424 research outputs found
Microscopic Calculation of Total Ordinary Muon Capture Rates for Medium - Weight and Heavy Nuclei
Total Ordinary Muon Capture (OMC) rates are calculated on the basis of the
Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation for several spherical nuclei from
90^Zr to 208^Pb. It is shown that total OMC rates calculated with the free
value of the axial-vector coupling constant g_A agree well with the
experimental data for medium-size nuclei and exceed considerably the
experimental rates for heavy nuclei. The sensitivity of theoretical OMC rates
to the nuclear residual interactions is discussed.Comment: 27 pages and 3 figure
Working Group Report on the "TeV Particle Astrophysics and Physics Beyond the Standard Model"
This working group focused mainly on the complementarity among particle
physics and astrophysics. The analysis of data from both fields will better
constrain theoretical models. Much of the discussion focused on detecting dark
matter and susy particles, and on the potential of neutrino and gamma-ray
astrophysics for seeking or constraining new physics.Comment: Report on Working Group in the TeV Particle Astrophysics Workshop II
- Madison - Aug 200
Recommended from our members
Biochar and biochar with N-fertilizer affect soil N2O emission in Haplic Luvisol
The benefits of biochar application are well described in tropical soils, however there is a dearth of information on its effects in agricultural temperate soils. An interesting and little explored interaction may occur in an intensive agriculture setting; biochar addition may modify the effect of commonplace N-fertilization.We conducted a field experiment to study the effects of biochar application at the rate of 0, 10 and 20 t ha−1 (B0, B10 and B20) in combination with 0, 40 and 80 kg N ha−1 of N-fertilizer (N0, N40, N80).We followed nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, analysed a series of soil physicochemical properties and measured barley yield in a Haplic Luvisol in Central Europe. Seasonal cumulative N2O emissions from B10N0 and B20N0 treatments decreased by 27 and 25% respectively, when compared to B0N0. Cumulative N2O emissions from N40 and N80 combined with B10 and B20 were also lower by 21, 19 and 25, 32%, respectively compared to controls B0N40 and B0N80. Average pH was significantly increased by biochar addition. Increased soil pH and reduces NO−3 content seen in biochar treatments could be the two possible mechanisms responsible for reduced N2O emissions. There was a statistically significant increase of soil water content in B20N0 treatment compared to B0N0 control, possibly as a result of larger surface area and the presence of microspores having altered pore size distribution and water-holding capacity of the soil. Application of biochar at the rate of 10 t ha−1 had a positive effect on spring barley grain yield
TeV gamma-rays and neutrinos from photo-disintegration of nuclei in Cygnus OB2
TeV gamma-rays may provide significant information about high energy
astrophysical accelerators. Such gamma-rays can result from the
photo-de-excitation of PeV nuclei after their parents have undergone
photo-disintegration in an environment of ultraviolet photons. This process is
proposed as a candidate explanation of the recently discovered HEGRA source at
the edge of the Cygnus OB2 association. The Lyman-alpha background is provided
by the rich O and B stellar environment. It is found that (1) the HEGRA flux
can be obtained if there is efficient acceleration at the source of lower
energy nuclei; (2) the requirement that the Lorentz-boosted ultraviolet photons
can excite the Giant Dipole resonance implies a strong suppression of the
gamma-ray spectrum compared to an E_\gamma^{-2} behavior at energies \alt 1 TeV
(some of these energies will be probed by the upcoming GLAST mission); (3) a
TeV neutrino counterpart from neutron decay following helium
photo-disintegration will be observed at IceCube only if a major proportion of
the kinetic energy budget of the Cygnus OB2 association is expended in
accelerating nuclei.Comment: To be published in Phys. Rev.
Microscopic self-consistent theory of Josephson junctions including dynamical electron correlations
We formulate a fully self-consistent, microscopic model to study the
retardation and correlation effects of the barrier within a Josephson junction.
The junction is described by a series of planes, with electronic correlation
included through a local self energy for each plane. We calculate current-phase
relationships for various junctions, which include non-magnetic impurities in
the barrier region, or an interfacial scattering potential. Our results
indicate that the linear response of the supercurrent to phase across the
barrier region is a good, but not exact indicator of the critical current. Our
calculations of the local density of states show the current-carrying Andreev
bound states and their energy evolution with the phase difference across the
junction.
