Chargino Production and Decay in Photon-Photon-Collisions

We discuss the pair production of charginos in collisions of polarized photons $\gamma\gamma \to \tilde{\chi}_i^+ \tilde{\chi}_i^-$, ($i=1,2$) and the subsequent leptonic decay of the lighter chargino $\tilde{\chi}_1^+ \to \tilde{\chi}_1^0 e^+ \nu_e$ including the complete spin correlations. Analytical formulae are given for the polarization and the spin-spin correlations of the charginos. Since the production is a pure QED process the decay dynamics can be studied separately. For high energy photons from Compton backscattering of polarized laser pulses off polarized electron beams numerical results are presented for the cross section, the angular distribution and the forward-backward asymmetry of the decay positron. Finally we study the dependence on the gaugino mass parameter $M_1$ and on the sneutrino mass for a gaugino-like MSSM scenario.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, version to be published in Eur. Phys. J.

Determination of the Gaugino Mass Parameter M_1 in Different Linear Collider Modes

We study the different linear collider modes with regard to the determination of the gaugino mass parameter M_1. In a specific mSUGRA inspired scenario we compare four processes with polarized beams: (a) e+ e- --> neutralino_1 neutralino_2 --> neutralino_1 neutralino_1 e+ e-, (b) e- gamma --> neutralino_1 selectron_{L/R} --> neutralino_1 neutralino_1 e-, (c) gamma gamma --> chargino_1^+ chargino_1^- --> neutralino_1 neutralino_1 e+ e- neutrino_e anti-neutrino_e, (d) e- e- --> selectron_{L/R} selectron_{L/R} --> neutralino_1 neutralino_1 e- e-.Comment: 5 pages, 8 figures, LaTex, Talk given at the 5th International Linear Collider Workshop (LCWS 2000), Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois, Oct. 24-28, 200

Selectron Pair Production at e-e- and e+e- Colliders with Polarized Beams

We investigate selectron pair production and decay in e-e- scattering and e+e- annihilation with polarized beams taking into account neutralino mixing as well as ISR and beamstrahlung corrections. One of the main advantages of having both modes at disposal is their complementarity concerning the threshold behaviour of selectron pair production. In e-e- the cross sections at threshold for seleectron_R selectron_R and selectron_L selectron_L rise proportional to the momentum of the selectron and in e+ e- that for selectron_R selectron_L. Measurements at threshold with polarized beams can be used to determine the selectron masses precisely. Moreover we discuss how polarized electron and positron beams can be used to establish directly the weak quantum numbers of the selectrons. We also use selectron pair production to determine the gaugino mass parameter M_1. This is of particular interest for scenarios with non-universal gaugino masses at a high scale resulting in |M_1| << |M_2| at the electroweak scale. Moreover, we consider also the case of a non-vanishing selectron mixing and demonstrate that it leads to a significant change in the phenomenology of selectrons.Comment: LaTex, 23 pages, 14 figures, v2, typos corrected, version to appear in Eur.Phys.J.

Survey of information on turbine bucket erosion

Turbine bucket erosion in steam, mercury, and potassium vapor turbines for use in space power plant

Interference of Higgs boson resonances in mu^+ mu^- -> neutralino_i neutralino_j with longitudinal beam polarization

We study the interference of resonant Higgs boson exchange in neutralino production in \mu^+ \mu^- annihilation with longitudinally polarized beams. We use the energy distribution of the decay lepton in the process \neutralino_j \to \ell^\pm \slepton^\mp to determine the polarization of the neutralinos. In the CP conserving Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model a non-vanishing asymmetry in the lepton energy spectrum is caused by the interference of Higgs boson exchange channels with different CP eigenvalues. The contribution of this interference is large if the heavy neutral bosons H and A are nearly degenerate. We show that the asymmetry can be used to determine the couplings of the neutral Higgs bosons to the neutralinos. In particular, the asymmetry allows to determine the relative phase of the couplings. We find large asymmetries and cross sections for a set of reference scenarios with nearly degenerate neutral Higgs bosons.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, minor typos corrected, to appear in Eur. Phys. J.

Physics Opportunities at mu+mu- Higgs Factories

We update theoretical studies of the physics opportunities presented by mu+mu- Higgs factories. Interesting measurements of the Standard Model Higgs decays into {\bar b}b, tau+tau- and WW* may be possible if the Higgs mass is less than about 160 GeV, as preferred by the precision electroweak data, the mass range being extended by varying appropriately the beam energy resolution. A suitable value of the beam energy resolution would also enable the uncertainty in the b-quark mass to be minimized, facilitating measurements of parameters in the MSSM at such a first mu+mu- Higgs factory. These measurements would be sensitive to radiative corrections to the Higgs-fermion-antifermion decay vertices, which may violate CP. Radiative corrections in the MSSM may also induce CP violation in Higgs-mass mixing, which can be probed via various asymmetries measurable using polarized mu+mu- beams. In addition, Higgs-chargino couplings may be probed at a second mu+mu- Higgs factory.Comment: Report of the Higgs factory working group of the ECFA-CERN study on Neutrino Factory & Muon Storage Rings at CERN. 28 p

Advanced photovoltaic power systems using tandem GaAs/GaSb concentrator modules

In 1989, Boeing announced the fabrication of a tandem gallium concentrator solar cell with an energy conversion efficiency of 30 percent. This research breakthrough has now led to panels which are significantly smaller, lighter, more radiation resistant, and potentially less expensive than the traditional silicon flat plate electric power supply. The new Boeing tandem concentrator (BTC) module uses an array of lightweight silicone Fresnel lenses mounted on the front side of a light weight aluminum honeycomb structure to focus sunlight onto small area solar cells mounted on a thin back plane. This module design is shown schematically. The tandem solar cell in this new module consists of a gallium arsenide light sensitive cell with a 24 percent energy conversion efficiency stacked on top of a gallium antimonide infrared sensitive cell with a conversion efficiency of 6 percent. This gives a total efficiency 30 percent for the cell-stack. The lens optical efficiency is typically 85 percent. Discounting for efficiency losses associated with lens packing, cell wiring, and cell operating temperature still allows for a module efficiency of 22 percent which leads to a module power density of 300 Watts/sq. m. This performance provides more than twice the power density available from a single crystal silicon flat plate module and at least four times the power density available from amorphous silicon modules. The fact that the lenses are only 0.010 ft. thick and the aluminum foil back plane is only 0.003 ft. thick leads to a very lightweight module. Although the cells are an easy to handle thickness of 0.020 ft., the fact that they are small, occupying one-twenty-fifth of the module area, means that they add little to the module weight. After summing all the module weights and given the high module power, we find that we are able to fabricate BTC modules with specific power of 100 watts/kg