180 research outputs found
Lattice results for the decay constant of heavy-light vector mesons
We compute the leptonic decay constants of heavy-light vector mesons in the
quenched approximation. The reliability of lattice computations for heavy
quarks is checked by comparing the ratio of vector to pseudoscalar decay
constant with the prediction of Heavy Quark Effective Theory in the limit of
infinitely heavy quark mass. Good agreement is found. We then calculate the
decay constant ratio for B mesons: .
We also quote quenched MeV.Comment: 11 pages, 3 postscript figs., revtex; two references adde
Tests of the Accelerating Universe with Near-Infrared Observations of a High-Redshift Type Ia Supernova
We have measured the rest-frame B,V, and I-band light curves of a
high-redshift type Ia supernova (SN Ia), SN 1999Q (z=0.46), using HST and
ground-based near-infrared detectors.
A goal of this study is the measurement of the color excess, E_{B-I}, which
is a sensitive indicator of interstellar or intergalactic dust which could
affect recent cosmological measurements from high-redshift SNe Ia. Our
observations disfavor a 30% opacity of SN Ia visual light by dust as an
alternative to an accelerating Universe. This statement applies to both
Galactic-type dust
(rejected at the 3.4 sigma confidence level) and greyer dust (grain size >
0.1 microns; rejected at the 2.3 to 2.6 sigma confidence level) as proposed by
Aguirre (1999). The rest-frame -band light cur ve shows the secondary
maximum a month after B maximum typical of nearby SNe Ia of normal luminosi ty,
providing no indication of evolution as a function of redshift out to z~0.5. A
n expanded set of similar observations could improve the constraints on any
contribution of extragalactic dust to the dimming of high-redshift SNe Ia.Comment: Accepted to the Astrophysical Journal, 12 pages, 2 figure
Measurement of electron-neutrino electron elastic scattering
The cross section for the elastic scattering reaction nu_e+e- -> nu_e+e- was
measured by the Liquid Scintillator Neutrino Detector using a mu+ decay-at-rest
nu_e beam at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center. The standard model of
electroweak physics predicts a large destructive interference between the
charge current and neutral current channels for this reaction. The measured
cross section, sigma_{nu_e e-}=[10.1 +- 1.1(stat.) +- 1.0(syst.)]x E_{nu_e}
(MeV) x 10^{-45} cm^2, agrees well with standard model expectations. The
measured value of the interference parameter, I=-1.01 +- 0.13(stat.) +-
0.12(syst.), is in good agreement with the standard model expectation of
I^{SM}=-1.09. Limits are placed on neutrino flavor-changing neutral currents.
An upper limit on the muon-neutrino magnetic moment of 6.8 x 10^{-10} mu_{Bohr}
is obtained using the nu_mu and \bar{nu}_mu fluxes from pi+ and mu+ decay.Comment: 22 pages, 11 figure
The first systematically identified repeating partial tidal disruption event
Tidal disruption events (TDEs) occur when a star enters the tidal radius of a
supermassive black hole (SMBH). If the star only grazes the tidal radius, a
fraction of the stellar mass will be accreted in a partial TDE (pTDE). The
remainder can continue orbiting and may re-disrupted at pericenter, causing a
repeating pTDE. pTDEs may be as or more common than full TDEs (fTDEs), yet few
are known. In this work, we present the discovery of the first repeating pTDE
from a systematically-selected sample, AT\,2020vdq. AT\,2020vdq was originally
identified as an optically- and radio-flaring TDE. Around years after its
discovery, it rebrightened dramatically and rapidly in the optical. The optical
flare was remarkably fast and luminous compared to previous TDEs. It was
accompanied by extremely broad () optical/UV spectral features and
faint X-ray emission (\,erg\,s), but no new
radio-emitting component. Based on the transient optical/UV spectral features
and the broadband light curve, we show that AT\,2020vdq is a repeating pTDE. We
then use it to constrain TDE models; in particular, we favor a star originally
in a very tight binary system that is tidally broken apart by the Hills
mechanism. We also constrain the repeating pTDE rate to be to
yr galaxy, with uncertainties dominated by the unknown
distribution of pTDE repeat timescales. In the Hills framework, this means the
binary fraction in the galactic nucleus is of the order few percent.Comment: 24 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Ap
Higgs-boson production associated with a bottom quark at hadron colliders with SUSY-QCD corrections
The Higgs boson production p p (p\bar p) -> b h +X via b g -> b h at the LHC,
which may be an important channel for testing the bottom quark Yukawa coupling,
is subject to large supersymmetric quantum corrections. In this work the
one-loop SUSY-QCD corrections to this process are evaluated and are found to be
quite sizable in some parameter space. We also study the behavior of the
corrections in the limit of heavy SUSY masses and find the remnant effects of
SUSY-QCD. These remnant effects, which are left over in the Higgs sector by the
heavy sparticles, are found to be so sizable (for a light CP-odd Higgs and
large \tan\beta) that they might be observable in the future LHC experiment.