We calculate the figure of merit for a Josephson junction, which is the
product of the critical current, Ic, and the normal state resistance, R(N), for
junctions with different barrier materials. The normal state resistance is
calculated using the Kubo formula, for a system with zero current flow and no
superconducting order. Semiclassical calculations would predict that these two
quantities are determined by the transmission probabilities of electrons in
such a way that the product is constant for a given superconductor at fixed
temperature. Our self-consistent solutions for different types of barrier
indicate that this is not the case. We suggest some forms of barrier which
could increase the Ic.R(N) product, and hence improve the frequency response of
a Josephson device.Comment: 46 pages, 21 figure
Tick-borne encephalitis virus subtypes emerged through rapid vector switches rather than gradual evolution
Tick-borne encephalitis is the most important human arthropod-borne virus disease in Europe and Russia, with an annual incidence of about 13 thousand people. Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is distributed in the natural foci of forest and taiga zones of Eurasia, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast. Currently, there are three mutually exclusive hypotheses about the origin and distribution of TBEV subtypes, although they are based on the same assumption of gradual evolution. Recently, we have described the structure of TBEV populations in terms of a clusteron approach, a clusteron being a structural unit of viral population [Kovalev and Mukhacheva (2013) Infect. Genet. Evol., 14, 22–28]. This approach allowed us to investigate questions of TBEV evolution in a new way and to propose a hypothesis of quantum evolution due to a vector switch. We also consider a possible mechanism for this switch occurring in interspecific hybrids of ticks. It is necessarily accompanied by a rapid accumulation of mutations in the virus genome, which is contrary to the generally accepted view of gradual evolution in assessing the ages of TBEV populations. The proposed hypothesis could explain and predict not only the formation of new subtypes, but also the emergence of new vector-borne viruses
Why is the CMB fluctuation level 10^{-5}?
We explore the qualitative changes that would occur if the amplitude Q ~
10^{-5} of cosmological density fluctuations were different. If is less than
about 10^{-6}, the cosmological objects that form would have so low virial
temperatures that they may be unable to cool and form stars, and would be so
loosely bound that even if they could produce a supernova explosion, they might
be unable to retain the heavy elements necessary for planetary life. If Q is
greater than about 10^{-4}, dense supermassive galaxies would form, and
biological evolution could be marred by short disruption timescales for
planetary orbits. If Q were still larger, most bound systems would collapse
directly to supermassive black holes. These constraints on Q can be expressed
in terms of fundamental constants alone, and depend only on the electromagnetic
and gravitational coupling constants, the electron-proton mass ratio and the
matter-to-photon ratio. We discuss the implications for inflation and defect
models, and note that the recent anthropic upper bounds on the cosmological
constant Lambda would be invalid if both Q and Lambda could vary and there were
no anthropic constraints on Q. The same applies to anthropic bounds on the
curvature parameter Omega.Comment: Revised to match accepted version. 8 pages, with 1 figure included.
Color figure and related links at http://www.sns.ias.edu/~max/Q.html (faster
from the US), from http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~max/Q.html (faster from
Europe) or from [email protected]. ApJ, in pres
Identification of Radiopure Titanium for the LZ Dark Matter Experiment and Future Rare Event Searches
The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment will search for dark matter particle
interactions with a detector containing a total of 10 tonnes of liquid xenon
within a double-vessel cryostat. The large mass and proximity of the cryostat
to the active detector volume demand the use of material with extremely low
intrinsic radioactivity. We report on the radioassay campaign conducted to
identify suitable metals, the determination of factors limiting radiopure
production, and the selection of titanium for construction of the LZ cryostat
and other detector components. This titanium has been measured with activities
of U~1.6~mBq/kg, U~0.09~mBq/kg,
Th~~mBq/kg, Th~~mBq/kg, K~0.54~mBq/kg, and Co~0.02~mBq/kg (68\% CL).
Such low intrinsic activities, which are some of the lowest ever reported for
titanium, enable its use for future dark matter and other rare event searches.
Monte Carlo simulations have been performed to assess the expected background
contribution from the LZ cryostat with this radioactivity. In 1,000 days of
WIMP search exposure of a 5.6-tonne fiducial mass, the cryostat will contribute
only a mean background of (stat)(sys) counts.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
- …