Results from the CDMS II Experiment

I report recent results and the status of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in Minnesota, USA. A blind analysis of data taken by 30 detectors between October 2006 and July 2007 found zero events consistent with WIMPs elastically scattering in our Ge detectors. This resulted in an upper limit on the spin-independent, WIMP-nucleon cross section of 6.6 x 10^-44 cm^2 (4.6 x 10^-44 cm^2 when combined with our previous results) at the 90% C.L. for a WIMP of mass 60 GeV/c^2. In March 2009 data taking with CDMS II stopped in order to install the first of 5 SuperTowers of detectors for the SuperCDMS Soudan project. Analysis of data taken between August 2007 and March 2009 is ongoing.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the TAUP09 conference (Rome, July 1st-5th 2009

Dark Matter as the signal of Grand Unification

We argue that the existence of Dark Matter (DM) is a possible consequence of GUT symmetry breaking. In GUTs like SO(10), discrete Z_2 matter parity (-1)^{3(B-L)} survives despite of broken B-L, and group theory uniquely determines that the only possible Z_2-odd matter multiplets belong to representation 16. We construct the minimal non-SUSY SO(10) model containing one scalar 16 for DM and study its predictions below M_{G}. We find that EWSB occurs radiatively due to DM couplings to the SM Higgs boson. For thermal relic DM the mass range M_{DM}\sim (0.1-1) TeV is predicted by model perturbativity up to M_{G}. For M_{DM}\sim (1) TeV to explain the observed cosmic ray anomalies with DM decays, there exists a lower bound on the spin-independent direct detection cross section within the reach of planned experiments.Comment: DM direct detection cross section is corrected by adding s-quark contribution which turned out to be the dominant one. The prediction is just below the present CDMS and XENON10 bound. Extended version, RGE-s included, new references adde

Linkage study of the low-density lipoprotein-receptor gene and cholesterol levels in an Afrikaner family : quantitative genetics and identification of a minor founder effect

CITATION: Brink, P. A. et al. 1990. Linkage study of the low-density lipoprotein-receptor gene and cholesterol levels in an Afrikaner family : quantitative genetics and identification of a minor founder effect. South African Medical Journal, 77:292-296.The original publication is available at http://www.samj.org.zaOverlap of clinical and biochemical characteristics between hypercholesterolaemia in members of the general population and familial hypercholesterolaemic (FH) individuals may lead to misdiagnosis. Quantitative analyisis of family data may circumvent this problem. A way of looking for an association between plasma cholesterol levels and restriction fragment length polymorphism markers (RFLP) on the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor gene by using reference cholesterol distributions was explored. Linkage, with a logarithm of the odds (LOD) score of 6,8 at θ 0, was detected between cholesterol levels and the LDL receptor in an extended Afrikaner family. Two RFLP-haplotypes, one previously found in a majority of Afrikaner FH homozygotes, and a second, Stu I -, BstE II +, Pvu II +, Nco I +, were associated with high cholesterol levels in this pedigree.Publisher’s versio

Ab initio determination of excitation energies and magnetic couplings in correlated, quasi two-dimensional iridates

To determine the strength of essential electronic and magnetic interactions in the iridates Sr$_2$IrO$_4$ and Ba$_2$IrO$_4$ - potential platforms for high-temperature superconductivity - we use many-body techniques from wavefunction-based electronic-structure theory. Multiplet physics, spin-orbit interactions, and Ir-O hybridization are all treated on equal footing, fully {\it ab initio}. Our calculations put the lowest d-d excitations of Sr$_2$IrO$_4$/Ba$_2$IrO$_4$ at 0.69/0.64 eV, substantially lower than in isostructural cuprates. Charge-transfer excitations start at 3.0/1.9 eV and the magnetic nearest-neighbor exchange coupling is 51/58 meV. Available experimental results are fully consistent with these values, which strongly constrains the parametrization of effective iridate Hamiltonians

Ab initio computation of d-d excitation energies in low-dimensional Ti and V oxychlorides

Using a quantum chemical cluster-in-solid computational scheme, we calculate the local d-d excitation energies for two strongly correlated Mott insulators, the oxychlorides TiOCl and VOCl. TiOCl harbors quasi-one-dimensional spin chains made out of S = 1/2 Ti3+ ions while the electronic structure of VOCl displays a more two-dimensional character. We find in both cases that the lowest-energy d-d excitations are within the t2g subshell, starting at 0.34 eV and indicating that orbital degeneracies are significantly lifted. In the vanadium oxychloride, spin triplet to singlet excitations are calculated to be 1 eV higher in energy. For TiOCl, the computed d-level electronic structure and the symmetries of the wavefunctions are in very good agreement with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering results and optical absorption data. For VOCl, future resonant inelastic x-ray scattering experiments will constitute a direct test of the symmetry and energy of about a dozen of different d-d excitations that we predict here

Approach to the extremal limit of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter black hole

The quasinormal-mode spectrum of the Schwarzschild-de Sitter black hole is studied in the limit of near-equal black-hole and cosmological radii. It is found that the mode_frequencies_ agree with the P"oschl-Teller approximation to one more order than previously realized, even though the effective_potential_ does not. Whether the spectrum approaches the limiting one uniformly in the mode index is seen to depend on the chosen units (to the order investigated). A perturbation framework is set up, in which these issues can be studied to higher order in future.Comment: REVTeX4, 4pp., no figures. N.B. "Alec" is my first, and "Maassen van den Brink" my family name. v2: added numerical verificatio

Poisson-Lie T-duality and N=2 superconformal WZNW models on compact groups

The supersymmetric generalization of Pisson-Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal WZNW models on the compact groups is considered. It is shown that the role of Drinfeld's doubles play the complexifications of the corresponding compact groups. These complex doubles are used to define the natural actions of the isotropic subgroups forming the doubles on the group manifolds of the N=2 superconformal WZNW models. The Poisson- Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal U(2)-WZNW model considered in details. It is shown that this model admits Poisson-Lie symmetries with respect to the isotropic subgroups forming Drinfeld's double Gl(2,C). Poisson-Lie T-duality transformation maps this model into itself but acts nontrivialy on the space of classical solutions. Supersymmetric generalization of Poisson-Lie T-duality in N=2 superconformal WZNW models on the compact groups of higher dimensions is proposed.Comment: 12 pages, latex, misprints correcte

Research Methods for Psychology

This is a textbook for a research methods class in the social sciences. This book is OER and creative commons

Hate Talk, Straight Thought, and Wisdom: a guide to critical thinking, argumentation and decision making

This is an OER, creative commons textbook for a course on critical thinking, logic, reasoning, and argumentation