37 research outputs found
Observation of critical phenomena and self-similarity in the gravitational collapse of radiation fluid
We observe critical phenomena in spherical collapse of radiation fluid. A
sequence of spacetimes is numerically computed, containing
models () that adiabatically disperse and models () that
form a black hole. Near the critical point (), evolutions develop a
self-similar region within which collapse is balanced by a strong,
inward-moving rarefaction wave that holds constant as a function of a
self-similar coordinate . The self-similar solution is known and we show
near-critical evolutions asymptotically approaching it. A critical exponent
is found for supercritical () models.Comment: 10 pages (LaTeX) (to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett.), TAR-039-UN
Theoretical and Phenomenological Constraints on Form Factors for Radiative and Semi-Leptonic B-Meson Decays
We study transition form factors for radiative and rare semi-leptonic B-meson
decays into light pseudoscalar or vector mesons, combining theoretical
constraints and phenomenological information from Lattice QCD, light-cone sum
rules, and dispersive bounds. We pay particular attention to form factor
parameterisations which are based on the so-called series expansion, and study
the related systematic uncertainties on a quantitative level. In this context,
we also provide the NLO corrections to the correlation function between two
flavour-changing tensor currents, which enters the unitarity constraints for
the coefficients in the series expansion.Comment: 52 pages; v2: normalization error in (29ff.) corrected, conclusion
about relevance of unitarity bounds modified; form factor fits unaffected;
references added; v3: discussion on truncation of series expansion added,
matches version to be published in JHEP; v4: corrected typos in Tables 5 and
Gravito-electromagnetic analogies
We reexamine and further develop different gravito-electromagnetic (GEM)
analogies found in the literature, and clarify the connection between them.
Special emphasis is placed in two exact physical analogies: the analogy based
on inertial fields from the so-called "1+3 formalism", and the analogy based on
tidal tensors. Both are reformulated, extended and generalized. We write in
both formalisms the Maxwell and the full exact Einstein field equations with
sources, plus the algebraic Bianchi identities, which are cast as the
source-free equations for the gravitational field. New results within each
approach are unveiled. The well known analogy between linearized gravity and
electromagnetism in Lorentz frames is obtained as a limiting case of the exact
ones. The formal analogies between the Maxwell and Weyl tensors are also
discussed, and, together with insight from the other approaches, used to
physically interpret gravitational radiation. The precise conditions under
which a similarity between gravity and electromagnetism occurs are discussed,
and we conclude by summarizing the main outcome of each approach.Comment: 60 pages, 2 figures. Improved version (compared to v2) with some
re-write, notation improvements and a new figure that match the published
version; expanded compared to the published version to include Secs. 2.3 and
B-->pi and B-->K transitions in standard and quenched chiral perturbation theory
We study the effects of chiral logs on the heavy-->light pseudoscalar meson
transition form factors by using standard and quenched chiral perturbation
theory combined with the static heavy quark limit. The resulting expressions
are used to indicate the size of uncertainties due to the use of the quenched
approximation in the current lattice studies. They may also be used to assess
the size of systematic uncertainties induced by missing chiral log terms in
extrapolating toward the physical pion mass. We also provide the coefficient
multiplying the quenched chiral log, which may be useful if the quenched
lattice studies are performed with very light mesons.Comment: 33 pages, 8 PostScript figures, version to appear in PR
Black Hole Spin via Continuum Fitting and the Role of Spin in Powering Transient Jets
The spins of ten stellar black holes have been measured using the
continuum-fitting method. These black holes are located in two distinct classes
of X-ray binary systems, one that is persistently X-ray bright and another that
is transient. Both the persistent and transient black holes remain for long
periods in a state where their spectra are dominated by a thermal accretion
disk component. The spin of a black hole of known mass and distance can be
measured by fitting this thermal continuum spectrum to the thin-disk model of
Novikov and Thorne; the key fit parameter is the radius of the inner edge of
the black hole's accretion disk. Strong observational and theoretical evidence
links the inner-disk radius to the radius of the innermost stable circular
orbit, which is trivially related to the dimensionless spin parameter a_* of
the black hole (|a_*| < 1). The ten spins that have so far been measured by
this continuum-fitting method range widely from a_* \approx 0 to a_* > 0.95.
