3,380 research outputs found
Scattering From a Two Dimensional Array of Flux Tubes: A Study of The Validity of Mean Field Theory
Mean Field Theory has been extensively used in the study of systems of anyons
in two spatial dimensions. In this paper we study the physical grounds for the
validity of this approximation by considering the Quantum Mechanical scattering
of a charged particle from a two dimensional array of magnetic flux tubes. The
flux tubes are arranged on a regular lattice which is infinitely long in the
``'' direction but which has a (small) finite number of columns in the
``'' direction. Their physical size is assumed to be infinitesimally small.
We develop a method for computing the scattering angle as well as the
reflection and transmission coefficients to lowest order in the Aharonov--Bohm
interaction. The results of our calculation are compared to the scattering of
the same particle from a region of constant magnetic field whose magnitude is
equal to the mean field of all the flux tubes. For an incident plane wave, the
Mean Field approximation is shown to be valid provided the flux in each tube is
much less than a single flux quantum. This is precisely the regime in which
Mean Field Theory for anyons is expected to be valid. When the flux per tube
becomes of order 1, Mean Field Theory is no longer valid.Comment: 23 pages, University of British Columbia Preprint UBCTP93-01
The impact of heavy-quark loops on LHC dark matter searches
If only tree-level processes are included in the analysis, LHC monojet
searches give weak constraints on the dark matter-proton scattering cross
section arising from the exchange of a new heavy scalar or pseudoscalar
mediator with Yukawa-like couplings to quarks. In this letter we calculate the
constraints on these interactions from the CMS 5.0/fb and ATLAS 4.7/fb searches
for jets with missing energy including the effects of heavy-quark loops. We
find that the inclusion of such contributions leads to a dramatic increase in
the predicted cross section and therefore a significant improvement of the
bounds from LHC searches.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, v2: extended discussion and improved
relic density calculation - matches published versio
A Bayesian view of the current status of dark matter direct searches
Bayesian statistical methods offer a simple and consistent framework for
incorporating uncertainties into a multi-parameter inference problem. In this
work we apply these methods to a selection of current direct dark matter
searches. We consider the simplest scenario of spin-independent elastic WIMP
scattering, and infer the WIMP mass and cross-section from the experimental
data with the essential systematic uncertainties folded into the analysis. We
find that when uncertainties in the scintillation efficiency of Xenon100 have
been accounted for, the resulting exclusion limit is not sufficiently
constraining to rule out the CoGeNT preferred parameter region, contrary to
previous claims. In the same vein, we also investigate the impact of
astrophysical uncertainties on the preferred WIMP parameters. We find that
within the class of smooth and isotropic WIMP velocity distributions, it is
difficult to reconcile the DAMA and the CoGeNT preferred regions by tweaking
the astrophysics parameters alone. If we demand compatibility between these
experiments, then the inference process naturally concludes that a high value
for the sodium quenching factor for DAMA is preferred.Comment: 37 pages, 14 figures and 7 tables. Replacement for matching the
version accepted for publicatio
Casimir energy of massive MIT fermions in a Bohm-Aharonov background
We study the effect of a background flux string on the vacuum energy of
massive Dirac fermions in 2+1 dimensions confined to a finite spatial region
through MIT boundary conditions. We treat two admissible self-adjoint
extensions of the Hamiltonian and compare the results. In particular, for one
of these extensions, the Casimir energy turns out to be discontinuous at
integer values of the flux.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure
The Cosmology of Composite Inelastic Dark Matter
Composite dark matter is a natural setting for implementing inelastic dark
matter - the O(100 keV) mass splitting arises from spin-spin interactions of
constituent fermions. In models where the constituents are charged under an
axial U(1) gauge symmetry that also couples to the Standard Model quarks, dark
matter scatters inelastically off Standard Model nuclei and can explain the
DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal. This article describes the early Universe
cosmology of a minimal implementation of a composite inelastic dark matter
model where the dark matter is a meson composed of a light and a heavy quark.
The synthesis of the constituent quarks into dark mesons and baryons results in
several qualitatively different configurations of the resulting dark matter
hadrons depending on the relative mass scales in the system.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; references added, typos correcte
Dark Matter from Minimal Flavor Violation
We consider theories of flavored dark matter, in which the dark matter
particle is part of a multiplet transforming nontrivially under the flavor
group of the Standard Model in a manner consistent with the principle of
Minimal Flavor Violation (MFV). MFV automatically leads to the stability of the
lightest state for a large number of flavor multiplets. If neutral, this
particle is an excellent dark matter candidate. Furthermore, MFV implies
specific patterns of mass splittings among the flavors of dark matter and
governs the structure of the couplings between dark matter and ordinary
particles, leading to a rich and predictive cosmology and phenomenology. We
present an illustrative phenomenological study of an effective theory of a
flavor SU(3)_Q triplet, gauge singlet scalar.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures; v2: references added, minor changes to collider
analysis, conclusions unchange
Genome-wide association study for acute otitis media in children identifies FNDC1 as disease contributing gene
Acute otitis media (AOM) is among the most common pediatric diseases, and the most frequent reason for antibiotic treatment in children. Risk of AOM is dependent on environmental and host factors, as well as a significant genetic component. We identify genome-wide significance at a locus on 6q25.3 (rs2932989, P(meta)=2.15 × 10(−09)), and show that the associated variants are correlated with the methylation status of the FNDC1 gene (cg05678571, P=1.43 × 10(−06)), and further show it is an eQTL for FNDC1 (P=9.3 × 10(−05)). The mouse homologue, Fndc1, is expressed in middle ear tissue and its expression is upregulated upon lipopolysaccharide treatment. In this first GWAS of AOM and the largest OM genetic study to date, we identify the first genome-wide significant locus associated with AOM
Decaying into the Hidden Sector
The existence of light hidden sectors is an exciting possibility that may be
tested in the near future. If DM is allowed to decay into such a hidden sector
through GUT suppressed operators, it can accommodate the recent cosmic ray
observations without over-producing antiprotons or interfering with the
attractive features of the thermal WIMP. Models of this kind are simple to
construct, generic and evade all astrophysical bounds. We provide tools for
constructing such models and present several distinct examples. The light
hidden spectrum and DM couplings can be probed in the near future, by measuring
astrophysical photon and neutrino fluxes. These indirect signatures are
complimentary to the direct production signals, such as lepton jets, predicted
by these models.Comment: 40 pages, 5 figure
Radon and material radiopurity assessment for the NEXT double beta decay experiment
The Neutrino Experiment with a Xenon TPC (NEXT), intended to investigate the
neutrinoless double beta decay using a high-pressure xenon gas TPC filled with
Xe enriched in 136Xe at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain, requires
ultra-low background conditions demanding an exhaustive control of material
radiopurity and environmental radon levels. An extensive material screening
process is underway for several years based mainly on gamma-ray spectroscopy
using ultra-low background germanium detectors in Canfranc but also on mass
spectrometry techniques like GDMS and ICPMS. Components from shielding,
pressure vessel, electroluminescence and high voltage elements and energy and
tracking readout planes have been analyzed, helping in the final design of the
experiment and in the construction of the background model. The latest
measurements carried out will be presented and the implication on NEXT of their
results will be discussed. The commissioning of the NEW detector, as a first
step towards NEXT, has started in Canfranc; in-situ measurements of airborne
radon levels were taken there to optimize the system for radon mitigation and
will be shown too.Comment: Proceedings of the Low Radioactivity Techniques 2015 workshop
(LRT2015), Seattle, March 201
- …