399 research outputs found
Search for Gamma-Ray Emission from AE Aquarii with Seven Years of Fermi-LAT Observations
AE Aquarii (AE Aqr) is a cataclysmic binary hosting one of the fastest
rotating (P = 33.08 s) white dwarfs known. Based on seven years of
Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT) Pass 8 data, we report on a deep search for
gamma-ray emission from AE Aqr. Using X-ray observations from ASCA, XMM-Newton,
Chandra, Swift, Suzaku, and NuSTAR, spanning 20 years, we substantially extend
and improve the spin ephemeris of AE Aqr. Using this ephemeris, we searched for
gamma-ray pulsations at the spin period of the white dwarf. No gamma-ray
pulsations were detected above 3 significance. Neither phase-averaged
gamma-ray emission nor gamma-ray variability of AE Aquarii is detected by
Fermi-LAT. We impose the most restrictive upper limit to the gamma-ray flux
from AE Aqr to date: erg cm s in the 100
MeV-300 GeV energy range, providing constraints on models.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, Accepted for publication in Ap
Recent Experimental Tests of Special Relativity
We review our recent Michelson-Morley (MM) and Kennedy-Thorndike (KT)
experiment, which tests Lorentz invariance in the photon sector, and report
first results of our ongoing atomic clock test of Lorentz invariance in the
matter sector. The MM-KT experiment compares a cryogenic microwave resonator to
a hydrogen maser, and has set the most stringent limit on a number of
parameters in alternative theories to special relativity. We also report first
results of a test of Lorentz invariance in the SME (Standard Model Extension)
matter sector, using Zeeman transitions in a laser cooled Cs atomic fountain
clock. We describe the experiment together with the theoretical model and
analysis. Recent experimental results are presented and we give a first
estimate of components of the parameters of the SME matter
sector. A full analysis of systematic effects is still in progress, and will be
the subject of a future publication together with our final results. If
confirmed, the present limits would correspond to first ever measurements of
some components, and improvements by 11 and 14 orders of
magnitude on others.Comment: 29 pages. Contribution to Springer Lecture Notes, "Special Relativity
- Will it survive the next 100 years ?", Proceedings, Potsdam, 200
Optical cavity tests of Lorentz invariance for the electron
A hypothetical violation of Lorentz invariance in the electrons' equation of
motion (expressed within the Lorentz-violating extension of the standard model)
leads to a change of the geometry of crystals and thus shifts the resonance
frequency of an electromagnetic cavity. This allows experimental tests of
Lorentz invariance of the electron sector of the standard model. The material
dependence of the effect allows to separate it from an additional shift caused
by Lorentz violation in electrodynamics, and to place independent limits on
both effects. From present experiments, upper limits on Lorentz violation in
the electrons' kinetic energy term are deduced.Comment: 17 pages revte
Geochronological and geochemical constraints on Late Cryogenian to Early Ediacaran magmatic rocks on the northern Tarim Craton:implications for tectonic setting and affinity with Gondwana
The Tarim Craton provides a geologic record of both the fragmentation of the Rodinian supercontinent and the subsequent assembly of Gondwana. However, the timing and interactions of these radically different tectonic processes remain contested. A critical part of this debate revolves around the Late Cryogenian-Ediacaran igneous rocks along the Craton’s northern margin, specifically, whether they record super-plume related Rodinian breakup or Gondwanan orogeny. To address this issue, we present zircon U-Pb-Hf isotopic data and whole rock geochemistry from Late Cryogenian to Early Ediacaran granitoids of the northern Tarim Craton. U-Pb zircon ages reveal three magmatic periods along the northern Tarim margin: ca. 660–640 Ma, 635–625 Ma and 620–600 Ma, associated with small scale felsic and mafic magmas. These granitoids have an A2-type affinity and are enriched in alkalines, but are depleted in Nb, Ta, Sr, P and Ti. Elemental data and generally negative εHf(t) values (−13.96 to 1.65) suggest that they were mainly derived from partial melting of enriched, subduction-modified lithospheric mantle triggered by upwelling of the asthenospheric mantle along the active continental margin of northern Tarim. We suggest that the Tarim Craton travelled as an isolated plate for much of the Late Neoproterozoic, near the outer part of Rodinia and subsequently Gondwana. During this time it was affected by localized and periodic subduction-related intrusion and eruption. However, within the samples of this study, there is no U-Pb-Hf isotopic and whole-rock geochemical evidence to support either super-plume-related rifting (i.e. Rodinian breakup) or Pan-African orogeny (i.e. Gondwanan assembly).</p
Probing Lorentz and CPT violation with space-based experiments
Space-based experiments offer sensitivity to numerous unmeasured effects
involving Lorentz and CPT violation. We provide a classification of clock
sensitivities and present explicit expressions for time variations arising in
such experiments from nonzero coefficients in the Lorentz- and CPT-violating
Standard-Model Extension.Comment: 15 page
FGF receptor genes and breast cancer susceptibility: results from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium
Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.
Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression.
Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95 confidence interval=1.02-1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2.
Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2. © 2014 Cancer Research UK
Lorentz and CPT Violation in Neutrinos
A general formalism is presented for violations of Lorentz and CPT symmetry
in the neutrino sector. The effective hamiltonian for neutrino propagation in
the presence of Lorentz and CPT violation is derived, and its properties are
studied. Possible definitive signals in existing and future
neutrino-oscillation experiments are discussed. Among the predictions are
direction-dependent effects, including neutrino-antineutrino mixing, sidereal
and annual variations, and compass asymmetries. Other consequences of Lorentz
and CPT violation involve unconventional energy dependences in oscillation
lengths and mixing angles. A variety of simple models both with and without
neutrino masses are developed to illustrate key physical effects. The
attainable sensitivities to coefficients for Lorentz violation in the
Standard-Model Extension are estimated for various types of experiments. Many
experiments have potential sensitivity to Planck-suppressed effects, comparable
to the best tests in other sectors. The lack of existing experimental
constraints, the wide range of available coefficient space, and the variety of
novel effects imply that some or perhaps even all of the existing data on
neutrino oscillations might be due to Lorentz and CPT violation.Comment: 25 pages REVTe
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
Observation of a new chi_b state in radiative transitions to Upsilon(1S) and Upsilon(2S) at ATLAS
The chi_b(nP) quarkonium states are produced in proton-proton collisions at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS
detector. Using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.4
fb^-1, these states are reconstructed through their radiative decays to
Upsilon(1S,2S) with Upsilon->mu+mu-. In addition to the mass peaks
corresponding to the decay modes chi_b(1P,2P)->Upsilon(1S)gamma, a new
structure centered at a mass of 10.530+/-0.005 (stat.)+/-0.009 (syst.) GeV is
also observed, in both the Upsilon(1S)gamma and Upsilon(2S)gamma decay modes.
This is interpreted as the chi_b(3P) system.Comment: 5 pages plus author list (18 pages total), 2 figures, 1 table,
corrected author list, matches final version in Physical Review Letter
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