488 research outputs found
A perspective on the landscape problem
I discuss the historical roots of the landscape problem and propose criteria
for its successful resolution. This provides a perspective to evaluate the
possibility to solve it in several of the speculative cosmological scenarios
under study including eternal inflation, cosmological natural selection and
cyclic cosmologies.Comment: Invited contribution for a special issue of Foundations of Physics
titled: Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations. 31
pages, no figure
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): detection of low-surface-brightness galaxies from SDSS data
We report on a search for new low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSBGs) using Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data within the Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) equatorial fields. The search method consisted of masking objects detected with SDSS PHOTO, combining gri images weighted to maximize the expected signal-to-noise ratio, and smoothing the images. The processed images were then run through a detection algorithm that finds all pixels above a set threshold and groups them based on their proximity to one another. The list of detections was cleaned of contaminants such as diffraction spikes and the faint wings of masked objects. From these, selecting potentially the brightest in terms of total flux, a list of 343 LSBGs was produced having been confirmed using VISTA Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy Survey (VIKING) imaging. The photometry of this sample was refined using the deeper VIKING Z band as the aperture-defining band. Measuring their g â i and J â K colours shows that most are consistent with being at redshifts less than 0.2. The photometry is carried out using an AUTO aperture for each detection giving surface brightnesses of Îźr âł 25 mag arcsecâ2 and magnitudes of r > 19.8 mag. None of these galaxies are bright enough to be within the GAMA main survey limit but could be part of future deeper surveys to measure the low-mass end of the galaxy stellar mass function
Non-linear response of a Kondo system: Perturbation approach to the time dependent Anderson impurity model
Nonlinear tunneling current through a quantum dot
(an Anderson impurity system) subject to both constant and alternating
electric fields is studied in the Kondo regime. A systematic diagram technique
is developed for perturbation study of the current in physical systems out of
equilibrium governed by time - dependent Hamiltonians of the Anderson and the
Kondo models. The ensuing calculations prove to be too complicated for the
Anderson model, and hence, a mapping on an effective Kondo problem is called
for. This is achieved by constructing a time - dependent version of the
Schrieffer - Wolff transformation. Perturbation expansion of the current is
then carried out up to third order in the Kondo coupling J yielding a set of
remarkably simple analytical expressions for the current. The zero - bias
anomaly of the direct current differential conductance is shown to be
suppressed by the alternating field while side peaks develop at finite source -
drain voltage. Both the direct component and the first harmonics of the time -
dependent response are equally enhanced due to the Kondo effect, while
amplitudes of higher harmonics are shown to be relatively small. A zero
alternating bias anomaly is found in the alternating current differential
conductance, that is, it peaks around zero alternating bias. This peak is
suppressed by the constant bias. No side peaks show up in the differential
alternating - conductance but their counterpart is found in the derivative of
the alternating current with respect to the direct bias. The results pertaining
to nonlinear response are shown to be valid also below the Kondo temperature.Comment: 55 latex pages 11 ps figure
Bose-Einstein Correlations of Charged Kaons in Central Pb+Pb Collisions at
Bose-Einstein correlations of charged kaons were measured near mid-rapidity
in central Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV by the NA49 experiment at the
CERN SPS. Source radii were extracted using the Yano-Koonin-Podgoretsky and
Bertsch-Pratt parameterizations. The results are compared to published pion
data. The measured dependence for kaons and pions is consistent with
collective transverse expansion of the source and a freeze-out time of about
9.5 .Comment: 14 pages with 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Lett.
