Lifetime Constraints for Late Dark Matter Decay

We consider a class of late-decaying dark-matter models, in which a dark matter particle decays to a heavy stable daughter of approximately the same mass, together with one or more relativistic particles which carry away only a small fraction of the parent rest mass. Such decays can affect galactic halo structure and evolution, and have been invoked as a remedy to some of the small scale structure-formation problems of cold dark matter. There are existing stringent limits on the dark matter lifetime if the decays produce photons. By considering examples in which the relativistic decay products instead consist of neutrinos or electron-position pairs, we derive stringent limits on these scenarios for a wide range of dark matter masses. We thus eliminate a sizable portion of the parameter space for these late decay models if the dominant decay channel involves Standard Model final states.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Replaced to match published version. Discussion expanded. References added. Accepted by Phys. Rev

Dark-matter sterile neutrinos in models with a gauge singlet in the Higgs sector

Sterile neutrino with mass of several keV can be the cosmological dark matter, can explain the observed velocities of pulsars, and can play an important role in the formation of the first stars. We describe the production of sterile neutrinos in a model with an extended Higgs sector, in which the Majorana mass term is generated by the vacuum expectation value of a gauge-singlet Higgs boson. In this model the relic abundance of sterile neutrinos does not necessarily depend on their mixing angles, the free-streaming length can be much smaller than in the case of warm dark matter produced by neutrino oscillations, and, therefore, some of the previously quoted bounds do not apply. The presence of the gauge singlet in the Higgs sector has important implications for the electroweak phase transition, baryogenesis, and the upcoming experiments at the Large Hadron Collider and a Linear Collider.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Spitzer Mid-Infrared Spectroscopy of Infrared Luminous Galaxies at z~2 III: Far-IR to Radio Properties and Optical Spectral Diagnostics

We present the far-IR, millimeter, and radio photometry as well as optical and near-IR spectroscopy of a sample of 48 z~1-3 Spitzer-selected ULIRGs with IRS mid-IR spectra. Our goals are to compute their bolometric emission, and to determine both the presence and relative strength of their AGN and starburst components. We find that strong-PAH sources tend to have higher 160um and 1.2mm fluxes than weak-PAH sources. The depth of the 9.7um silicate feature does not affect MAMBO detectability. We fit the far-IR SEDs of our sample and find an average ~7x10^{12}Lsun for our z>1.5 sources. Spectral decomposition suggests that strong-PAH sources typically have ~20-30% AGN fractions. Weak-PAH sources by contrast tend to have >~70% AGN fractions, with a few sources having comparable contributions of AGN and starbursts. The optical line diagnostics support the presence of AGN in the bulk of the weak-PAH sources. With one exception, our sources are narrow-line sources, show no obvious correspondence between the optical extinction and the silicate feature depth, and, in two cases, show evidence for outflows. Radio AGN are present in both strong-PAH and weak-PAH sources. This is supported by our sample's far-IR-to-radio ratios (q) being consistently below the average value of 2.34 for local star-forming galaxies. We use survival analysis to include the lower-limits given by the radio-undetected sources, arriving at =2.07+/-0.01 for our z>1.5 sample. In total, radio and, where available, optical line diagnostics support the presence of AGN in 57% of the z>1.5 sources, independent of IR-based diagnostics. For higher-z sources, the AGN luminosities alone are estimated to be >10^{12}Lsun, which, supported by the [OIII] luminosities, implies that the bulk of our sources host obscured quasars.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Affleck-Dine dynamics and the dark sector of pangenesis

Pangenesis is the mechanism for jointly producing the visible and dark matter asymmetries via Affleck-Dine dynamics in a baryon-symmetric universe. The baryon-symmetric feature means that the dark asymmetry cancels the visible baryon asymmetry and thus enforces a tight relationship between the visible and dark matter number densities. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the general dynamics of this scenario in more detail and to construct specific models. After reviewing the simple symmetry structure that underpins all baryon-symmetric models, we turn to a detailed analysis of the required Affleck-Dine dynamics. Both gravity-mediated and gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking are considered, with the messenger scale left arbitrary in the latter, and the viable regions of parameter space are determined. In the gauge-mediated case where gravitinos are light and stable, the regime where they constitute a small fraction of the dark matter density is identified. We discuss the formation of Q-balls, and delineate various regimes in the parameter space of the Affleck-Dine potential with respect to their stability or lifetime and their decay modes. We outline the regions in which Q-ball formation and decay is consistent with successful pangenesis. Examples of viable dark sectors are presented, and constraints are derived from big bang nucleosynthesis, large scale structure formation and the Bullet cluster. Collider signatures and implications for direct dark matter detection experiments are briefly discussed. The following would constitute evidence for pangenesis: supersymmetry, GeV-scale dark matter mass(es) and a Z' boson with a significant invisible width into the dark sector.Comment: 51 pages, 7 figures; v2: minor modifications, comments and references added; v3: minor changes, matches published versio

The mid-IR Luminosity Function at z<0.3 from 5MUSES: Understanding the Star-formation/AGN Balance from a Spectroscopic View

We present rest-frame 15 and 24 um luminosity functions and the corresponding star-forming luminosity functions at z<0.3 derived from the 5MUSES sample. Spectroscopic redshifts have been obtained for ~98% of the objects and the median redshift is ~0.12. The 5-35 um IRS spectra allow us to estimate accurately the luminosities and build the luminosity functions. Using a combination of starburst and quasar templates, we quantify the star-formation and AGN contributions in the mid-IR SED. We then compute the star-formation luminosity functions at 15 um and 24 um, and compare with the total 15 um and 24 um luminosity functions. When we remove the contribution of AGN, the bright end of the luminosity function exhibits a strong decline, consistent with the exponential cutoff of a Schechter function. Integrating the differential luminosity function, we find that the fractional contribution by star formation to the energy density is 58% at 15 um and 78% at 24 um, while it goes up to ~86% when we extrapolate our mid-IR results to the total IR luminosity density. We confirm that the active galactic nuclei play more important roles energetically at high luminosities. Finally, we compare our results with work at z~0.7 and confirm that evolution on both luminosity and density is required to explain the difference in the LFs at different redshifts.Comment: 31 pages, 12 figures, accepted for Ap

Pattern and Outcome of Chest Injuries at Bugando Medical Centre in Northwestern Tanzania.

