Effect of the length of inflation on angular TT and TE power spectra in power-law inflation

The effect of the length of inflation on the power spectra of scalar and tensor perturbations is estimated using the power-law inflation model with a scale factor of a(t) = t^q. Considering various pre-inflation models with radiation-dominated or scalar matter-dominated periods before inflation in combination with two matching conditions, the temperature angular power spectrum (TT) and temperature-polarization cross-power spectrum (TE) are calculated and a likelihood analysis is performed. It is shown that the discrepancies between the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) data and the LCDM model, such as suppression of the spectrum at l = 2,3 and oscillatory behavior, may be explained by the finite length of inflation model if the length of inflation is near 60 e-folds and q > 300. The proposed models retain similar values of chi^2 to that achieved by the LCDM model with respect to fit to the WMAP data, but display different characteristics of the angular TE power spectra at l < 20.Comment: 41 pages, 11 figure

Superconductivity in WO2.6F0.4 synthesized by reaction of WO3 with Teflon

WO3-xFx (x < 0.45) perovskite-like oxyfluorides were prepared by a chemically reducing fluorination route using the polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon). The symmetry of the crystal structures of WO3-xFx changes from monoclinic to tetragonal to cubic as the fluorine content increases. Fluorine doping changes insulating WO3 to a metallic conductor, and superconductivity (Tc = 0.4 K) was discovered in the samples with fluorine contents of 0.41 < x < 0.45. This easy fluorination method may be applicable to other systems and presents an opportunity for finding new oxyfluoride superconductors.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. To be published in Phys Rev

The emergence of superconductivity in BaNi2(Ge1-xPx)2 at a structural instability

The physical properties and structural evolution of the 122-type solid solution BaNi2(Ge1-xPx)2 are reported. The in-plane X-X (X = Ge1-xPx) dimer formation present in the end member BaNi2Ge2, which results in a structural transition to orthorhombic symmetry, is completely suppressed to zero temperature on P substitution near x = 0.7, and a dome-shape superconducting phase with a maximum Tc = 2.9 K emerges. Clear indications of phonon softening and enhanced electron-phonon coupling are observed at the composition of the structural instability. Our findings show that dimer breaking offers new possibilities as a tuning parameter of superconductivity.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Angular Power Spectrum in Modular Invariant Inflation Model

We propose a scalar potential of inflation, motivated by modular invariant supergravity, and compute the angular power spectra of the adiabatic density perturbations that result from this model. The potential consists of three scalar fields, S, Y and T, together with two free parameters. By fitting the parameters to cosmological data at the fixed point T=1, we find that the potential behaves like the single-field potential of S, which slowly rolls down along the minimized trajectory in Y. We further show that the inflation predictions corresponding to this potential provide a good fit to the recent three-year WMAP data, e.g. the spectral index n_s = 0.951. The TT and TE angular power spectra obtained from our model almost completely coincide with the corresponding results obtained from the \LambdaCDM model. We conclude that our model is considered to be an adequate theory of inflation that explains the present data, although the theoretical basis of this model should be further explicated.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figures and 1 tabl

Initial condition of scalar perturbation in inflation

A formula for the power spectrum of curvature perturbations having any initial conditions in inflation is obtained. Based on the physical conditions before inflation, the possibility exists that the initial state of scalar perturbations is not only the Bunch-Davies state, but also a more general state (a squeezed state). For example, the derived formula for the power spectrum is calculated using simple toy cosmological models. When there exists a radiation-dominated period before inflation, the behavior of the scalar perturbation is revealed not to vary greatly; however, from large scales to small scales the power spectrum of the curvature perturbations oscillates around the normal value. In addition, when inflation has a large break and the breaking time is a radiation- dominated period, a large enhancement is revealed to occur which depends on the length of the breaking time.Comment: 24 pages,3 figue

Nuclear parton distribution functions and their uncertainties

We analyze experimental data of nuclear structure-function ratios F_2^A/F_2^{A'} and Drell-Yan cross section ratios for obtaining optimum parton distribution functions (PDFs) in nuclei. Then, uncertainties of the nuclear PDFs are estimated by the Hessian method. Valence-quark distributions are determined by the F_2 data at large x; however, the small-x part is not obvious from the data. On the other hand, the antiquark distributions are determined well at x~0.01 from the F_2 data and at x~0.1 by the Drell-Yan data; however, the large-x behavior is not clear. Gluon distributions cannot be fixed by the present data and they have large uncertainties in the whole x region. Parametrization results are shown in comparison with the data. We provide a useful code for calculating nuclear PDFs at given x and Q^2.Comment: 9 pages, REVTeX, 23 eps files, Phys. Rev. C in press. Nuclear PDF library is available at http://hs.phys.saga-u.ac.jp/nuclp.htm

Heavy quark & direct photon production and heavy quark parton densities

Direct photon production in association with a heavy quark can serve as an excellent tool for the study of the heavy quark distributions. Currently it is believed that heavy quarks are produced radiatively inside the nucleon, and so there is no need to take into account heavy quark parameters inside global PDF analyses. Certain models taking into account the possibility of an intrinsic charm component exist. Here we present how these affect the \gamma + c cross section. While at pA collisions the potential of this process to constrain the gluon nuclear PDF which is currently largely unconstrained is presented.Comment: Quarkonium 2010 Proceeding

Discrete Convex Functions on Graphs and Their Algorithmic Applications

The present article is an exposition of a theory of discrete convex functions on certain graph structures, developed by the author in recent years. This theory is a spin-off of discrete convex analysis by Murota, and is motivated by combinatorial dualities in multiflow problems and the complexity classification of facility location problems on graphs. We outline the theory and algorithmic applications in combinatorial optimization problems