68 research outputs found
pairs from a nuclear transition signaling an elusive light neutral boson
Electron-positron pairs have been observed in the 10.95-MeV decay
in O. The branching ratio of the ee pairs compared to the
3.84-MeV decay of the level is deduced to be
. This magnetic monopole (M0) transition cannot proceed by
-ray decay and is, to first order, forbidden for internal pair
creation. However, the transition may also proceed by the emission of a light
neutral or boson. Indeed, we do observe a sharp peak in the
angular correlation with all the characteristics belonging to the
intermediate emission of such a boson with an invariant mass of 8.5(5)
MeV/c. It may play a role in the current quest for light dark matter in the
universe.Comment: 6 page
Observation of Anomalous Internal Pair Creation in Be: A Possible Signature of a Light, Neutral Boson
Electron-positron angular correlations were measured for the isovector
magnetic dipole 17.6 MeV state (, ) ground state
(, ) and the isoscalar magnetic dipole 18.15 MeV (,
) state ground state transitions in Be. Significant
deviation from the internal pair creation was observed at large angles in the
angular correlation for the isoscalar transition with a confidence level of . This observation might indicate that, in an intermediate step, a
neutral isoscalar particle with a mass of 16.70 (stat)
(sys) MeV and was created.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Proton decay from the isoscalar giant dipole resonance in Ni
Proton decay from the 3 isoscalar giant dipole resonance (ISGDR)
in Ni has been measured using the () reaction at a
bombarding energy of 386 MeV to investigate its decay properties. We have
extracted the ISGDR strength under the coincidence condition between
inelastically scattered particles at forward angles and decay protons
emitted at backward angles. Branching ratios for proton decay to low-lying
states of Co have been determined, and the results compared to
predictions of recent continuum-RPA calculations. The final-state spectra of
protons decaying to the low-lying states in Co were analyzed for a more
detailed understanding of the structure of the ISGDR. It is found that there
are differences in the structure of the ISGDR as a function of excitation
energy.Comment: Minor changes after review. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. C.
19 pages; 7 figure
Observation of anomalous internal pair creation in 8Be: A possible indication of a light, neutral boson
Reading faces: differential lateral gaze bias in processing canine and human facial expressions in dogs and 4-year-old children
Sensitivity to the emotions of others provides clear biological advantages. However, in the case of heterospecific relationships, such as that existing between dogs and humans, there are additional challenges since some elements of the expression of emotions are species-specific. Given that faces provide important visual cues for communicating emotional state in both humans and dogs, and that processing of emotions is subject to brain lateralisation, we investigated lateral gaze bias in adult dogs when presented with pictures of expressive human and dog faces. Our analysis revealed clear differences in laterality of eye movements in dogs towards conspecific faces according to the emotional valence of the expressions. Differences were also found towards human faces, but to a lesser extent. For comparative purpose, a similar experiment was also run with 4-year-old children and it was observed that they showed differential processing of facial expressions compared to dogs, suggesting a species-dependent engagement of the right or left hemisphere in processing emotions
New results on the 8Be anomaly
Recently, we observed anomalous internal pair creation for the M1 transition depopulating the 18.15 MeV isoscalar 1 state in Be. We observed a significant (σ = 7.37) peak-like deviation from the predicted angular correlation of the e+ e pairs at θ = 140°. To the best of our knowledge no nuclear physics related description of such deviation can be made. However, the deviation can be described by assuming the creation and subsequent decay of a boson with mass of ≈17 MeV. In order to clarify the interpretation, we re-investigated the Be anomaly with an improved, and independent setup. We have confirmed the signal of the assumed X(17) particle and constrained its mass (mc = 17.01(16) MeV) and branching ratio compared to the γ-decay (B = 6(1) × 10)
Dog breed differences in visual communication with humans
Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have developed a close relationship with humans through
the process of domestication. In human-dog interactions, eye contact is a key element of
relationship initiation and maintenance. Previous studies have suggested that canine ability
to produce human-directed communicative signals is influenced by domestication history,
from wolves to dogs, as well as by recent breed selection for particular working purposes.
To test the genetic basis for such abilities in purebred dogs, we examined gazing behavior
towards humans using two types of behavioral experiments: the `visual contact task' and
the `unsolvable task'. A total of 125 dogs participated in the study. Based on the genetic
relatedness among breeds subjects were classified into five breed groups: Ancient, Herding,
Hunting, Retriever-Mastiff and Working). We found that it took longer time for Ancient
breeds to make an eye-contact with humans, and that they gazed at humans for shorter
periods of time than any other breed group in the unsolvable situation. Our findings suggest
that spontaneous gaze behavior towards humans is associated with genetic similarity to
wolves rather than with recent selective pressure to create particular working breeds
Dogs (Canis familiaris), but Not Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), Understand Imperative Pointing
Chimpanzees routinely follow the gaze of humans to outside targets. However, in most studies using object choice they fail to use communicative gestures (e.g. pointing) to find hidden food. Chimpanzees' failure to do this may be due to several difficulties with this paradigm. They may, for example, misinterpret the gesture as referring to the opaque cup instead of the hidden food. Or perhaps they do not understand informative communicative intentions. In contrast, dogs seem to be skilful in using human communicative cues in the context of finding food, but as of yet there is not much data showing whether they also use pointing in the context of finding non-food objects. Here we directly compare chimpanzees' (N = 20) and dogs' (N = 32) skills in using a communicative gesture directed at a visible object out of reach of the human but within reach of the subject. Pairs of objects were placed in view of and behind the subjects. The task was to retrieve the object the experimenter wanted. To indicate which one she desired, the experimenter pointed imperatively to it and directly rewarded the subject for handing over the correct one. While dogs performed well on this task, chimpanzees failed to identify the referent. Implications for great apes' and dogs' understanding of human communicative intentions are discussed
Observation of Anomalous Internal Pair Creation in 8Be : A Possible Indication of a Light, Neutral Boson
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