Effect of charged impurities on graphene thermoelectric power near the Dirac point

In graphene devices with a varying degree of disorders as characterized by their carrier mobility and minimum conductivity, we have studied the thermoelectric power along with the electrical conductivity over a wide range of temperatures. We have found that the Mott relation fails in the vicinity of the Dirac point in high-mobility graphene. By properly taking account of the high temperature effects, we have obtained good agreement between the Boltzmann transport theory and our experimental data. In low-mobility graphene where the charged impurities induce relatively high residual carrier density, the Mott relation holds at all gate voltages

A core eating network and its modulations underlie diverse eating phenomena

We propose that a core eating network and its modulations account for much of what is currently known about the neural activity underlying a wide range of eating phenomena in humans (excluding homeostasis and related phenomena). The core eating network is closely adapted from a network that Kaye, Fudge, and Paulus (2009) proposed to explain the neurocircuitry of eating, including a ventral reward pathway and a dorsal control pathway. In a review across multiple literatures that focuses on experiments using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), we first show that neural responses to food cues, such as food pictures, utilize the same core eating network as eating. Consistent with the theoretical perspective of grounded cognition, food cues activate eating simulations that produce reward predictions about a perceived food and potentially motivate its consumption. Reviewing additional literatures, we then illustrate how various factors modulate the core eating network, increasing and/or decreasing activity in subsets of its neural areas. These modulating factors include food significance (palatability, hunger), body mass index (BMI, overweight/obesity), eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating), and various eating goals (losing weight, hedonic pleasure, healthy living). By viewing all these phenomena as modulating a core eating network, it becomes possible to understand how they are related to one another within this common theoretical framework. Finally, we discuss future directions for better establishing the core eating network, its modulations, and their implications for behavior

A Revisit to Top Quark Forward-Backward Asymmetry

We analyze various models for the top quark forward-backward asymmetry ($A^t_{FB}$) at the Tevatron, using the latest CDF measurements on different $A^t_{FB}$s and the total cross section. The axigluon model in Ref. \cite{paul} has difficulties in explaining the large rapidity dependent asymmetry and mass dependent asymmetry simultaneously and the parameter space relevant to $A^t_{FB}$ is ruled out by the latest dijet search at ATLAS. In contrast to Ref. \cite{cp}, we demonstrate that the large parameter space in this model with a $U(1)_d$ flavor symemtry is not ruled out by flavor physics. The $t$-channel flavor-violating $Z^{\prime}$ \cite{hitoshi}, $W^{\prime}$\cite{waiyee} and diquark \cite{tim} models all have parameter regions that satisfy different $A_{FB}$ measurements within 1 $\sigma$. However, the heavy $Z^{\prime}$ model which can be marginally consistent with the total cross section is severely constrained by the Tevatron direct search of same-sign top quark pair. The diquark model suffers from too large total cross section and is difficult to fit the $t \bar{t}$ invariant mass distribution. The electroweak precision constraints on the $W'$ model based on $Z'$-$Z$ mixings is estimated and the result is rather weak ($m_{Z'} > 450$ GeV). Therefore, the heavy $W^{\prime}$ model seems to give the best fit for all the measurements. The $W^{\prime}$ model predicts the $t\bar{t}+j$ signal from $tW^{\prime}$ production and is 10%-50% of SM $t\bar{t}$ at the 7 TeV LHC. Such $t+j$ resonance can serve as the direct test of the $W^{\prime}$ model.Comment: 25 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

Dark matter coupling to electroweak gauge and Higgs bosons: an effective field theory approach

If dark matter is a new species of particle produced in the early universe as a cold thermal relic (a weakly-interacting massive particle-WIMP), its present abundance, its scattering with matter in direct-detection experiments, its present-day annihilation signature in indirect-detection experiments, and its production and detection at colliders, depend crucially on the WIMP coupling to standard-model (SM) particles. It is usually assumed that the WIMP couples to the SM sector through its interactions with quarks and leptons. In this paper we explore the possibility that the WIMP coupling to the SM sector is via electroweak gauge and Higgs bosons. In the absence of an ultraviolet-complete particle-physics model, we employ effective field theory to describe the WIMP--SM coupling. We consider both scalars and Dirac fermions as possible dark-matter candidates. Starting with an exhaustive list of operators up to dimension 8, we present detailed calculation of dark-matter annihilations to all possible final states, including gamma gamma, gamma Z, gamma h, ZZ, Zh, W+ W-, hh, and f fbar, and demonstrate the correlations among them. We compute the mass scale of the effective field theory necessary to obtain the correct dark-matter mass density, and well as the resulting photon line signals

Halo Mass Profiles and Low Surface Brightness Galaxies Rotation Curves

A recent study has claimed that the rotation curve shapes and mass densities of Low Surface Brightness (LSB) galaxies are largely consistent with $\Lambda$CDM predictions, in contrast to a large body of observational work. I demonstrate that the method used to derive this conclusion is incapable of distinguishing the characteristic steep CDM mass-density distribution from the core-dominated mass-density distributions found observationally: even core-dominated pseudo-isothermal haloes would be inferred to be consistent with CDM. This method can therefore make no definitive statements on the (dis)agreement between the data and CDM simulations. After introducing an additional criterion that does take the slope of the mass-distribution into account I find that only about a quarter of the LSB galaxies investigated are possibly consistent with CDM. However, for most of these the fit parameters are so weakly constrained that this is not a strong conclusion. Only 3 out of 52 galaxies have tightly constrained solutions consistent with $\Lambda$CDM. Two of these galaxies are likely dominated by stars, leaving only one possible dark matter dominated, CDM-consistent candidate, forming a mere 2 per cent of the total sample. These conclusions are based on comparison of data and simulations at identical radii and fits to the entire rotation curves. LSB galaxies that are consistent with CDM simulations, if they exist, seem to be rare indeed.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

The Role of Irrigation in Determining the Global Land Use Impacts of Biofuels

In recent years there has been a flurry of activity aimed at evaluating the land use consequences of biofuels programs and the associated carbon releases. In this paper we argue that these studies have tended to underestimate the ensuing land use change, because they have ignored the role of irrigation, and associated constraints on cropland expansion. In this paper, we develop a new general equilibrium model which distinguishes irrigated and rainfed cropping industries at a global scale. Using the new model we evaluate the implications of land use change due to US ethanol programs, in the context of short run constraints on the expansion of irrigated cropland. Since irrigated area tends to offer a higher yield than its rainfed counterpart, this provides an upper bound on the change in cropland following biofuel expansion. We find that the biofuel-induced expansion in global cropland cover is about 16 percent larger when the irrigation constraint is imposed. This translates into a 21 percent increase in land use emissions due to US ethanol production. This estimate represents an upper bound, since irrigated area can be expanded over the medium run in many places around the world.Land Economics/Use, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,