Coherence of neutrino flavor mixing in quantum field theory

In the simplistic quantum mechanical picture of flavor mixing, conditions on the maximum size and minimum coherence time of the source and detector regions for the observation of interference---as well as the very viability of the approach---can only be argued in an ad hoc way from principles external to the formalism itself. To examine these conditions in a more fundamental way, the quantum field theoretical $S$-matrix approach is employed in this paper, without the unrealistic assumption of microscopic stationarity. The fully normalized, time-dependent neutrino flavor mixing event rates presented here automatically reveal the coherence conditions in a natural, self-contained, and physically unambiguous way, while quantitatively describing the transition to their failure.Comment: 12 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Neutrino oscillations and the effect of the finite lifetime of the neutrino source

We consider a neutrino source at rest and discuss a condition for the existence of neutrino oscillations which derives from the finite lifetime $\tau_S$ of the neutrino source particle. This condition is present if the neutrino source is a free particle such that its wave function is non-stationary. For a Gaussian wave function and with some simplifying assumptions, we study the modification of the usual oscillation probability stemming from $\tau_S$. In the present accelerator experiments the effect of $\tau_S$ can be neglected. We discuss some experimental situations where the source lifetime becomes relevant in the oscillation formula.Comment: 13 pages latex file with 2 figure

GPCR-OKB: the G protein coupled receptor oligomer knowledge base

Rapid expansion of available data about G Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) dimers/oligomers over the past few years requires an effective system to organize this information electronically. Based on an ontology derived from a community dialog involving colleagues using experimental and computational methodologies, we developed the GPCR-Oligomerization Knowledge Base (GPCR-OKB). GPCR-OKB is a system that supports browsing and searching for GPCR oligomer data. Such data were manually derived from the literature. While focused on GPCR oligomers, GPCR-OKB is seamlessly connected to GPCRDB, facilitating the correlation of information about GPCR protomers and oligomers

Observing a quantum Maxwell demon at work

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from National Academy of Sciences via the DOI in this record.In apparent contradiction to the laws of thermodynamics, Maxwell’s demon is able to cyclically extract work from a system in contact with a thermal bath exploiting the information about its microstate. The resolution of this paradox required the insight that an intimate relationship exists between information and thermodynamics. Here, we realize a Maxwell demon experiment that tracks the state of each constituent both in the classical and quantum regimes. The demon is a microwave cavity that encodes quantum information about a superconducting qubit and converts information into work by powering up a propagating microwave pulse by stimulated emission. Thanks to the high level of control of superconducting circuits, we directly measure the extracted work and quantify the entropy remaining in the demon’s memory. This experiment provides an enlightening illustration of the interplay of thermodynamics with quantum information.This work was supported by the ANR under the grants 12-JCJC-TIQS and 13-JCJC-INCAL, by Ville de Paris through the grant Qumotel of the Emergence program and by the COST network MP1209 "Thermodynamics in the quantum regime". J.A. acknowledges support from EPSRC, grant EP/M009165/1, and the Royal Societ

Neutrino physics at accelerators

Present and future neutrino experiments at accelerators are mainly concerned with understanding the neutrino oscillation phenomenon and its implications. Here a brief account of neutrino oscillations is given together with a description of the supporting data. Some current and planned accelerator neutrino experiments are also explained.Comment: 23 pages, 24 figures. Talk given at the Corfu Summer Institute on Elementary Particle Physics 200

Neutrino Beams From Electron Capture at High Gamma

We investigate the potential of a flavor pure high gamma electron capture electron neutrino beam directed towards a large water cherenkov detector with 500 kt fiducial mass. The energy of the neutrinos is reconstructed by the position measurement within the detector and superb energy resolution capabilities could be achieved. We estimate the requirements for such a scenario to be competitive to a neutrino/anti-neutrino running at a neutrino factory with less accurate energy resolution. Although the requirements turn out to be extreme, in principle such a scenario could achieve as good abilities to resolve correlations and degeneracies in the search for sin^2(2 theta_13) and delta_CP as a standard neutrino factory experiment.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figures, revised version, to appear in JHEP, Fig.7 extended, minnor changes, results unchange

Using the LeiCNS-PK3.0 physiologically-based pharmacokinetic model to predict brain extracellular fluid pharmacokinetics in mice

The unbound brain extracelullar fluid (brainECF) to plasma steady state partition coefficient, Kp,uu,BBB, values provide steady-state information on the extent of blood-brain barrier (BBB) transport equilibration, but not on pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles seen by the brain targets. Mouse models are frequently used to study brain PK, but this information cannot directly be used to inform on human brain PK, given the different CNS physiology of mouse and human. Physiologically based PK (PBPK) models are useful to translate PK information across species.\nUse the LeiCNS-PK3.0 PBPK model, to predict brain extracellular fluid PK in mice. Information on mouse brain physiology was collected from literature. All available connected data on unbound plasma, brainECF PK of 10 drugs (cyclophosphamide, quinidine, erlotonib, phenobarbital, colchicine, ribociclib, topotecan, cefradroxil, prexasertib, and methotrexate) from different mouse strains were used. Dosing regimen dependent plasma PK was modelled, and Kpuu,BBB values were estimated, and provided as input into the LeiCNS-PK3.0 model to result in prediction of PK profiles in brainECF. Overall, the model gave an adequate prediction of the brainECF PK profile for 7 out of the 10 drugs. For 7 drugs, the predicted versus observed brainECF data was within two-fold error limit and the other 2 drugs were within five-fold error limit. The current version of the mouse LeiCNS-PK3.0 model seems to reasonably predict available information on brainECF from healthy mice for most drugs. This brings the translation between mouse and human brain PK one step further.Pharmacolog

