Photoelectrochemical properties of plasma-induced nanostructured tungsten oxide

Helium (He)-induced nanostructured tungsten sheets were synthesized by He plasma irradiation under different plasma exposure durations. After calcination, nanostructured tungsten oxide samples were used as photoelectrodes to test photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. The results showed that nanostructured WO3 photoanodes have higher PEC performance compared to the sample without nanostructures. The 15 min irradiated sample had the highest photocurrent density of 3.5 mA/cm2 under the thermodynamic potential of water oxidation (1.23 V vs. RHE). It was found that the oxide layer thickness and exposed crystal facet have a significant impact on PEC performance. The plasma synthesis technique has proved to be an effective method for preparing nanostructured WO3 photoelectrodes.</p

Complementarity of the CERN Large Hadron Collider and the e+e−e^+e^- International Linear Collider

The next-generation high-energy facilities, the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the prospective $e^+e^-$ International Linear Collider (ILC), are expected to unravel new structures of matter and forces from the electroweak scale to the TeV scale. In this report we review the complementary role of LHC and ILC in drawing a comprehensive and high-precision picture of the mechanism breaking the electroweak symmetries and generating mass, and the unification of forces in the frame of supersymmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 17 figures, to be published in "Supersymmetry on the Eve of the LHC", a special volume of European Physical Journal C, Particles and Fields (EPJC) in memory of Julius Wes

CP--violating Chargino Contributions to the Higgs Coupling to Photon Pairs in the Decoupling Regime of Higgs Sector

In most supersymmetric theories, charginos $\tilde{\chi}^\pm_{1,2}$ belong to the class of the lightest supersymmetric particles and the couplings of Higgs bosons to charginos are in general complex so that the CP--violating chargino contributions to the loop--induced coupling of the lightest Higgs boson to photon pairs can be sizable even in the decoupling limit of large pseudoscalar mass $m_A$ with only the lightest Higgs boson kinematically accessible at future high energy colliders. We introduce a specific benchmark scenario of CP violation consistent with the electric dipole moment constraints and with a commonly accepted baryogenesis mechanism in the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model. Based on the benchmark scenario of CP violation, we demonstrate that the fusion of the lightest Higgs boson in linearly polarized photon--photon collisions can allow us to confirm the existence of the CP--violating chargino contributions {\it even in the decoupling regime of the Higgs sector} for nearly degenerate SU(2) gaugino and higgsino mass parameters of about the electroweak scale.Comment: 1+13 pages, 3 eps figure

Analysis of the Neutralino System in Three--Body Leptonic Decays of Neutralinos

Neutralinos $\tilde{\chi}^0$ in supersymmetric theories, the spin--1/2 Majorana--type superpartners of the U(1) and SU(2) neutral electroweak gauge bosons and SU(2) neutral Higgs bosons, are expected to be among light supersymmetric particles so that they can be produced copiouslyvia direct pair production and/or from cascade decays of other sparticles such as sleptons at the planned Large Hadron Collider and the prospective International Linear Collider. Considering the prospects of having both highly polarized neutralinos and possibility of reconstructing their decay rest frames, we provide a systematic investigation of the three--body leptonic decays of the neutralinos in the minimal supersymmetric standard model and demonstrate alternative ways for probing the Majorana nature of the neutralinos and CP violation in the neutralino system.Comment: Version to appear in Eur.Phys.J.

Accelerated/reduced growth of tungsten fuzz by deposition of metals

From the helium (He) plasma irradiations to tungsten performed in the Magnum-PSI device, the effects of deposition of metals on the helium-plasma induced fiberform nanostructures (fuzz) are discussed. It was found that fuzz was not formed at the center of the plasma cylinder if there were significant metallic impurities from the source. Deposition of metallic impurities (mainly molybdenum and copper) counteracted the growth of fuzz. In addition to the effects of metals from the source, we installed a sputtering source near the sample to replicate the deposition environment in fusion devices. The thickness of fuzzy layer was ∼7&nbsp;µm, which was about five times greater than that without deposition, at the He flux of 1.3×1026&nbsp;m−2, suggesting that the growth rate of fuzz layer was significantly accelerated due to the deposition of tungsten.</p

