A precise characterisation of the top quark electro-weak vertices at the ILC

Top quark production in the process $e^+e^- \to t\bar{t}$ at a future linear electron positron collider with polarised beams is a powerful tool to determine indirectly the scale of new physics. The presented study, based on a detailed simulation of the ILD detector concept, assumes a centre-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=500\,$GeV and a luminosity of $\mathcal{L}=500\,{\rm fb}^{-1}$ equally shared between the incoming beam polarisations of $\mathcal{P}_{e^-}, \mathcal{P}_{e^+} =\pm0.8,\mp0.3$. Events are selected in which the top pair decays semi-leptonically and the cross sections and the forward-backward asymmetries are determined. Based on these results, the vector, axial vector and tensorial $CP$ conserving couplings are extracted separately for the photon and the $Z^0$ component. With the expected precision, a large number of models in which the top quark acts as a messenger to new physics can be distinguished with many standard deviations. This will dramatically improve expectations from e.g. the LHC for electro-weak couplings of the top quark.Comment: This work is an update of arXiv:1307.8102, minor changes w.r.t. v1 (typos, wrong grammar, incomplete sentences etc.

Quantum authentication with unitary coding sets

A general class of authentication schemes for arbitrary quantum messages is proposed. The class is based on the use of sets of unitary quantum operations in both transmission and reception, and on appending a quantum tag to the quantum message used in transmission. The previous secret between partners required for any authentication is a classical key. We obtain the minimal requirements on the unitary operations that lead to a probability of failure of the scheme less than one. This failure may be caused by someone performing a unitary operation on the message in the channel between the communicating partners, or by a potential forger impersonating the transmitter.Comment: RevTeX4, 10 page

Kinematic studies of transport across an island wake, with application to the Canary islands

Transport from nutrient-rich coastal upwellings is a key factor influencing biological activity in surrounding waters and even in the open ocean. The rich upwelling in the North-Western African coast is known to interact strongly with the wake of the Canary islands, giving rise to filaments and other mesoscale structures of increased productivity. Motivated by this scenario, we introduce a simplified two-dimensional kinematic flow describing the wake of an island in a stream, and study the conditions under which there is a net transport of substances across the wake. For small vorticity values in the wake, it acts as a barrier, but there is a transition when increasing vorticity so that for values appropriate to the Canary area, it entrains fluid and enhances cross-wake transport.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figure

H^s versus C^0-weighted minimizers

We study a class of semi-linear problems involving the fractional Laplacian under subcritical or critical growth assumptions. We prove that, for the corresponding functional, local minimizers with respect to a C^0-topology weighted with a suitable power of the distance from the boundary are actually local minimizers in the natural H^s-topology.Comment: 15 page

Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy study of paramagnetic superconducting β’’-ET4[(H3O)Fe(C2O4)3]•C6H5Br crystals

Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) and microscopy (STM) were performed on the paramagnetic molecular superconductor beta''-ET4[(H3O)Fe(C2O4)(3)]C6H5Br. Under ambient pressure, this compound is located near the boundary separating superconducting and insulating phases of the phase diagram. In spite of a strongly reduced critical temperature T-c (T-c = 4.0 K at the onset, zero resistance at T-c = 0.5 K), the low temperature STS spectra taken in the superconducting regions show strong similarities with the higher T-c ET kappa-derivatives series. We exploited different models for the density of states (DOS), with conventional and unconventional order parameters to take into account the role played by possible magnetic and non-magnetic disorder in the superconducting order parameter. The values of the superconducting order parameter obtained by the fitting procedure are close to the ones obtained on more metallic and higher T-c organic crystals and far above the BCS values, suggesting an intrinsic role of disorder in the superconductivity of organic superconductors and a further confirmation of the non-conventional superconductivity in such compounds

Spin-transfer in an open ferromagnetic layer: from negative damping to effective temperature

