Dynamic phase diagram of the Number Partitioning Problem

We study the dynamic phase diagram of a spin model associated with the Number Partitioning Problem, as a function of temperature and of the fraction $K/N$ of spins allowed to flip simultaneously. The case K=1 reproduces the activated behavior of Bouchaud's trap model, whereas the opposite limit $K=N$ can be mapped onto the entropic trap model proposed by Barrat and M\'ezard. In the intermediate case $1 \ll K \ll N$, the dynamics corresponds to a modified version of the Barrat and M\'ezard model, which includes a slow (rather than instantaneous) decorrelation at each step. A transition from an activated regime to an entropic one is observed at temperature $T_g/2$ in agreement with recent work on this model. Ergodicity breaking occurs for $T<T_g/2$ in the thermodynamic limit, if $K/N \to 0$. In this temperature range, the model exhibits a non trivial fluctuation-dissipation relation leading for $K \ll N$ to a single effective temperature equal to $T_g/2$. These results give new insights on the relevance and limitations of the picture proposed by simple trap models.Comment: 15 pages, submitted to PR

Indirect Detection of CMSSM Neutralino Dark Matter with Neutrino Telescopes

We review the prospects of detecting supersymmetric dark matter in the framework of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, and compare indirect with direct detection capabilities.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, presented by J. Orloff at the York IDM02 workshop (http://www.shef.ac.uk/~phys/idm2002

Neutrino Indirect Detection of Neutralino Dark Matter in the CMSSM

We study potential signals of neutralino dark matter indirect detection by neutrino telescopes in a wide range of CMSSM parameters. We also compare with direct detection potential signals taking into account in both cases present and future experiment sensitivities. Only models with neutralino annihilation into gauge bosons can satisfy cosmological constraints and current neutrino indirect detection sensitivities. For both direct and indirect detection, only next generation experiments will be able to really test this kind of models.Comment: 16 pages, 19 figures; v4: a few clarifications and significant improvement of reference

Jamming transition of a granular pile below the angle of repose

We study experimentally the relaxation towards mechanical equilibrium of a granular pile which has just experienced an avalanche and discuss it in the more general context of the granular jamming transition. Two coexisting dynamics are observed in the surface layer: a short time exponential decay consisting in rapid and independent moves of grains and intermittent bursts consisting in spatially correlated moves lasting for longer time. The competition of both dynamics results in long-lived intermittent transients, the total duration of which can late more than a thousand of seconds. We measure a two-time relaxation function, and relate it via a simple statistical model to a more usual two-time correlation function which exhibits strong similarities with auto-correlation functions found in aging systems. Localized perturbation experiments also allow us to test the pile surface layer receptivity.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figure

Global fluctuations and Gumbel statistics

We explain how the statistics of global observables in correlated systems can be related to extreme value problems and to Gumbel statistics. This relationship then naturally leads to the emergence of the generalized Gumbel distribution G_a(x), with a real index a, in the study of global fluctuations. To illustrate these findings, we introduce an exactly solvable nonequilibrium model describing an energy flux on a lattice, with local dissipation, in which the fluctuations of the global energy are precisely described by the generalized Gumbel distribution.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures; final version with minor change

Orion revisited. II. The foreground population to Orion A

Following the recent discovery of a large population of young stars in front of the Orion Nebula, we carried out an observational campaign with the DECam wide-field camera covering ~10~deg^2 centered on NGC 1980 to confirm, probe the extent of, and characterize this foreground population of pre-main-sequence stars. We confirm the presence of a large foreground population towards the Orion A cloud. This population contains several distinct subgroups, including NGC1980 and NGC1981, and stretches across several degrees in front of the Orion A cloud. By comparing the location of their sequence in various color-magnitude diagrams with other clusters, we found a distance and an age of 380pc and 5~10Myr, in good agreement with previous estimates. Our final sample includes 2123 candidate members and is complete from below the hydrogen-burning limit to about 0.3Msun, where the data start to be limited by saturation. Extrapolating the mass function to the high masses, we estimate a total number of ~2600 members in the surveyed region. We confirm the presence of a rich, contiguous, and essentially coeval population of about 2600 foreground stars in front of the Orion A cloud, loosely clustered around NGC1980, NGC1981, and a new group in the foreground of the OMC-2/3. For the area of the cloud surveyed, this result implies that there are more young stars in the foreground population than young stars inside the cloud. Assuming a normal initial mass function, we estimate that between one to a few supernovae must have exploded in the foreground population in the past few million years, close to the surface of Orion A, which might be responsible, together with stellar winds, for the structure and star formation activity in these clouds. This long-overlooked foreground stellar population is of great significance, calling for a revision of the star formation history in this region of the Galaxy.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&

The Kovacs effect in model glasses

We discuss the `memory effect' discovered in the 60's by Kovacs in temperature shift experiments on glassy polymers, where the volume (or energy) displays a non monotonous time behaviour. This effect is generic and is observed on a variety of different glassy systems (including granular materials). The aim of this paper is to discuss whether some microscopic information can be extracted from a quantitative analysis of the `Kovacs hump'. We study analytically two families of theoretical models: domain growth and traps, for which detailed predictions of the shape of the hump can be obtained. Qualitatively, the Kovacs effect reflects the heterogeneity of the system: its description requires to deal not only with averages but with a full probability distribution (of domain sizes or of relaxation times). We end by some suggestions for a quantitative analysis of experimental results.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures; revised versio

Analysis of the low-energy π±p\pi^\pm p differential cross sections of the CHAOS Collaboration

This paper presents the results of an analysis of the low-energy $\pi^\pm p$ differential cross sections, acquired by the CHAOS Collaboration at TRIUMF \cite{chaos,denz}. We first analyse separately the $\pi^+ p$ and the $\pi^- p$ elastic-scattering measurements on the basis of standard low-energy parameterisations of the $s$- and p-wave $K$-matrix elements. After the removal of the outliers, we subject the truncated $\pi^\pm p$ elastic-scattering databases into a common optimisation scheme using the ETH model \cite{glmbg}; the optimisation failed to produce reasonable values for the model parameters. We conclude that the problems we have encountered in the analysis of these data are due to the shape of the angular distributions of their $\pi^+ p$ differential cross sections

Linear and non linear response in the aging regime of the 1D trap model

We investigate the behaviour of the response function in the one dimensional trap model using scaling arguments that we confirm by numerical simulations. We study the average position of the random walk at time tw+t given that a small bias h is applied at time tw. Several scaling regimes are found, depending on the relative values of t, tw and h. Comparison with the diffusive motion in the absence of bias allows us to show that the fluctuation dissipation relation is, in this case, valid even in the aging regime.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 3 references adde