580 research outputs found
Hydrology and climatology at Laguna La Gaiba, lowland Bolivia: complex responses to climatic forcings over the last 25,000 years
Diatom, geochemical and isotopic data provide a record of environmental change in Laguna La Gaiba, lowland Bolivia, over the last ca. 25 000 years. High-resolution diatom analysis around the last glacial–interglacial transition provides new insights into this period of change. The full and late glacial lake was generally quite shallow, but with evidence of periodic flooding. At about 13,100 cal a BP, just before the start of the Younger Dryas chronozone, the diatoms indicate shallower water conditions, but there is a marked change at about 12,200 cal a BP indicating the onset of a period of high variability, with rising water levels
punctuated by periodic drying. From ca. 11,800 to 10,000 cal a BP stable, deeper water conditions persisted. There is evidence for drying in the early to middle Holocene, but not as pronounced as that reported from elsewhere in the southern hemisphere tropics of South America. This was followed by the onset of wetter conditions in the late Holocene consistent with insolation forcing. Conditions very similar to present were established about 2,100 cal a BP. A complex response to both insolation forcing and millennial scale events originating in the North Atlantic is noted
Neutrino masses in the Lepton Number Violating MSSM
We consider the most general supersymmetric model with minimal particle
content and an additional discrete Z_3 symmetry (instead of R-parity), which
allows lepton number violating terms and results in non-zero Majorana neutrino
masses. We investigate whether the currently measured values for lepton masses
and mixing can be reproduced. We set up a framework in which Lagrangian
parameters can be initialised without recourse to assumptions concerning
trilinear or bilinear superpotential terms, CP-conservation or
intergenerational mixing and analyse in detail the one loop corrections to the
neutrino masses. We present scenarios in which the experimental data are
reproduced and show the effect varying lepton number violating couplings has on
the predicted atmospheric and solar mass^2 differences. We find that with
bilinear lepton number violating couplings in the superpotential of the order 1
MeV the atmospheric mass scale can be reproduced. Certain trilinear
superpotential couplings, usually, of the order of the electron Yukawa coupling
can give rise to either atmospheric or solar mass scales and bilinear
supersymmetry breaking terms of the order 0.1 GeV^2 can set the solar mass
scale. Further details of our calculation, Lagrangian, Feynman rules and
relevant generic loop diagrams, are presented in three Appendices.Comment: 48 pages, 7 figures, v2 references added, typos corrected, published
versio
Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory of Relativistic Gases in 2-D Cosmological Models
A kinetic theory of relativistic gases in a two-dimensional space is
developed in order to obtain the equilibrium distribution function and the
expressions for the fields of energy per particle, pressure, entropy per
particle and heat capacities in equilibrium. Furthermore, by using the method
of Chapman and Enskog for a kinetic model of the Boltzmann equation the
non-equilibrium energy-momentum tensor and the entropy production rate are
determined for a universe described by a two-dimensional Robertson-Walker
metric. The solutions of the gravitational field equations that consider the
non-equilibrium energy-momentum tensor - associated with the coefficient of
bulk viscosity - show that opposed to the four-dimensional case, the cosmic
scale factor attains a maximum value at a finite time decreasing to a "big
crunch" and that there exists a solution of the gravitational field equations
corresponding to a "false vacuum". The evolution of the fields of pressure,
energy density and entropy production rate with the time is also discussed.Comment: 23 pages, accepted in PR
Propagators and WKB-exactness in the plane wave limit of AdSxS
Green functions for the scalar, spinor and vector fields in a plane wave
geometry arising as a Penrose limit of are obtained. The
Schwinger-DeWitt technique directly gives the results in the plane wave
background, which turns out to be WKB-exact. Therefore the structural
similarity with flat space results is unveiled. In addition, based on the local
character of the Penrose limit, it is claimed that for getting the correct
propagators in the limit one can rely on the first terms of the direct geodesic
contribution in the Schwinger-DeWitt expansion of the original propagators .
This is explicitly shown for the Einstein Static Universe, which has the same
Penrose limit as with equal radii, and for a number of other
illustrative cases.Comment: 18 pages, late
Accessing transversity with interference fragmentation functions
We discuss in detail the option to access the transversity distribution
function by utilizing the analyzing power of interference
fragmentation functions in two-pion production inside the same current jet. The
transverse polarization of the fragmenting quark is related to the transverse
component of the relative momentum of the hadron pair via a new azimuthal
angle. As a specific example, we spell out thoroughly the way to extract
from a measured single spin asymmetry in two-pion inclusive
lepton-nucleon scattering. To estimate the sizes of observable effects we
employ a spectator model for the fragmentation functions. The resulting
asymmetry of our example is discussed as arising in different scenarios for the
transversity.Comment: 17 pages, 15 figures in .eps format included, typesetted in RevTeX
and epsfig.sty, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Lepton Flavor Violating Z Decays in the Zee Model
We calculate lepton flavor violating (LFV) Z decays Z \to {{e_i^\pm}}e_j^\mp
(i, j = e, \mu, \tau ; i\neq j) in the Zee model keeping in view the radiative
leptonic decays e_i\to e_j\gamma (i = \mu, \tau ; j = e, \mu ; i\neq j), \mu
decay and anomalous muon magnetic moment (\mu AMM). We investigate three
different cases of Zee f_{ij} coupling (A) f_{e\mu}^2 = f_{\mu\tau}^2= f_{\tau
e}^2, (B) f_{e\mu}^2 \gg f_{\tau e}^2 \gg f_{\mu\tau}^2, and (C) f_{\mu\tau}^2
\gg f_{e\mu}^2 \gg f_{\tau e}^2 subject to the neutrino phenomenology.
