The Standard Model Higgs as the origin of the hot Big Bang

If the Standard Model (SM) Higgs is weakly coupled to the inflationary sector, the Higgs is expected to be universally in the form of a condensate towards the end of inflation. The Higgs decays rapidly after inflation - via non-perturbative effects - into an out-of-equilibrium distribution of SM species, which thermalize soon afterwards. If the post-inflationary equation of state of the universe is stiff, $w \simeq +1$, the SM species eventually dominate the total energy budget. This provides a natural origin for the relativistic thermal plasma of SM species, required for the onset of the `hot Big Bang' era. The viability of this scenario requires the inflationary Hubble scale $H_*$ to be lower than the instability scale for Higgs vacuum decay, the Higgs not to generate too large curvature perturbations at cosmological scales, and the SM dominance to occur before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We show that successful reheating into the SM can only be obtained in the presence of a non-minimal coupling to gravity $\xi \gtrsim 1$, with a reheating temperature of $T_{\rm RH} \gtrsim \mathcal{O}(10^{10})\xi^{3/2}(H_*/10^{14}{\rm GeV})^2~{\rm GeV}$.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, minor changes with new figures to match published version in PL

Particle size distribution of suspended solids in the Chesapeake Bay entrance and adjacent shelf waters

Characteristics of suspended solids, including total suspended matter, total suspended inorganics, total suspended organics, particle size distribution, and the presence of the ten most prominent particle types were determined. Four research vessels simultaneously collected samples along four transects. Samples were collected within a 2-hour period that coincided with the maximum ebb penetration of Chesapeake Bay outwelling. The distribution of primary and secondary particle size modes indicate the presence of a surface or near-surface plume, possibly associated with three sources: (1) runoff, (2) resuspension of material within the Bay, and/or (3) resuspension of material in the area of shoals at the Bay mouth. Additional supportive evidence for this conclusion is illustrated with ocean color scanner data

A non-Gaussian landscape

Primordial perturbations with wavelengths greater than the observable universe shift the effective background fields in our observable patch from their global averages over the inflating space. This leads to a landscape picture where the properties of our observable patch depend on its location and may significantly differ from the expectation values predicted by the underlying fundamental inflationary model. We show that if multiple fields are present during inflation, this may happen even if our horizon exit would be preceded by only a few e-foldings of inflation. Non-Gaussian statistics are especially affected: for example models of local non-Gaussianity predicting |f_NL|>> 10 over the entire inflating volume can have a probability up to a few tens of percent to generate a non-detectable bispectrum in our observable patch |fNL^{obs.}|<10. In this work we establish systematic connections between the observable local properties of primordial perturbations and the global properties of the inflating space which reflect the underlying high energy physics. We study in detail the implications of both a detection and non-detection of primordial non-Gaussianity by Planck, and discover novel ways of characterising the naturalness of different observational configurations

Scale dependence of fNLf_{NL} in N-flation

Adopting the horizon-crossing approximation, we derive the spectral index of $f_{NL}$ in general N-flation model. Axion N-flation model is taken as a typical model for generating a large $f_{NL}$ which characterizes the size of local form bispectrum. We find that its tilt $n_{f_{NL}}$ is negligibly small when all inflatons have the same potential, but a negative detectable $n_{f_{NL}}$ can be achieved in the axion N-flation with different decay constants for different inflatons. The measurement of $n_{f_{NL}}$ can be used to support or falsify the axion N-flation in the near future.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures; a subsection with detectable scale dependence of f_NL added; more discussions added and version accepted for publication in JCA

Silence and Slow Time

This thesis explores abstract painting from the perspective of a material based production, drawing parallels from poetry to augment its position. Building upon existing material-driven painting traditions such as Abstract Expressionism, and examining their physiological affects from a scientific perspective, it aims to substantiate a more corporeal approach to understanding and interacting with painting

Scale-dependence of Non-Gaussianity in the Curvaton Model

We investigate the scale-dependence of f_NL in the self-interacting curvaton model. We show that the scale-dependence, encoded in the spectral index n_{f_NL}, can be observable by future cosmic microwave background observations, such as CMBpol, in a significant part of the parameter space of the model. We point out that together with information about the trispectrum g_NL, the self-interacting curvaton model parameters could be completely fixed by observations. We also discuss the scale-dependence of g_NL and its implications for the curvaton model, arguing that it could provide a complementary probe in cases where the theoretical value of n_{f_NL} is below observational sensitivity.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures, Eq.(10) correcte

The Value Of B2B Face-To-Face Sales Interaction In The United States, Canada And Latin America

Establishing and maintaining solid, long term marketing relationships are instrumental to the success of a sales representative as well as the firm the representative is employed by (Jap, 2001). This research incorporated all relevant aspects of implementing a market driven strategy to support a sustainable customer marketing relationship, including understanding face-face customer sales requirements. The ultimate goal was to understand the customers satisfaction level with face-face sales representatives versus electronic relationship (email and telephone sales support) and as well determine if there is any greater loyalty in a face-face sales interaction versus electronic. As a result of this research, the findings indicate that customer satisfaction levels and loyalty are not compromised by engaging in an electronic relationship with the clients versus engaging in a face-face relationship. The results demonstrate that the customer satisfaction levels and loyalty are actually higher in the indirect channel versus the direct channel

Scale-Dependent Non-Gaussianity as a Generalization of the Local Model

We generalize the local model of primordial non-Gaussianity by promoting the parameter fNL to a general scale-dependent function fNL(k). We calculate the resulting bispectrum and the effect on the bias of dark matter halos, and thus the extent to which fNL(k) can be measured from the large-scale structure observations. By calculating the principal components of fNL(k), we identify scales where this form of non-Gaussianity is best constrained and estimate the overlap with previously studied local and equilateral non-Gaussian models.Comment: Accepted to JCAP. 22 pages, 4 figure

Scale-dependent non-Gaussianity probes inflationary physics

We calculate the scale dependence of the bispectrum and trispectrum in (quasi) local models of non-Gaussian primordial density perturbations, and characterize this scale dependence in terms of new observable parameters. They can help to discriminate between models of inflation, since they are sensitive to properties of the inflationary physics that are not probed by the standard observables. We find consistency relations between these parameters in certain classes of models. We apply our results to a scenario of modulated reheating, showing that the scale dependence of non-Gaussianity can be significant. We also discuss the scale dependence of the bispectrum and trispectrum, in cases where one varies the shape as well as the overall scale of the figure under consideration. We conclude providing a formulation of the curvature perturbation in real space, which generalises the standard local form by dropping the assumption that f_NL and g_NL are constants.Comment: 27 pages, 2 figures. v2: Minor changes to match the published versio