17,862 research outputs found
Parrondo's games with chaotic switching
This paper investigates the different effects of chaotic switching on
Parrondo's games, as compared to random and periodic switching. The rate of
winning of Parrondo's games with chaotic switching depends on coefficient(s)
defining the chaotic generator, initial conditions of the chaotic sequence and
the proportion of Game A played. Maximum rate of winning can be obtained with
all the above mentioned factors properly set, and this occurs when chaotic
switching approaches periodic behavior.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
First Cosmology Results using Type Ia Supernovae from the Dark Energy Survey: Constraints on Cosmological Parameters
We present the first cosmological parameter constraints using measurements of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) from the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program (DES-SN). The analysis uses a subsample of 207 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia from the first three years of DES-SN, combined with a low-redshift sample of 122 SNe from the literature. Our "DES-SN3YR" result from these 329 SNe Ia is based on a series of companion analyses and improvements covering SN Ia discovery, spectroscopic selection, photometry, calibration, distance bias corrections, and evaluation of systematic uncertainties. For a flat ÎCDM model we find a matter density Ω_m = 0.331 ± 0.038. For a flat wCDM model, and combining our SN Ia constraints with those from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), we find a dark energy equation of state w = -0.978 ± 0.059, and Ω_m = 0.321 ± 0.018. For a flat w_0w_a CDM model, and combining probes from SN Ia, CMB and baryon acoustic oscillations, we find w_0 = -0.885 ± 0.114 and w_a = -0.387 ± 0.430. These results are in agreement with a cosmological constant and with previous constraints using SNe Ia (Pantheon, JLA)
Cosmological Constraints from Multiple Probes in the Dark Energy Survey
The combination of multiple observational probes has long been advocated as a powerful technique to constrain cosmological parameters, in particular dark energy. The Dark Energy Survey has measured 207 spectroscopically confirmed type Ia supernova light curves, the baryon acoustic oscillation feature, weak gravitational lensing, and galaxy clustering. Here we present combined results from these probes, deriving constraints on the equation of state, w, of dark energy and its energy density in the Universe. Independently of other experiments, such as those that measure the cosmic microwave background, the probes from this single photometric survey rule out a Universe with no dark energy, finding w = â0.80^(+0.09)_(â0.11). The geometry is shown to be consistent with a spatially flat Universe, and we obtain a constraint on the baryon density of Ω_b = 0.069^(+0.009)_(â0.012) that is independent of early Universe measurements. These results demonstrate the potential power of large multiprobe photometric surveys and pave the way for order of magnitude advances in our constraints on properties of dark energy and cosmology over the next decade
Covariant Pauli-Villars Regularization of Quantum Gravity at the One Loop Order
We study a regularization of the Pauli-Villars kind of the one loop
gravitational divergences in any dimension. The Pauli-Villars fields are
massive particles coupled to gravity in a covariant and nonminimal way, namely
one real tensor and one complex vector. The gauge is fixed by means of the
unusual gauge-fixing that gives the same effective action as in the context of
the background field method. Indeed, with the background field method it is
simple to see that the regularization effectively works. On the other hand, we
show that in the usual formalism (non background) the regularization cannot
work with each gauge-fixing.In particular, it does not work with the usual one.
Moreover, we show that, under a suitable choice of the Pauli-Villars
coefficients, the terms divergent in the Pauli-Villars masses can be corrected
by the Pauli-Villars fields themselves. In dimension four, there is no need to
add counterterms quadratic in the curvature tensor to the Einstein action
(which would be equivalent to the introduction of new coupling constants). The
technique also works when matter is coupled to gravity. We discuss the possible
consequences of this approach, in particular the renormalization of Newton's
coupling constant and the appearance of two parameters in the effective action,
that seem to have physical implications.Comment: 26 pages, LaTeX, SISSA/ISAS 73/93/E
Direct Measurement of the Top Quark Charge at Hadron Colliders
We consider photon radiation in tbar-t events at the upgraded Fermilab
Tevatron and the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) as a tool to measure the
electric charge of the top quark. We analyze the contributions of tbar-t-gamma
production and radiative top quark decays to p-p, pbar-p -> gamma l^+/- nu
bbar-b jj, assuming that both b-quarks are tagged. With 20~fb^{-1} at the
Tevatron, the possibility that the ``top quark'' discovered in Run I is
actually an exotic charge -4/3 quark can be ruled out at the 95% confidence
level. At the LHC, it will be possible to determine the charge of the top quark
with an accuracy of about 10%.Comment: Revtex, 24 pages, 2 tables, 9 figure
Searching for prompt signatures of nearby core-collapse supernovae by a joint analysis of neutrino and gravitational-wave data
We discuss the science motivations and prospects for a joint analysis of
gravitational-wave (GW) and low-energy neutrino data to search for prompt
signals from nearby supernovae (SNe). Both gravitational-wave and low-energy
neutrinos are expected to be produced in the innermost region of a
core-collapse supernova, and a search for coincident signals would probe the
processes which power a supernova explosion. It is estimated that the current
generation of neutrino and gravitational-wave detectors would be sensitive to
Galactic core-collapse supernovae, and would also be able to detect
electromagnetically dark SNe. A joint GW-neutrino search would enable
improvements to searches by way of lower detection thresholds, larger distance
range, better live-time coverage by a network of GW and neutrino detectors, and
increased significance of candidate detections. A close collaboration between
the GW and neutrino communities for such a search will thus go far toward
realizing a much sought-after astrophysics goal of detecting the next nearby
supernova.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures. To appear in Class. Quantum Gra
Prospects for Searching for Excited Leptons during RunII of the Fermilab Tevatron
This letter presents a study of prospects of searching for excited leptons
during RunII of the Fermilab Tevatron. We concentrate on single and pair
production of excited electrons in the photonic decay channel in one CDF/DO
detector equivalent for 2 fb^{-1}. By the end of RunIIa, the limits should be
easily extended beyond those set by LEP and HERA for excited leptons with mass
above about 190 GeV.Comment: 4 pages, 8 figure
Pliocene-Pleistocene marine cyclothems, Wanganui Basin, New Zealand: a lithostratigraphic framework
The Rangitikei River valley between Mangaweka and Vinegar Hill and the surrounding Ohingaiti region in eastern Wanganui Basin contains a late Pliocene to early Pleistocene (c. 2.6-1.7 Ma), c. 1100 m thick, southward-dipping (4-9deg.), marine cyclothemic succession. Twenty sedimentary cycles occur within the succession, each of which contains coarse-grained (siliciclastic sandstone and coquina) and fine-grained (siliciclastic siltstone) units. Nineteen of the cycles are assigned to the Rangitikei Group (new). Six new formations are defined within the Rangitikei Group, and their distribution in the Ohingaiti region is represented in a new geologic map. The new formations are named: Mangarere, Tikapu, Makohine, Orangipongo, Mangaonoho, and Vinegar Hill. Each formation comprises one or more cyclothems and includes a previously described and named distinctive basal horizon. Discrete sandstones, siltstones, and coquinas within formations are assigned member status and correspond to systems tracts in sequence stratigraphic nomenclature. The members provide the link between the new formational lithostratigraphy and the sequence stratigraphy of the Rangitikei Group. Base of cycle coquina members accumulated during episodes of sediment starvation associated with stratigraphic condensation on an open marine shelf during sea-level transgressions. Siltstone members accumulated in mid-shelf environments (50-100 m water depth) during sea-level highstands, whereas the overlying sandstone members are ascribed to inner shelf and shoreface environments (0-50 m water depth) and accumulated during falling eustatic sea-level conditions. Repetitive changes in water depth of 50-100 m magnitude are consistent with a glacio-eustatic origin for the cyclothems, which correspond to an interval of Earth history when successive glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere are known to have occurred. Moreover, the chronology of the Rangitikei River section indicates that Rangitikei Group cyclothems accumulated during short duration, 41 ka cycles in continental ice volume attributed to the dominance of the Milankovitch obliquity orbital parameter.
The Ohingaiti region has simple postdepositional structure. The late Pliocene formations dip generally to the SSW between 4deg. and 9deg.. Discernible discordances of c. 1deg. between successively younger formations are attributed to synsedimentary tilting of the shelf concomitant with migration of the tectonic hingeline southward into the basin. The outcrop distribution of the Rangitikei Group is strongly influenced by this regional tilt and also by three major northeast-southwest oriented, high-angle reverse faults (Rauoterangi, Pakihikura, and Rangitikei Faults)
Reheating and thermalization in a simple scalar model
We consider a simple model for the Universe reheating, which consists of a
single self--interacting scalar field in Minkowskian space--time. Making use of
the existence of an additional small parameter proportional to the amplitude of
the initial spatially homogeneous field oscillations, we show that the behavior
of the field can be found reliably. We describe the evolution of the system
from the homogeneous oscillations to the moment when thermalization is
completed. We compare our results with the Hartree--Fock approximation and
argue that some properties found for this model may be the common features of
realistic theories.Comment: Some changes in Introduction and Discussion, comparison with the
Hartree--Fock results added. 37 pages, 2 postscript figures attache
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