45 research outputs found
Photon Spectrum Produced by the Late Decay of a Cosmic Neutrino Background
We obtain the photon spectrum induced by a cosmic background of unstable
neutrinos. We study the spectrum in a variety of cosmological scenarios and
also we allow for the neutrinos having a momentum distribution (only a critical
matter dominated universe and neutrinos at rest have been considered until
now). Our results can be helpful when extracting bounds on neutrino electric
and magnetic moments from cosmic photon background observations.Comment: RevTex, 14 pages, 3 figures; minor changes, references added. To
appear in Phys. Rev.
Probing the Planck Scale with Neutrino Oscillations
Quantum gravity "foam", among its various generic Lorentz non-invariant
effects, would cause neutrino mixing. It is shown here that, if the foam is
manifested as a nonrenormalizable effect at scale M, the oscillation length
generically decreases with energy as (E/M)^(-2). Neutrino observatories and
long-baseline experiments should have therefore already observed foam-induced
oscillations, even if M is as high as the Planck energy scale. The null
results, which can be further strengthened by better analysis of current data
and future experiments, can be taken as experimental evidence that Lorentz
invariance is fully preserved at the Planck scale, as is the case in critical
string theory.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Final version published in PRD. 1 figure,
references, clarifications and explanations added. Results unchange
Particle velocity in noncommutative space-time
We investigate a particle velocity in the -Minkowski space-time,
which is one of the realization of a noncommutative space-time. We emphasize
that arrival time analyses by high-energy -rays or neutrinos, which
have been considered as powerful tools to restrict the violation of Lorentz
invariance, are not effective to detect space-time noncommutativity. In
contrast with these examples, we point out a possibility that {\it low-energy
massive particles} play an important role to detect it.Comment: 16 pages, corrected some mistake
VERITAS: the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System
The Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS)
represents an important step forward in the study of extreme astrophysical
processes in the universe. It combines the power of the atmospheric Cherenkov
imaging technique using a large optical reflector with the power of
stereoscopic observatories using arrays of separated telescopes looking at the
same shower. The seven identical telescopes in VERITAS, each of aperture 10 m,
will be deployed in a filled hexagonal pattern of side 80 m; each telescope
will have a camera consisting of 499 pixels with a field of view of 3.5 deg
VERITAS will substantially increase the catalog of very high energy (E >
100GeV) gamma-ray sources and greatly improve measurements of established
sources.Comment: 44 pages, 16 figure
On the true nature of renormalizability in Horava-Lifshitz gravity
We argue that the true nature of the renormalizability of Horava-Lifshitz
gravity lies in the presence of higher order spatial derivatives and not in the
anisotropic Lifshitz scaling of space and time. We discuss the possibility of
constructing a higher order spatial derivatives model that has the same
renormalization properties of Horava-Lifshitz gravity but that does not make
use of the Lifshitz scaling. In addition, the state-of-the-art of the Lorentz
symmetry restoration in Horava-Lifshitz-type theories of gravitation is
reviewed.Comment: Latex file in Revtex style, 5 pages, no figures. v2: references
added, version accepted for publication in Foundations of Physic
High-contrast imaging constraints on gas giant planet formation - The Herbig Ae/Be star opportunity
Planet formation studies are often focused on solar-type stars, implicitly
considering our Sun as reference point. This approach overlooks, however, that
Herbig Ae/Be stars are in some sense much better targets to study planet
formation processes empirically, with their disks generally being larger,
brighter and simply easier to observe across a large wavelength range. In
addition, massive gas giant planets have been found on wide orbits around early
type stars, triggering the question if these objects did indeed form there and,
if so, by what process. In the following I briefly review what we currently
know about the occurrence rate of planets around intermediate mass stars,
before discussing recent results from Herbig Ae/Be stars in the context of
planet formation. The main emphasis is put on spatially resolved polarized
light images of potentially planet forming disks and how these images - in
combination with other data - can be used to empirically constrain (parts of)