A Window on the CP-violating Phases of MSSM from Lepton Flavor Violating Processes

It has recently been shown that by measuring the transverse polarization of the final particles in the LFV processes $\mu \to e\gamma$, $\mu \to eee$ and $\mu N\to e N$, one can derive information on the CP-violating phases of the underlying theory. We derive formulas for the transverse polarization of the final particles in terms of the couplings of the effective potential leading to these processes. We then study the dependence of the polarizations of $e$ and $\gamma$ in the $\mu \to e \gamma$ and $\mu N \to e N$ on the parameters of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We show that combining the information on various observables in the $\mu \to e\gamma$ and $\mu N\to e N$ search experiments with the information on the electric dipole moment of the electron can help us to solve the degeneracies in parameter space and to determine the values of certain phases.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figure

Rotor shaping method for torque ripple mitigation in variable flux reluctance machines

In this paper, four rotor shaping methods, i.e., eccentric circular, inverse cosine, inverse cosine with third harmonic, and multi-step shaping methods, are developed and compared for torque ripple mitigation in variable flux reluctance machines (VFRMs). By using a 6-stator-pole/7-rotor-pole (6/7) VFRM as an example, the design criterions and capabilities of these four methods are illustrated. It is found that all the rotor shaping methods are capable of torque ripple mitigation and applicable to all the VFRMs except those with 6 k /(6 i ± 2) k ( k , i = 1, 2, 3…) stator/rotor pole combinations. Moreover, the inverse cosine with third harmonic and multi-step shaping methods are found to have the best performance. They are able to reduce the torque ripple by 90% at a cost of only 3% torque density reduction. A 6/7 VFRM with both conventional and shaped rotors is prototyped and tested for verification

Investigation of optimal Split ratio for high-speed permanent-magnet brushless machines

The split ratio, i.e., the ratio of rotor outer diameter to stator outer diameter, is one of the most vital design parameters for permanent-magnet (PM) machines due to its significant impact on the machine torque or power density. However, it has been optimized analytically in the existing papers with due account only for the stator copper loss, which is reasonable for low-to-medium speed PM machines. For high-speed PM machines (HSPMMs), the negligence of stator iron loss and the mechanical stress on the rotor will lead to a deviation of optimal split ratio and actual torque capability. In this paper, the optimal split ratio of HSPMM is investigated analytically with the consideration of stator iron loss as well as the mechanical stress on the rotor. The influence of air-gap length and rotor pole pairs on the optimal split ratio is elaborated. Both the analytical and finite-element analysis reveal that the optimal split ratio for HSPMM will be significantly reduced, when stator iron loss and mechanical constraints are taken into account

CP Phases in Correlated Production and Decay of Neutralinos in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model

We investigate the associated production of neutralinos $e^+e^-\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1\tilde{\chi}^0_2$ accompanied by the neutralino leptonic decay $\tilde{\chi}^0_2\to\tilde{\chi}^0_1 \ell^+\ell^-$, taking into account initial beam polarization and production-decay spin correlations in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with general CP phases but without generational mixing in the slepton sector. The stringent constraints from the electron EDM on the CP phases are also included in the discussion. Initial beam polarizations lead to three CP--even distributions and one CP--odd distribution, which can be studied independently of the details of the neutralino decays. We find that the production cross section and the branching fractions of the leptonic neutralino decays are very sensitive to the CP phases. In addition, the production--decay spin correlations lead to several CP--even observables such as lepton invariant mass distribution, and lepton angular distribution, and one interesting T--odd (CP--odd) triple product of the initial electron momentum and two final lepton momenta, the size of which might be large enough to be measured at the high--luminosity future electron--positron collider or can play a complementary role in constraining the CP phases with the EDM constraints.Comment: Revtex, 37 pages, 12 eps figure