47 research outputs found
On the Stability of Thermonuclear Burning Fronts in Type Ia Supernovae
The propagation of cellularly stabilized thermonuclear flames is investigated
by means of numerical simulations. In Type Ia supernova explosions the
corresponding burning regime establishes at scales below the Gibson length. The
cellular flame stabilization - which is a result of an interplay between the
Landau-Darrieus instability and a nonlinear stabilization mechanism - is
studied for the case of propagation into quiescent fuel as well as interaction
with vortical fuel flows. Our simulations indicate that in thermonuclear
supernova explosions stable cellular flames develop around the Gibson scale and
that deflagration-to-detonation transition is unlikely to be triggered from
flame evolution effects here.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the IAU
Colloquium 192, "Supernovae (10 years of SN1993J)", 22-26 April 2003,
Valencia, Spain, Eds. J.M. Marcaide and K.W. Weiler, Springer Verla
How strong can the coupling of leptonic photons be?
Consequences of possible existence of leptonic photon are considered for a
range of values of leptonic charge. In the case of a strong Coulomb-like
leptonic repulsion between electrons the existence of ordinary condensed matter
is impossible: antineutrinos cannot neutralize this destructive repulsion. The
upper limit of leptonic charge is inferred from the E\"{o}tv\"os type
experiments. If however there exist light stable scalar bosons with leptonic
charge (e.g. singlet antisneutrinos) they may neutralize the electron
repulsion. Possible experimental manifestations of such leptonic bosons in
gases and condensed matter are briefly discussed.Comment: 13 pages in standard LaTe
The origin of the high velocity circumstellar gas around SN 1998S
Modelling of high resolution Balmer line profiles in the early-time spectra
of SN 1998S shows that the inferred fast (roughly 400 km/s) circumstellar (CS)
gas on days 23 and 42 post-explosion is confined to a narrow, negative velocity
gradient shell just above the photosphere. This gas may be identified with a
slow (v < 40 km/s) progenitor wind accelerated at the ejecta-wind interface. In
this scenario, the photosphere coincides with a cool dense shell formed in the
reverse shock. Acceleration by radiation from the supernova or by a
shock-accelerated relativistic particle precursor are both possible
explanations for the observed fast CS gas. An alternative, equally plausible
scenario is that the fast CS gas is accelerated within shocked clouds engulfed
by the outer shock, as it propagates through the intercloud wind.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures. MNRAS, accepted. Typos added, acknowledgments
correcte
Mirror World, Supersymmetric Axion and Gamma Ray Bursts
A modification of the relation between axion mass and the PQ constant permits
a relaxation of the astrophysical constraints, considerably enlarging the
allowed axion parameter space. We develop this idea in this paper, discussing a
model for an {\it ultramassive} axion, which essentially represents a
supersymmetric Weinberg-Wilczek axion of the mirror world. The experimental and
astrophysical limits allow a PQ scale f_a ~ 10^4-10^6 GeV and a mass m_a ~
1MeV, which can be accessible for future experiments.
On a phenomenological ground, such an {\it ultramassive} axion turns out to
be quite interesting. It can be produced during the gravitational collapse or
during the merging of two compact objects, and its subsequent decay into e+e-
provides an efficient mechanism for the transfer of the gravitational energy of
the collapsing system to the electron-positron plasma. This could resolve the
energy budget problem in the Gamma Ray Bursts and also help in understanding
the SN type II explosion phenomena.Comment: 20 pages, 5 eps figures, added footnote and reference
Have mirror micrometeorites been detected?
Slow-moving ( km/s) 'dark matter particles' have allegedly been
discovered in a recent experiment. We explore the possibility that these slow
moving dark matter particles are small mirror matter dust particles originating
from our solar system. Ways of further testing our hypothesis, including the
possibility of observing these dust particles in cryogenic detectors such as
NAUTILUS, are also discussed.Comment: Few changes, about 8 pages lon
Positronium Portal into Hidden Sector: A new Experiment to Search for Mirror Dark Matter
The understanding of the origin of dark matter has great importance for
cosmology and particle physics. Several interesting extensions of the standard
model dealing with solution of this problem motivate the concept of hidden
sectors consisting of SU(3)xSU(2)_LxU(1)_Y singlet fields. Among these models,
the mirror matter model is certainly one of the most interesting. The model
explains the origin of parity violation in weak interactions, it could also
explain the baryon asymmetry of the Universe and provide a natural ground for
the explanation of dark matter. The mirror matter could have a portal to our
world through photon-mirror photon mixing (epsilon). This mixing would lead to
orthopositronium (o-Ps) to mirror orthopositronium oscillations, the
experimental signature of which is the apparently invisible decay of o-Ps. In
this paper, we describe an experiment to search for the decay o-Ps -> invisible
in vacuum by using a pulsed slow positron beam and a massive 4pi BGO crystal
calorimeter. The developed high efficiency positron tagging system, the low
calorimeter energy threshold and high hermiticity allow the expected
sensitivity in mixing strength to be epsilon about 10^-9, which is more than
one order of magnitude below the current Big Bang Nucleosynthesis limit and in
a region of parameter space of great theoretical and phenomenological interest.
