Satellite lifetime routine user's manual

A FORTRAN coded computer program which determines secular variations in mean orbital elements of earth satellites and the lifetime of the orbit is described. The dynamical model treats a point mass satellite subject to solar and lunar disturbing gravitational fields, second, third and fourth harmonics of the earth's oblate potential, earth's atmospheric drag, and solar radiation pressure. Each of these disturbing functions may be selectively simulated. Data preparation instructions, a sample problem, and definitions of output quantities are included

Quintessential Kination and Leptogenesis

Thermal leptogenesis induced by the CP-violating decay of a right-handed neutrino (RHN) is discussed in the background of quintessential kination, i.e., in a cosmological model where the energy density of the early Universe is assumed to be dominated by the kinetic term of a quintessence field during some epoch of its evolution. This assumption may lead to very different observational consequences compared to the case of a standard cosmology where the energy density of the Universe is dominated by radiation. We show that, depending on the choice of the temperature T_r above which kination dominates over radiation, any situation between the strong and the super--weak wash--out regime are equally viable for leptogenesis, even with the RHN Yukawa coupling fixed to provide the observed atmospheric neutrino mass scale ~ 0.05 eV. For M< T_r < M/100, i.e., when kination stops to dominate at a time which is not much later than when leptogenesis takes place, the efficiency of the process, defined as the ratio between the produced lepton asymmetry and the amount of CP violation in the RHN decay, can be larger than in the standard scenario of radiation domination. This possibility is limited to the case when the neutrino mass scale is larger than about 0.01 eV. The super--weak wash--out regime is obtained for T_r << M/100, and includes the case when T_r is close to the nucleosynthesis temperature ~ 1 MeV. Irrespective of T_r, we always find a sufficient window above the electroweak temperature T ~ 100 GeV for the sphaleron transition to thermalize, so that the lepton asymmetry can always be converted to the observed baryon asymmetry.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Icosahedral (A5) Family Symmetry and the Golden Ratio Prediction for Solar Neutrino Mixing

We investigate the possibility of using icosahedral symmetry as a family symmetry group in the lepton sector. The rotational icosahedral group, which is isomorphic to A5, the alternating group of five elements, provides a natural context in which to explore (among other possibilities) the intriguing hypothesis that the solar neutrino mixing angle is governed by the golden ratio. We present a basic toolbox for model-building using icosahedral symmetry, including explicit representation matrices and tensor product rules. As a simple application, we construct a minimal model at tree level in which the solar angle is related to the golden ratio, the atmospheric angle is maximal, and the reactor angle vanishes to leading order. The approach provides a rich setting in which to investigate the flavor puzzle of the Standard Model.Comment: 22 pages, version to be published in Phys. Rev.

Acceleration and Substructure Constraints in a Quasar Outflow

We present observations of probable line-of-sight acceleration of a broad absorption trough of C IV in the quasar SDSS J024221.87+004912.6. We also discuss how the velocity overlap of two other outflowing systems in the same object constrains the properties of the outflows. The Si IV doublet in each system has one unblended transition and one transition which overlaps with absorption from the other system. The residual flux in the overlapping trough is well fit by the product of the residual fluxes in the unblended troughs. For these optically thick systems to yield such a result, at least one of them must consist of individual subunits rather than being a single structure with velocity-dependent coverage of the source. If these subunits are identical, opaque, spherical clouds, we estimate the cloud radius to be r = 3.9 10^15 cm. If they are identical, opaque, linear filaments, we estimate their width to be w = 6.5 10^14 cm. These subunits are observed to cover the Mg II broad emission line region of the quasar, at which distance from the black hole the above filament width is equal to the predicted scale height of the outer atmosphere of a thin accretion disk. Insofar as that scale height is a natural size scale for structures originating in an accretion disk, these observations are evidence that the accretion disk can be a source of quasar absorption systems. Based on data from ESO program 075.B-0190(A).Comment: 14 emulateapj pages, 7 figures, ApJ in pres

A dark energy multiverse

We present cosmic solutions corresponding to universes filled with dark and phantom energy, all having a negative cosmological constant. All such solutions contain infinite singularities, successively and equally distributed along time, which can be either big bang/crunchs or big rips singularities. Classicaly these solutions can be regarded as associated with multiverse scenarios, being those corresponding to phantom energy that may describe the current accelerating universe

Quantum Inequalities and Singular Energy Densities

There has been much recent work on quantum inequalities to constrain negative energy. These are uncertainty principle-type restrictions on the magnitude and duration of negative energy densities or fluxes. We consider several examples of apparent failures of the quantum inequalities, which involve passage of an observer through regions where the negative energy density becomes singular. We argue that this type of situation requires one to formulate quantum inequalities using sampling functions with compact support. We discuss such inequalities, and argue that they remain valid even in the presence of singular energy densities.Comment: 18 pages, LaTex, 2 figures, uses eps

Causarum Investigatio and the Two Bell's Theorems of John Bell

"Bell's theorem" can refer to two different theorems that John Bell proved, the first in 1964 and the second in 1976. His 1964 theorem is the incompatibility of quantum phenomena with the joint assumptions of Locality and Predetermination. His 1976 theorem is their incompatibility with the single property of Local Causality. This is contrary to Bell's own later assertions, that his 1964 theorem began with the assumption of Local Causality, even if not by that name. Although the two Bell's theorems are logically equivalent, their assumptions are not. Hence, the earlier and later theorems suggest quite different conclusions, embraced by operationalists and realists, respectively. The key issue is whether Locality or Local Causality is the appropriate notion emanating from Relativistic Causality, and this rests on one's basic notion of causation. For operationalists the appropriate notion is what is here called the Principle of Agent-Causation, while for realists it is Reichenbach's Principle of common cause. By breaking down the latter into even more basic Postulates, it is possible to obtain a version of Bell's theorem in which each camp could reject one assumption, happy that the remaining assumptions reflect its weltanschauung. Formulating Bell's theorem in terms of causation is fruitful not just for attempting to reconcile the two camps, but also for better describing the ontology of different quantum interpretations and for more deeply understanding the implications of Bell's marvellous work.Comment: 24 pages. Prepared for proceedings of the "Quantum [Un]speakables II" conference (Vienna, 2014), to be published by Springe