Re-evaluation of the Gottfried sum using neural networks

We provide a determination of the Gottfried sum from all available data, based on a neural network parametrization of the nonsinglet structure function F_2. We find S_G=0.244 +- 0.045, closer to the quark model expectation S_G=1/3 than previous results. We show that the uncertainty from the small x region is somewhat underestimated in previous determinations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, latex with revte

New Constraints on Neutralino Dark Matter in the Supersymmetric Standard Model

We investigate the prospects for neutralino dark matter within the Supersymmetric Standard Model (SSM) including the constraints from universal soft supersymmetry breaking and radiative breaking of the electroweak symmetry. The latter is enforced by using the one-loop Higgs effective potential which automatically gives the one-loop corrected Higgs boson masses. We perform an exhaustive search of the allowed five-dimensional parameter space and find that the neutralino relic abundance $\Omega_\chi h^2_0$ depends most strongly on the ratio $\xi_0\equiv m_0/m_{1/2}$. For $\xi_0\gg1$ the relic abundance is almost always much too large, whereas for $\xi_0\ll1$ the opposite occurs. For $\xi_0\sim1$ there are wide ranges of the remaining parameters for which $\Omega_\chi\sim1$. We also determine that m_{\tilde q}\gsim250\GeV and m_{\tilde l}\gsim100\GeV are necessary in order to possibly achieve $\Omega_\chi\sim1$. These lower bounds are much weaker than the corresponding ones derived previously when radiative breaking was {\it not} enforced.Comment: 12 pages plus 6 figures (not included), CERN-TH.6584/92, CTP-TAMU-56/92, UAHEP921

Astrophysical Probes of the Constancy of the Velocity of Light

We discuss possible tests of the constancy of the velocity of light using distant astrophysical sources such as gamma-ray bursters (GRBs), Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) and pulsars. This speculative quest may be motivated by some models of quantum fluctuations in the space-time background, and we discuss explicitly how an energy-dependent variation in photon velocity \delta c/ c \sim - E / M arises in one particular quantum-gravitational model. We then discuss how data on GRBs may be used to set limits on variations in the velocity of light, which we illustrate using BATSE and OSSE observations of the GRBs that have recently been identified optically and for which precise redshifts are available. We show how a regression analysis can be performed to look for an energy-dependent effect that should correlate with redshift. The present data yield a limit M \gsim 10^{15} GeV for the quantum gravity scale. We discuss the prospects for improving this analysis using future data, and how one might hope to distinguish any positive signal from astrophysical effects associated with the sources.Comment: 37 pages LaTeX, 9 eps figures included, uses aasms4.st

Updated Post-WMAP Benchmarks for Supersymmetry

We update a previously-proposed set of supersymmetric benchmark scenarios, taking into account the precise constraints on the cold dark matter density obtained by combining WMAP and other cosmological data, as well as the LEP and b -> s gamma constraints. We assume that R parity is conserved and work within the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) with universal soft supersymmetry-breaking scalar and gaugino masses m_0 and m_1/2. In most cases, the relic density calculated for the previous benchmarks may be brought within the WMAP range by reducing slightly m_0, but in two cases more substantial changes in m_0 and m_1/2 are made. Since the WMAP constraint reduces the effective dimensionality of the CMSSM parameter space, one may study phenomenology along `WMAP lines' in the (m_1/2, m_0) plane that have acceptable amounts of dark matter. We discuss the production, decays and detectability of sparticles along these lines, at the LHC and at linear e+ e- colliders in the sub- and multi-TeV ranges, stressing the complementarity of hadron and lepton colliders, and with particular emphasis on the neutralino sector. Finally, we preview the accuracy with which one might be able to predict the density of supersymmetric cold dark matter using collider measurements.Comment: 43 pages LaTeX, 13 eps figure

Determination of fragmentation functions and their uncertainties from e+ + e- -> h + X data

Fragmentation functions are determined for pions, kaons, and nucleons by a global analysis of charged-hadron production data in electron-positron annihilation. The optimum functions are obtained in both leading order (LO) and next-to-leading order (NLO) of alpha_s. It is important that uncertainties of the fragmentation functions are estimated in this work by the Hessian method. We found that the uncertainties are large at small Q^2 and that they are generally reduced in the NLO in comparison with the LO ones. We supply a code for calculating the fragmentation functions and their uncertainties for the pions, kaons, and nucleons at given z and Q^2.Comment: 4 pages, LaTeX, 5 eps files, to be published in AIP proceedings of the 17th International Spin Physics Symposium (SPIN2006), Oct. 2-7, 2006, Kyoto, Japa

The Neutralino Relic Density in Minimal N=1 Supergravity

We compute the cosmic relic (dark matter) density of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) in the framework of minimal $N=1$ Supergravity models with radiative breaking of the electroweak gauge symmetry. To this end, we re--calculate the cross sections for all possible annihilation processes for a general, mixed neutralino state with arbitrary mass. Our analysis includes effects of all Yukawa couplings of third generation fermions, and allows for a fairly general set of soft SUSY breaking parameters at the Planck scale. We find that a cosmologically interesting relic density emerges naturally over wide regions of parameter space. However, the requirement that relic neutralinos do not overclose the universe does not lead to upper bounds on SUSY breaking parameters that are strictly valid for all combinations of parameters and of interest for existing or planned collider experiments; in particular, gluino and squark masses in excess of 5 TeV cannot strictly be excluded. On the other hand, in the ``generic'' case of a gaugino--like neutralino whose annihilation cross sections are not ``accidentally'' enhanced by a nearby Higgs or $Z$ pole, all sparticles should lie within the reach of the proposed $pp$ and $e^+e^-$ supercolliders. We also find that requiring the LSP to provide all dark matter predicted by inflationary models imposes a strict lower bound of 40 GeV on the common scalar mass $m$ at the Planck scale, while the lightest sleptons would have to be heavierComment: 53 pages(8figs are not included), Latex file; DESY 92-101, SLAC-PUB-586

Neutrino Oscillations Induced by Gravitational Recoil Effects

Quantum gravitational fluctuations of the space-time background, described by virtual D branes, may induce neutrino oscillations if a tiny violation of the Lorentz invariance (or a violation of the equivalence principle) is imposed. In this framework, the oscillation length of massless neutrinos turns out to be proportional to M/E^2, where E is the neutrino energy and M is the mass scale characterizing the topological fluctuations in the vacuum. Such a functional dependence on the energy is the same obtained in the framework of loop quantum gravity.Comment: 5 pages, LaTex fil

QCD and Hadron Dynamics

Perturbative QCD predicts and describes various features of multihadron production. An amazing similarity between observable hadron systems and calculable underlying parton ensembles justifies the attempts to use the language of quarks and gluons down to small momentum scales, to approach the profound problems that are commonly viewed as being entirely non-perturbative.Comment: Talk at the Royal Society meeting "Structure of Matter", London, May 200