The exploration of such remnant effects is important for probing SUSY,
especially in case that the sparticles are too heavy (above TeV) to be directly
discovered at the LHC.Comment: Results for the Tevatron adde
Small, Dense Quark Stars from Perturbative QCD
As a model for nonideal behavior in the equation of state of QCD at high
density, we consider cold quark matter in perturbation theory. To second order
in the strong coupling constant, , the results depend sensitively on
the choice of the renormalization mass scale. Certain choices of this scale
correspond to a strongly first order chiral transition, and generate quark
stars with maximum masses and radii approximately half that of ordinary neutron
stars. At the center of these stars, quarks are essentially massless.Comment: ReVTeX, 5 pages, 3 figure
In Pursuit of New Physics with B_s Decays
The presence of a sizeable CP-violating phase in B_s^0-B_s^0-bar mixing would
be an unambiguous signal of physics beyond the Standard Model. We analyse
various possibilities to detect such a new phase considering both tagged and
untagged decays. The effects of a sizeable width difference Delta Gamma between
the B_s mass eigenstates, on which the untagged analyses rely, are included in
all formulae. A novel method to find this phase from simple measurements of
lifetimes and branching ratios in untagged decays is proposed. This method does
not involve two-exponential fits, which require much larger statistics. For the
tagged decays, an outstanding role is played by the observables of the
time-dependent angular distribution of the B_s -> J/psi [-> l^+ l^-] \phi [->
K^+K^-] decay products. We list the formulae needed for the angular analysis in
the presence of both a new CP-violating phase and a sizeable Delta Gamma, and
propose methods to remove a remaining discrete ambiguity in the new phase. This
phase can therefore be determined in an unambiguous way.Comment: minor changes, lattice prediction of Delta Gamma updated, appears in
PR
Supersymmetric effects in top quark decay into polarized W-boson
We investigate the one-loop supersymmetric QCD (SUSY-QCD) and electroweak
(SUSY-EW) corrections to the top quark decay into a b-quark and a longitudinal
or transverse W-boson. The corrections are presented in terms of the
longitudinal ratio \Gamma(t-->W_L b)/\Gamma(t--> W b) and the transverse ratio
\Gamma(t-->W_- b)/\Gamma(t--> W b). In most of the parameter space, both
SUSY-QCD and SUSY-EW corrections to these ratios are found to be less than 1%
in magnitude and they tend to have opposite signs. The corrections to the total
width \Gamma(t-->W b) are also presented for comparison with the existing
results in the literature. We find that our SUSY-EW corrections to the total
width differ significantly from previous studies: the previous studies give a
large correction of more than 10% in magnitude for a large part of the
parameter space while our results reach only few percent at most.Comment: Version in PRD (explanation and refs added
Enhancing Perceived Safety in Human–Robot Collaborative Construction Using Immersive Virtual Environments
Advances in robotics now permit humans to work collaboratively with robots. However, humans often feel unsafe working alongside robots. Our knowledge of how to help humans overcome this issue is limited by two challenges. One, it is difficult, expensive and time-consuming to prototype robots and set up various work situations needed to conduct studies in this area. Two, we lack strong theoretical models to predict and explain perceived safety and its influence on human–robot work collaboration (HRWC). To address these issues, we introduce the Robot Acceptance Safety Model (RASM) and employ immersive virtual environments (IVEs) to examine perceived safety of working on tasks alongside a robot. Results from a between-subjects experiment done in an IVE show that separation of work areas between robots and humans increases perceived safety by promoting team identification and trust in the robot. In addition, the more participants felt it was safe to work with the robot, the more willing they were to work alongside the robot in the future.University of Michigan Mcubed Grant: Virtual Prototyping of Human-Robot Collaboration in Unstructured Construction EnvironmentsPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145620/1/You et al. forthcoming in AutCon.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145620/4/You et al. 2018.pdfDescription of You et al. 2018.pdf : Published Versio
Contrasting Pediatric and Adult Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus Isolates
Children may share a reservoir of MRSA strains that have an antimicrobial drug resistance profile distinct from that of adults
- …