444 research outputs found
Evaluation of the discovery potential of an underwater Mediterranean neutrino telescope taking into account the estimated directional resolution and energy of the reconstructed tracks
We report on the development of search methods for point-like and extended
neutrino sources, utilizing the tracking and energy estimation capabilities of
an underwater, Very Large Volume Neutrino Telescope (VLVnT). We demonstrate
that the developed techniques offer a significant improvement on the
telescope's discovery potential. We also present results on the potential of
the Mediterranean KM3NeT to discover galactic neutrino sources.Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Nucl. Inst. and Meth. A v2:
minor changes, 1 page adde
Reconstruction efficiency and discovery potential of a Mediterranean neutrino telescope: A simulation study using the Hellenic Open University Reconstruction & Simulation (HOURS) package
We report on the evaluation of the performance of a Mediterranean very large
volume neutrino telescope. We present results of our studies concerning the
capability of the telescope in detecting/discovering galactic (steady point
sources) and extragalactic, transient (Gamma Ray Bursts) high energy neutrino
sources as well as measuring ultra high energy diffuse neutrino fluxes. The
neutrino effective area and angular resolution are presented as a function of
the neutrino energy, and the background event rate (atmospheric neutrinos and
muons) is estimated. The discovery potential of the neutrino telescope is
evaluated and the experimental time required for a significant discovery of
potential neutrino emitters (known from their gamma ray emission, assumedly
produced by hadronic interactions) is estimated. For the simulation we use the
HOU Reconstruction & Simulation (HOURS) software package.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Nucl. Inst. and Meth. A v2:
minor changes, 1 page adde
Spatial gradients in the cosmological constant
It is possible that there may be differences in the fundamental physical
parameters from one side of the observed universe to the other. I show that the
cosmological constant is likely to be the most sensitive of the physical
parameters to possible spatial variation, because a small variation in any of
the other parameters produces a huge variation of the cosmological constant. It
therefore provides a very powerful {\em indirect} evidence against spatial
gradients or temporal variation in the other fundamental physical parameters,
at least 40 orders of magnitude more powerful than direct experimental
constraints. Moreover, a gradient may potentially appear in theories where the
variability of the cosmological constant is connected to an anthropic selection
mechanism, invoked to explain the smallness of this parameter. In the Hubble
damping mechanism for anthropic selection, I calculate the possible gradient.
While this mechanism demonstrates the existence of this effect, it is too small
to be seen experimentally, except possibly if inflation happens around the
Planck scale.Comment: 12 page
Modulation Instability of Ultrashort Pulses in Quadratic Nonlinear Media beyond the Slowly Varying Envelope Approximation
We report a modulational instability (MI) analysis of a mathematical model
appropriate for ultrashort pulses in cascaded quadratic-cubic nonlinear media
beyond the so-called slowly varying envelope approximation. Theoretically
predicted MI properties are found to be in good agreement with numerical
simulation. The study shows the possibility of controlling the generation of MI
and formation of solitons in a cascaded quadratic-cubic media in the few cycle
regimes. We also find that stable propagation of soliton-like few-cycle pulses
in the medium is subject to the fulfilment of the modulation instability
criteria
Promoter Sequences Prediction Using Relational Association Rule Mining
In this paper we are approaching, from a computational perspective, the problem of promoter sequences prediction, an important problem within the field of bioinformatics. As the conditions for a DNA sequence to function as a promoter are not known, machine learning based classification models are still developed to approach the problem of promoter identification in the DNA. We are proposing a classification model based on relational association rules mining. Relational association rules are a particular type of association rules and describe numerical orderings between attributes that commonly occur over a data set. Our classifier is based on the discovery of relational association rules for predicting if a DNA sequence contains or not a promoter region. An experimental evaluation of the proposed model and comparison with similar existing approaches is provided. The obtained results show that our classifier overperforms the existing techniques for identifying promoter sequences, confirming the potential of our proposal
Asymmetric Dark Matter and Dark Radiation
Asymmetric Dark Matter (ADM) models invoke a particle-antiparticle asymmetry,
similar to the one observed in the Baryon sector, to account for the Dark
Matter (DM) abundance. Both asymmetries are usually generated by the same
mechanism and generally related, thus predicting DM masses around 5 GeV in
order to obtain the correct density. The main challenge for successful models
is to ensure efficient annihilation of the thermally produced symmetric
component of such a light DM candidate without violating constraints from
collider or direct searches. A common way to overcome this involves a light
mediator, into which DM can efficiently annihilate and which subsequently
decays into Standard Model particles. Here we explore the scenario where the
light mediator decays instead into lighter degrees of freedom in the dark
sector that act as radiation in the early Universe. While this assumption makes
indirect DM searches challenging, it leads to signals of extra radiation at BBN
and CMB. Under certain conditions, precise measurements of the number of
relativistic species, such as those expected from the Planck satellite, can
provide information on the structure of the dark sector. We also discuss the
constraints of the interactions between DM and Dark Radiation from their
imprint in the matter power spectrum.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures, to be published in JCAP, minor changes to match
version to be publishe
Neutrino masses: From fantasy to facts
Theory suggests the existence of neutrino masses, but little more. Facts are
coming close to reveal our fantasy: solar and atmospheric neutrino data
strongly indicate the need for neutrino conversions, while LSND provides an
intriguing hint. The simplest ways to reconcile these data in terms of neutrino
oscillations invoke a light sterile neutrino in addition to the three active
ones. Out of the four neutrinos, two are maximally-mixed and lie at the LSND
scale, while the others are at the solar mass scale. These schemes can be
distinguished at neutral-current-sensitive solar & atmospheric neutrino
experiments. I discuss the simplest theoretical scenarios, where the lightness
of the sterile neutrino, the nearly maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing, and
the generation of & all follow
naturally from the assumed lepton-number symmetry and its breaking. Although
the most likely interpretation of the present data is in terms of
neutrino-mass-induced oscillations, one still has room for alternative
explanations, such as flavour changing neutrino interactions, with no need for
neutrino mass or mixing. Such flavour violating transitions arise in theories
with strictly massless neutrinos, and may lead to other sizeable flavour
non-conservation effects, such as , conversion in
nuclei, unaccompanied by neutrino-less double beta decay.Comment: 33 pages, latex, 16 figures. Invited Talk at Ioannina Conference,
Symmetries in Intermediate High Energy Physics and its Applications, Oct.
1998, to be published by Springer Tracts in Modern Physics. Festschrift in
Honour of John Vergados' 60th Birthda
Comparing approximate methods for mock catalogues and covariance matrices - I. Correlation function
Computational astrophysic
Perspectives in visual imaging for marine biology and ecology: from acquisition to understanding
Durden J, Schoening T, Althaus F, et al. Perspectives in Visual Imaging for Marine Biology and Ecology: From Acquisition to Understanding. In: Hughes RN, Hughes DJ, Smith IP, Dale AC, eds. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review. 54. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2016: 1-72
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