Chest injuries constitute a continuing challenge to the trauma or general surgeon practicing in developing countries. This study was conducted to outline the etiological spectrum, injury patterns and short term outcome of these injuries in our setting. This was a prospective study involving chest injury patients admitted to Bugando Medical Centre over a six-month period from November 2009 to April 2010 inclusive. A total of 150 chest injury patients were studied. Males outnumbered females by a ratio of 3.8:1. Their ages ranged from 1 to 80 years (mean = 32.17 years). The majority of patients (72.7%) sustained blunt injuries. Road traffic crush was the most common cause of injuries affecting 50.7% of patients. Chest wall wounds, hemothorax and rib fractures were the most common type of injuries accounting for 30.0%, 21.3% and 20.7% respectively. Associated injuries were noted in 56.0% of patients and head/neck (33.3%) and musculoskeletal regions (26.7%) were commonly affected. The majority of patients (55.3%) were treated successfully with non-operative approach. Underwater seal drainage was performed in 39 patients (19.3%). One patient (0.7%) underwent thoracotomy due to hemopericardium. Thirty nine patients (26.0%) had complications of which wound sepsis (14.7%) and complications of long bone fractures (12.0%) were the most common complications. The mean LOS was 13.17 days and mortality rate was 3.3%. Using multivariate logistic regression analysis, associated injuries, the type of injury, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS) were found to be significant predictors of the LOS (P < 0.001), whereas mortality was significantly associated with pre-morbid illness, associated injuries, trauma scores (ISS, RTS and PTS), the need for ICU admission and the presence of complications (P < 0.001). Chest injuries resulting from RTCs remain a major public health problem in this part of Tanzania. Urgent preventive measures targeting at reducing the occurrence of RTCs is necessary to reduce the incidence of chest injuries in this region

Intruder configurations of excited states in the neutron-rich isotopes 33P and 34P

Excited states in the neutron-rich isotopes P33 and P34 were populated by the O18+O18 fusion-evaporation reaction at Elab=24 MeV. The Gammasphere array was used along with the Microball particle detector array to detect γ transitions in coincidence with the charged particles emitted from the compound nucleus S36. The use of Microball enabled the selection of the proton emission channel. It also helped in determining the exact position and energy of the emitted proton; this was later employed in kinematic Doppler corrections. 16 new transitions and 13 new states were observed in P33 and 21 γ rays and 20 energy levels were observed in P34 for the first time. The nearly 4π geometry of Gammasphere allowed the measurement of γ-ray angular distributions leading to spin assignments for many states. The experimental observations for both isotopes were interpreted with the help of shell-model calculations using the (0+1)ω PSDPF interaction. The calculations accounted for both the 0p-0h and 1p-1h states reasonably well and indicated that 2p-2h excitations might dominate the higher-spin configurations in both P33 and P34

Ammonia assimilation in Vitis vinifera L.: III. Glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase from leaf and root tissue

Glutamate-oxaloacetate transaminase (GOT) activities in Vitis vinifera L. cv. Chenin blanc leaf and root tissues were associated only with the soluble fraction. Mean in vitro enzyme activity of both tissues was 4.3 ± 0.8 μmol oxaloacetate formed per g fresh tissue per hour. Km values of GOT from leaves and roots were (1.9 ± 0.4) · 10-4 M for α-ketoglutarate and (4.7 ± 0.5) · 10-3 M for L-aspartate. Optimum in vitro conditions for GOT activity were pH 7.4-7.8, amount of enzyme equivalent to 95-130 mg fresh tissue and incubation temperature 38-39 °C. Neither leaf nor root GOT responded to exogenous pyridoxal-5' phosphate.Die Ammonium-Assimilation bei Vitis vinifera L.:III. GlutamatcOxalacetat-Transaminase aus Blatt- und WurzelgewebeDie Aktivität der Glutamat-Oxalacetat-Transaminase (GOT) in Blatt- und Wurzelgewebe der Rebsorte Chenin blanc (Vitis vinifera L.) war auf die lösliche Fraktion beschränkt. In vitro betrug die mittlere Enzymaktivität in beiden Organen 4,3 ± 0,8 μmol Oxalacetat je g Frischgewicht und h. Die Km-Werte von GOT aus Blättern und Wurzeln betrugen (1,9±0,4) . 10-4 M für α-Ketoglutarat und (4,7±0,5) · 10-3 M für L-Aspartat. Die optimalen Bedingungen der GOT-Aktivität waren in vitro ein pH von 7,4-7,8, eine Enzymmenge, die dem Gehalt von 95-130 mg Frischmaterial entsprach, und eine Inkubationstemperatur von 38-39 °C. Weder Blatt- noch Wurzel-GOT reagierten auf zugesetztes Pyridoxal-5'-Phosphat