196 research outputs found
An Updated Description of Heavy-Hadron Interactions in Geant-4
Exotic stable massive particles (SMP) are proposed in a number of scenarios
of physics beyond the Standard Model. It is important that LHC experiments are
able both to detect and extract the quantum numbers of any SMP with masses
around the TeV scale. To do this, an understanding of the interactions of SMPs
in matter is required. In this paper a Regge-based model of R-hadron scattering
is extended and implemented in Geant-4. In addition, the implications of
-hadron scattering for collider searches are discussed
Sun exposure behaviour, seasonal vitamin D deficiency, and relationship to bone health in adolescents
YesContext: Vitamin D is essential for bone health in adolescence, where there is rapid bone mineral
content accrual. As cutaneous sun-exposure provides vitamin D, there is no recommended oral intake
for UK adolescents.
Objective: Assess seasonal vitamin D status and its contributors in white Caucasian adolescents, and
examine bone health in those found deficient.
Design: Prospective cohort study.
Setting: Six schools in Greater Manchester, UK.
Participants: 131 adolescents, 12–15 years.
Intervention(s): Seasonal assessment of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD), personal sunexposure
and dietary vitamin D. Adolescents deficient (25OHD <10 ng/mL/25 nmol/L) in ≥one
season underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (lumbar spine, femoral neck), with bone mineral
apparent density (BMAD) correction for size, and peripheral quantitative computed tomography
(distal radius) for volumetric (v)BMD.
Main Outcome Measure: Serum 25OHD; BMD.
Results: Mean 25OHD was highest in September: 24.1 (SD 6.9) ng/mL and lowest in January: 15.5
(5.9) ng/mL. Over the year, 16% were deficient in ≥one season and 79% insufficient (25OHD <20
ng/mL/50 nmol/L) including 28% in September. Dietary vitamin D was low year-round while
personal sun-exposure was seasonal and predominantly across the school week. Holidays accounted
for 17% variation in peak 25OHD (p<0.001). Nineteen adolescents underwent bone assessment,
which showed low femoral neck BMAD versus matched reference data (p=0.0002), 3 with Z≤ -2.0
distal radius trabecular vBMD.
Conclusions: Sun-exposure levels failed to provide adequate vitamin D, ~one-quarter adolescents
insufficient even at summer-peak. Seasonal vitamin D deficiency was prevalent and those affected
had low BMD. Recommendations on vitamin D acquisition are indicated in this age-group.The Bupa Foundation (Grant number TBF-M10-017)
Supersymmetry Without Prejudice at the LHC
The discovery and exploration of Supersymmetry in a model-independent fashion
will be a daunting task due to the large number of soft-breaking parameters in
the MSSM. In this paper, we explore the capability of the ATLAS detector at the
LHC ( TeV, 1 fb) to find SUSY within the 19-dimensional
pMSSM subspace of the MSSM using their standard transverse missing energy and
long-lived particle searches that were essentially designed for mSUGRA. To this
end, we employ a set of k previously generated model points in the
19-dimensional parameter space that satisfy all of the existing experimental
and theoretical constraints. Employing ATLAS-generated SM backgrounds and
following their approach in each of 11 missing energy analyses as closely as
possible, we explore all of these k model points for a possible SUSY
signal. To test our analysis procedure, we first verify that we faithfully
reproduce the published ATLAS results for the signal distributions for their
benchmark mSUGRA model points. We then show that, requiring all sparticle
masses to lie below 1(3) TeV, almost all(two-thirds) of the pMSSM model points
are discovered with a significance in at least one of these 11 analyses
assuming a 50\% systematic error on the SM background. If this systematic error
can be reduced to only 20\% then this parameter space coverage is increased.
