3,656 research outputs found
Measurement and interpretation of electrokinetic phenomena - (IUPAC technical report)
In this report, the status quo and recent progress in electrokinetics are reviewed. Practical rules are recommended for performing electrokinetic measurements and interpreting their results in terms of well-defined quantities, the most familiar being the ζ-potential or electrokinetic potential. This potential is a property of charged interfaces, and it should be independent of the technique used for its determination. However, often the ζ-potential is not the only property electrokinetically characterizing the electrical state of the interfacial region; the excess conductivity of the stagnant layer is an additional parameter. The requirement to obtain the ζ-potential is that electrokinetic theories be correctly used and applied within their range of validity. Basic theories and their application ranges are discussed. A thorough description of the main electrokinetic methods is given; special attention is paid to their ranges of applicability as well as to the validity of the underlying theoretical models. Electrokinetic consistency tests are proposed in order to assess the validity of the ζ-potentials obtained. The recommendations given in the report apply mainly to smooth and homogeneous solid particles and plugs in aqueous systems; some attention is paid to nonaqueous media and less ideal surfaces.Financial assistance from IUPAC is gratefully acknowledged
Cosmic-ray searches with the MATHUSLA detector
The performance of the proposed MATHUSLA detector as an instrument for
studying the physics of cosmic rays by measuring extensive air showers is
presented. The MATHUSLA detector is designed to observe and study the decay of
long-lived particles produced at the pp interaction point of the CMS detector
at CERN during the HL-LHC data-taking period. The proposed MATHUSLA detector
will be composed of many layers of long scintillating bars that cannot measure
more than one hit per bar and correctly report the hit coordinate in case of
multiple hits. This study shows that adding a layer of RPC detectors with both
analogue and digital readout significantly enhances the capabilities of
MATHUSLA to measure the local densities and arrival times of charged particles
at the front of air showers. We discuss open issues in cosmic-ray physics that
the proposed MATHUSLA detector with an additional layer of RPC detectors could
address and conclude by comparing with other air-shower facilities that measure
cosmic rays in the PeV energy range.Comment: 64 pages, 58 figure
The Sensitivity of HAWC to High-Mass Dark Matter Annihilations
The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) observatory is a wide field-of-view
detector sensitive to gamma rays of 100 GeV to a few hundred TeV. Located in
central Mexico at 19 degrees North latitude and 4100 m above sea level, HAWC
will observe gamma rays and cosmic rays with an array of water Cherenkov
detectors. The full HAWC array is scheduled to be operational in Spring 2015.
In this paper, we study the HAWC sensitivity to the gamma-ray signatures of
high-mass (multi- TeV) dark matter annihilation. The HAWC observatory will be
sensitive to diverse searches for dark matter annihilation, including
annihilation from extended dark matter sources, the diffuse gamma-ray emission
from dark matter annihilation, and gamma-ray emission from non-luminous dark
matter subhalos. Here we consider the HAWC sensitivity to a subset of these
sources, including dwarf galaxies, the M31 galaxy, the Virgo cluster, and the
Galactic center. We simulate the HAWC response to gamma rays from these sources
in several well-motivated dark matter annihilation channels. If no gamma-ray
excess is observed, we show the limits HAWC can place on the dark matter
cross-section from these sources. In particular, in the case of dark matter
annihilation into gauge bosons, HAWC will be able to detect a narrow range of
dark matter masses to cross-sections below thermal. HAWC should also be
sensitive to non-thermal cross-sections for masses up to nearly 1000 TeV. The
constraints placed by HAWC on the dark matter cross-section from known sources
should be competitive with current limits in the mass range where HAWC has
similar sensitivity. HAWC can additionally explore higher dark matter masses
than are currently constrained.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, version to be published in PR
Daily monitoring of TeV gamma-ray emission from Mrk 421, Mrk 501, and the Crab Nebula with HAWC
We present results from daily monitoring of gamma rays in the energy range
to TeV with the first 17 months of data from the High
Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) Observatory. Its wide field of view of 2
steradians and duty cycle of % are unique features compared to other TeV
observatories that allow us to observe every source that transits over HAWC for
up to hours each sidereal day. This regular sampling yields
unprecedented light curves from unbiased measurements that are independent of
seasons or weather conditions. For the Crab Nebula as a reference source we
find no variability in the TeV band. Our main focus is the study of the TeV
blazars Markarian (Mrk) 421 and Mrk 501. A spectral fit for Mrk 421 yields a
power law index and
an exponential cut-off
TeV. For Mrk 501, we find an index and exponential cut-off TeV. The light curves for both sources show clear
variability and a Bayesian analysis is applied to identify changes between flux
states. The highest per-transit fluxes observed from Mrk 421 exceed the Crab
Nebula flux by a factor of approximately five. For Mrk 501, several transits
show fluxes in excess of three times the Crab Nebula flux. In a comparison to
lower energy gamma-ray and X-ray monitoring data with comparable sampling we
cannot identify clear counterparts for the most significant flaring features
observed by HAWC.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
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