The robustness of the method is demonstrated by the dozens or hundreds of
independent and consistent measurements of spin that have been obtained for
several black holes, and through careful consideration of many sources of
systematic error. Among the results discussed is a dichotomy between the
transient and persistent black holes; the latter have higher spins and larger
masses. Also discussed is recently discovered evidence in the transient sources
for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets and black hole spin.Comment: 30 pages. Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Also to
appear in hard cover in the Space Sciences Series of ISSI "The Physics of
Accretion onto Black Holes" (Springer Publisher). Changes to Sections 5.2,
6.1 and 7.4. Section 7.4 responds to Russell et al. 2013 (MNRAS, 431, 405)
who find no evidence for a correlation between the power of ballistic jets
and black hole spi
NMR and NQR Fluctuation Effects in Layered Superconductors
We study the effect of thermal fluctuations of the s-wave order parameter of
a quasi two dimensional superconductor on the nuclear spin relaxation rate near
the transition temperature Tc. We consider both the effects of the amplitude
fluctuations and the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase fluctuations
in weakly coupled layered superconductors. In the treatment of the amplitude
fluctuations we employ the Gaussian approximation and evaluate the longitudinal
relaxation rate 1/T1 for a clean s-wave superconductor, with and without pair
breaking effects, using the static pair fluctuation propagator D. The increase
in 1/T1 due to pair breaking in D is overcompensated by the decrease arising
from the single particle Green's functions. The result is a strong effect on
1/T1 for even a small amount of pair breaking. The phase fluctuations are
described in terms of dynamical BKT excitations in the form of pancake
vortex-antivortex (VA) pairs. We calculate the effect of the magnetic field
fluctuations caused by the translational motion of VA excitations on 1/T1 and
on the transverse relaxation rate 1/T2 on both sides of the BKT transitation
temperature T(BKT)<Tc. The results for the NQR relaxation rates depend strongly
on the diffusion constant that governs the motion of free and bound vortices as
well as the annihilation of VA pairs. We discuss the relaxation rates for real
multilayer systems where the diffusion constant can be small and thus increase
the lifetime of a VA pair, leading to an enhancement of the rates. We also
discuss in some detail the experimental feasibility of observing the effects of
amplitude fluctuations in layered s-wave superconductors such as the
dichalcogenides and the effects of phase fluctuations in s- or d-wave
superconductors such as the layered cuprates.Comment: 38 pages, 12 figure
The s ---> d gamma decay in and beyond the Standard Model
The New Physics sensitivity of the s ---> d gamma transition and its
accessibility through hadronic processes are thoroughly investigated. Firstly,
the Standard Model predictions for the direct CP-violating observables in
radiative K decays are systematically improved. Besides, the magnetic
contribution to epsilon prime is estimated and found subleading, even in the
presence of New Physics, and a new strategy to resolve its electroweak versus
QCD penguin fraction is identified. Secondly, the signatures of a series of New
Physics scenarios, characterized as model-independently as possible in terms of
their underlying dynamics, are investigated by combining the information from
all the FCNC transitions in the s ---> d sector.Comment: 54 pages, 14 eps figure
The NASA Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX): High-Altitude Aircraft Measurements in the Tropical Western Pacific
The February through March 2014 deployment of the NASA Airborne Tropical TRopopause EXperiment (ATTREX) provided unique in situ measurements in the western Pacific Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL). Six flights were conducted from Guam with the long-range, high-altitude, unmanned Global Hawk aircraft. The ATTREX Global Hawk payload provided measurements of water vapor, meteorological conditions, cloud properties, tracer and chemical radical concentrations, and radiative fluxes. The campaign was partially coincident with the CONTRAST and CAST airborne campaigns based in Guam using lower-altitude aircraft (see companion articles in this issue). The ATTREX dataset is being used for investigations of TTL cloud, transport, dynamical, and chemical processes as well as for evaluation and improvement of global-model representations of TTL processes. The ATTREX data is openly available at https:espoarchive.nasa.gov
Averages of b-hadron, c-hadron, and tau-lepton properties as of 2018 Heavy Flavor Averaging Group (HFLAV)
This paper reports world averages of measurements of b-hadron, c-hadron, and
Ï
-lepton properties obtained by the Heavy Flavour Averaging Group using results available through September 2018. In rare cases, significant results obtained several months later are also used. For the averaging, common input parameters used in the various analyses are adjusted (rescaled) to common values, and known correlations are taken into account. The averages include branching fractions, lifetimes, neutral meson mixing parameters,
C
P
violation parameters, parameters of semileptonic decays, and CabibboâKobayashiâMaskawa matrix elements