Spin-transfer is a typical spintronics effect that allows a ferromagnetic layer to be switched by spin-injection. Most of the experimental results about spin transfer are described on the basis of the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of the magnetization, in which additional current-dependent damping factors are added, and can be positive or negative. The origin of the damping can be investigated further by performing stochastic experiments, like one shot relaxation experiments under spin-injection in the activation regime of the magnetization. In this regime, the N\'eel-Brown activation law is observed which leads to the introduction of a current-dependent effective temperature. In order to justify the introduction of these counterintuitive parameters (effective temperature and negative damping), a detailed thermokinetic analysis of the different sub-systems involved is performed. We propose a thermokinetic description of the different forms of energy exchanged between the electric and the ferromagnetic sub-systems at a Normal/Ferromagnetic junction. The corresponding Fokker Planck equations, including relaxations, are derived. The damping coefficients are studied in terms of Onsager-Casimir transport coefficients, with the help of the reciprocity relations. The effective temperature is deduced in the activation regime.Comment: 65 pages, 10 figure

How long before the end of inflation were observable perturbations produced?

We reconsider the issue of the number of e-foldings before the end of inflation at which observable perturbations were generated. We determine a plausible upper limit on that number for the standard cosmology which is around 60, with the expectation that the actual value will be up to 10 below this. We also note a special property of the $\lambda \phi^4$ model which reduces the uncertainties in that case and favours a higher value, giving a fairly definite prediction of 64 e-foldings for that model. We note an extreme (and highly implausible) situation where the number of e-foldings can be even higher, possibly up to 100, and discuss the shortcomings of quantifying inflation by e-foldings rather than by the change in $aH$. Finally, we discuss the impact of non-standard evolution between the end of inflation and the present, showing that again the expected number of e-foldings can be modified, and in some cases significantly increased.Comment: 7 pages RevTeX4 file with one figure incorporated. Minor updates to match version accepted by Physical Review

The temperature and chronology of heavy-element synthesis in low-mass stars

Roughly half of the heavy elements (atomic mass greater than that of iron) are believed to be synthesized in the late evolutionary stages of stars with masses between 0.8 and 8 solar masses. Deep inside the star, nuclei (mainly iron) capture neutrons and progressively build up (through the slow-neutron-capture process, or s-process) heavier elements that are subsequently brought to the stellar surface by convection. Two neutron sources, activated at distinct temperatures, have been proposed: 13C and 22Ne, each releasing one neutron per alpha-particle (4He) captured. To explain the measured stellar abundances, stellar evolution models invoking the 13C neutron source (which operates at temperatures of about one hundred million kelvin) are favoured. Isotopic ratios in primitive meteorites, however, reflecting nucleosynthesis in the previous generations of stars that contributed material to the Solar System, point to higher temperatures (more than three hundred million kelvin), requiring at least a late activation of 22Ne. Here we report a determination of the s-process temperature directly in evolved low-mass giant stars, using zirconium and niobium abundances, independently of stellar evolution models. The derived temperature supports 13C as the s-process neutron source. The radioactive pair 93Zr-93Nb used to estimate the s-process temperature also provides, together with the pair 99Tc-99Ru, chronometric information on the time elapsed since the start of the s-process, which we determine to be one million to three million years.Comment: 30 pages, 10 figure

The hard to soft spectral transition in LMXBs - affected by recondensation of gas into an inner disk

Soft and hard spectral states of X-ray transient sources reflect two modes of accretion, accretion via a geometrically thin, optically thick disk or an advection-dominated accretion flow (ADAF). The luminosity at transition between these two states seems to vary from source to source, or even for the same source during different outbursts, as observed for GX 339-4. We investigate how the existence of an inner weak disk in the hard state affects the transition luminosity. We evaluate the structure of the corona above an outer truncated disk and the resulting disk evaporation rate for different irradiation. In some cases, recent observations of X-ray transients indicate the presence of an inner cool disk during the hard state. Such a disk can remain during quiescence after the last outburst as long as the luminosity does not drop to very low values (10^-4 to 10^-3 of the Eddington luminosity). Consequently, as part of the matter accretes via the inner disk, the hard irradiation is reduced. The hard irradiation is further reduced, occulted and partly reflected by the inner disk. This leads to a hard-soft transition at a lower luminosity if an inner disk exists below the ADAF. This seems to be supported by observations for GX 339-4.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic