Improved Limits on Spin-Dependent WIMP-Proton Interactions from a Two Liter CF3_3I Bubble Chamber

Data from the operation of a bubble chamber filled with 3.5 kg of CF$_{3}$I in a shallow underground site are reported. An analysis of ultrasound signals accompanying bubble nucleations confirms that alpha decays generate a significantly louder acoustic emission than single nuclear recoils, leading to an efficient background discrimination. Three dark matter candidate events were observed during an effective exposure of 28.1 kg-day, consistent with a neutron background. This observation provides the strongest direct detection constraint to date on WIMP-proton spin-dependent scattering for WIMP masses $>20$ GeV/c$^{2}$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures V2 submitted to match journal versio

Isolating Triggered Star Formation

Galaxy pairs provide a potentially powerful means of studying triggered star formation from galaxy interactions. We use a large cosmological N-body simulation coupled with a well-tested semi-analytic substructure model to demonstrate that the majority of galaxies in close pairs reside within cluster or group-size halos and therefore represent a biased population, poorly suited for direct comparison to ``field'' galaxies. Thus, the frequent observation that some types of galaxies in pairs have redder colors than ``field'' galaxies is primarily a selection effect. We select galaxy pairs that are isolated in their dark matter halos with respect to other massive subhalos (N=2 halos) and a control sample of isolated galaxies (N=1 halos) for comparison. We then apply these selection criteria to a volume-limited subset of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey with M_Bj <= -19 and obtain the first clean measure of the typical fraction of galaxies affected by triggered star formation and the average elevation in the star formation rate. We find that 24% (30.5%) of these L^\star and sub-L^{\star} galaxies in isolated 50 (30) kpc/h pairs exhibit star formation that is boosted by a factor of >~ 5 above their average past value, while only 10% of isolated galaxies in the control sample show this level of enhancement. Thus, 14% (20 %) of the galaxies in these close pairs show clear triggered star formation. The isolation criteria we develop provide a means to constrain star formation and feedback prescriptions in hydrodynamic simulations and a very general method of understanding the importance of triggered star formation in a cosmological context. (Abridged.)Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, emulateapj format, accepted by Ap

A Bunch of Blues / music by J. Paul Wyer; words by H. Alf Kelly

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_c/1080/thumbnail.jp

Old Virginia Shore / music by J. High Stauffer; words by J. High Stauffer

Cover: description reads plantation song and chorus; Publisher: John Church Co. (Chicago)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_a/1017/thumbnail.jp

Mammy\u27s Shufflin\u27 Dance / music by Melville J. Gideon; words by L. Wolfe Gilbert

Cover: photo of the Dolce Sisters (see 433); Publisher: Will Rossiter (Chicago)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_c/1019/thumbnail.jp

Imaging nonequilibrium atomic vibrations with x-ray diffuse scattering

For over a century, x-ray scattering has been the most powerful tool for determining the equilibrium structure of crystalline materials. Deviations from perfect periodicity, for example due to thermal motion of the atoms, reduces the intensity of the Bragg peaks as well as produces structure in the diffuse scattering background. Analysis of the thermal diffuse scattering (TDS) had been used to determine interatomic force constants and phonon dispersion in relatively simple cases before inelastic neutron scattering became the preferred technique to study lattice dynamics. With the advent of intense synchrotron x-ray sources, there was a renewed interest in TDS for measuring phonon dispersion. The relatively short x-ray pulses emanating from these sources also enables the measurement of phonon dynamics in the time domain. Prior experiments on nonequilibrium phonons were either limited by time-resolution and/or to relatively long wavelength excitations. Here we present the first images of nonequilibrium phonons throughout the Brillouin zone in photoexcited III-V semiconductors, indium-phosphide and indium-antimonide, using picosecond time-resolved diffuse scattering. In each case, we find that the lattice remain out of equilibrium for several hundred picoseconds up to nanoseconds after laser excitation. The non-equilibrium population is dominated by transverse acoustic phonons which in InP are directed along high-symmetry directions. The results have wide implications for the detailed study of electron-phonon and phonon-phonon coupling in solids.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Sponsored by ASAE and CIGR

Written for presentation at th

You Can Have It, I Don\u27t Want It / music by Clarence Williams and Armand J. Piron ; words by May Hill

Cover: drawing of an African American male playing banjo and singing, while a rooster stares down at him; photo inset of Miss Lillian Teece; Publisher: Frank K. Root and Co. (Chicago)https://egrove.olemiss.edu/sharris_c/1123/thumbnail.jp