Two experiments for the price of one? -- The role of the second oscillation maximum in long baseline neutrino experiments

We investigate the quantitative impact that data from the second oscillation maximum has on the performance of wide band beam neutrino oscillation experiments. We present results for the physics sensitivities to standard three flavor oscillation, as well as results for the sensitivity to non-standard interactions. The quantitative study is performed using an experimental setup similar to the Fermilab to DUSEL Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment (LBNE). We find that, with the single exception of sensitivity to the mass hierarchy, the second maximum plays only a marginal role due to the experimental difficulties to obtain a statistically significant and sufficiently background-free event sample at low energies. This conclusion is valid for both water Cherenkov and liquid argon detectors. Moreover, we confirm that non-standard neutrino interactions are very hard to distinguish experimentally from standard three-flavor effects and can lead to a considerable loss of sensitivity to \theta_{13}, the mass hierarchy and CP violation.Comment: RevTex 4.1, 23 pages, 10 figures; v2: Typos corrected, very minor clarifications; matches published version; v3: Fixed a typo in the first equation in sec. III

Superconducting Junctions with Ferromagnetic, Antiferromagnetic or Charge-Density-Wave Interlayers

Spectra and spin structures of Andreev interface states and the Josephson current are investigated theoretically in junctions between clean superconductors (SC) with ordered interlayers. The Josephson current through the ferromagnet-insulator-ferromagnet interlayer can exhibit a nonmonotonic dependence on the misorientation angle. The characteristic behavior takes place if the pi state is the equilibrium state of the junction in the particular case of parallel magnetizations. We find a novel channel of quasiparticle reflection (Q reflection) from the simplest two-sublattice antiferromagnet (AF) on a bipartite lattice. As a combined effect of Andreev and Q reflections, Andreev states arise at the AF/SC interface. When the Q reflection dominates the specular one, Andreev bound states have almost zero energy on AF/ s-wave SC interfaces, whereas they lie near the edge of the continuous spectrum for AF/d-wave SC boundaries. For an s-wave SC/AF/s-wave SC junction, the bound states are found to split and carry the supercurrent. Our analytical results are based on a novel quasiclassical approach, which applies to interfaces involving itinerant antiferromagnets. Similar effects can take place on interfaces of superconductors with charge density wave materials (CDW), including the possible d-density wave state (DDW) of the cuprates.Comment: LT24 conference proceeding, 2 pages, 1 figur

Special Topic: Chesapeake Bay Management -- Welfare Implications of Restricted Triazine Herbicide Use in the Chesapeake Bay Region

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has responsibility under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIERA) to formulate pesticide policies on the basis of risk-benefit analyses. To measure the benefits of pesticide use, one must look at the losses in consumer and producer surpluses that would accompany the banning of a particular pesticide. A typical scenario is one in which the banned pesticide is replaced by another that is more costly and/or less effective. The resulting decrease in supply raises the price of the crop on which the banned pesticide is used, and may alter the prices of substitute and complementary crops as well. This article presents a simulation model of com and soybean production in the Chesapeake Bay drainage area to investigate the economic implications of a local ban on triazine herbicides. It reports estimates of lost producer and consumer surplus and the effect that the ban would have on the profitability of agricultural production in the region.Environmental Economics and Policy, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Cow-Calf Production Response to Pasture Forage Species

To study cow-calf production on fragile soils, 32 ‘tester’ cow-calf pairs were grazed on fertilized and unfertilized meadow brome (Bromus biebersteinii Roem & Schult.) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)/meadow brome pastures, to determine the effects of forage type and fertility on pasture yield and botanical composition; and on animal productivity including cow milk production, cow and calf average daily gain and total gain (per head and per hectare). Cow fertility may be depressed on alfalfa-based pastures, therefore, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were also examined. Cow average daily gain (0.15 kg d-1) and milk production (4.82 kg d-1) were not affected by pasture type or fertility level. However, calf average daily gain was 11% higher when calves were grazed on legume- vs.grass-based pastures (1.20 vs. 1.08 kg d-1; P=0.01). Blood urea nitrogen levels were at the top of the normal range for cows grazing alfalfa-based pastures (7.79-8.09 mmol L-1), but were within the normal range (3.53-5.01 mmol L-1) for cows grazing grass-based pastures

Magnetism and superconductivity at LAO/STO-interfaces: the role of Ti 3d interface electrons

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity are in most cases adverse. However, recent experiments reveal that they coexist at interfaces of LaAlO3 and SrTiO3. We analyze the magnetic state within density functional theory and provide evidence that magnetism is not an intrinsic property of the two-dimensional electron liquid at the interface. We demonstrate that the robust ferromagnetic state is induced by the oxygen vacancies in SrTiO3- or in the LaAlO3-layer. This allows for the notion that areas with increased density of oxygen vacancies produce ferromagnetic puddles and account for the previous observation of a superparamagnetic behavior in the superconducting state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Physical Review B (Rapid Communications

Interface-induced d-wave pairing

We discuss a scenario for interface-induced superconductivity involving pairing by dipolar excitations proximate to a two-dimensional electron system controlled by a transverse electric field. If the interface consists of transition metal oxide materials, the repulsive on-site Coulomb interaction is typically strong and a superconducting state is formed via exchange of non-local dipolar excitations in the d-wave channel. Perspectives to enhance the superconducting transition temperature are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Interface hole-doping in cuprate-titanate superlattices

The electronic structure of interfaces between YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_6$ and SrTiO$_3$ is studied using local spin density approximation (LSDA) with intra-atomic Coulomb repulsion (LSDA+U). We find a metallic state in cuprate/titanate heterostructures with the hole carriers concentrated substantially in the CuO$_2$-layers and in the first interface TiO$_2$ and SrO planes. This effective interface doping appears due to the polarity of interfaces, caused by the first incomplete copper oxide unit cell. Interface-induced high pre-doping of CuO$_2$-layers is a key mechanism controlling the superconducting properties in engineered field-effect devices realized on the basis of cuprate/titanate superlattices.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure