21,405 research outputs found
The bispectrum of redshifted 21-cm fluctuations from the dark ages
Brightness-temperature fluctuations in the redshifted 21-cm background from
the cosmic dark ages are generated by irregularities in the gas-density
distribution and can then be used to determine the statistical properties of
density fluctuations in the early Universe. We first derive the most general
expansion of brightness-temperature fluctuations up to second order in terms of
all the possible sources of spatial fluctuations. We then focus on the
three-point statistics and compute the angular bispectrum of
brightness-temperature fluctuations generated prior to the epoch of hydrogen
reionization. For simplicity, we neglect redshift-space distortions. We find
that low-frequency radio experiments with arcmin angular resolution can easily
detect non-Gaussianity produced by non-linear gravity with high signal-to-noise
ratio. The bispectrum thus provides a unique test of the gravitational
instability scenario for structure formation, and can be used to measure the
cosmological parameters. Detecting the signature of primordial non-Gaussianity
produced during or right after an inflationary period is more challenging but
still possible. An ideal experiment limited by cosmic variance only and with an
angular resolution of a few arcsec has the potential to detect primordial
non-Gaussianity with a non-linearity parameter of f_NL ~ 1. Additional sources
of error as weak lensing and an imperfect foreground subtraction could severely
hamper the detection of primordial non-Gaussianity which will benefit from the
use of optimal estimators combined with tomographic techniques.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, revised version accepted for publication in ApJ
(contains an improved discussion of gas temperature fluctuations
Jets associated with Z^0 boson production in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC
The heavy ion program at the LHC will present unprecedented opportunities to
probe hot QCD matter, that is, the quark gluon plasma (QGP). Among these
exciting new probes are high energy partons associated with the production of a
Z^0 boson, or Z^0 tagged jets. Once produced, Z^0 bosons are essentially
unaffected by the strongly interacting medium produced in heavy-ion collisions,
and therefore provide a powerful signal of the initial partonic energy and
subsequent medium induced partonic energy loss. When compared with theory,
experimental measurements of Z^0 tagged jets will help quantify the jet
quenching properties of the QGP and discriminate between different partonic
energy loss formalisms. In what follows, I discuss the advantages of tagged
jets over leading particles, and present preliminary results of the production
and suppression of Z^0 tagged jets in relativistic heavy-ion collisions at LHC
energies using the Guylassy-Levai-Vitev (GLV) partonic energy loss formalism.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the 2010 Winter Workshop on Nuclear
Dynamics, which was held in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, mon
Persistent Challenges of Quantum Chromodynamics
Unlike some models whose relevance to Nature is still a big question mark,
Quantum Chromodynamics will stay with us forever. Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD),
born in 1973, is a very rich theory supposed to describe the widest range of
strong interaction phenomena: from nuclear physics to Regge behavior at large
E, from color confinement to quark-gluon matter at high densities/temperatures
(neutron stars); the vast horizons of the hadronic world: chiral dynamics,
glueballs, exotics, light and heavy quarkonia and mixtures thereof, exclusive
and inclusive phenomena, interplay between strong forces and weak interactions,
etc. Efforts aimed at solving the underlying theory, QCD, continue. In a
remarkable entanglement, theoretical constructions of the 1970s and 1990s
combine with today's ideas based on holographic description and strong-weak
coupling duality, to provide new insights and a deeper understanding.Comment: Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Prize Lecture at the April Meeting of APS,
Dallas, TX, April 22-25, 2006; v.2: reference added; v.3: reference adde
Collective patterns arising out of spatio-temporal chaos
We present a simple mathematical model in which a time averaged pattern
emerges out of spatio-temporal chaos as a result of the collective action of
chaotic fluctuations. Our evolution equation possesses spatial translational
symmetry under a periodic boundary condition. Thus the spatial inhomogeneity of
the statistical state arises through a spontaneous symmetry breaking. The
transition from a state of homogeneous spatio-temporal chaos to one exhibiting
spatial order is explained by introducing a collective viscosity which relates
the averaged pattern with a correlation of the fluctuations.Comment: 11 pages (Revtex) + 5 figures (postscript
Scalability tests of R-GMA-based grid job monitoring system for CMS Monte Carlo data production
Copyright @ 2004 IEEEHigh-energy physics experiments, such as the compact muon solenoid (CMS) at the large hadron collider (LHC), have large-scale data processing computing requirements. The grid has been chosen as the solution. One important challenge when using the grid for large-scale data processing is the ability to monitor the large numbers of jobs that are being executed simultaneously at multiple remote sites. The relational grid monitoring architecture (R-GMA) is a monitoring and information management service for distributed resources based on the GMA of the Global Grid Forum. We report on the first measurements of R-GMA as part of a monitoring architecture to be used for batch submission of multiple Monte Carlo simulation jobs running on a CMS-specific LHC computing grid test bed. Monitoring information was transferred in real time from remote execution nodes back to the submitting host and stored in a database. In scalability tests, the job submission rates supported by successive releases of R-GMA improved significantly, approaching that expected in full-scale production
Ultraviolet detection from energetically deposited titania films
Thin ïŹlms of unintentionally doped n-type titania have been energetically deposited from a ïŹltered cathodic vacuum arc. All ïŹlms were dense, smooth, and transparent with crystallinity depending on the deposition/annealing temperature. At a growth temperature of 600 C, the preferred phase could be changed from rutile to anatase by increasing the oxygen process pressure thereby reducing dynamic annealing. Pt/TiOx/Pt ultraviolet detectors exhibiting rectifying current-voltage characteristics and ultraviolet-visible rejection ratios exceeding 104 :1 were formed on selected ïŹlms
Final state interactions and hadron quenching in cold nuclear matter
I examine the role of final state interactions in cold nuclear matter in
modifying hadron production on nuclear targets with leptonic or hadronic beams.
