Kinetic Heterogeneities at Dynamical Crossovers

We perform molecular dynamics simulations of a model glass-forming liquid to measure the size of kinetic heterogeneities, using a dynamic susceptibility $\chi_{\rm ss}(a, t)$ that quantifies the number of particles whose dynamics are correlated on the length scale $a$ and time scale $t$. By measuring $\chi_{\rm ss}(a, t)$ as a function of both $a$ and $t$, we locate local maxima $\chi^\star$ at distances $a^\star$ and times $t^\star$. Near the dynamical glass transition, we find two types of maxima, both correlated with crossovers in the dynamical behavior: a smaller maximum corresponding to the crossover from ballistic to sub-diffusive motion, and a larger maximum corresponding to the crossover from sub-diffusive to diffusive motion. Our results indicate that kinetic heterogeneities are not necessarily signatures of an impending glass or jamming transition.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Effective Interactions for the Three-Body Problem

The three-body energy-dependent effective interaction given by the Bloch-Horowitz (BH) equation is evaluated for various shell-model oscillator spaces. The results are applied to the test case of the three-body problem (triton and He3), where it is shown that the interaction reproduces the exact binding energy, regardless of the parameterization (number of oscillator quanta or value of the oscillator parameter b) of the low-energy included space. We demonstrate a non-perturbative technique for summing the excluded-space three-body ladder diagrams, but also show that accurate results can be obtained perturbatively by iterating the two-body ladders. We examine the evolution of the effective two-body and induced three-body terms as b and the size of the included space Lambda are varied, including the case of a single included shell, Lambda hw=0 hw. For typical ranges of b, the induced effective three-body interaction, essential for giving the exact three-body binding, is found to contribute ~10% to the binding energy.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figures, submitted to PR

Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay within QRPA with Proton-Neutron Pairing

We have investigated the role of proton-neutron pairing in the context of the Quasiparticle Random Phase approximation formalism. This way the neutrinoless double beta decay matrix elements of the experimentally interesting A= 48, 76, 82, 96, 100, 116, 128, 130 and 136 systems have been calculated. We have found that the inclusion of proton-neutron pairing influences the neutrinoless double beta decay rates significantly, in all cases allowing for larger values of the expectation value of light neutrino masses. Using the best presently available experimental limits on the half life-time of neutrinoless double beta decay we have extracted the limits on lepton number violating parameters.Comment: 16 RevTex page

Temperature-pressure scaling for air-fluidized grains on approaches to Point J

We present experiments on a monolayer of air-fluidized beads in which a jamming transition is approached by increasing pressure, increasing packing fraction, and decreasing kinetic energy. This is accomplished, along with a noninvasive measurement of pressure, by tilting the system and examining behavior vs depth. We construct an equation of state and analyze relaxation time vs effective temperature. By making time and effective temperature dimensionless using factors of pressure, bead size, and bead mass, we obtain a good collapse of the data but to a functional form that differs from that of thermal hard-sphere systems. The relaxation time appears to diverge only as the effective temperature to pressure ratio goes to zero

Low momentum nucleon-nucleon potential and shell model effective interactions

A low momentum nucleon-nucleon (NN) potential V-low-k is derived from meson exhange potentials by integrating out the model dependent high momentum modes of V_NN. The smooth and approximately unique V-low-k is used as input for shell model calculations instead of the usual Brueckner G matrix. Such an approach eliminates the nuclear mass dependence of the input interaction one finds in the G matrix approach, allowing the same input interaction to be used in different nuclear regions. Shell model calculations of 18O, 134Te and 135I using the same input V-low-k have been performed. For cut-off momentum Lambda in the vicinity of 2 fm-1, our calculated low-lying spectra for these nuclei are in good agreement with experiments, and are weakly dependent on Lambda.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

A New Class of Majoron-Emitting Double-Beta Decays

Motivated by the excess events that have recently been found near the endpoints of the double beta decay spectra of several elements, we re-examine models in which double beta decay can proceed through the neutrinoless emission of massless Nambu-Goldstone bosons (majorons). Noting that models proposed to date for this process must fine-tune either a scalar mass or a VEV to be less than 10 keV, we introduce a new kind of majoron which avoids this difficulty by carrying lepton number $L=-2$. We analyze in detail the requirements that models of both the conventional and our new type must satisfy if they are to account for the observed excess events. We find: (1) the electron sum-energy spectrum can be used to distinguish the two classes of models from one another; (2) the decay rate for the new models depends on different nuclear matrix elements than for ordinary majorons; and (3) all models require a (pseudo) Dirac neutrino, having a mass of a several hundred MeV, which mixes with $\nu_e$.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures (included), [figure captions are now included

Signal for supernova νμ\nu_\mu and ντ\nu_\tau neutrinos in water \v{C}erenkov detectors

We suggest that photons with energies between 5 and 10 MeV, generated by the ($\nu,\nu'p\gamma$) and ($\nu,\nu'n\gamma$) reactions on $^{16}$O, constitute a signal which allows a unique identification of supernova $\nu_\mu$ and $\nu_\tau$ neutrinos in water \v{C}erenkov detectors. We calculate the yield of such $\gamma$ events and estimate that a few hundred of them would be detected in Superkamiokande for a supernova at 10 kpc distance.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex 3.0, figures and text available at http://www.krl.caltech.edu/preprints/MAP.htm

Neutrino-nucleus reactions in the energy range 1-100 MeV

We review some salient aspects of calculations of the neutrino-nucleus reaction cross sections in the low energy range (1-100 MeV).Comment: 6 pages:Invited talk at NuInt05 (Fourth International Workshop on Neutrino- Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region), Okayama, Japan. September 26 - 29, 2005, ver2 corrected typos and reference

CP Violations in Lepton Number Violation Processes and Neutrino Oscillations

We examine the constraints on the MNS lepton mixing matrix from the present and future experimental data of the neutrino oscillation and lepton number violation processes. We introduce a graphical representation of the CP violation phases which appear in the lepton number violation processes such as neutrinoless double beta decay, the $\mu^--e^+$ conversion, and the K decay, $K^-\to\pi^+\mu^-\mu^-.$ Using this graphical representation, we derive the constraints on the CP violation phases in the lepton sector.Comment: 21pp, REVTeX, 9 Figure

Shell Model Study of the Double Beta Decays of 76^{76}Ge, 82^{82}Se and 136^{136}Xe

The lifetimes for the double beta decays of $^{76}$Ge, $^{82}$Se and $^{136}$Xe are calculated using very large shell model spaces. The two neutrino matrix elements obtained are in good agreement with the present experimental data. For $<1$ eV we predict the following upper bounds to the half-lives for the neutrinoless mode: $T^{(0\nu)}_{1/2}(Ge) > 1.85\,10^{25} yr.$, $T^{(0\nu)}_{1/2}(Se) > 2.36\,10^{24} yr.$ and $T^{(0\nu)}_{1/2}(Xe) > 1.21\,10^{25} yr$. These results are the first from a new generation of Shell Model calculations reaching O(10$^{8}$) dimensions