Response of Mica to Weakly Interacting Massive Particles

We calculate spin-dependent cross sections for the scattering from mica of hypothetical weakly interacting dark-matter particles such as neutralinos. The most abundant odd-A isotopes in mica, Al27 and K39, require different shell-model treatments. The calculated cross sections will allow the interpretation of ongoing experiments that look for tracks due to the interaction of dark-matter particles with nuclei in ancient mica.Comment: 11 pages, RevTex, 2 uuencoded figures, submittted to Phys. Rev.

Minimal Composite Higgs Model with Light Bosons

We analyze a composite Higgs model with the minimal content that allows a light Standard-Model-like Higgs boson, potentially just above the current LEP limit. The Higgs boson is a bound state made up of the top quark and a heavy vector-like quark. The model predicts that only one other bound state may be lighter than the electroweak scale, namely a CP-odd neutral scalar. Several other composite scalars are expected to have masses in the TeV range. If the Higgs decay into a pair of CP-odd scalars is kinematically open, then this decay mode is dominant, with important implications for Higgs searches. The lower bound on the CP-odd scalar mass is loose, in some cases as low as $\sim$ 100 MeV, being set only by astrophysical constraints.Comment: 33 pages, latex. Corrections in eqs. 3.21, 3.23, 4.1, 4.5-10. One figure adde

A Full PFPF Shell Model Study of a~=~48 Nuclei

Exact diagonalizations with a minimally modified realistic force lead to detailed agreement with measured level schemes and electromagnetic transitions in $^{48}$Ca, $^{48}$Sc, $^{48}$Ti, $^{48}$V, $^{48}$Cr and $^{48}$Mn. Gamow-Teller strength functions are systematically calculated and reproduce the data to within the standard quenching factor. Their fine structure indicates that fragmentation makes much strength unobservable. As a by-product, the calculations suggest a microscopic description of the onset of rotational motion. The spectroscopic quality of the results provides strong arguments in favour of the general validity of monopole corrected realistic forces, which is discussed.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX with epsf.sty, 14 Postscript figures included and compressed using uufiles. Completely new version of previous preprint nucl-th/9307001. FTUAM-93/01, CRN/PT 93-3

Simian Foamy Virus Transmission from Apes to Humans, Rural Cameroon

Bites from apes efficiently transmit the foamy virus to humans in natural settings in central Africa

Properties of odd nuclei and the impact of time-odd mean fields: A systematic Skyrme-Hartree-Fock analysis

We present a systematic analysis of the description of odd nuclei by the Skyrme-Hartree-Fock approach augmented with pairing in BCS approximation and blocking of the odd nucleon. Current and spin densities in the Skyrme functional produce time-odd mean fields (TOMF) for odd nuclei. Their effect on basic properties (binding energies, odd-even staggering, separation energies and spectra) is investigated for the three Skyrme parameterizations SkI3, SLy6, and SV-bas. About 1300 spherical and axially-deformed odd nuclei with 16 < Z < 92 are considered. The calculations demonstrate that the TOMF effect is generally small, although not fully negligible. The influence of the Skyrme parameterization and the consistency of the calculations are much more important. With a proper choice of the parameterization, a good description of binding energies and their differences is obtained, comparable to that for even nuclei. The description of low-energy excitation spectra of odd nuclei is of varying quality depending on the nucleus

Pre-diagnostic serum concentrations of organochlorines and risk of acute myeloid leukemia: A nested case-control study in the Norwegian Janus Serum Bank Cohort

Background: Epidemiologic studies suggest an increased risk of leukemia among individuals occupationally exposed to some organochlorine (OC) compounds. Associations between serum OC pesticide and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels and risk of acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common subtype of acute leukemia in adult populations, have not been evaluated prospectively in the general population. Objective: We evaluated the risk of AML in relation to pre-diagnostic serum levels of OC pesticides and PCBs in a case-control study nested within the Janus Serum Bank Cohort. Methods: Janus is a large population-based cohort containing biologic samples collected beginning in the early 1970s from ~318,000 individuals in Norway. Serum levels of 11 OC pesticides or their metabolites and 34 PCB congeners were measured in 56 AML cases and 288 controls. Conditional logistic regression was conducted to evaluate associations between lipid-adjusted serum OC levels and risk of AML. Results: Higher serum levels of total chlordane/heptachlor metabolites were associated with AML risk (3rd vs. 1st tertile odds ratio (OR) = 2.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.91–5.63; ptrend = 0.11). Significant exposure-response associations were observed for levels of heptachlor epoxide (3rd vs. 1st tertile OR = 2.85, 95% CI = 1.05–7.73; ptrend = 0.02) and dieldrin (3rd vs. 1st tertile OR = 2.71, 95% CI = 1.07–6.83; ptrend = 0.03). No significant exposure-response associations with AML risk were observed for total DDT or individual isomers and derivatives. Higher serum levels of p,p′-DDT showed a non-significant increase in risk, but the exposure-response became attenuated when co-adjusting for heptachlor epoxide or dieldrin levels. Serum PCB levels were not significantly associated with AML risk. Conclusions: Our data suggest that higher serum levels of dieldrin and metabolites derived from chlordane/heptachlor are associated with risk of AML in the general Norwegian population, based on samples collected on average ~17 years before diagnosis. Further research in populations with historically high or recent exposure to DDT is warranted to assess the association with AML risk with body burden of specific DDT isomers and derivatives

