmidt Telescope at the Palomar Observatory. The camera consists of 112 CCDs arranged in a mosaic of four rows with 28 CCDs each. The CCDs are 600 x 2400 pixel Sarnoff thinned, back-illuminated devices with 13 µm x 13 µm pixels. The camera covers an area of 4.6° x 3.6° on the sky with an active area of 9.6 deg_2. This camera has been installed at the prime focus of the telescope and commissioned, and scientific-quality observations on the Palomar-QUEST Variability Sky Survey were started in 2003 September. The design considerations, construction features, and performance parameters of this camera are described in this paper

The Low-Redshift Quasar-Quasar Correlation Function from an Extragalactic Halpha Emission-Line Survey to z=0.4

We study the large-scale spatial distribution of low-redshift quasars and Seyfert~1 galaxies using a sample of 106 luminous emission-line objects ($\bar{M}_{B} \approx -23$) selected by their H$\alpha$ emission lines in a far-red objective prism survey ($0.2 < z < 0.37$). Of the 106 objects, 25 were previously known AGN (Veron-Cetty and Veron 2000), and follow-up spectroscopy for an additional 53 objects (including all object pairs with separation r < 20 \hmpc) confirmed 48 AGN and 5 narrow emission-line galaxies (NELGs). The calculated amplitude of the spatial two-point correlation function for the emission-line sample is A = 0.4 \cdot \bar{\xi}(r < 20 \hmpc) \cdot 20^{1.8} = 142 \pm 53. Eliminating the confirmed NELGs from the sample we obtain the AGN clustering amplitude $A = 98 \pm 54$. Using Monte Carlo simulations we reject the hypothesis that the observed pair counts were drawn from a random distribution at the 99.97% and 98.6% confidence levels for the entire sample and the AGN subset respectively. We measure a decrease in the quasar clustering amplitude by a factor of $3.7 \pm 2.0$ between $z = 0.26$ and $z \approx 1.5$, and present the coordinates, redshifts, and follow-up spectroscopy for the 15 previously unknown AGN and 4 luminous NELGs that contribute to the clustering signal.Comment: ApJ, in press, Vol 548, added follow-up spectroscop