Supersymmetry and the positron excess in cosmic rays

Recently the HEAT balloon experiment has confirmed an excess of high-energy positrons in cosmic rays. They could come from annihilation of dark matter in the galactic halo. We discuss expectations for the positron signal in cosmic rays from the lightest superpartner. The simplest interpretations are incompatible with the size and shape of the excess if the relic LSPs evolved from thermal equilbrium. Non-thermal histories can describe a sufficient positron rate. Reproducing the energy spectrum is more challenging, but perhaps possible. The resulting light superpartner spectrum is compatible with collider physics, the muon anomalous magnetic moment, Z-pole electroweak data, and other dark matter searches.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, references added, minor wording change

Sparticle masses in deflected mirage mediation

We discuss the sparticle mass patterns that can be realized in deflected mirage mediation scenario of supersymmetry breaking, in which the moduli, anomaly, and gauge mediations all contribute to the MSSM soft parameters. Analytic expression of low energy soft parameters and also the sfermion mass sum rules are derived, which can be used to interpret the experimentally measured sparticle masses within the framework of the most general mixed moduli-gauge-anomaly mediation. Phenomenological aspects of some specific examples are also discussed.Comment: 43 pages, 17 figures, references adde

Selective quantum evolution of a qubit state due to continuous measurement

We consider a two-level quantum system (qubit) which is continuously measured by a detector. The information provided by the detector is taken into account to describe the evolution during a particular realization of measurement process. We discuss the Bayesian formalism for such ``selective'' evolution of an individual qubit and apply it to several solid-state setups. In particular, we show how to suppress the qubit decoherence using continuous measurement and the feedback loop.Comment: 15 pages (including 9 figures

World mineral production 2018-2022

Welcome to the latest edition of World Mineral Production which includes global mineral production data for 2022. It is a continuation of the dataset that began in 1913. This publication is compiled from a comprehensive database, maintained by the British Geological Survey (BGS), through which we aim to provide a reliable and continuous set of data covering most of the minerals that enter international trade. In this volume we set out the production figures by country for more than 70 mineral commodities over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022. The objective of this series remains to present the latest production information obtained from official bodies in individual countries, although other sources are also used to ensure completeness and accuracy. The cooperation afforded to the BGS by numerous organisations is gratefully acknowledged

Building blocks of a multi-layer PET with time sequence photon interaction discrimination and double Compton camera

[EN] Current PET detectors have a very low sensitivity, of the order of a few percent. One of the reasons is the fact that Compton interactions are rejected. If an event involves multiple Compton scattering and the total deposited energy lays within the photoelectric peak, then an energy-weighted centroid is the given output for the coordinates of the reconstructed interaction point. This introduces distortion in the final reconstructed image. The aim of our work is to prove that Compton events are a very rich source of additional information as one can improve the resolution of the detector and implicitly the final reconstructed image. This could be a real breakthrough for PET detector technology as one should be able to obtain better results with less patient radiation. Using a PET as a double Compton camera, by means of Compton cone matching i.e., Compton cones coming from the same event should be compatible, is applied to discard randoms, patient scattered events and also, to perform a correct matching among events with multiple coincidences. In order to fully benefit experimentally from Compton events using monolithic scintillators a multi-layer configuration is needed and a good time-of-flight resolution.This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement No. 695536). This work was supported in part by the Spanish Government Grants TEC2016-79884-C2 and RTC-2016-5186-1.Ilisie, V.; Giménez-Alventosa, V.; Moliner Martínez, L.; Sánchez, F.; González Martínez, AJ.; Rodríguez-Álvarez, M.; Benlloch Baviera, JM. (2018). Building blocks of a multi-layer PET with time sequence photon interaction discrimination and double Compton camera. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A Accelerators Spectrometers Detectors and Associated Equipment. 895:74-83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nima.2018.03.076S748389

