3,598 research outputs found
A Superfield for Every Dash-Chromotopology
The recent classification scheme of so-called adinkraic off-shell
supermultiplets of N-extended worldline supersymmetry without central charges
finds a combinatorial explosion. Completing our earlier efforts, we now
complete the constructive proof that all of these trillions or more of
supermultiplets have a superfield representation. While different as
superfields and supermultiplets, these are still super-differentially related
to a much more modest number of minimal supermultiplets, which we construct
herein.Comment: 13 pages, integrated illustration
Aberration of the Cosmic Microwave Background
The motion of the solar system barycenter with respect to the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) induces a very large apparent dipole component into
the CMB brightness map at the 3 mK level. In this Letter we discuss another
kinematic effect of our motion through the CMB: the small shift in apparent
angular positions due to the aberration of light. The aberration angles are
only of order beta ~0.001, but this leads to a potentially measurable
compression (expansion) of the spatial scale in the hemisphere toward (away
from) our motion through the CMB. In turn, this will shift the peaks in the
acoustic power spectrum of the CMB by a factor of order 1 +/- beta. For current
CMB missions, and even those in the foreseeable future, this effect is small,
but should be taken into account. In principle, if the acoustic peak locations
were not limited by sampling noise (i.e., the cosmic variance), this effect
could be used to determine the cosmic contribution to the dipole term.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, comments welcome. Submitted to ApJ Letter
Theory Challenges of the Accelerating Universe
The accelerating expansion of the universe presents an exciting, fundamental
challenge to the standard models of particle physics and cosmology. I highlight
some of the outstanding challenges in both developing theoretical models and
interpreting without bias the observational results from precision cosmology
experiments in the next decade that will return data to help reveal the nature
of the new physics. Examples given focus on distinguishing a new component of
energy from a new law of gravity, and the effect of early dark energy on baryon
acoustic oscillations.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; minor changes to match J. Phys. A versio
Effective Symmetries of the Minimal Supermultiplet of N = 8 Extended Worldline Supersymmetry
A minimal representation of the N = 8 extended worldline supersymmetry, known
as the `ultra-multiplet', is closely related to a family of supermultiplets
with the same, E(8) chromotopology. We catalogue their effective symmetries and
find a Spin(4) x Z(2) subgroup common to them all, which explains the
particular basis used in the original construction. We specify a constrained
superfield representation of the supermultiplets in the ultra-multiplet family,
and show that such a superfield representation in fact exists for all adinkraic
supermultiplets. We also exhibit the correspondences between these
supermultiplets, their Adinkras and the E(8) root lattice bases. Finally, we
construct quadratic Lagrangians that provide the standard kinetic terms and
afford a mixing of an even number of such supermultiplets controlled by a
coupling to an external 2-form of fluxes.Comment: 13 Figure
Fermion absorption cross section of a Schwarzschild black hole
We study the absorption of massive spin-half particles by a small
Schwarzschild black hole by numerically solving the single-particle Dirac
equation in Painleve-Gullstrand coordinates. We calculate the absorption cross
section for a range of gravitational couplings Mm/m_P^2 and incident particle
energies E. At high couplings, where the Schwarzschild radius R_S is much
greater than the wavelength lambda, we find that the cross section approaches
the classical result for a point particle. At intermediate couplings we find
oscillations around the classical limit whose precise form depends on the
particle mass. These oscillations give quantum violations of the equivalence
principle. At high energies the cross section converges on the geometric-optics
value of 27 \pi R_S^2/4, and at low energies we find agreement with an
approximation derived by Unruh. When the hole is much smaller than the particle
wavelength we confirm that the minimum possible cross section approaches \pi
R_S^2/2.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure
The Real Anatomy of Complex Linear Superfields
Recent work on classicication of off-shell representations of N-extended
worldline supersymmetry without central charges has uncovered an unexpectedly
vast number--trillions of even just (chromo)topology types--of so called
adinkraic supermultiplets. Herein, we show by explicit analysis that a
long-known but rarely used representation, the complex linear supermultiplet,
is not adinkraic, cannot be decomposed locally, but may be reduced by means of
a Wess-Zumino type gauge. This then indicates that the already unexpectedly
vast number of adinkraic off-shell supersymmetry representations is but the
proverbial tip of the iceberg.Comment: 21 pages, 4 figure
Early Dark Energy Cosmologies
We propose a novel parameterization of the dark energy density. It is
particularly well suited to describe a non-negligible contribution of dark
energy at early times and contains only three parameters, which are all
physically meaningful: the fractional dark energy density today, the equation
of state today and the fractional dark energy density at early times. As we
parameterize Omega_d(a) directly instead of the equation of state, we can give
analytic expressions for the Hubble parameter, the conformal horizon today and
at last scattering, the sound horizon at last scattering, the acoustic scale as
well as the luminosity distance. For an equation of state today w_0 < -1, our
model crosses the cosmological constant boundary. We perform numerical studies
to constrain the parameters of our model by using Cosmic Microwave Background,
Large Scale Structure and Supernovae Ia data. At 95% confidence, we find that
the fractional dark energy density at early times Omega_early < 0.06. This
bound tightens considerably to Omega_early < 0.04 when the latest Boomerang
data is included. We find that both the gold sample of Riess et. al. and the
SNLS data by Astier et. al. when combined with CMB and LSS data mildly prefer
w_0 < -1, but are well compatible with a cosmological constant.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; references added, matches published versio
Analyze This! A Cosmological Constraint Package for CMBEASY
We introduce a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation and data analysis package
that extends the CMBEASY software. We have taken special care in implementing
an adaptive step algorithm for the Markov Chain Monte Carlo in order to improve
convergence. Data analysis routines are provided which allow to test models of
the Universe against measurements of the cosmic microwave background,
supernovae Ia and large scale structure. We present constraints on cosmological
parameters derived from these measurements for a CDM cosmology and
discuss the impact of the different observational data sets on the parameters.
The package is publicly available as part of the CMBEASY software at
www.cmbeasy.org.Comment: Published version, JCAP style, 16 pages, 7 figures. The software is
available at http://www.cmbeasy.or
How to identify when a performance indicator has run its course
The official published version can be found at the link below.Increasing numbers of countries are using indicators to evaluate the quality of clinical care, with some linking payment to achievement. For performance frameworks to remain effective the indicators need to be regularly reviewed. The frameworks cannot cover all clinical areas, and achievement on chosen indicators will eventually reach a ceiling beyond which further improvement is not feasible. However, there has been little work on how to select indictors for replacement. The Department of Health decided in 2008 that it would regularly replace indicators in the national primary care pay for performance scheme, the Quality and Outcomes Framework, making a rigorous approach to removal a priority. We draw on our previous work on pay for performance and our current work advising the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the Quality and Outcomes Framework to suggest what should be considered when planning to remove indicators from a clinical performance framework
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