5,659 research outputs found
Nambu-Goldstone Modes in Gravitational Theories with Spontaneous Lorentz Breaking
Spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry has been suggested as a possible
mechanism that might occur in the context of a fundamental Planck-scale theory,
such as string theory or a quantum theory of gravity. However, if Lorentz
symmetry is spontaneously broken, two sets of questions immediately arise: what
is the fate of the Nambu-Goldstone modes, and can a Higgs mechanism occur? A
brief summary of some recent work looking at these questions is presented here.Comment: 6 pages. Presented at the meeting "From Quantum to Cosmos,"
Washington, D.C., May 2006; published in Int. J. Mod. Phys. D16:2357-2363,
200
Proposed New Antiproton Experiments at Fermilab
Fermilab operates the world's most intense source of antiprotons. Recently
various experiments have been proposed that can use those antiprotons either
parasitically during Tevatron Collider running or after the Tevatron Collider
finishes in about 2010. We discuss the physics goals and prospects of the
proposed experiments.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in Proceedings of IXth International
Conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics (LEAP'08), Vienna, Austria,
September 16 to 19, 200
Technically natural dark energy from Lorentz breaking
We construct a model of dark energy with a technically natural small
contribution to cosmic acceleration, i.e. this contribution does not receive
corrections from other scales in the theory. The proposed acceleration
mechanism appears generically in the low-energy limit of gravity theories with
violation of Lorentz invariance that contain a derivatively coupled scalar
field Theta. The latter may be the Goldstone field of a broken global symmetry.
The model, that we call Theta-CDM, is a valid effective field theory up to a
high cutoff just a few orders of magnitude below the Planck scale. Furthermore,
it can be ultraviolet-completed in the context of Horava gravity. We discuss
the observational predictions of the model. Even in the absence of a
cosmological constant term, the expansion history of the Universe is
essentially indistinguishable from that of Lambda-CDM. The difference between
the two theories appears at the level of cosmological perturbations. We find
that in Theta-CDM the matter power spectrum is enhanced at subhorizon scales
compared to Lambda-CDM. This property can be used to discriminate the model
from Lambda-CDM with current cosmological data.Comment: A few equations in the Appendix correcte
First-order thermal correction to the quadratic response tensor and rate for second harmonic plasma emission
Three-wave interactions in plasmas are described, in the framework of kinetic
theory, by the quadratic response tensor (QRT). The cold-plasma QRT is a common
approximation for interactions between three fast waves. Here, the first-order
thermal correction (FOTC) to the cold-plasma QRT is derived for interactions
between three fast waves in a warm unmagnetized collisionless plasma, whose
particles have an arbitrary isotropic distribution function. The FOTC to the
cold-plasma QRT is shown to depend on the second moment of the distribution
function, the phase speeds of the waves, and the interaction geometry. Previous
calculations of the rate for second harmonic plasma emission (via Langmuir-wave
coalescence) assume the cold-plasma QRT. The FOTC to the cold-plasma QRT is
used here to calculate the FOTC to the second harmonic emission rate, and its
importance is assessed in various physical situations. The FOTC significantly
increases the rate when the ratio of the Langmuir phase speed to the electron
thermal speed is less than about 3.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physics of Plasma
The Lorentz Integral Transform (LIT) method and its applications to perturbation induced reactions
The LIT method has allowed ab initio calculations of electroweak cross
sections in light nuclear systems. This review presents a description of the
method from both a general and a more technical point of view, as well as a
summary of the results obtained by its application. The remarkable features of
the LIT approach, which make it particularly efficient in dealing with a
general reaction involving continuum states, are underlined. Emphasis is given
on the results obtained for electroweak cross sections of few--nucleon systems.
