Leading Twist Amplitudes for Exclusive Neutrino Interactions in the Deeply Virtual Limit

Neutrino scattering on nucleons in the regime of deeply virtual kinematics is studied both in the charged and the neutral electroweak sectors using a formalism developed by Blumlein, Robaschik, Geyer and Collaborators for the analysis of the Virtual Compton amplitude in the generalized Bjorken region. We discuss the structure of the leading twist amplitudes of the process.Comment: 14 pages, 1 fig revised final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

A Quantum Many-Body Instability in the Thermodynamic Limit

Intrinsic decoherence in the thermodynamic limit is shown for a large class of many-body quantum systems in the unitary evolution in NMR and cavity QED. The effect largely depends on the inability of the system to recover the phases. Gaussian decaying in time of the fidelity is proved for spin systems and radiation-matter interaction.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure. Final version accepted for publication in Modern Physics Letters

Intensity Thresholds and the Statistics of the Temporal Occurrence of Solar Flares

Introducing thresholds to analyze time series of emission from the Sun enables a new and simple definition of solar flare events, and their interoccurrence times. Rescaling time by the rate of events, the waiting and quiet time distributions both conform to scaling functions that are independent of the intensity threshold over a wide range. The scaling functions are well described by a two parameter function, with parameters that depend on the phase of the solar cycle. For flares identified according to the current, standard definition, similar behavior is found.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, revtex

Neural Relax

We present an algorithm for data preprocessing of an associative memory inspired to an electrostatic problem that turns out to have intimate relations with information maximization

Testing the binary hypothesis for the formation and shaping of planetary nebulae

There is no quantitative theory to explain why a high 80% of all planetary nebulae are non-spherical. The Binary Hypothesis states that a companion to the progenitor of a central star of planetary nebula is required to shape the nebula and even for a planetary nebula to be formed at all. A way to test this hypothesis is to estimate the binary fraction of central stars of planetary nebulae and to compare it with that of the main sequence population. Preliminary results from photometric variability and the infrared excess techniques indicate that the binary fraction of central stars of planetary nebulae is higher than that of the main sequence, implying that PNe could preferentially form via a binary channel. This article briefly reviews these results and current studies aiming to refine the binary fraction.Comment: EUROWD12 Proceeding

Planetary nebulae : getting closer to an unbiased binary fraction

Why 80% of planetary nebulae are not spherical is not yet understood. The Binary Hypothesis states that a companion to the progenitor of the central star of a planetary nebula is required to shape the nebula and even for a planetary nebula to be formed at all. A way to test this hypothesis is to estimate the binary fraction of central stars of planetary nebula and to compare it with the main sequence population. Preliminary results from photometric variability and infrared excess techniques indicate that the binary fraction of central stars of planetary nebulae is higher than that of the putative main sequence progenitor population, implying that PNe could be preferentially formed via a binary channel. This article briefly reviews these results and future studies aiming to refine the binary fraction.Comment: SF2A 2012 proceeding

Transverse frames for Petrov type I spacetimes: a general algebraic procedure

We develop an algebraic procedure to rotate a general Newman-Penrose tetrad in a Petrov type I spacetime into a frame with Weyl scalars $\Psi_{1}$ and $\Psi_{3}$ equal to zero, assuming that initially all the Weyl scalars are non vanishing. The new frame highlights the physical properties of the spacetime. In particular, in a Petrov Type I spacetime, setting $\Psi_{1}$ and $\Psi_{3}$ to zero makes apparent the superposition of a Coulomb-type effect $\Psi_{2}$ with transverse degrees of freedom $\Psi_{0}$ and $\Psi_{4}$.Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Classical Quantum Gravit

Path Integral of the Two Dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Model

The equilibrium thermodynamics of the two dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger Model is derived by means of a path integral method which accounts for the variable range of the electronic hopping processes. While the lattice degrees of freedom are classical functions of time and are integrated out exactly, the electron particle paths are treated quantum mechanically. The free energy of the system and its temperature derivatives are computed by summing at any $T$ over the ensemble of relevant particle paths which mainly contribute to the total partition function. In the low $T$ regime, the {\it heat capacity over T} ratio shows un upturn peculiar of a glassy like behavior. This feature is more sizeable in the square lattice than in the linear chain as the overall hopping potential contribution to the total action is larger in higher dimensionality.Comment: Phys.Rev.B vol.71 (2005

A Solvable Model of Two-Dimensional Dilaton-Gravity Coupled to a Massless Scalar Field

We present a solvable model of two-dimensional dilaton-gravity coupled to a massless scalar field. We locally integrate the field equations and briefly discuss the properties of the solutions. For a particular choice of the coupling between the dilaton and the scalar field the model can be interpreted as the two-dimensional effective theory of 2+1 cylindrical gravity minimally coupled to a massless scalar field.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX, to be published in Phys. Rev.

On the generation of UHECRs in GRBs: a reappraisal

We re-examine critically the arguments raised against the theory that Ultra High Energy Cosmic Rays observed at Earth are produced in Gamma Ray Bursts. These include the limitations to the highest energy attainable by protons around the bursts' shocks, the spectral slope at the highest energies, the total energy released in non--thermal particles, the occurrence of doublets and triplets in the data reported by AGASA. We show that, to within the uncertainties in our current knowledge of GRBs, none of these objections is really fatal to the scenario. In particular, we show that the total energy budget of GRBs easily accounts for the energy injection rate necessary to account for UHECRs as observed at Earth. We also compute the expected particle spectrum at Earth, showing that it fits the HiRes and AGASA data to within statistical uncertainties. We consider the existence of multiplets in AGASA' data. To this end, we present a Langevin--like treatment for the motion of a charged particle in the IGM magnetic field, which allows us to estimate both the average and the rms timedelay for particles of given energy; we discuss when particles of identical energies reach the Earth in bunches, or spread over the rms timedelay, showing that multiplets pose no problem for an explosive model for the sources of UHECRs. We compare our model with a scenario where the particles are accelerated at internal shocks, underlining differences and advantages of particle acceleration at external shocks.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal; minor change