A Superheated Droplet Detector for Dark Matter Search

We discuss the operation principle of a detector based on superheated droplets of Freon-12 and its feasibility for the search of weakly interacting cold dark matter particles. In particular we are interested in a neutralino search experiment in the mass range from 10 to 10^4 GeV/c^2 and with a sensitivity of better than 10^-2 events/kg/d. We show that our new proposed detector can be operated at ambient pressure and room temperature in a mode where it is exclusively sensitive to nuclear recoils like those following neutralino interactions, which allows a powerful background discrimination. An additional advantage of this technique is due to the fact that the detection material, Freon-12, is cheap and readily available in large quantities. Moreover we were able to show that piezoelectric transducers allow efficient event localization in large volumes.Comment: 15 pages LATEX; 11 figures on request from [email protected] submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods

Symbolic-Numeric Algorithms for Computer Analysis of Spheroidal Quantum Dot Models

A computation scheme for solving elliptic boundary value problems with axially symmetric confining potentials using different sets of one-parameter basis functions is presented. The efficiency of the proposed symbolic-numerical algorithms implemented in Maple is shown by examples of spheroidal quantum dot models, for which energy spectra and eigenfunctions versus the spheroid aspect ratio were calculated within the conventional effective mass approximation. Critical values of the aspect ratio, at which the discrete spectrum of models with finite-wall potentials is transformed into a continuous one in strong dimensional quantization regime, were revealed using the exact and adiabatic classifications.Comment: 6 figures, Submitted to Proc. of The 12th International Workshop on Computer Algebra in Scientific Computing (CASC 2010) Tsakhkadzor, Armenia, September 5 - 12, 201

Abelian gauge potentials on cubic lattices

The study of the properties of quantum particles in a periodic potential subject to a magnetic field is an active area of research both in physics and mathematics; it has been and it is still deeply investigated. In this review we discuss how to implement and describe tunable Abelian magnetic fields in a system of ultracold atoms in optical lattices. After discussing two of the main experimental schemes for the physical realization of synthetic gauge potentials in ultracold set-ups, we study cubic lattice tight-binding models with commensurate flux. We finally examine applications of gauge potentials in one-dimensional rings.Comment: To appear on: "Advances in Quantum Mechanics: Contemporary Trends and Open Problems", G. Dell'Antonio and A. Michelangeli eds., Springer-INdAM series 201

Genomic and phenotypic characterization of 404 individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders caused by CTNNB1 variants

Purpose: Germline loss-of-function variants in CTNNB1 cause neurodevelopmental disorder with spastic diplegia and visual defects (NEDSDV; OMIM 615075) and are the most frequent, recurrent monogenic cause of cerebral palsy (CP). We investigated the range of clinical phenotypes owing to disruptions of CTNNB1 to determine the association between NEDSDV and CP. Methods: Genetic information from 404 individuals with collectively 392 pathogenic CTNNB1 variants were ascertained for the study. From these, detailed phenotypes for 52 previously unpublished individuals were collected and combined with 68 previously published individuals with comparable clinical information. The functional effects of selected CTNNB1 missense variants were assessed using TOPFlash assay. Results: The phenotypes associated with pathogenic CTNNB1 variants were similar. A diagnosis of CP was not significantly associated with any set of traits that defined a specific phenotypic subgroup, indicating that CP is not additional to NEDSDV. Two CTNNB1 missense variants were dominant negative regulators of WNT signaling, highlighting the utility of the TOPFlash assay to functionally assess variants. Conclusion: NEDSDV is a clinically homogeneous disorder irrespective of initial clinical diagnoses, including CP, or entry points for genetic testing.Sayaka Kayumi, Luis A. Perez-Jurado, María Palomares, Sneha Rangu, Sarah E. Sheppard, Wendy K. Chung, Michael C. Kruer, Mira Kharbanda, David J. Amor, George McGillivray, Julie S. Cohen, Sixto García-Minaúr, Clare L. van Eyk, Kelly Harper, Lachlan A. Jolly, Dani L. Webber, Christopher P. Barnett, Fernando Santos-Simarro, Marta Pacio-Míguez, Angela del Pozo, Somayeh Bakhtiari, Matthew Deardorff, Holly A. Dubbs, Kosuke Izumi, Katheryn Grand, Christopher Gray, Paul R. Mark, Elizabeth J. Bhoj, Dong Li, Xilma R. Ortiz-Gonzalez, Beth Keena, Elaine H. Zackai, Ethan M. Goldberg, Guiomar Perez de Nanclares, Arrate Pereda, Isabel Llano-Rivas, Ignacio Arroyo, María Angeles Fernandez-Cuesta, Christel Thauvin-Robinet, Laurence Faivre, Aurore Garde, Benoit Mazel, Ange-Line Bruel, Michael L. Tress, Eva Brilstra, Amena Smith Fine, Kylie E. Crompton, Alexander P.A. Stegmann, Margje Sinnema, Servi C.J. Stevens, Joost Nicolai, Gaetan Lesca, Laurence Lion-Francois, Damien Haye, Nicolas Chatron, Amelie Piton, Mathilde Nizon, Benjamin Cogne, Siddharth Srivastava, Jennifer Bassetti, Candace Muss, Karen W. Gripp, Rebecca A. Procopio, Francisca Millan, Michelle M. Morrow, Melissa Assaf, Andres Moreno-De-Luca, Shelagh Joss, Mark J. Hamilton, Marta Bertoli, Nicola Foulds, Shane McKee, Alastair H. MacLennan, Jozef Gecz, Mark A. Corbet