These results are indicative that the ATLAS SUSY search strategy is robust
under a broad class of Supersymmetric models. We then explore in detail the
properties of the kinematically accessible model points which remain
unobservable by these search analyses in order to ascertain problematic cases
which may arise in general SUSY searches.Comment: 69 pages, 40 figures, Discussion adde
Constraining models of the large scale Galactic magnetic field with WMAP5 polarization data and extragalactic Rotation Measure sources
We introduce a method to quantify the quality-of-fit between data and
observables depending on the large scale Galactic magnetic field. We combine
WMAP5 polarized synchrotron data and Rotation Measures of extragalactic sources
in a joint analysis to obtain best fit parameters and confidence levels for GMF
models common in the literature. None of the existing models provide a good fit
in both the disk and halo regions, and in many instances best-fit parameters
are quite different than the original values. We note that probing a very large
parameter space is necessary to avoid false likelihood maxima. The thermal and
relativistic electron densities are critical for determining the GMF from the
observables but they are not well constrained. We show that some
characteristics of the electron densities can already be constrained using our
method and with future data it may be possible to carry out a self-consistent
analysis in which models of the GMF and electron densities are simultaneously
optimized.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures. Accepted for publication in JCAP; arXiv version
updated to include minor revision
Nearby quasar remnants and ultra-high energy cosmic rays
As recently suggested, nearby quasar remnants are plausible sites of
black-hole based compact dynamos that could be capable of accelerating
ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs). In such a model, UHECRs would originate
at the nuclei of nearby dead quasars, those in which the putative underlying
supermassive black holes are suitably spun-up. Based on galactic optical
luminosity, morphological type, and redshift, we have compiled a small sample
of nearby objects selected to be highly luminous, bulge-dominated galaxies,
likely quasar remnants. The sky coordinates of these galaxies were then
correlated with the arrival directions of cosmic rays detected at energies EeV. An apparently significant correlation appears in our data. This
correlation appears at closer angular scales than those expected when taking
into account the deflection caused by typically assumed IGM or galactic
magnetic fields over a charged particle trajectory. Possible scenarios
producing this effect are discussed, as is the astrophysics of the quasar
remnant candidates. We suggest that quasar remnants be also taken into account
in the forthcoming detailed search for correlations using data from the Auger
Observatory.Comment: 2 figures, 4 tables, 11 pages. Final version to appear in Physical
Review
Anisotropy at the end of the cosmic ray spectrum?
The starburst galaxies M82 and NGC253 have been proposed as the primary
sources of cosmic rays with energies above eV. For energies \agt
10^{20.3} eV the model predicts strong anisotropies. We calculate the
probabilities that the latter can be due to chance occurrence. For the highest
energy cosmic ray events in this energy region, we find that the observed
directionality has less than 1% probability of occurring due to random
fluctuations. Moreover, during the first 5 years of operation at Auger, the
observation of even half the predicted anisotropy has a probability of less
than to occur by chance fluctuation. Thus, this model can be subject
to test at very small cost to the Auger priors budget and, whatever the outcome
of that test, valuable information on the Galactic magnetic field will be
obtained.Comment: Final version to be published in Physical Review
RQM description of the charge form factor of the pion and its asymptotic behavior
The pion charge and scalar form factors, and , are first
calculated in different forms of relativistic quantum mechanics. This is done
using the solution of a mass operator that contains both confinement and
one-gluon-exchange interactions. Results of calculations, based on a one-body
current, are compared to experiment for the first one. As it could be expected,
those point-form, and instant and front-form ones in a parallel momentum
configuration fail to reproduce experiment. The other results corresponding to
a perpendicular momentum configuration (instant form in the Breit frame and
front form with ) do much better. The comparison of charge and scalar
form factors shows that the spin-1/2 nature of the constituents plays an
important role. Taking into account that only the last set of results
represents a reasonable basis for improving the description of the charge form
factor, this one is then discussed with regard to the asymptotic QCD-power-law
behavior . The contribution of two-body currents in achieving the right
power law is considered while the scalar form factor, , is shown to
have the right power-law behavior in any case. The low- behavior of the
charge form factor and the pion-decay constant are also discussed.}Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure
Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Fluxes and Their Constraints
Applying our recently developed propagation code we review extragalactic
neutrino fluxes above 10^{14} eV in various scenarios and how they are
constrained by current data. We specifically identify scenarios in which the
cosmogenic neutrino flux, produced by pion production of ultra high energy
cosmic rays outside their sources, is considerably higher than the
"Waxman-Bahcall bound". This is easy to achieve for sources with hard injection
spectra and luminosities that were higher in the past. Such fluxes would
significantly increase the chances to detect ultra-high energy neutrinos with
experiments currently under construction or in the proposal stage.Comment: 11 pages, 15 figures, version published in Phys.Rev.
A-dependence of nuclear transparency in quasielastic A(e,e'p) at high Q^2
The A-dependence of the quasielastic A(e,e'p) reaction has been studied at
SLAC with H-2, C, Fe, and Au nuclei at momentum transfers Q^2 = 1, 3, 5, and
6.8 (GeV/c)^2. We extract the nuclear transparency T(A,Q^2), a measure of the
average probability that the struck proton escapes from the nucleus A without
interaction. Several calculations predict a significant increase in T with
momentum transfer, a phenomenon known as Color Transparency. No significant
rise within errors is seen for any of the nuclei studied.Comment: 5 pages incl. 2 figures, Caltech preprint OAP-73
Fractional Sunburn Threshold UVR Doses Generate Equivalent Vitamin D and DNA Damage in Skin Types I-VI but with Epidermal DNA Damage Gradient Correlated to Skin Darkness
Dermatology-oncolog
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