Supernova neutrino physics with xenon dark matter detectors: A timely perspective

Dark matter detectors that utilize liquid xenon have now achieved tonne-scale targets, giving them sensitivity to all flavours of supernova neutrinos via coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering. Considering for the first time a realistic detector model, we simulate the expected supernova neutrino signal for different progenitor masses and nuclear equations of state in existing and upcoming dual-phase liquid xenon experiments. We show that the proportional scintillation signal (S2) of a dual-phase detector allows for a clear observation of the neutrino signal and guarantees a particularly low energy threshold, while the backgrounds are rendered negligible during the supernova burst. XENON1T (XENONnT and LZ; DARWIN) experiments will be sensitive to a supernova burst up to 25 (35; 65) kpc from Earth at a significance of more than 5 sigma, observing approximately 35 (123; 704) events from a 27 Msun supernova progenitor at 10 kpc. Moreover, it will be possible to measure the average neutrino energy of all flavours, to constrain the total explosion energy, and to reconstruct the supernova neutrino light curve. Our results suggest that a large xenon detector such as DARWIN will be competitive with dedicated neutrino telescopes, while providing complementary information that is not otherwise accessible.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures. Minor revisions compared to original version. Matches version published in Phys. Rev.

Maximum size binary matroids with no AG(3,2)-minor are graphic

We prove that the maximum size of a simple binary matroid of rank $r \geq 5$ with no AG(3,2)-minor is $\binom{r+1}{2}$ and characterise those matroids achieving this bound. When $r \geq 6$, the graphic matroid $M(K_{r+1})$ is the unique matroid meeting the bound, but there are a handful of smaller examples. In addition, we determine the size function for non-regular simple binary matroids with no AG(3,2)-minor and characterise the matroids of maximum size for each rank

Three Hierarchies in Skeletal Muscle Fibre Classification Allotype, Isotype and Phenotype

Immunocytochemical analyses using specific anti-myosin antibodies of mammalian muscle fibers during regeneration, development, and after denervation have revealed two distinct myogenic components determining fiber phenotype. The jaw-closing muscles of the cat contain superfast fibers which express a unique myosin not found in limb muscles. When superfast muscle is transplanted into a limb muscle bed, regenerating myotubes synthesize superfast myosin independent of innervation. Reinnervation by the nerve to a fast muscle leads to the expression of superfast and not fast myosin, while reinnervation by the nerve to a slow muscle leads to the expression of a slow myosin. When limb muscle is transplanted into the jaw muscle bed, only limb myosins are synthesized. Thus jaw and limb muscles belong to distinct allotypes, each with a unique range of phenotype options, the expressions of which may be modulated by the nerve. Primary and secondary myotubes in developing jaw and limb muscles are observed to belong to different categories characterized by different patterns of myosin gene expression. By taking into consideration the pattern of myosins synthesized and the changes in fiber size after denervation, 3 types of primary (fast, slow, and intermediate) fibers can be distinguished in rat fast limb muscles. All primaries synthesize slow myosin soon after their formation, but this is withdrawn in fast and intermediate primaries at different times. After neonatal denervation, slow and intermediate primaries express slow primaries hypertrophy with other fibers atrophy. In the mature rat, the number of slow fibers in the EDL is less than the number of slow primaries. Upon denervation, hypertrophic slow fibers matching the number and topographic distribution of slow primaries appear, suggesting that a subpopulation of the slow primaries acquire the fast phenotype during adult life, but reveal their original identity as slow primaries in response to denervation by hypertrophying and synthesizing slow myosin. It is proposed that within each muscle allotype, the various isotypes of primary and secondary fibers are myogenically determined, and are derived from different lineage of myoblasts

Modeling microscopic swimmers at low Reynolds number

We employ three numerical methods to explore the motion of low Reynolds number swimmers, modeling the hydrodynamic interactions by means of the Oseen tensor approximation, lattice Boltzmann simulations and multiparticle collision dynamics. By applying the methods to a three bead linear swimmer, for which exact results are known, we are able to compare and assess the effectiveness of the different approaches. We then propose a new class of low Reynolds number swimmers, generalized three bead swimmers that can change both the length of their arms and the angle between them. Hence we suggest a design for a microstructure capable of moving in three dimensions. We discuss multiple bead, linear microstructures and show that they are highly efficient swimmers. We then turn to consider the swimming motion of elastic filaments. Using multiparticle collision dynamics we show that a driven filament behaves in a qualitatively similar way to the micron-scale swimming device recently demonstrated by Dreyfus et al.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure

Vapor growth of GeTe single crystals in micro-gravity

The positive effects of micro-gravity on crystal growth and fundamental properties of the vapor transport reaction were established by analyzing the results of GeSe and GeTe vapor transport experiments performed on board Skylab. The analysis was based on a direct comparison of GeSe and GeTe crystals and of mass transport rate data obtained on earth and in space. For this purpose, a total of six transport experiments employing different concentrations of transport agent (GeI4) and two temperature gradients were performed during the Skylab 3 and 4 missions. Extensive ground-based studies demonstrated that the crystal morphology and the mass transport rates of the above systems are affected by the transport conditions, in particular by gravity-driven convection. The results demonstrate unambiguously a considerable improvement of the space crystals in terms of surface perfection, crystalline homogeneity and defect density. The observation of greater mass transport rates than expected in micro-gravity environment is of basic scientific and technological significance. This indicates that conventional transport models are incomplete and demonstrates that crystals of improved quality can be grown at reasonable rates by this technique in space. Results are of practical importance for the modification of crystal growth techniques on earth

Perceptual facilitation of word recognition through motor activation during sentence comprehension

Published online 29 July 2018Despite the growing literature on anticipatory language processing, the brain dynamics of this high-level predictive process are still unclear. In the present MEG study, we analyzed pre- and post-stimulus oscillatory activity time-locked to the reading of a target word. We experimentally contrasted the processing of the same target word following two highly constraining sentence contexts, in which the constraint was driven either by the semantic content or by the lexical association between words. Previous research suggests the presence of sensory facilitation for expected words in the latter condition but not in the former. We observed a dissociation between beta (∼20 Hz) and gamma (>50 Hz) band activity in pre- and post-stimulus time intervals respectively. Both the beta and gamma effects were evident in occipital brain regions, and only the pre-stimulus beta effect additionally involved left pre-articulatory motor regions. Lexically constrained (vs. semantically constrained) words elicited reduced beta power around 400 msec before the target word in motor regions and a functionally related gamma enhancement in occipital regions around 200 msec post-target. The present findings highlight the role of the motor network in word-form prediction and support proposals claiming that low-level perceptual representations can be pre-activated during language prediction.This work was partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and the (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional FEDER) (grant PSI2015-65694-P, “Severo Ochoa” programme SEV-2015-490 for Centres of Excellence in R&D), and by the Basque government (grant PI_2016_1_0014). Further support derived from the AThEME project funded by the European Commission 7th Framework Programme, the ERC- 2011-ADG-295362 from the European Research Council