Roadmap on Li-ion battery manufacturing research

Growth in the Li-ion battery market continues to accelerate, driven primarily by the increasing need for economic energy storage for electric vehicles. Electrode manufacture by slurry casting is the first main step in cell production but much of the manufacturing optimisation is based on trial and error, know-how and individual expertise. Advancing manufacturing science that underpins Li-ion battery electrode production is critical to adding to the electrode manufacturing value chain. Overcoming the current barriers in electrode manufacturing requires advances in materials, manufacturing technology, in-line process metrology and data analytics, and can enable improvements in cell performance, quality, safety and process sustainability. In this roadmap we explore the research opportunities to improve each stage of the electrode manufacturing process, from materials synthesis through to electrode calendering. We highlight the role of new process technology, such as dry processing, and advanced electrode design supported through electrode level, physics-based modelling. Progress in data driven models of electrode manufacturing processes is also considered. We conclude there is a growing need for innovations in process metrology to aid fundamental understanding and to enable feedback control, an opportunity for electrode design to reduce trial and error, and an urgent imperative to improve the sustainability of manufacture

Model-predicted ammonia emission from two broiler houses with different rearing systems

Ammonia (NH3) emissions from broiler production can affect human and animal health and may cause acidification and eutrophication of the surrounding environment. This study aimed to estimate ammonia emissions from broiler litter in two systems of forced ventilation, the tunnel ventilation (TV) and the dark house (DH). The experiment was carried out on eight commercial broiler houses, and the age of the birds (day, d), pH and litter temperature were recorded. Broilers were reared on built-up wood shaving litter using an average flock density of 14 bird m–2. Temperature and relative humidity inside the broiler houses were recorded in the morning during the grow-out period. A factorial experimental design was adopted, with two types of houses, four replicates and two flocks with two replicates each. A deterministic model was used to predict ammonia emissions using the litter pH and temperature, and the day of grow-out. The highest litter temperature and pH were found at 42 d of growth in both housing systems. Mean ambient air temperature and relative humidity did not differ in either system. Mean model predicted ammonia emission was higher in the DH rearing system (5200 mg NH3 m−2h−1 at 42 d) than in the TV system (2700 mg NH3m−2 h−1 at 42 d). TV presented the lowest mean litter temperature and pH at 42 d of growth. In the last week of the broilers’ grow-out cycle, estimated ammonia emissions inside DH reached 5700 mg m−2h−1 in one of the flocks. Ammonia emissions were higher inside DH, and they did not differ between flocks. Assuming a broiler market weight in Brazil of close to 2 kg, ammonia emissions were equivalent to 12 g NH3 bird-marketed−1. Model-predicted ammonia emissions provided comprehensible estimations and might be used in abatement strategies for NH3 emission

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Jet size dependence of single jet suppression in lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s(NN)) = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions at the LHC provide direct sensitivity to the physics of jet quenching. In a sample of lead-lead collisions at sqrt(s) = 2.76 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 7 inverse microbarns, ATLAS has measured jets with a calorimeter over the pseudorapidity interval |eta| < 2.1 and over the transverse momentum range 38 < pT < 210 GeV. Jets were reconstructed using the anti-kt algorithm with values for the distance parameter that determines the nominal jet radius of R = 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5. The centrality dependence of the jet yield is characterized by the jet "central-to-peripheral ratio," Rcp. Jet production is found to be suppressed by approximately a factor of two in the 10% most central collisions relative to peripheral collisions. Rcp varies smoothly with centrality as characterized by the number of participating nucleons. The observed suppression is only weakly dependent on jet radius and transverse momentum. These results provide the first direct measurement of inclusive jet suppression in heavy ion collisions and complement previous measurements of dijet transverse energy imbalance at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages plus author list (30 pages total), 8 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physics Letters B. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at http://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/HION-2011-02

Roadmap on Li-ion battery manufacturing research

Growth in the Li-ion battery market continues to accelerate, driven by increasing need for economic energy storage in the electric vehicle market. Electrode manufacture is the first main step in production and in an industry dominated by slurry casting, much of the manufacturing process is based on trial and error, know-how and individual expertise. Advancing manufacturing science that underpins Li-ion battery electrode production is critical to adding value to the electrode manufacturing value chain. Overcome the current barriers in the electrode manufacturing requires advances in material innovation, manufacturing technology, in-line process metrology and data analytics to improve cell performance, quality, safety and process sustainability. In this roadmap we present where fundamental research can impact advances in each stage of the electrode manufacturing process from materials synthesis to electrode calendering. We also highlight the role of new process technology such as dry processing and advanced electrode design supported through electrode level, physics-based modelling. To compliment this, the progresses in data driven models of full manufacturing processes is reviewed. For all the processes we describe, there is a growing need process metrology, not only to aid fundamental understanding but also to enable true feedback control of the manufacturing process. It is our hope this roadmap will contribute to this rapidly growing space and provide guidance and inspiration to academia and industry