the planet formation process. Of particular interest are two objects, HD100546
and HD169142, where, in addition to intriguing morphological structures in the
disks, direct observational evidence for (very) young planets has been
reported. I conclude with an outlook, what further progress we can expect in
the very near future with the next generation of high-contrast imagers at 8-m
class telescopes and their synergies with ALMA.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Science as invited short review in
special issue about Herbig Ae/Be stars; 12 pages incl. 5 figures, 2 tables
and reference
Non-Critical Liouville String Escapes Constraints on Generic Models of Quantum Gravity
It has recently been pointed out that generic models of quantum gravity must
contend with severe phenomenological constraints imposed by gravitational
Cerenkov radiation, neutrino oscillations and the cosmic microwave background
radiation. We show how the non-critical Liouville-string model of quantum
gravity we have proposed escapes these constraints. It gives energetic
particles subluminal velocities, obviating the danger of gravitational Cerenkov
radiation. The effect on neutrino propagation is naturally flavour-independent,
obviating any impact on oscillation phenomenology. Deviations from the expected
black-body spectrum and the effects of time delays and stochastic fluctuations
in the propagation of cosmic microwave background photons are negligible, as
are their effects on observable spectral lines from high-redshift astrophysical
objects.Comment: 15 pages LaTeX, 2 eps figures include
Introduction to Quantum-Gravity Phenomenology
After a brief review of the first phase of development of Quantum-Gravity
Phenomenology, I argue that this research line is now ready to enter a more
advanced phase: while at first it was legitimate to resort to heuristic
order-of-magnitude estimates, which were sufficient to establish that
sensitivity to Planck-scale effects can be achieved, we should now rely on
detailed analyses of some reference test theories. I illustrate this point in
the specific example of studies of Planck-scale modifications of the
energy/momentum dispersion relation, for which I consider two test theories.
Both the photon-stability analyses and the Crab-nebula synchrotron-radiation
analyses, which had raised high hopes of ``beyond-Plankian'' experimental
bounds, turn out to be rather ineffective in constraining the two test
theories. Examples of analyses which can provide constraints of rather wide
applicability are the so-called ``time-of-flight analyses'', in the context of
observations of gamma-ray bursts, and the analyses of the cosmic-ray spectrum
near the GZK scale.Comment: 46 pages, LaTex. Based on lectures given at the 40th Karpacz Winter
School in Theoretical Physic
Three-generation flavor transitions and decays of supernova relic neutrinos
If neutrinos have mass, they can also decay. Decay lifetimes of cosmological
interest can be probed, in principle, through the detection of the redshifted,
diffuse neutrino flux produced by all past supernovae--the so-called supernova
relic neutrino (SRN) flux. In this work, we solve the SRN kinetic equations in
the general case of three-generation flavor transitions followed by invisible
(nonradiative) two-body decays. We then use the general solution to calculate
observable SRN spectra in some representative decay scenarios. It is shown
that, in the presence of decay, the SRN event rate can basically span the whole
range below the current experimental upper bound--a range accessible to future
experimental projects. Radiative SRN decays are also briefly discussed.Comment: 25 pages, including 7 figure
Phenomenological description of quantum gravity inspired modified classical electrodynamics
We discuss a large class of phenomenological models incorporating quantum
gravity motivated corrections to electrodynamics. The framework is that of
electrodynamics in a birefringent and dispersive medium with non-local
constitutive relations, which are considered up to second order in the inverse
of the energy characterizing the quantum gravity scale. The energy-momentum
tensor, Green functions and frequency dependent refraction indices are
obtained, leading to departures from standard physics. The effective character
of the theory is also emphasized by introducing a frequency cutoff. The
analysis of its effects upon the standard notion of causality is performed,
showing that in the radiation regime the expected corrections get further
suppressed by highly oscillating terms, thus forbiding causality violations to
show up in the corresponding observational effects.Comment: 14 pages, to be published in Obregon Festschrift 2006, Gen. Rel. and
Gra