New Physics Signals through CP Violation in B -> rho,pi

We describe here a method for detecting physics beyond the standard model via CP violation in B->rho,pi decays. Using a Dalitz-plot analysis to obtain alpha, along with an analytical extraction of the various tree (T) and penguin (P) amplitudes, we obtain a criterion for the absence of new physics (NP). This criterion involves the comparison of the measured |P/T| ratio with its value as predicted by QCD factorization. We show that the detection of NP via this method has a good efficiency when compared with the corresponding technique using B->pi,pi decays.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, talk given at MRST 2004: From Quarks to Cosmology, Concordia University, Montreal, May 200

Precession during merger 1: Strong polarization changes are observationally accessible features of strong-field gravity during binary black hole merger

The short gravitational wave signal from the merger of compact binaries encodes a surprising amount of information about the strong-field dynamics of merger into frequencies accessible to ground-based interferometers. In this paper we describe a previously-unknown "precession" of the peak emission direction with time, both before and after the merger, about the total angular momentum direction. We demonstrate the gravitational wave polarization encodes the orientation of this direction to the line of sight. We argue the effects of polarization can be estimated nonparametrically, directly from the gravitational wave signal as seen along one line of sight, as a slowly-varying feature on top of a rapidly-varying carrier. After merger, our results can be interpreted as a coherent excitation of quasinormal modes of different angular orders, a superposition which naturally "precesses" and modulates the line-of-sight amplitude. Recent analytic calculations have arrived at a similar geometric interpretation. We suspect the line-of-sight polarization content will be a convenient observable with which to define new high-precision tests of general relativity using gravitational waves. Additionally, as the nonlinear merger process seeds the initial coherent perturbation, we speculate the amplitude of this effect provides a new probe of the strong-field dynamics during merger. To demonstrate the ubiquity of the effects we describe, we summarize the post-merger evolution of 104 generic precessing binary mergers. Finally, we provide estimates for the detectable impacts of precession on the waveforms from high-mass sources. These expressions may identify new precessing binary parameters whose waveforms are dissimilar from the existing sample.Comment: 11 figures; v2 includes response to referee suggestion

Effects of disorder on the vortex charge

We study the influence of disorder on the vortex charge, both due to random pinning of the vortices and due to scattering off non-magnetic impurities. In the case when there are no impurities present, but the vortices are randomly distributed, the effect is very small, except when two or more vortices are close by. When impurities are present, they have a noticeable effect on the vortex charge. This, together with the effect of temperature, changes appreciably the vortex charge. In the case of an attractive impurity potential the sign of the charge naturally changes.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures. Accepted in Phys. Rev.

COVID-19 Infection: Implications for Perioperative and Critical Care Physicians.

Healthcare systems worldwide are responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an emerging infectious syndrome caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. Patients with COVID-19 can progress from asymptomatic or mild illness to hypoxemic respiratory failure or multisystem organ failure, necessitating intubation and intensive care management. Healthcare providers, and particularly anesthesiologists, are at the frontline of this epidemic, and they need to be aware of the best available evidence to guide therapeutic management of patients with COVID-19 and to keep themselves safe while doing so. Here, the authors review COVID-19 pathogenesis, presentation, diagnosis, and potential therapeutics, with a focus on management of COVID-19-associated respiratory failure. The authors draw on literature from other viral epidemics, treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome, and recent publications on COVID-19, as well as guidelines from major health organizations. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the evidence currently available to guide management of critically ill patients with COVID-19

Voltage from mechanical stress in type-II superconductors: Depinning of the magnetic flux by moving dislocations

Mechanical stress causes motion of defects in solids. We show that in a type-II superconductor a moving dislocation generates a pattern of current that exerts the depinning force on the surrounding vortex lattice. Concentration of dislocations and the mechanical stress needed to produce critical depinning currents are shown to be within practical range. When external magnetic field and transport current are present this effect generates voltage across the superconductor. Thus a superconductor can serve as an electrical sensor of the mechanical stress.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure

Fermi gas in harmonic oscillator potentials

Assuming the validity of grand canonical statistics, we study the properties of a spin-polarized Fermi gas in harmonic traps. Universal forms of Fermi temperature $T_F$, internal energy $U$ and the specific heat per particle of the trapped Fermi gas are calculated as a {\it function} of particle number, and the results compared with those of infinite number particles.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, LATE

Do you want to bet? The prevalence of problem gambling amongst athletes in the UK

This presentation was given as part of the 2011 London Workshop on Problem Gambling: Theory and (Best) Practice by Dr Daniel Rhind from the Sports Sciences subject area at Brunel University. The workshop was organised by Professor Fernand Gobet and Dr Marvin Schiller and hosted by Brunel University on the 13th September 2011

Exploring CP Violation with B_d -> D K_s Decays

We (re)examine CP violation in the decays B_d -> D K_s, where D represents D^0, D(bar), or one of their excited states. The quantity $\sin^2(2\beta + \gamma)$ can be extracted from the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> {\bar D}^{**0} K_s$ and $B_d(t) -> D^{**0} K_s$, where the $D^{**0}$ decays to $D^{(*)+}\pi^-$. If one considers a non-CP-eigenstate hadronic final state to which both D(bar) and D^0 can decay (e.g. $K^+\pi^-$), then one can obtain two of the angles of the unitarity triangle from measurements of the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> (K^+\pi^-)_{D K_s}$ and $B_d(t) -> (K^-\pi^+)_{D K_s}$. There are no penguin contributions to these decays, so all measurements are theoretically clean.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Can One Measure the Weak Phase of a Penguin Diagram?

The b -> d penguin amplitude receives contributions from internal u, c and t-quarks. We show that it is impossible to measure the weak phase of any of these penguin contributions without theoretical input. However, it is possible to obtain the weak phase if one makes a single assumption involving the hadronic parameters. With such an assumption, one can test for the presence of new physics in the b -> d flavour-changing neutral current by comparing the weak phase of B_d^0-{\bar B}_d^0 mixing with that of the t-quark contribution to the b -> d penguin.Comment: 20 pages, no figure

Fluid Mechanical and Electrical Fluctuation Forces in Colloids

Fluctuations in fluid velocity and fluctuations in electric fields may both give rise to forces acting on small particles in colloidal suspensions. Such forces in part determine the thermodynamic stability of the colloid. At the classical statistical thermodynamic level, the fluid velocity and electric field contributions to the forces are comparable in magnitude. When quantum fluctuation effects are taken into account, the electric fluctuation induced van der Waals forces dominate those induced by purely fluid mechanical motions. The physical principles are applied in detail for the case of colloidal particle attraction to the walls of the suspension container and more briefly for the case of forces between colloidal particles.Comment: ReVTeX format, one *.eps figur