Neutrino-Nucleus Reactions and Muon Capture in 12C

The neutrino-nucleus cross section and the muon capture rate are discussed within a simple formalism which facilitates the nuclear structure calculations. The corresponding formulae only depend on four types of nuclear matrix elements, which are currently used in the nuclear beta decay. We have also considered the non-locality effects arising from the velocity-dependent terms in the hadronic current. We show that for both observables in 12C the higher order relativistic corrections are of the order of ~5 only, and therefore do not play a significant role. As nuclear model framework we use the projected QRPA (PQRPA) and show that the number projection plays a crucial role in removing the degeneracy between the proton-neutron two quasiparticle states at the level of the mean field. Comparison is done with both the experimental data and the previous shell model calculations. Possible consequences of the present study on the determination of the $\nu_\mu ->\nu_e$ neutrino oscillation probability are briefly addressed.Comment: 29 pages, 6 figures, Revtex4. Several changes were made to the previous manuscript, the results and final conclusions remain unalterable. It has been accepted for publication as a Regular Article in Physical Review

Two neutrino double beta decay within the ξ\xi-approximation

We examine the contributions of odd-parity nuclear operators to the two-neutrino double beta decay $0^+\rightarrow 0^+$ amplitude, which come from the $P$-wave Coulomb corrections to the electron wave functions and the recoil corrections to the nuclear currents. Although they are formally of higher order in $\alpha Z/2$ or $v/c$ of the nucleon than the usual Fermi and Gamow-Teller matrix elements, explicit calculations performed within the QRPA show that they are significant when confronted with the experimental data.Comment: 9 pages, latex, no figure

Identification of TMEM206 proteins as pore of PAORAC/ASOR acid-sensitive chloride channels

Acid-sensing ion channels have important functions in physiology and pathology, but the molecular composition of acid-activated chloride channels had remained unclear. We now used a genome-wide siRNA screen to molecularly identify the widely expressed acid-sensitive outwardly-rectifying anion channel PAORAC/ASOR. ASOR is formed by TMEM206 proteins which display two transmembrane domains (TMs) and are expressed at the plasma membrane. Ion permeation-changing mutations along the length of TM2 and at the end of TM1 suggest that these segments line ASOR's pore. While not belonging to a gene family, TMEM206 has orthologs in probably all vertebrates. Currents from evolutionarily distant orthologs share activation by protons, a feature essential for ASOR's role in acid-induced cell death. TMEM206 defines a novel class of ion channels. Its identification will help to understand its physiological roles and the diverse ways by which anion-selective pores can be formed

Top condensation model: a step towards the correct prediction of the Higgs mass

A realization of the composite Higgs scenario in the context of the effective model with the $SU(2)_L\times U(1)_R$ symmetric four-Fermi interactions proposed by Miransky, Tanabashi and Yamawaki is studied. The model implements Nambu's mechanism of dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking leading to the formation of $\bar tt$ and $\bar bb$ quark condensates. We explore the vacuum structure and spectrum of the model by using the Schwinger proper-time method. As a direct consequence of this mechanism, the Higgs acquires a mass in accord with its experimental value. The present prediction essentially differs from the known overestimated value, $m_\chi= 2m_t$, making more favourable the top condensation scenario presented here. The mass formulas for the members of the second Higgs doublet are also obtained. The Nambu sum rule is discussed. It is shown that the anomalous $U(1)_A$ symmetry breaking modifies this rule at next to leading order in $1/N_c$.Comment: 14 pages, version to appear in EPJ

Exact evaluation of the nuclear form factor for new kinds of majoron emission in neutrinoless double beta decay

We have developed a formalism, based on the Fourier-Bessel expansion, that facilitates the evaluation of matrix elements involving nucleon recoil operators, such as appear in serveral exotic forms of neutrinoless double beta decay ($\beta\beta_{0\nu}$). The method is illustrated by applying it to the ``charged'' majoron model, which is one of the few that can hope to produce an observable effect. From our numerical computations within the QRPA performed for $^{76}Ge$, $^{82}Se$, $^{100} Mo$, $^{128}Te$ and $^{150}Nd$ nuclei, we test the validity of approximations made in earlier work to simplify the new matrix elements, showing that they are accurate to within 15%. Our new method is also suitable for computing other previously unevaluated $\beta\beta_{0\nu}$ nuclear matrix elements.Comment: 11pp., latex, fixed minor typographical error

Isoscalar g Factors of Even-Even and Odd-Odd Nuclei

We consider T=0 states in even-even and odd-odd N=Z nuclei. The g factors that emerge are isoscalar. We find that the single j shell model gives simple expressions for these g factors which for even-even nuclei are suprisingly close to the collective values for K=0 bands. The g factors of many 2+ in even-even nuclei and 1+ and 3+ states in odd-odd nuclei have g factors close to 0.5

Large-basis shell-model calculation of 10C->10B Fermi matrix element

We use a $4\hbar\Omega$ shell-model calculation with a two-body effective interaction derived microscopically from the Reid93 potential to calculate the isospin-mixing correction for the 10C->10B superallowed Fermi transition. The effective interaction takes into account the Coulomb potential as well as the charge dependence of T=1 partial waves. Our results suggest the isospin- mixing correction $\delta_{C}\approx 0.1$, which is compatible with previous calculations. The correction obtained in those calculations, performed in a $0\hbar\Omega$ space, was dominated by deviation from unity of the radial overlap between the converted proton and the corresponding neutron. In the present calculation this effect is accommodated by the large model space. The obtained $\delta_{C}$ correction is about a factor of four too small to obtain unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix with the present experimental data.Comment: 14 pages. REVTEX. 3 PostScript figure