The vacuum experiment with such sensitivity is particularly timely in light of
the recent DAMA/LIBRA observations of the annual modulation signal consistent
with a mirror type dark matter interpretation.Comment: 40 pages, 29 Figures 2 Tables v2: Ref. added, Fig. 29 and some text
added to explain idea for backscattering e+ background suppression, corrected
typos v3: minor corrections: Eq 2.1 corrected (6 lines-> 5 lines), Eq.2.17:
two extra "-" signs remove
Geophysical constraints on mirror matter within the Earth
We have performed a detailed investigation of geophysical constraints on the
possible admixture of mirror matter inside the Earth. On the basis of the
Preliminary Reference Earth Model (PREM) -- the `Standard Model' of the Earth's
interior -- we have developed a method which allows one to compute changes in
various quantities characterising the Earth (mass, moment of inertia, normal
mode frequencies etc.)due to the presence of mirror matter. As a result we have
been able to obtain for the first time the direct upper bounds on the possible
concentration of the mirror matter in the Earth. In terms of the ratio of the
mirror mass to the Earth mass a conservative upper bound is . We then analysed possible mechanisms (such as lunar and solar tidal
forces, meteorite impacts and earthquakes) of exciting mirror matter
oscillations around the Earth centre. Such oscillations could manifest
themselves through global variations of the gravitational acceleration at the
Earth's surface. We conclude that such variations are too small to be observed.
Our results are valid for other types of hypothetical matter coupled to
ordinary matter by gravitation only (e.g. the shadow matter of superstring
theories).Comment: 25 pages, in RevTeX, to appear in Phys.Rev.
TeV-scale bileptons, see-saw type II and lepton flavor violation in core-collapse supernova
Electrons and electron neutrinos in the inner core of the core-collapse
supernova are highly degenerate and therefore numerous during a few seconds of
explosion. In contrast, leptons of other flavors are non-degenerate and
therefore relatively scarce. This is due to lepton flavor conservation. If this
conservation law is broken by some non-standard interactions, electron
neutrinos are converted to muon and tau-neutrinos, and electrons - to muons.
This affects the supernova dynamics and the supernova neutrino signal. We
consider lepton flavor violating interactions mediated by scalar bileptons,
i.e. heavy scalars with lepton number 2. It is shown that in case of TeV-mass
bileptons the electron fermi gas is equilibrated with non-electron species
inside the inner supernova core at a time-scale of order of (1-100) ms. In
particular, a scalar triplet which generates neutrino masses through the
see-saw type II mechanism is considered. It is found that supernova core is
sensitive to yet unprobed values of masses and couplings of the triplet.Comment: accepted to Eur.Phys.J.
Effect of Sun and Planet-Bound Dark Matter on Planet and Satellite Dynamics in the Solar System
We apply our recent results on orbital dynamics around a mass-varying central
body to the phenomenon of accretion of Dark Matter-assumed not
self-annihilating-on the Sun and the major bodies of the solar system due to
its motion throughout the Milky Way halo. We inspect its consequences on the
orbits of the planets and their satellites over timescales of the order of the
age of the solar system. It turns out that a solar Dark Matter accretion rate
of \approx 10^-12 yr^-1, inferred from the upper limit \Delta M/M= 0.02-0.05 on
the Sun's Dark Matter content, assumed somehow accumulated during last 4.5 Gyr,
would have displaced the planets faraway by about 10^-2-10^1 au 4.5 Gyr ago.
Another consequence is that the semimajor axis of the Earth's orbit,
approximately equal to the Astronomical Unit, would undergo a secular increase
of 0.02-0.05 m yr^-1, in agreement with the latest observational determinations
of the Astronomical Unit secular increase of 0.07 +/- 0.02 m yr^-1 and 0.05 m
yr^-1. By assuming that the Sun will continue to accrete Dark Matter in the
next billions year at the same rate as in the past, the orbits of its planets
will shrink by about 10^-1-10^1 au (\approx 0.2-0.5 au for the Earth), with
consequences for their fate, especially of the inner planets. On the other
hand, lunar and planetary ephemerides set upper bounds on the secular variation
of the Sun's gravitational parameter GM which are one one order of magnitude
smaller than 10^-12 yr^-1. Dark Matter accretion on planets has, instead, less
relevant consequences for their satellites. Indeed, 4.5 Gyr ago their orbits
would have been just 10^-2-10^1 km wider than now. (Abridged)Comment: LaTex2e, 17 pages, no figures, 7 tables, 61 references. Small problem
with a reference fixed. To appear in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle
Physics (JCAP
Mirror Dark Matter and Core Density of Galaxies
We present a particle physics realization of a recent suggestion by Spergel
and Steinhardt that collisional but dissipationless dark matter may resolve the
core density problem in dark matter-dominated galaxies such as the dwarf
galaxies. The realization is the asymmetric mirror universe model introduced to
explain the neutrino puzzles and the microlensing anomaly. The mirror baryons
are the dark matter particles with the desired properties. The time scales are
right for resolution of the core density problem and formation of mirror stars
(MACHOs observed in microlensing experiments). The mass of the region
homogenized by Silk damping is between a dwarf and a large galaxy.Comment: 9 pages, LaTex. The present version shows that atomic scattering
inherent in the mirror model can solve the core density problem without the
need for an extra U(1) discussed in the original version; all conclusions are
unchanged. This version is accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.