Pion emission from the T2K replica target: method, results and application

The T2K long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan needs precise predictions of the initial neutrino flux. The highest precision can be reached based on detailed measurements of hadron emission from the same target as used by T2K exposed to a proton beam of the same kinetic energy of 30 GeV. The corresponding data were recorded in 2007-2010 by the NA61/SHINE experiment at the CERN SPS using a replica of the T2K graphite target. In this paper details of the experiment, data taking, data analysis method and results from the 2007 pilot run are presented. Furthermore, the application of the NA61/SHINE measurements to the predictions of the T2K initial neutrino flux is described and discussed.Comment: updated version as published by NIM

The nuclear energy density functional formalism

The present document focuses on the theoretical foundations of the nuclear energy density functional (EDF) method. As such, it does not aim at reviewing the status of the field, at covering all possible ramifications of the approach or at presenting recent achievements and applications. The objective is to provide a modern account of the nuclear EDF formalism that is at variance with traditional presentations that rely, at one point or another, on a {\it Hamiltonian-based} picture. The latter is not general enough to encompass what the nuclear EDF method represents as of today. Specifically, the traditional Hamiltonian-based picture does not allow one to grasp the difficulties associated with the fact that currently available parametrizations of the energy kernel $E[g',g]$ at play in the method do not derive from a genuine Hamilton operator, would the latter be effective. The method is formulated from the outset through the most general multi-reference, i.e. beyond mean-field, implementation such that the single-reference, i.e. "mean-field", derives as a particular case. As such, a key point of the presentation provided here is to demonstrate that the multi-reference EDF method can indeed be formulated in a {\it mathematically} meaningful fashion even if $E[g',g]$ does {\it not} derive from a genuine Hamilton operator. In particular, the restoration of symmetries can be entirely formulated without making {\it any} reference to a projected state, i.e. within a genuine EDF framework. However, and as is illustrated in the present document, a mathematically meaningful formulation does not guarantee that the formalism is sound from a {\it physical} standpoint. The price at which the latter can be enforced as well in the future is eventually alluded to.Comment: 64 pages, 8 figures, submitted to Euroschool Lecture Notes in Physics Vol.IV, Christoph Scheidenberger and Marek Pfutzner editor

Measurement of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function

Production of D*+/-(2010) mesons in diffractive deep inelastic scattering has been measured with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 82 pb^{-1}. Diffractive events were identified by the presence of a large rapidity gap in the final state. Differential cross sections have been measured in the kinematic region 1.5 < Q^2 < 200 GeV^2, 0.02 < y < 0.7, x_{IP} < 0.035, beta 1.5 GeV and |\eta(D*+/-)| < 1.5. The measured cross sections are compared to theoretical predictions. The results are presented in terms of the open-charm contribution to the diffractive proton structure function. The data demonstrate a strong sensitivity to the diffractive parton densities.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figures, 6 table

Search for composite and exotic fermions at LEP 2

A search for unstable heavy fermions with the DELPHI detector at LEP is reported. Sequential and non-canonical leptons, as well as excited leptons and quarks, are considered. The data analysed correspond to an integrated luminosity of about 48 pb^{-1} at an e^+e^- centre-of-mass energy of 183 GeV and about 20 pb^{-1} equally shared between the centre-of-mass energies of 172 GeV and 161 GeV. The search for pair-produced new leptons establishes 95% confidence level mass limits in the region between 70 GeV/c^2 and 90 GeV/c^2, depending on the channel. The search for singly produced excited leptons and quarks establishes upper limits on the ratio of the coupling of the excited fermio