Their implications for the present understanding of microscopic nuclear
dynamics are discussed.Comment: 83 pages, 31 figures. Topical review. Corrected typo
The optical depth of the Universe to ultrahigh energy cosmic ray scattering in the magnetized large scale structure
This paper provides an analytical description of the transport of ultrahigh
energy cosmic rays in an inhomogeneously magnetized intergalactic medium. This
latter is modeled as a collection of magnetized scattering centers such as
radio cocoons, magnetized galactic winds, clusters or magnetized filaments of
large scale structure, with negligible magnetic fields in between. Magnetic
deflection is no longer a continuous process, it is rather dominated by
scattering events. We study the interaction between high energy cosmic rays and
the scattering agents. We then compute the optical depth of the Universe to
cosmic ray scattering and discuss the phenomological consequences for various
source scenarios. For typical parameters of the scattering centers, the optical
depth is greater than unity at 5x10^{19}eV, but the total angular deflection is
smaller than unity. One important consequence of this scenario is the
possibility that the last scattering center encountered by a cosmic ray be
mistaken with the source of this cosmic ray. In particular, we suggest that
part of the correlation recently reported by the Pierre Auger Observatory may
be affected by such delusion: this experiment may be observing in part the last
scattering surface of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays rather than their source
population. Since the optical depth falls rapidly with increasing energy, one
should probe the arrival directions of the highest energy events beyond
10^{20}eV on an event by event basis to circumvent this effect.Comment: version to appear in PRD; substantial improvements: extended
introduction, sections added on angular images and on direction dependent
effects with sky maps of optical depth, enlarged discussion of Auger results
(conclusions unchanged); 27 pages, 9 figure
Restrictions on the lifetime of sterile neutrinos from primordial nucleosynthesis
We analyze the influence of decaying sterile neutrinos with the masses in the
range 1-140 MeV on the primordial Helium-4 abundance, explicitly solving the
Boltzmann equations for all particle species, taking into account neutrino
flavour oscillations, and paying special attention to systematic uncertainties.
We show that the Helium abundance depends only on the sterile neutrino lifetime
and not on the way the active-sterile mixing is distributed between flavours,
and derive an upper bound on the lifetime. We also demonstrate that the recent
results of Izotov & Thuan [arXiv:1001.4440], who find 2sigma higher than
predicted by the standard primordial nucleosynthesis value of Helium-4
abundance, are consistent with the presence in the plasma of sterile neutrinos
with the lifetime 0.01-2 seconds. The decay of these particles perturbs the
spectra of (decoupled) neutrinos and heats photons, changing the ratio of
neutrino to photon energy density, that can be interpreted as extra neutrino
species at the recombination epoch.Comment: 17 pp. + Appendices. Analysis of deuterium bounds and more accurate
account of CMB bounds on Helium-4 is added. Final version to appear in JCA
Proposed method for searches of gravitational waves from PKS 2155-304 and other blazar flares
We propose to search for gravitational waves from PKS 2155-304 as well as
other blazars. PKS 2155-304 emitted a long duration energetic flare in July
2006, with total isotropic equivalent energy released in TeV gamma rays of
approximately ergs. Any possible gravitational wave signals
associated with this outburst should be seen by gravitational wave detectors at
the same time as the electromagnetic signal. During this flare, the two LIGO
interferometers at Hanford and the GEO detector were in operation and
collecting data. For this search we will use the data from multiple
gravitational wave detectors. The method we use for this purpose is a coherent
network analysis algorithm and is called {\tt RIDGE}. To estimate the
sensitivity of the search, we perform numerical simulations. The sensitivity to
estimated gravitational wave energy at the source is about
ergs for a detection probability of 20%. For this search, an end-to-end
analysis pipeline has been developed, which takes into account the motion of
the source across the sky.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures. Contribution to 12th Gravitational Wave Data
Analysis Workshop. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravity. Changes in
response to referee comment
Photoproduction at collider energies: from RHIC and HERA to the LHC
We present the mini-proceedings of the workshop on ``Photoproduction at
collider energies: from RHIC and HERA to the LHC'' held at the European Centre
for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas (ECT*, Trento)
from January 15 to 19, 2007. The workshop gathered both theorists and
experimentalists to discuss the current status of investigations of high-energy
photon-induced processes at different colliders (HERA, RHIC, and Tevatron) as
well as preparations for extension of these studies at the LHC. The main
physics topics covered were: (i) small- QCD in photoproduction studies with
protons and in electromagnetic (aka. ultraperipheral) nucleus-nucleus
collisions, (ii) hard diffraction physics at hadron colliders, and (iii)
photon-photon collisions at very high energies: electroweak and beyond the
Standard Model processes. These mini-proceedings consist of an introduction and
short summaries of the talks presented at the meeting
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