Strictly Anomaly Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking

We consider an MSSM extension with anomaly mediation as the source of supersymmetry-breaking, and a U(1) symmetry which solves the tachyonic slepton problem, and introduces both the see-saw mechanism for neutrino masses, and the Higgs mu-term. We compare its spectra with those from so-called minimal anomaly mediated supersymmetry breaking. We find a Standard Model-like Higgs of mass 125 GeV with a gravitino mass of 140 TeV and tan(beta)=16. However, the muon anomalous magnetic moment is 3 sigma away from the experimental value. The model naturally produces a period of hybrid inflation, which can exit to a false vacuum characterised by large Higgs vevs, reaching the true ground state after a period of thermal inflation. The scalar spectral index is reduced to approximately 0.975, and the correct abundance of neutralino dark matter can be produced by decays of thermally-produced gravitinos, provided the gravitino mass (and hence the Higgs mass) is high. Naturally light cosmic strings are produced, satisfying bounds from the Cosmic Microwave Background. The complementary pulsar timing and cosmic ray bounds require that strings decay primarily via loops into gravitational waves. Unless the loops are extremely small, the next generation pulsar timing array will rule out or detect the string-derived gravitational radiation background in this model.Comment: 38 pages, 1 figure. Discussion of 125GeV Higgs possibility, and of U(1) decoupling limi

Performances of multi-gap timing RPCs for relativistic ions in the range Z=1-6

We present the performance of Multi-gap timing RPCs under irradiation by fully stripped relativistic ions (gamma*beta=2.7, Z=1-6). A time resolution of 80 ps at high efficiency has been obtained by just using standard `off the shelf' 4-gap timing RPCs from the new HADES ToF wall. The resolution worsened to 100 ps for ~ 1 kHz/cm2 proton flux and for ~ 100 Hz/cm2 Carbon flux. The chambers were operated at a standard field of E=100 kV/cm and showed a high stability during the experiment, supporting the fact that RPCs are a convenient choice when accommodating a very broad range of ionizing particles is needed. The data provides insight in the region of very highly ionizing particles (up to x 36 mips) and can be used to constrain the existing avalanche and Space-Charge models far from the usual `mip valley'. The implications of these results for the general case of detection based on secondary processes (n, gamma) resulting in highly ionizing particles with characteristic energy distributions will be discussed, together with the nature of the time-charge correlation curve.Comment: 31 pages, 19 figures, submitted to JINS

Charactersing a holographic modal phase mask for the detection of ocular aberrations

This is the final version of the article. Available from Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) via the DOI in this record.The accurate measurement of the double-pass ocular wave front has been shown to have a broad range of applications from LASIK surgery to adaptively corrected retinal imaging. The ocular wave front can be accurately described by a small number of Zernike circle polynomials. The modal wave front sensor was first proposed by Neil et al. and allows the coefficients of the individual Zernike modes to be measured directly. Typically the aberrations measured with the modal sensor are smaller than those seen in the ocular wave front. In this work, we investigated a technique for adapting a modal phase mask for the sensing of the ocular wave front. This involved extending the dynamic range of the sensor by increasing the pinhole size to 2.4mm and optimising the mask bias to 0.75λ. This was found to decrease the RMS error by up to a factor of three for eye-like aberrations with amplitudes up to 0.2μm. For aberrations taken from a sample of real-eye measurements a 20% decrease in the RMS error was observed

DEFROST: A New Code for Simulating Preheating after Inflation

At the end of inflation, dynamical instability can rapidly deposit the energy of homogeneous cold inflaton into excitations of other fields. This process, known as preheating, is rather violent, inhomogeneous and non-linear, and has to be studied numerically. This paper presents a new code for simulating scalar field dynamics in expanding universe written for that purpose. Compared to available alternatives, it significantly improves both the speed and the accuracy of calculations, and is fully instrumented for 3D visualization. We reproduce previously published results on preheating in simple chaotic inflation models, and further investigate non-linear dynamics of the inflaton decay. Surprisingly, we find that the fields do not want to thermalize quite the way one would think. Instead of directly reaching equilibrium, the evolution appears to be stuck in a rather simple but quite inhomogeneous state. In particular, one-point distribution function of total energy density appears to be universal among various two-field preheating models, and is exceedingly well described by a lognormal distribution. It is tempting to attribute this state to scalar field turbulence.Comment: RevTeX 4.0; 16 pages, 9 figure

Spectrophotometric investigations of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Markarian 35

We present results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy Mrk 35 (Haro 3), based on deep optical (B,V,R,I) and near-IR (J,H,K) imaging, Halpha narrow-band observations and long-slit spectroscopy. The optical emission of the galaxy is dominated by a central young starburst, with a bar-like shape, while an underlying component of stars, with elliptical isophotes and red colors, extends more than 4 kpc from the galaxy center. High resolution Halpha and color maps allow us to identify the star-forming regions, to spatially discriminate them from the older stars, and to recognize several dust patches. We derive colors and Halpha parameters for all the identified star-forming knots. Observables derived for each knot are corrected for the contribution of the underlying older stellar population, the contribution by emission lines, and from interstellar extinction, and compared with evolutionary synthesis models. We find that the contributions of these three factors are by no means negligible and that they significantly vary across the galaxy. Therefore, careful quantification and subtraction of emission lines, galaxy host contribution, and interstellar reddening at every galaxy position, are essential to derive the properties of the young stars in BCDs. We find that we can reproduce the colors of all the knots with an instantaneous burst of star formation and the Salpeter initial mass function with an upper mass limit of 100 M_solar. In all cases the knots are just a few Myr old. The underlying population of stars has colors consistent with being several Gyr old.Comment: 21 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in ApJ, tentatively scheduled for the ApJ November 1, 2007 v669n1 issu

Mission to the Trojan Asteroids: lessons learned during a JPL Planetary Science Summer School mission design exercise

The 2013 Planetary Science Decadal Survey identified a detailed investigation of the Trojan asteroids occupying Jupiter's L4 and L5 Lagrange points as a priority for future NASA missions. Observing these asteroids and measuring their physical characteristics and composition would aid in identification of their source and provide answers about their likely impact history and evolution, thus yielding information about the makeup and dynamics of the early Solar System. We present a conceptual design for a mission to the Jovian Trojan asteroids: the Trojan ASteroid Tour, Exploration, and Rendezvous (TASTER) mission, that is consistent with the NASA New Frontiers candidate mission recommended by the Decadal Survey and the final result of the 2011 NASA-JPL Planetary Science Summer School. Our proposed mission includes visits to two Trojans in the L4 population: a 500 km altitude fly-by of 1999 XS143, followed by a rendezvous with and detailed observations of 911 Agamemnon at orbital altitudes of 1000 - 100 km over a 12 month nominal science data capture period. Our proposed instrument payload - wide- and narrow-angle cameras, a visual and infrared mapping spectrometer, and a neutron/gamma ray spectrometer - would provide unprecedented high-resolution, regional-to-global datasets for the target bodies, yielding fundamental information about the early history and evolution of the Solar System. Although our mission design was completed as part of an academic exercise, this study serves as a useful starting point for future Trojan mission design studies. In particular, we identify and discuss key issues that can make large differences in the complex trade-offs required when designing a mission to the Trojan asteroids.Comment: 38 pages, 8 tables, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Scienc

Spectrophotometric Observations of Blue Compact Dwarf Galaxies: Mrk 370

We present results from a detailed spectrophotometric analysis of the blue compact dwarf galaxy (BCD) Mrk 370, based on deep UBVRI broad-band and Halpha narrow-band observations, and long-slit and two-dimensional spectroscopy of its brightest knots. The spectroscopic data are used to derive the internal extinction, and to compute metallicities, electronic density and temperature in the knots. By subtracting the contribution of the underlying older stellar population, modeled by an exponential function, removing the contribution from emission lines, and correcting for extinction, we can measure the true colors of the young star-forming knots. We show that the colors obtained this way differ significantly from those derived without the above corrections, and lead to different estimates of the ages and star-forming history of the knots. Using predictions of evolutionary synthesis models, we estimate the ages of both the starburst regions and the underlying stellar component. We found that we can reproduce the colors of all the knots with an instantaneous burst of star formation and the Salpeter initial mass function with an upper mass limit of 100 solar masses. The resulting ages range between 3 and 6 Myrs. The colors of the low surface brightness component are consistent with ages larger than 5 Gyr. The kinematic results suggest ordered motion around the major axis of the galaxy.Comment: 26 pages with 14 figures; accepted for publication in Ap

Inflation-Produced Magnetic Fields in Nonlinear Electrodynamics

We study the generation of primeval magnetic fields during inflation era in nonlinear theories of electrodynamics. Although the intensity of the produced fields strongly depends on characteristics of inflation and on the form of electromagnetic Lagrangian, our results do not exclude the possibility that these fields could be astrophysically interesting.Comment: 6 page

Coulomb breakup of neutron-rich 29,30^{29,30}Na isotopes near the island of inversion

First results are reported on the ground state configurations of the neutron-rich $^{29,30}$Na isotopes, obtained via Coulomb dissociation (CD) measurements as a method of the direct probe. The invariant mass spectra of those nuclei have been obtained through measurement of the four-momentum of all decay products after Coulomb excitation on a $^{208}Pb$ target at energies of 400-430 MeV/nucleon using FRS-ALADIN-LAND setup at GSI, Darmstadt. Integrated Coulomb-dissociation cross-sections (CD) of 89 $(7)$ mb and 167 $(13)$ mb up to excitation energy of 10 MeV for one neutron removal from $^{29}$Na and $^{30}$Na respectively, have been extracted. The major part of one neutron removal, CD cross-sections of those nuclei populate core, in its' ground state. A comparison with the direct breakup model, suggests the predominant occupation of the valence neutron in the ground state of $^{29}$Na${(3/2^+)}$ and $^{30}$Na${(2^+)}$ is the $d$ orbital with small contribution in the $s$-orbital which are coupled with ground state of the core. The ground state configurations of these nuclei are as $^{28}$Na_{gs (1^+)\otimes\nu_{s,d} and $^{29}$Na$_{gs}(3/2^+)\otimes\nu_{ s,d}$, respectively. The ground state spin and parity of these nuclei, obtained from this experiment are in agreement with earlier reported values. The spectroscopic factors for the valence neutron occupying the $s$ and $d$ orbitals for these nuclei in the ground state have been extracted and reported for the first time. A comparison of the experimental findings with the shell model calculation using MCSM suggests a lower limit of around 4.3 MeV of the sd-pf shell gap in $^{30}$Na.Comment: Modified version of the manuscript is accepted for publication in Journal of Physics G, Jan., 201

Electronic Developments for the Hades RPC Wall: Overview and Progress

This contribution presents the current status and progress of the electronics developed for the Resistive Plate Chamber detector of HADES. This new detector for the time-of-flight detection system will contain more than 1000 RPC modules, covering a total active area of around 7 m2. The Front-End electronics consist of custom-made boards that exploit the benefit of the use of commercial components to achieve time resolutions below 100 ps. The Readout electronics, also custom-made, is a multipurpose board providing a 128- channel Time to Digital Converter (TDC) based on the HPTDC chip