18,877 research outputs found
The Indirect Limit on the Standard Model Higgs Boson Mass from the Precision FERMILAB, LEP and SLD Data
Standard Model fits are performed on the most recent leptonic and b quark Z
decay data from LEP and SLD, and FERMILAB data on top quark production, to
obtain and . Poor fits are obtained, with confidence levels
2%. Removing the b quark data improves markedly the quality of the fits and
reduces the 95% CL upper limit on by 50 GeV.Comment: 6 pages 3 tables i figur
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
Strategy towards Mirror-fermion Signatures
The existence of mirror fermions interacting strongly under a new gauge group
and having masses near the electroweak scale has been recently proposed as a
viable alternative to the standard-model Higgs mechanism. The main purpose of
this work is to investigate which specific experimental signals are needed to
clearly differentiate the mirror-fermion model from other new-physics models.
In particular, the case is made for a future large lepton collider with c.o.m.
energies of roughly 4 TeV or higher.Comment: 30 Latex pages, 2 postscript figure
Laser-induced fluorescence studies of HfF+ produced by autoionization
Autoionization of Rydberg states of HfF, prepared using the optical-optical
double resonance (OODR) technique, holds promise to create HfF+ in a particular
Zeeman level of a rovibronic state for an electron electric dipole moment
(eEDM) search. We characterize a vibronic band of Rydberg HfF at 54 cm-1 above
the lowest ionization threshold and directly probe the state of the ions formed
from this vibronic band by performing laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) on the
ions. The Rydberg HfF molecules show a propensity to decay into only a few ion
rotational states of a given parity and are found to preserve their orientation
qualitatively upon autoionization. We show empirically that we can create 30%
of the total ion yield in a particular |J+,M+> state and present a simplified
model describing autoionization from a given Rydberg state that assumes no
angular dynamics.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Textural variations in Neogene pelagic carbonate ooze at DSDP Site 593, southern Tasman Sea, and their paleoceanographic implications
Changes in Neogene sediment texture in pelagic carbonate-rich oozes on the Challenger Plateau, southern Tasman Sea, are used to infer changes in depositional paleocurrent velocities. The most obvious record of textural change is in the mud:sand ratio. Increases in the sand content are inferred to indicate a general up-core trend towards increasing winnowing of sediments resulting from increasing flow velocity of Southern Component Intermediate Water (SCIW), the forerunner of Antarctic Intermediate Water. In particular, the intervals c. 19-14.5 Ma, c. 9.5-8 Ma, and after 5 Ma are suggested to be times of increased SCIW velocity and strong sediment winnowing. Within the mud fraction, the fine silt to coarse clay sizes from 15.6 to 2 µm make the greatest contribution to the sediments and are composed of nannofossil plates. During extreme winnowing events it is the fine silt to very coarse clay material (13-3 µm) within this range that is preferentially removed, suggesting the 10 µm cohesive silt boundary reported for siliciclastic sediments does not apply to calcitic skeletal grains. The winnowed sediment comprises coccolithophore placoliths and spheres, represented by a mode at 4-7 µm.
Further support for seafloor winnowing is gained from the presence in Hole 593 of a condensed sedimentary section from c. 18 to 14 Ma where the sand content increases to c. 20% of the bulk sample. Associated with the condensed section is a 6 m thick orange unit representing sediments subjected to particularly oxygen-rich, late early to early middle Miocene SCIW. Together these are inferred to indicate increased SCIW velocity resulting in winnowed sediment associated with faster arrival of oxygen-rich surface water subducted to form SCIW. Glacial development of Antarctica has been recorded from many deep-sea sites, with extreme glacials providing the mechanism to increase watermass flow. Miocene glacial zones Mi1b-Mi6 are identified in an associated oxygen isotope record from Hole 593, and correspond with times of particularly invigorated paleocirculation, bottom winnowing, and sediment textural changes
- …