Positronium formation from valence and inner shells in noble gas atoms

When recent experimental positronium (Ps) formation cross sections in noble gases have been compared with the most up-to date theoretical studies, the agreement is qualitative, but not quantitative. In this paper we re-examine this process and show that at low energies Ps formation must be treated nonperturbatively. We also look at Ps formation with inner shell electrons.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods

The SCUBA-2 Cosmology Legacy Survey: the submillimetre properties of Lyman-break galaxies at z = 3-5

We present detections at 850 μm of the Lyman-break galaxy (LBG) population at z ≈ 3, 4, and 5 using data from the Submillimetre Common User Bolometer Array 2 Cosmology Legacy Survey in the United Kingdom Infrared Deep Sky Survey ‘Ultra Deep Survey’ field. We employ stacking to probe beneath the survey limit, measuring the average 850 μm flux density of LBGs at z ≈ 3, 4, and 5 with typical ultraviolet luminosities of L1700 ≈ 1029 erg s−1 Hz−1. We measure 850 μm flux densities of (0.25 ± 0.03), (0.41 ± 0.06), and (0.88 ± 0.23) mJy, respectively, finding that they contribute at most 20 per cent to the cosmic far-infrared (IR) background at 850 μm. Fitting an appropriate range of spectral energy distributions to the z ∼ 3, 4, and 5 LBG stacked 24–850 μm fluxes, we derive IR luminosities of L8-1000 μm ≈ 3.2, 5.5, and 11.0 × 1011 L⊙ [and star formation rates (SFRs) of ≈50–200 M⊙ yr−1], respectively. We find that the evolution in the IR luminosity density of LBGs is broadly consistent with model predictions for the expected contribution of luminous-to-ultraluminous IR galaxies at these epochs. We observe a positive correlation between stellar mass and IR luminosity and confirm that, for a fixed mass, the reddest LBGs (UV slope β → 0) are redder due to dust extinction, with SFR(IR)/SFR(UV) increasing by about an order of magnitude over −2 < β < 0 with SFR(IR)/SFR(UV) ∼ 20 for the reddest LBGs. Furthermore, the most massive LBGs tend to have higher obscured-to-unobscured ratios, hinting at a variation in the obscuration properties across the mass range

Chemical structural effects on γ-ray spectra of positron annihilation in fluorobenzenes

Spectra of γ-ray Doppler shifts for positron annihilation in benzene and its fluoro-derivatives are simulated using low energy plane wave positron (LEPWP) approximation. The results are compared with available measurements. It is found that the Doppler shifts in these larger aromatic compounds are dominated by the contributions of the valence electrons and that the LEPWP model overestimates the measurements by approximately 30%, in agreement with previous findings in noble gases and small molecules. It is further revealed that the halogen atoms not only switch the sign of the charges on carbon atoms that they bond to, but that they also polarize other C-H bonds in the molecule leading to a redistribution of the molecular electrostatic potentials. As a result, it is likely that the halogen atoms contribute more significantly to the annihilation process. The present study also suggests that, while the Doppler shifts are sensitive to the number of valence electrons in the molecules, they are less sensitive to the chemical structures of isomers that have the same numbers and type of atoms and, hence, the same numbers of electrons. Further investigation of this effect is warranted

Irish Thoracic Society: Proceeds of Annual Scientific Meeting held Friday & Saturday 8th & 9th November, 1996

The abstract is included in the text