A Comprehensive Analysis of Electric Dipole Moment Constraints on CP-violating Phases in the MSSM

We analyze the constraints placed on individual, flavor diagonal CP-violating phases in the minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (MSSM) by current experimental bounds on the electric dipole moments (EDMs) of the neutron, Thallium, and Mercury atoms. We identify the four CP-violating phases that are individually highly constrained by current EDM bounds, and we explore how these phases and correlations among them are constrained by current EDM limits. We also analyze the prospective implications of the next generation of EDM experiments. We point out that all other CP-violating phases in the MSSM are not nearly as tightly constrained by limits on the size of EDMs. We emphasize that a rich set of phenomenological consequences is potentially associated with these generically large EDM-allowed phases, ranging from B physics, electroweak baryogenesis, and signals of CP-violation at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and at future linear colliders. Our numerical study takes into account the complete set of contributions from one- and two-loop EDMs of the electron and quarks, one- and two-loop Chromo-EDMs of quarks, the Weinberg 3-gluon operator, and dominant 4-fermion CP-odd operator contributions, including contributions which are both included and not included yet in the CPsuperH2.0 package. We also introduce an open-source numerical package, 2LEDM, which provides the complete set of two-loop electroweak diagrams contributing to the electric dipole moments of leptons and quarks.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures; v2: references added, minor change

Bafilomycin A1 activates respiration of neuronal cells via uncoupling associated with flickering depolarization of mitochondria

Bafilomycin A1 (Baf) induces an elevation of cytosolic Ca2+ and acidification in neuronal cells via inhibition of the V-ATPase. Also, Baf uncouples mitochondria in differentiated PC12 (dPC12), dSH-SY5Y cells and cerebellar granule neurons, and markedly elevates their respiration. This respiratory response in dPC12 is accompanied by morphological changes in the mitochondria and decreases the mitochondrial pH, Ca2+ and ΔΨm. The response to Baf is regulated by cytosolic Ca2+ fluxes from the endoplasmic reticulum. Inhibition of permeability transition pore opening increases the depolarizing effect of Baf on the ΔΨm. Baf induces stochastic flickering of the ΔΨm with a period of 20 ± 10 s. Under conditions of suppressed ATP production by glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation impaired by Baf does not provide cells with sufficient ATP levels. Cells treated with Baf become more susceptible to excitation with KCl. Such mitochondrial uncoupling may play a role in a number of (patho)physiological conditions induced by Baf

Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology

Fundamental constants are a cornerstone of our physical laws. Any constant varying in space and/or time would reflect the existence of an almost massless field that couples to matter. This will induce a violation of the universality of free fall. It is thus of utmost importance for our understanding of gravity and of the domain of validity of general relativity to test for their constancy. We thus detail the relations between the constants, the tests of the local position invariance and of the universality of free fall. We then review the main experimental and observational constraints that have been obtained from atomic clocks, the Oklo phenomenon, Solar system observations, meteorites dating, quasar absorption spectra, stellar physics, pulsar timing, the cosmic microwave background and big bang nucleosynthesis. At each step we describe the basics of each system, its dependence with respect to the constants, the known systematic effects and the most recent constraints that have been obtained. We then describe the main theoretical frameworks in which the low-energy constants may actually be varying and we focus on the unification mechanisms and the relations between the variation of different constants. To finish, we discuss the more speculative possibility of understanding their numerical values and the apparent fine-tuning that they confront us with.Comment: 145 pages, 10 figures, Review for Living Reviews in Relativit

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO's second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h095%=3.47×10-25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering. © 2019 American Physical Society

Search for gravitational waves from Scorpius X-1 in the second Advanced LIGO observing run with an improved hidden Markov model

We present results from a semicoherent search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass x-ray binary Scorpius X-1, using a hidden Markov model (HMM) to track spin wandering. This search improves on previous HMM-based searches of LIGO data by using an improved frequency domain matched filter, the J-statistic, and by analyzing data from Advanced LIGO’s second observing run. In the frequency range searched, from 60 to 650 Hz, we find no evidence of gravitational radiation. At 194.6 Hz, the most sensitive search frequency, we report an upper limit on gravitational wave strain (at 95% confidence) of h95%0=3.47×10−25 when marginalizing over source inclination angle. This is the most sensitive search for Scorpius X-1, to date, that is specifically designed to be robust in the presence of spin wandering

First Measurement of the Hubble Constant from a Dark Standard Siren using the Dark Energy Survey Galaxies and the LIGO/Virgo Binary-Black-hole Merger GW170814

We present a multi-messenger measurement of the Hubble constant H 0 using the binary–black-hole merger GW170814 as a standard siren, combined with a photometric redshift catalog from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). The luminosity distance is obtained from the gravitational wave signal detected by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) on 2017 August 14, and the redshift information is provided by the DES Year 3 data. Black hole mergers such as GW170814 are expected to lack bright electromagnetic emission to uniquely identify their host galaxies and build an object-by-object Hubble diagram. However, they are suitable for a statistical measurement, provided that a galaxy catalog of adequate depth and redshift completion is available. Here we present the first Hubble parameter measurement using a black hole merger. Our analysis results in ${H}_{0}={75}_{-32}^{+40}\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$, which is consistent with both SN Ia and cosmic microwave background measurements of the Hubble constant. The quoted 68% credible region comprises 60% of the uniform prior range [20, 140] km s−1 Mpc−1, and it depends on the assumed prior range. If we take a broader prior of [10, 220] km s−1 Mpc−1, we find {H}_{0 {78}_{-24}^{+96}\,\mathrm{km}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}\,{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1} (57% of the prior range). Although a weak constraint on the Hubble constant from a single event is expected using the dark siren method, a multifold increase in the LVC event rate is anticipated in the coming years and combinations of many sirens will lead to improved constraints on H 0

Search for gravitational waves associated with gamma-ray bursts detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO–Virgo run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC–2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: a generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate