5,282 research outputs found
Limits on the Non-Standard Interactions of Neutrinos from Colliders
We provide an effective Lagrangian analysis of contact non-standard
interactions of neutrinos with electrons, which can be effectively mediated by
extra particles, and examine the associated experimental limits. At present,
such interactions are strongly constrained only for : the bounds are
loose for and absent for . We emphasize the unique role
played by the reaction in providing direct
constraints on such non-standard interactions.Comment: 15 LaTeX pages, 6 postscript figures, uses epsfig. New discussion on
bounds from reactor anti-neutrino scattering off electrons; minor changes. To
appear on Phys. Lett.
A Two-Dimensional Simulation Model of the Bicoid Gradient in Drosophila
BACKGROUND:Bicoid (Bcd) is a Drosophila morphogenetic protein responsible for patterning the anterior structures in embryos. Recent experimental studies have revealed important insights into the behavior of this morphogen gradient, making it necessary to develop a model that can recapitulate the biological features of the system, including its dynamic and scaling properties. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We present a biologically realistic 2-D model of the dynamics of the Bcd gradient in Drosophila embryos. This model is based on equilibrium binding of Bcd molecules to non-specific, low affinity DNA sites throughout the Drosophila genome. It considers both the diffusion media within which the Bcd gradient is formed and the dynamic and other relevant properties of bcd mRNA from which Bcd protein is produced. Our model recapitulates key features of the Bcd protein gradient observed experimentally, including its scaling properties and the stability of its nuclear concentrations during development. Our simulation model also allows us to evaluate the effects of other biological activities on Bcd gradient formation, including the dynamic redistribution of bcd mRNA in early embryos. Our simulation results suggest that, in our model, Bcd protein diffusion is important for the formation of an exponential gradient in embryos. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:The 2-D model described in this report is a simple and versatile simulation procedure, providing a quantitative evaluation of the Bcd gradient system. Our results suggest an important role of Bcd binding to non-specific, low-affinity DNA sites in proper formation of the Bcd gradient in our model. They demonstrate that highly complex biological systems can be effectively modeled with relatively few parameters
Effects of new physics in neutrino oscillations in matter
A new flavor changing electron neutrino interaction with matter would always
dominate the nu_e oscillation probability at sufficiently high neutrino
energies. Being suppressed by theta_{13}, the energy scale at which the new
effect starts to be relevant may be within the reach of realistic experiments,
where the peculiar dependence of the signal with energy could give rise to a
clear signature in the nu_e --> nu_tau channel. The latter could be observed by
means of a coarse large magnetized detector by exploiting tau --> mu decays. We
discuss the possibility of identifying or constraining such effects with a high
energy neutrino factory. We also comment on the model independent limits on
them.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure
Can lepton flavor violating interactions explain the LSND results?
If the atmospheric and the solar neutrino problem are both explained by
neutrino oscillations, and if there are only three light neutrinos, then all
mass-squared differences between the neutrinos are known. In such a case,
existing terrestrial neutrino oscillation experiments cannot be significantly
affected by neutrino oscillations, but, in principle there could be an anomaly
in the neutrino flux due to new neutrino interactions. We discuss how a
non-standard muon decay would modify the
neutrino production processes of these experiments. Since violation
is small for New Physics above the weak scale one can use related
flavor-violating charged lepton processes to constrain these decays in a model
independent way. We show that the upper bounds on ,
muonium-antimuonium conversion and rule out any observable
effect for the present experiments due to
for , respectively. Applying similar arguments to
flavor-changing semi-leptonic reactions we exclude the possibility that the
"oscillation signals" observed at LSND are due to flavor-changing interactions
that conserve total lepton number.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, Latex; minor correction
Integration and disruption effects of shape and texture in haptic search
In a search task, where one has to search for the presence of a target among distractors, the target is sometimes easily found, whereas in other searches it is much harder to find. The performance in a search task is influenced by the identity of the target, the identity of the distractors and the differences between the two. In this study, these factors were manipulated by varying the target and distractors in shape (cube or sphere) and roughness (rough or smooth) in a haptic search task. Participants had to grasp a bundle of items and determine as fast as possible whether a predefined target was present or not. It was found that roughness and edges were relatively salient features and the search for the presence of these features was faster than for their absence. If the task was easy, the addition of these features could also disrupt performance, even if they were irrelevant for the search task. Another important finding was that the search for a target that differed in two properties from the distractors was faster than a task with only a single property difference, although this was only found if the two target properties were non-salient. This means that shape and texture can be effectively integrated. Finally, it was found that edges are more beneficial to a search task than disrupting, whereas for roughness this was the other way round
Lepton number violating interactions and their effects on neutrino oscillation experiments
Mixing between bosons that transform differently under the standard model
gauge group, but identically under its unbroken subgroup, can induce
interactions that violate the total lepton number. We discuss four-fermion
operators that mediate lepton number violating neutrino interactions both in a
model-independent framework and within supersymmetry (SUSY) without R-parity.