I demonstrate the extent to which available experimental data in
electron-nucleus collisions can give direct information on final state effects
in hadron-nucleus and nucleus-nucleus collisions. For hadron-nucleus
collisions, a theoretical estimate based on a parton energy loss model tested
in lepton-nucleus collisions shows a large effect on mid-rapidity hadrons at
fixed target experiments. At RHIC energy, the effect is large for negative
rapidity hadrons, but mild at midrapidity. This final state cold hadron
quenching needs to be taken into account in jet tomographic analysis of the
medium created in nucleus-nucleus collisions.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure
The Effects of Dark Matter Decay and Annihilation on the High-Redshift 21 cm Background
The radiation background produced by the 21 cm spin-flip transition of
neutral hydrogen at high redshifts can be a pristine probe of fundamental
physics and cosmology. At z~30-300, the intergalactic medium (IGM) is visible
in 21 cm absorption against the cosmic microwave background (CMB), with a
strength that depends on the thermal (and ionization) history of the IGM. Here
we examine the constraints this background can place on dark matter decay and
annihilation, which could heat and ionize the IGM through the production of
high-energy particles. Using a simple model for dark matter decay, we show
that, if the decay energy is immediately injected into the IGM, the 21 cm
background can detect energy injection rates >10^{-24} eV cm^{-3} sec^{-1}. If
all the dark matter is subject to decay, this allows us to constrain dark
matter lifetimes <10^{27} sec. Such energy injection rates are much smaller
than those typically probed by the CMB power spectra. The expected brightness
temperature fluctuations at z~50 are a fraction of a mK and can vary from the
standard calculation by up to an order of magnitude, although the difference
can be significantly smaller if some of the decay products free stream to lower
redshifts. For self-annihilating dark matter, the fluctuation amplitude can
differ by a factor <2 from the standard calculation at z~50. Note also that, in
contrast to the CMB, the 21 cm probe is sensitive to both the ionization
fraction and the IGM temperature, in principle allowing better constraints on
the decay process and heating history. We also show that strong IGM heating and
ionization can lead to an enhanced H_2 abundance, which may affect the earliest
generations of stars and galaxies.Comment: submitted to Phys Rev D, 14 pages, 8 figure
Fitting Precision Electroweak Data with Exotic Heavy Quarks
The 1999 precision electroweak data from LEP and SLC persist in showing some
slight discrepancies from the assumed standard model, mostly regarding and
quarks. We show how their mixing with exotic heavy quarks could result in a
more consistent fit of all the data, including two unconventional
interpretations of the top quark.Comment: 7 pages, no figure, 2 typos corrected, 1 reference update
Equilibration in Quark Gluon Plasma
The hydrodynamic expansion rate of quark gluon plasma (QGP) is evaluated and
compared with the scattering rate of quarks and gluons within the system.
Partonic scattering rates evaluated within the ambit of perturbative Quantum
Choromodynamics (pQCD) are found to be smaller than the expansion rate
evaluated with ideal equation of state (EoS) for the QGP. This indicate that
during the space-time evolution the system remains out of equilibrium.
Enhancement of pQCD cross sections and a more realistic EoS keep the partons
closer to the equilibrium.Comment: To be published in the Quark Matter 2008 poster proceeding
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