12 research outputs found
Simulating the impact of the Smith Cloud
We investigate the future evolution of the Smith Cloud by performing
hydrodynamical simulations of the cloud impact onto the gaseous Milky Way
Galactic disk. We assume a local origin for the cloud and thus do not include a
dark matter component to stabilize it. Our main focus is the cloud's influence
on the local and global star formation rate (SFR) of the Galaxy and whether or
not it leads to an observable event in the far future. Our model assumes two
extremes for the mass of the Smith Cloud, an upper mass limit of 10
M and a lower mass limit of 10 M, compared to the
observational value of a few 10 M. In addition, we also make the
conservative assumption that the entirety of the cloud mass of the extended
Smith Cloud is concentrated within the tip of the cloud. We find that the
impact of the low-mass cloud produces no noticeable change in neither the
global SFR nor the local SFR at the cloud impact site within the galactic disk.
For the high-mass cloud we find a short-term (roughly 5 Myr) increase of the
global SFR of up to 1 M yr, which nearly doubles the normal
Milky Way SFR. This highly localized starburst should be observable.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure
Dark Force Detection in Low Energy e-p Collisions
We study the prospects for detecting a light boson X with mass m_X < 100 MeV
at a low energy electron-proton collider. We focus on the case where X
dominantly decays to e+ e- as motivated by recent "dark force" models. In order
to evade direct and indirect constraints, X must have small couplings to the
standard model (alpha_X 10 MeV).
By comparing the signal and background cross sections for the e- p e+ e- final
state, we conclude that dark force detection requires an integrated luminosity
of around 1 inverse attobarn, achievable with a forthcoming JLab proposal.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures; v2, references adde
Running Scaling Dimensions in Holographic Renormalization Group Flows
Holographic renormalization group flows can be interpreted in terms of
effective field theory. Based on such an interpretation, a formula for the
running scaling dimensions of gauge-invariant operators along such flows is
proposed. The formula is checked for some simple examples from the AdS/CFT
correspondence, but can be applied also in non-AdS/non-CFT cases.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figure
Results from PAMELA, ATIC and FERMI : Pulsars or Dark Matter ?
It is well known that the dark matter dominates the dynamics of galaxies and
clusters of galaxies. Its constituents remain a mystery despite an assiduous
search for them over the past three decades. Recent results from the
satellite-based PAMELA experiment detect an excess in the positron fraction at
energies between 10-100 GeV in the secondary cosmic ray spectrum. Other
experiments namely ATIC, HESS and FERMI show an excess in the total electron
(\ps + \el) spectrum for energies greater 100 GeV. These excesses in the
positron fraction as well as the electron spectrum could arise in local
astrophysical processes like pulsars, or can be attributed to the annihilation
of the dark matter particles. The second possibility gives clues to the
possible candidates for the dark matter in galaxies and other astrophysical
systems. In this article, we give a report of these exciting developments.Comment: 27 Pages, extensively revised and significantly extended, to appear
in Pramana as topical revie
Low-Energy Probes of a Warped Extra Dimension
We investigate a natural realization of a light Abelian hidden sector in an
extended Randall-Sundrum (RS) model. In addition to the usual RS bulk we
consider a second warped space containing a bulk U(1)_x gauge theory with a
characteristic IR scale of order a GeV. This Abelian hidden sector can couple
to the standard model via gauge kinetic mixing on a common UV brane. We show
that if such a coupling induces significant mixing between the lightest U(1)_x
gauge mode and the standard model photon and Z, it can also induce significant
mixing with the heavier U(1)_x Kaluza-Klein (KK) modes. As a result it might be
possible to probe several KK modes in upcoming fixed-target experiments and
meson factories, thereby offering a new way to investigate the structure of an
extra spacetime dimension.Comment: 26 pages, 1 figure, added references, corrected minor typos, same as
journal versio
Physics with the KLOE-2 experiment at the upgraded DANE
Investigation at a --factory can shed light on several debated issues
in particle physics. We discuss: i) recent theoretical development and
experimental progress in kaon physics relevant for the Standard Model tests in
the flavor sector, ii) the sensitivity we can reach in probing CPT and Quantum
Mechanics from time evolution of entangled kaon states, iii) the interest for
improving on the present measurements of non-leptonic and radiative decays of
kaons and eta/eta mesons, iv) the contribution to understand the
nature of light scalar mesons, and v) the opportunity to search for narrow
di-lepton resonances suggested by recent models proposing a hidden dark-matter
sector. We also report on the physics in the continuum with the
measurements of (multi)hadronic cross sections and the study of gamma gamma
processes.Comment: 60 pages, 41 figures; added affiliation for one of the authors; added
reference to section