Adiabatically coupled systems and fractional monodromy

We present a 1-parameter family of systems with fractional monodromy and adiabatic separation of motion. We relate the presence of monodromy to a redistribution of states both in the quantum and semi-quantum spectrum. We show how the fractional monodromy arises from the non diagonal action of the dynamical symmetry of the system and manifests itself as a generic property of an important subclass of adiabatically coupled systems

Generation and Structure of Solitary Rossby Vortices in Rotating Fluids

The formation of zonal flows and vortices in the generalized Charney-Hasegawa-Mima equation is studied. We focus on the regime when the size of structures is comparable to or larger than the deformation (Rossby) radius. Numerical simulations show the formation of anticyclonic vortices in unstable shear flows and ring-like vortices with quiescent cores and vorticity concentrated in a ring. Physical mechanisms that lead to these phenomena and their relevance to turbulence in planetary atmospheres are discussed.Comment: 3 pages in REVTeX, 5 postscript figures separately, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Validation of Phonon Physics in the CDMS Detector Monte Carlo

The SuperCDMS collaboration is a dark matter search effort aimed at detecting the scattering of WIMP dark matter from nuclei in cryogenic germanium targets. The CDMS Detector Monte Carlo (CDMS-DMC) is a simulation tool aimed at achieving a deeper understanding of the performance of the SuperCDMS detectors and aiding the dark matter search analysis. We present results from validation of the phonon physics described in the CDMS-DMC and outline work towards utilizing it in future WIMP search analyses.Comment: 6 Pages, 5 Figures, Proceedings of Low Temperature Detectors 14 Conferenc

Oak forest carbon and water simulations:Model intercomparisons and evaluations against independent data

Models represent our primary method for integration of small-scale, process-level phenomena into a comprehensive description of forest-stand or ecosystem function. They also represent a key method for testing hypotheses about the response of forest ecosystems to multiple changing environmental conditions. This paper describes the evaluation of 13 stand-level models varying in their spatial, mechanistic, and temporal complexity for their ability to capture intra- and interannual components of the water and carbon cycle for an upland, oak-dominated forest of eastern Tennessee. Comparisons between model simulations and observations were conducted for hourly, daily, and annual time steps. Data for the comparisons were obtained from a wide range of methods including: eddy covariance, sapflow, chamber-based soil respiration, biometric estimates of stand-level net primary production and growth, and soil water content by time or frequency domain reflectometry. Response surfaces of carbon and water flux as a function of environmental drivers, and a variety of goodness-of-fit statistics (bias, absolute bias, and model efficiency) were used to judge model performance. A single model did not consistently perform the best at all time steps or for all variables considered. Intermodel comparisons showed good agreement for water cycle fluxes, but considerable disagreement among models for predicted carbon fluxes. The mean of all model outputs, however, was nearly always the best fit to the observations. Not surprisingly, models missing key forest components or processes, such as roots or modeled soil water content, were unable to provide accurate predictions of ecosystem responses to short-term drought phenomenon. Nevertheless, an inability to correctly capture short-term physiological processes under drought was not necessarily an indicator of poor annual water and carbon budget simulations. This is possible because droughts in the subject ecosystem were of short duration and therefore had a small cumulative impact. Models using hourly time steps and detailed mechanistic processes, and having a realistic spatial representation of the forest ecosystem provided the best predictions of observed data. Predictive ability of all models deteriorated under drought conditions, suggesting that further work is needed to evaluate and improve ecosystem model performance under unusual conditions, such as drought, that are a common focus of environmental change discussions

Modeling the dynamics of glacial cycles

This article is concerned with the dynamics of glacial cycles observed in the geological record of the Pleistocene Epoch. It focuses on a conceptual model proposed by Maasch and Saltzman [J. Geophys. Res.,95, D2 (1990), pp. 1955-1963], which is based on physical arguments and emphasizes the role of atmospheric CO2 in the generation and persistence of periodic orbits (limit cycles). The model consists of three ordinary differential equations with four parameters for the anomalies of the total global ice mass, the atmospheric CO2 concentration, and the volume of the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). In this article, it is shown that a simplified two-dimensional symmetric version displays many of the essential features of the full model, including equilibrium states, limit cycles, their basic bifurcations, and a Bogdanov-Takens point that serves as an organizing center for the local and global dynamics. Also, symmetry breaking splits the Bogdanov-Takens point into two, with different local dynamics in their neighborhoods

Sensitive Search for a Permanent Muon Electric Dipole Moment

We are proposing a new method to carry out a dedicated search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the muon with a sensitivity at a level of 10^{-24} e cm. The experimental design exploits the strong motional electric field sensed by relativistic particles in a magnetic storage ring. As a key feature, a novel technique has been invented in which the g-2 precession is compensated with radial electric field. This technique will benefit greatly when the intense muon sources advocated by the developers of the muon storage rings and the muon colliders become available.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures. Submitted for publication in Proceedings of the International Workshop on High Intensity Muon Sources (HIMUS99), KEK, Japan, December 1-4 199

Snowmass CF1 Summary: WIMP Dark Matter Direct Detection

As part of the Snowmass process, the Cosmic Frontier WIMP Direct Detection subgroup (CF1) has drawn on input from the Cosmic Frontier and the broader Particle Physics community to produce this document. The charge to CF1 was (a) to summarize the current status and projected sensitivity of WIMP direct detection experiments worldwide, (b) motivate WIMP dark matter searches over a broad parameter space by examining a spectrum of WIMP models, (c) establish a community consensus on the type of experimental program required to explore that parameter space, and (d) identify the common infrastructure required to practically meet those goals.Comment: Snowmass CF1 Final Summary Report: 47 pages and 28 figures with a 5 page appendix on instrumentation R&

CDMSlite: A Search for Low-Mass WIMPs using Voltage-Assisted Calorimetric Ionization Detection in the SuperCDMS Experiment

SuperCDMS is an experiment designed to directly detect Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), a favored candidate for dark matter ubiquitous in the Universe. In this paper, we present WIMP-search results using a calorimetric technique we call CDMSlite, which relies on voltage- assisted Luke-Neganov amplification of the ionization energy deposited by particle interactions. The data were collected with a single 0.6 kg germanium detector running for 10 live days at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. A low energy threshold of 170 eVee (electron equivalent) was obtained, which allows us to constrain new WIMP-nucleon spin-independent parameter space for WIMP masses below 6 GeV/c2.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Exclusion Limits on the WIMP-Nucleon Cross-Section from the First Run of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search in the Soudan Underground Lab

The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS-II) employs low-temperature Ge and Si detectors to seek Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) via their elastic scattering interactions with nuclei. Simultaneous measurements of both ionization and phonon energy provide discrimination against interactions of background particles. For recoil energies above 10 keV, events due to background photons are rejected with >99.99% efficiency. Electromagnetic events very near the detector surface can mimic nuclear recoils because of reduced charge collection, but these surface events are rejected with >96% efficiency by using additional information from the phonon pulse shape. Efficient use of active and passive shielding, combined with the the 2090 m.w.e. overburden at the experimental site in the Soudan mine, makes the background from neutrons negligible for this first exposure. All cuts are determined in a blind manner from in situ calibrations with external radioactive sources without any prior knowledge of the event distribution in the signal region. Resulting efficiencies are known to ~10%. A single event with a recoil of 64 keV passes all of the cuts and is consistent with the expected misidentification rate of surface-electron recoils. Under the assumptions for a standard dark matter halo, these data exclude previously unexplored parameter space for both spin-independent and spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering. The resulting limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section has a minimum of 4x10^-43 cm^2 at a WIMP mass of 60 GeV/c^2. The minimum of the limit for the spin-dependent WIMP-neutron elastic-scattering cross-section is 2x10^-37 cm^2 at a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c^2.Comment: 37 pages, 42 figure