The effective couplings of such operators are constrained by: i) the upper
bounds on the relevant elementary couplings between the bosons and the
fermions, ii) by the limit on universality violation in pion decays, iii) by
the data on neutrinoless double beta decay and, iv) by loop-induced neutrino
masses. We find that the present bounds imply that lepton number violating
neutrino interactions are not relevant for the solar and atmospheric neutrino
problems. Within SUSY without R-parity also the LSND anomaly cannot be
explained by such interactions, but one cannot rule out an effect
model-independently. Possible consequences for future terrestrial neutrino
oscillation experiments and for neutrinos from a supernova are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 2 figures, Late
On the massless "just-so" solution to the solar neutrino problem
We study the effect of the non-resonant, vacuum oscillation-like neutrino
flavor conversion induced by non-standard flavor changing and non-universal
flavor diagonal neutrino interactions with electrons in the sun. We have found
an acceptable fit for the combined analysis for the solar experiments total
rates, the Super-Kamiokande (SK) energy spectrum and zenith angle dependence.
Phenomenological constraints on non-standard flavor changing and non-universal
flavor diagonal neutrino interactions are considered.Comment: 4 pages, Latex, uses eps
Reexamining nonstandard interaction effects on supernova neutrino flavor oscillations
Several extensions of the standard electroweak model allow new four-fermion
interactions (nu_a nu_b * ff) with strength eps_ab*G_F, where (a,b) are flavor
indices. We revisit their effects on flavor oscillations of massive
(anti)neutrinos in supernovae, in order to achieve, in the region above the
protoneutron star, an analytical treatment valid for generic values of the
neutrino mixing angles (omega,phi,psi)=(theta_12,theta_13,theta_23). Assuming
that eps_ab<<1, we find that the leading effects on the flavor transitions
occurring at high (H) and low (L) density along the supernova matter profile
can be simply embedded through the replacements phi-->phi+eps_H and
omega-->omega+eps_L, respectively, where eps_H and eps_L are specific linear
combinations of the eps_ab's. Similar replacements hold for eventual
oscillations in the Earth matter. From a phenomenological point of view, the
most relevant consequence is a possible uncontrolled bias (phi-->phi+eps_H) in
the value of the mixing angle phi inferred by inversion of supernova neutrino
data. Such a drawback, however, does not preclude the discrimination of the
neutrino mass spectrum hierarchy (direct or inverse) through supernova neutrino
oscillations.Comment: Text clarified, one figure added. To appear in PR
A Little Higgs model of neutrino masses
Little Higgs models are formulated as effective theories with a cut-off of up
to 100 times the electroweak scale. Neutrino masses are then a puzzle, since
the usual see-saw mechanism involves a much higher scale that would introduce
quadratic corrections to the Higgs mass parameter. We propose a model that can
naturally accommodate the observed neutrino masses and mixings in Little Higgs
scenarios. Our framework does not involve any large scale or suppressed Yukawa
couplings, and it implies the presence of three extra (Dirac) neutrinos at the
TeV scale. The masses of the light neutrinos are induced radiatively, they are
proportional to small (\approx keV) mass parameters that break lepton number
and are suppressed by the Little Higgs cut-off.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Spatially resolved BPT mapping of nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies
We present spatially resolved BPT mapping of the extended narrow line regions
(ENLRs) of seven nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies, using HST narrow band filter
imaging. We construct the BPT diagrams using 0.1" resolution emission
line images of [O III]5007, H, [S
II]6717,6731, and H. By mapping these diagnostic lines
according to the BPT classification, we dissect the ENLR into Seyfert, LINER,
and star-forming regions. The nucleus and ionization cones are dominated by
Seyfert-type emission, which can be interpreted as predominantly
photoionization by the active galactic nucleus (AGN). The Seyfert nucleus and
ionization cones transition to and are surrounded by a LINER cocoon, extending
up to 250 pc in thickness. The ubiquity of the LINER cocoon in Seyfert 2
galaxies suggests that the circumnuclear regions are not necessarily
Seyfert-type, and LINER activity plays an important role in Seyfert 2 galaxies.
We demonstrate that spatially resolved diagnostics are crucial to understanding
the excitation mechanisms in different regions and the AGN-host galaxy
interactions.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
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