B --> Phi K_S and Supersymmetry

The rare decay B --> Phi K_S is a well-known probe of physics beyond the Standard Model because it arises only through loop effects yet has the same time-dependent CP asymmetry as B --> Psi K_S. Motivated by recent data suggesting new physics in B --> Phi K_S, we look to supersymmetry for possible explanations, including contributions mediated by gluino loops and by Higgs bosons. Chirality-preserving LL and RR gluino contributions are generically small, unless gluinos and squarks masses are close to the current lower bounds. Higgs contributions are also too small to explain a large asymmetry if we impose the current upper limit on B(B_s --> mu mu). On the other hand, chirality-flipping LR and RL gluino contributions can provide sizable effects and while remaining consistent with related results in B --> Psi K_S, Delta M_s, B --> X_s gamma and other processes. We discuss how the LR and RL insertions can be distinguished using other observables, and we provide a string-based model and other estimates to show that the needed sizes of mass insertions are reasonable.Comment: 33 pages, 32 figures, Updated version for PRD. Includes discussions of other recent works on this topic. Added discussions & plots for gluino mass dependence and effects of theoretical uncertaintie

Bottom-Tau Unification in SUSY SU(5) GUT and Constraints from b to s gamma and Muon g-2

An analysis is made on bottom-tau Yukawa unification in supersymmetric (SUSY) SU(5) grand unified theory (GUT) in the framework of minimal supergravity, in which the parameter space is restricted by some experimental constraints including Br(b to s gamma) and muon g-2. The bottom-tau unification can be accommodated to the measured branching ratio Br(b to s gamma) if superparticle masses are relatively heavy and higgsino mass parameter \mu is negative. On the other hand, if we take the latest muon g-2 data to require positive SUSY contributions, then wrong-sign threshold corrections at SUSY scale upset the Yukawa unification with more than 20 percent discrepancy. It has to be compensated by superheavy threshold corrections around the GUT scale, which constrains models of flavor in SUSY GUT. A pattern of the superparticle masses preferred by the three requirements is also commented.Comment: 21pages, 6figure

Modeling what we sample and sampling what we model: challenges for zooplankton model assessment

Zooplankton are the intermediate trophic level between phytoplankton and fish, and are an important component of carbon and nutrient cycles, accounting for a large proportion of the energy transfer to pelagic fishes and the deep ocean. Given zooplankton's importance, models need to adequately represent zooplankton dynamics. A major obstacle, though, is the lack of model assessment. Here we try and stimulate the assessment of zooplankton in models by filling three gaps. The first is that many zooplankton observationalists are unfamiliar with the biogeochemical, ecosystem, size-based and individual-based models that have zooplankton functional groups, so we describe their primary uses and how each typically represents zooplankton. The second gap is that many modelers are unaware of the zooplankton data that are available, and are unaccustomed to the different zooplankton sampling systems, so we describe the main sampling platforms and discuss their strengths and weaknesses for model assessment. Filling these gaps in our understanding of models and observations provides the necessary context to address the last gap—a blueprint for model assessment of zooplankton. We detail two ways that zooplankton biomass/abundance observations can be used to assess models: data wrangling that transforms observations to be more similar to model output; and observation models that transform model outputs to be more like observations. We hope that this review will encourage greater assessment of zooplankton in models and ultimately improve the representation of their dynamics

Environment-Induced Decoherence and the Transition From Quantum to Classical

We study dynamics of quantum open systems, paying special attention to those aspects of their evolution which are relevant to the transition from quantum to classical. We begin with a discussion of the conditional dynamics of simple systems. The resulting models are straightforward but suffice to illustrate basic physical ideas behind quantum measurements and decoherence. To discuss decoherence and environment-induced superselection einselection in a more general setting, we sketch perturbative as well as exact derivations of several master equations valid for various systems. Using these equations we study einselection employing the general strategy of the predictability sieve. Assumptions that are usually made in the discussion of decoherence are critically reexamined along with the ``standard lore'' to which they lead. Restoration of quantum-classical correspondence in systems that are classically chaotic is discussed. The dynamical second law -it is shown- can be traced to the same phenomena that allow for the restoration of the correspondence principle in decohering chaotic systems (where it is otherwise lost on a very short time-scale). Quantum error correction is discussed as an example of an anti-decoherence strategy. Implications of decoherence and einselection for the interpretation of quantum theory are briefly pointed out.Comment: 80 pages, 7 figures included, Lectures given by both authors at the 72nd Les Houches Summer School on "Coherent Matter Waves", July-August 199