Surf zone hazards and injuries on beaches in SW France

Surf zone injuries (SZIs) are common worldwide, yet limited data is available for many geographical regions, including Europe. This study provides the first preliminary overview of SZIs along approximately 230 km of hazardous surf beaches in SW France during the summer season. A total of 2523 SZIs over 186 sample days during the summers of 2007, 2009 and 2015 were analysed. Documented injury data included date and time; beach location; flag colour; outside/inside of the bathing zone; age, gender, country and home postal code of the victim; activity; cause of injury; injury type and severity. Injuries sustained ranged from mild contusion to fatal drowning, including severe spinal injuries, wounds and luxation. While the most severe injuries (drowning) were related to rip currents, a large number of SZIs occurred as a result of shore-break waves (44.6%; n = 1125) and surfing activity (31.0%; n = 783) primarily inside and outside of lifeguard patrolled bathing zones, respectively. Victims were primarily French living more than 40 km from the beach (75.9% of the reported addresses; n = 1729), although a substantial number of victims originated from Europe (14.7% of the addresses reported; n = 335), including The Netherlands (44.2%; n = 148), Germany (26.3%; n = 88) and Belgium (12.5%; n = 49). The predominant age group involved in the incidents was between 10-25 years (54.5%; n = 1376) followed by 35-50 years (22.6%; n = 570), with the majority of SZIs involving males (69.6%, n = 1617). Despite the large predominance (74.1%; n = 33) of males involved in the most severe drowning incidents, all of which occurred outside the bathing zone, a surprisingly large proportion of females (48.0%; n = 133) experienced milder drowning incidents involving only minor to moderate respiratory impairment, peaking at 58.2% (n = 85) within the age group 10-25. The spine/cervical injury population is very young, with 58.5% (n = 313) within the age group 10-20. Specific injuries tended to occur in clusters (e.g. rip current drowning or shore-break injury) with particular days prone to rip-current drowning or hazardous shore-break waves, suggesting the potential to predict level of risk to beachgoers based on basic weather and marine conditions. This study calls for increased social-based beach safety research in France and the development of more effective public awareness campaigns to highlight the surf zone hazards, even within a supervised bathing zone. These campaigns should be targeted towards young males and females, in order to reduce the number of injuries and drownings occurring on beaches in SW France.Marier les objectifs de défense côtière avec ceux de la protection du milieu naturel grâce aux dunes sableuse

θ13\theta_{13}, δ\delta and the neutrino mass hierarchy at a γ=350\gamma=350 double baseline Li/B β\beta-Beam

We consider a $\beta$-Beam facility where $^8$Li and $^8$B ions are accelerated at $\gamma = 350$, accumulated in a 10 Km storage ring and let decay, so as to produce intense $\bar \nu_e$ and $\nu_e$ beams. These beams illuminate two iron detectors located at $L \simeq 2000$ Km and $L \simeq 7000$ Km, respectively. The physics potential of this setup is analysed in full detail as a function of the flux. We find that, for the highest flux ($10 \times 10^{18}$ ion decays per year per baseline), the sensitivity to $\theta_{13}$ reaches $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 2 \times10^{-4}$; the sign of the atmospheric mass difference can be identified, regardless of the true hierarchy, for $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 4\times10^{-4}$; and, CP-violation can be discovered in 70% of the $\delta$-parameter space for $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 10^{-3}$, having some sensitivity to CP-violation down to $\sin^2 2 \theta_{13} \geq 10^{-4}$ for $|\delta| \sim 90^\circ$.Comment: 35 pages, 20 figures. Minor changes, matches the published versio

μ−e\mu-e conversion in nuclei within the CMSSM seesaw: universality versus non-universality

In this paper we study $\mu-e$ conversion in nuclei within the context of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, enlarged by three right handed neutrinos and their supersymmetric partners, and where the neutrino masses are generated via a seesaw mechanism. Two different scenarios with either universal or non-universal soft supersymmetry breaking Higgs masses at the gauge coupling unification scale are considered. In the first part we present a complete one-loop computation of the conversion rate for this process that includes the photon-, $Z$-boson, and Higgs-boson penguins, as well as box diagrams, and compare their size in the two considered scenarios. Then, in these two scenarios we analyse the relevance of the various parameters on the conversion rates, particularly emphasising the role played by the heavy neutrino masses, $\tan \beta$, and especially $\theta_{13}$. In the case of hierachical heavy neutrinos, an extremely high sensitivity of the rates to $\theta_{13}$ is indeed found. The last part of this work is devoted to the study of the interesting loss of correlation between the $\mu-e$ conversion and $\mu \to e \gamma$ rates that occurs in the non-universal scenario. In the case of large $\tan \beta$ and light $H^0$ Higgs boson an enhanced ratio of the $\mu-e$ to $\mu \to e \gamma$ rates, with respect to the universal case is found, and this could be tested with the future experimental sensitivities.Comment: 48 pages, 15 figures. Minor typos corrected and some references adde