Interestingly, we find that, although the case (C) satisfies the large excess
value of \mu AMM, however, it is unable to explain the solar neutrino
experimental result, whereas the case (B) satisfies the bi-maximal neutrino
mixing scenario, but confronts with the result of \mu AMM experiment. We also
find that among all the three cases, only the case (C) gives rise to largest
contribution to the ratio B(Z\to e^\pm\tau^\mp)/B(Z\to \mu^\pm \mu^\mp) \simeq
{10}^{-8} which is still two order less than the accessible value to be probed
by the future linear colliders, whereas for the other two cases, this ratio is
too low to be observed even in the near future for all possible LFV Z decay
modes.Comment: 12 pages, RevTex, 2 figures, 3 Tables, typos corrected, reference
added, version to appear in Phys. Rev.
Examining Periodic Solar Wind Density Structures Observed in the SECCHI Heliospheric Imagers
We present an analysis of small-scale, periodic, solar-wind density
enhancements (length-scales as small as \approx 1000 Mm) observed in images
from the Heliospheric Imager (HI) aboard STEREO A. We discuss their possible
relationship to periodic fluctuations of the proton density that have been
identified at 1 AU using in-situ plasma measurements. Specifically, Viall,
Kepko, and Spence (2008) examined 11 years of in-situ solar-wind density
measurements at 1 AU and demonstrated that not only turbulent structures, but
also non-turbulent periodic density structures exist in the solar wind with
scale sizes of hundreds to one thousand Mm. In a subsequent paper, Viall,
Spence, and Kasper (2009) analyzed the {\alpha} to proton solar-wind abundance
ratio measured during one such event of periodic density structures,
demonstrating that the plasma behavior was highly suggestive that either
temporally or spatially varying coronal source plasma created those density
structures. Large periodic density structures observed at 1 AU, which were
generated in the corona, can be observable in coronal and heliospheric
white-light images if they possess sufficiently high density contrast. Indeed,
we identify such periodic density structures as they enter the HI field of view
and follow them as they advect with the solar wind through the images. The
smaller periodic density structures that we identify in the images are
comparable in size to the larger structures analyzed in-situ at 1 AU, yielding
further evidence that periodic density enhancements are a consequence of
coronal activity as the solar wind is formed.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures. The final publication is available at
http://www.springerlink.co
Radio Bursts Associated with Flare and Ejecta in the 13 July 2004 Event
We investigate coronal transients associated with a GOES M6.7 class flare and
a coronal mass ejection (CME) on 13 July 2004. During the rising phase of the
flare, a filament eruption, loop expansion, a Moreton wave, and an ejecta were
observed. An EIT wave was detected later on. The main features in the radio
dynamic spectrum were a frequency-drifting continuum and two type II bursts.
Our analysis shows that if the first type II burst was formed in the low
corona, the burst heights and speed are close to the projected distances and
speed of the Moreton wave (a chromospheric shock wave signature). The
frequency-drifting radio continuum, starting above 1 GHz, was formed almost two
minutes prior to any shock features becoming visible, and a fast-expanding
piston (visible as the continuum) could have launched another shock wave. A
possible scenario is that a flare blast overtook the earlier transient, and
ignited the first type II burst. The second type II burst may have been formed
by the same shock, but only if the shock was propagating at a constant speed.
This interpretation also requires that the shock-producing regions were located
at different parts of the propagating structure, or that the shock was passing
through regions with highly different atmospheric densities. This complex
event, with a multitude of radio features and transients at other wavelengths,
presents evidence for both blast-wave-related and CME-related radio emissions.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures; Solar Physics Topical Issue, in pres
Comments on the Boundary Scattering Phase
We present a simple solution to the crossing equation for an open string
worldsheet reflection matrix, with boundaries preserving a SU(1|2)^2 residual
symmetry, which constrains the boundary dressing factor. In addition, we also
propose an analogous crossing equation for the dressing factor where extra
boundary degrees of freedom preserve a SU(2|2)^2 residual symmetry.Comment: 14 pages, 2 figures; v2: affiliation correcte
Probing Left-handed Slepton Flavor Mixing at Future Lepton Colliders
It has been argued in the literature that the search for the slepton
oscillation phenomenon can be a powerful probe of intergenerational mixing
between sleptons, once sleptons are found at future colliders. In this article
we estimate possible reach of future lepton colliders in probing left-handed
slepton flavor mixing, especially mixing between the first and third
generations, on which constraints imposed by other processes like are very weak. collider is suitable for this purpose, since it
can produce, if kinematically allowed, sleptons of the first generation via
t-channel, in addition to s-channel. Utilizing e^+e^- \to \tau e + 4jets + \E
signal at linear collider with integrated luminosity L=50 fb^{-1}(500
fb^{-1}) it may be possible to reach mixing angle and mass difference GeV for sneutrinos in the first and third generations at the
statistical significance of 5 \sigma.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figures. A new section added. Conclusion unchanged. To
appear in Phys. Rev.
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