Disruption of PHF21A causes syndromic intellectual disability with craniofacial anomalies, epilepsy, hypotonia, and neurobehavioral problems including autism
BACKGROUND: PHF21A has been associated with intellectual disability and craniofacial anomalies based on its deletion in the Potocki-Shaffer syndrome region at 11p11.2 and its disruption in three patients with balanced translocations. In addition, three patients with de novo truncating mutations in PHF21A were reported recently. Here, we analyze genomic data from seven unrelated individuals with mutations in PHF21A and provide detailed clinical descriptions, further expanding the phenotype associated with PHF21A haploinsufficiency. METHODS: Diagnostic trio whole exome sequencing, Sanger sequencing, use of GeneMatcher, targeted gene panel sequencing, and MiSeq sequencing techniques were used to identify and confirm variants. RT-qPCR was used to measure the normal expression pattern of PHF21A in multiple human tissues including 13 different brain tissues. Protein-DNA modeling was performed to substantiate the pathogenicity of the missense mutation. RESULTS: We have identified seven heterozygous coding mutations, among which six are de novo (not maternal in one). Mutations include four frameshifts, one nonsense mutation in two patients, and one heterozygous missense mutation in the AT Hook domain, predicted to be deleterious and likely to cause loss of PHF21A function. We also found a new C-terminal domain composed of an intrinsically disordered region. This domain is truncated in six patients and thus likely to play an important role in the function of PHF21A, suggesting that haploinsufficiency is the likely underlying mechanism in the phenotype of seven patients. Our results extend the phenotypic spectrum of PHF21A mutations by adding autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, hypotonia, and neurobehavioral problems. Furthermore, PHF21A is highly expressed in the human fetal brain, which is consistent with the neurodevelopmental phenotype. CONCLUSION: Deleterious nonsense, frameshift, and missense mutations disrupting the AT Hook domain and/or an intrinsically disordered region in PHF21A were found to be associated with autism spectrum disorder, epilepsy, hypotonia, neurobehavioral problems, tapering fingers, clinodactyly, and syndactyly, in addition to intellectual disability and craniofacial anomalies. This suggests that PHF21A is involved in autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability, and its haploinsufficiency causes a diverse neurological phenotype
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): the galaxy stellar mass function to z = 0.1 from the r-band selected equatorial regions
We derive the low-redshift galaxy stellar mass function (GSMF), inclusive of dust corrections, for the equatorial Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) data set covering 180 deg2. We construct the mass function using a density-corrected maximum volume method, using masses corrected for the impact of optically thick and thin dust. We explore the galactic bivariate brightness plane (MââÎź), demonstrating that surface brightness effects do not systematically bias our mass function measurement above 107.5 Mâ. The galaxy distribution in the MâÎź plane appears well bounded, indicating that no substantial population of massive but diffuse or highly compact galaxies are systematically missed due to the GAMA selection criteria. The GSMF is fitted with a double Schechter function, with Mâ=1010.78Âą0.01Âą0.20Mâ Mâ=1010.78Âą0.01Âą0.20Mâ , Ďâ1=(2.93Âą0.40)Ă10â3h370 Ď1â=(2.93Âą0.40)Ă10â3h703 Mpcâ3, Îą1 = â0.62 Âą 0.03 Âą 0.15, Ďâ2=(0.63Âą0.10)Ă10â3h370 Ď2â=(0.63Âą0.10)Ă10â3h703 Mpcâ3 and Îą2 = â1.50 Âą 0.01 Âą 0.15. We find the equivalent faint end slope as previously estimated using the GAMA-I sample, although we find a higher value of Mâ Mâ . Using the full GAMA-II sample, we are able to fit the mass function to masses as low as 107.5 âMâ, and assess limits to 106.5 âMâ. Combining GAMA-II with data from G10-COSMOS, we are able to comment qualitatively on the shape of the GSMF down to masses as low as 106âMâ. Beyond the well-known upturn seen in the GSMF at 109.5, the distribution appears to maintain a single power-law slope from 109 to 106.5. We calculate the stellar mass density parameter given our best-estimate GSMF, finding Ίâ=1.66+0.24â0.23Âą0.97hâ170Ă10â3 Ίâ=1.66â0.23+0.24Âą0.97h70â1Ă10â3 , inclusive of random and systematic uncertainties
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
- âŚ