41 research outputs found
Constraints on Neutrino Parameters from Neutral-Current Solar Neutrino Measurements
We generalize the pull approach to define the function to the
analysis of the data with correlated statistical errors. We apply this method
to the analysis of the Sudbury Neutrino Collaboration data obtained in the
salt-phase. In the global analysis of all the solar neutrino and KamLAND data
we find the best fit (minimum ) values of neutrino parameters to be
and
eV. We confirm that the maximal mixing is strongly disfavored while the
bounds on are significantly strengthened.Comment: 6 figures. Some typos are corrected, figures are visually improve
Instanton Contribution to the Pion Electro-Magnetic Formfactor at Q^2 > 1 GeV^2
We study the effects of instantons on the charged pion electro-magnetic
formfactor at intermediate momenta. In the Single Instanton Approximation
(SIA), we predict the pion formfactor in the kinematic region Q^2=2-15 GeV^2.
By developing the calculation in a mixed time-momentum representation, it is
possible to maximally reduce the model dependence and to calculate the
formfactor directly. We find the intriguing result that the SIA calculation
coincides with the vector dominance monopole form, up to surprisingly high
momentum transfer Q^2~10 GeV^2. This suggests that vector dominance for the
pion holds beyond low energy nuclear physics.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, minor revision
The effect of common genetic variation in 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and incident depression
Background: Accumulating evidence suggests that hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis) is involved in depression. 11β-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) converts inert cortisone to active cortisol and is implicated in HPA axis regulation in animal studies. The aim of our study was to identify polymorphisms in 11β-HSD1 gene (HSD11B1) with consistent associations with increased HPA axis activity and relate those polymorphisms to depression. Methods: Twelve single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), including 11 tagging SNPs, were selected using the HapMap database and genotyped in 4228 participants of the population-based Rotterdam Study. The outcome measures were salivary cortisol levels after awakening, 30 min later, at 1700 h, at bedtime, and plasma levels of androstenedione (in women only). SNPs that were significantly associated with cortisol as well as androstenedione levels were also related to incident depression. Results: rs11119328 was associated with higher cortisol saliva samples collected at bedtime as well as higher androstenedione levels (P value after correction for multiple testing: 0.01 and 0.04, respectively). Carriers of this polymorphism had an increased risk of an incident depression (hazard ratio 1.28, 95% confidence interval 1.03-1.59). Two other SNPs, which were in high linkage disequilibrium with rs11119328, were related to higher cortisol levels but not with androstenedione levels. Conclusions: We identified one SNP, which was associated with increased salivary cortisol levels at nadir as well as higher androstenedione levels. Moreover, this SNP was also associated with a higher risk of an incident depression. This suggests that 11β-HSD1 is implicated in human HPA axis regulation and susceptibility to depression. Copyrigh
Spin-Peierls transition in NaV2O5 in high magnetic fields
We investigate the magnetic field dependence of the spin-Peierls transition
in NaVO in the field range 16T-30T. The transition temperature exhibits
a very weak variation with the field, suggesting a novel mechanism for the
formation of the spin-Peierls state. We argue that a charge ordering transition
accompanied by singlet formation is consistent with our observations.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, final version to appear in Phys. Rev. B (RC
Update on the correlation of the highest energy cosmic rays with nearby extragalactic matter
Data collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory through 31 August 2007 showed
evidence for anisotropy in the arrival directions of cosmic rays above the
Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuz'min energy threshold, \nobreak{eV}. The
anisotropy was measured by the fraction of arrival directions that are less
than from the position of an active galactic nucleus within 75 Mpc
(using the V\'eron-Cetty and V\'eron catalog). An updated
measurement of this fraction is reported here using the arrival directions of
cosmic rays recorded above the same energy threshold through 31 December 2009.
The number of arrival directions has increased from 27 to 69, allowing a more
precise measurement. The correlating fraction is , compared
with expected for isotropic cosmic rays. This is down from the early
estimate of . The enlarged set of arrival directions is
examined also in relation to other populations of nearby extragalactic objects:
galaxies in the 2 Microns All Sky Survey and active galactic nuclei detected in
hard X-rays by the Swift Burst Alert Telescope. A celestial region around the
position of the radiogalaxy Cen A has the largest excess of arrival directions
relative to isotropic expectations. The 2-point autocorrelation function is
shown for the enlarged set of arrival directions and compared to the isotropic
expectation.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physics on 31 August 201
The Fluorescence Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The Pierre Auger Observatory is a hybrid detector for ultra-high energy
cosmic rays. It combines a surface array to measure secondary particles at
ground level together with a fluorescence detector to measure the development
of air showers in the atmosphere above the array. The fluorescence detector
comprises 24 large telescopes specialized for measuring the nitrogen
fluorescence caused by charged particles of cosmic ray air showers. In this
paper we describe the components of the fluorescence detector including its
optical system, the design of the camera, the electronics, and the systems for
relative and absolute calibration. We also discuss the operation and the
monitoring of the detector. Finally, we evaluate the detector performance and
precision of shower reconstructions.Comment: 53 pages. Submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics
Research Section
Advanced functionality for radio analysis in the Offline software framework of the Pierre Auger Observatory
The advent of the Auger Engineering Radio Array (AERA) necessitates the
development of a powerful framework for the analysis of radio measurements of
cosmic ray air showers. As AERA performs "radio-hybrid" measurements of air
shower radio emission in coincidence with the surface particle detectors and
fluorescence telescopes of the Pierre Auger Observatory, the radio analysis
functionality had to be incorporated in the existing hybrid analysis solutions
for fluoresence and surface detector data. This goal has been achieved in a
natural way by extending the existing Auger Offline software framework with
radio functionality. In this article, we lay out the design, highlights and
features of the radio extension implemented in the Auger Offline framework. Its
functionality has achieved a high degree of sophistication and offers advanced
features such as vectorial reconstruction of the electric field, advanced
signal processing algorithms, a transparent and efficient handling of FFTs, a
very detailed simulation of detector effects, and the read-in of multiple data
formats including data from various radio simulation codes. The source code of
this radio functionality can be made available to interested parties on
request.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM A, 13 pages, minor corrections to
author list and references in v
Search for First Harmonic Modulation in the Right Ascension Distribution of Cosmic Rays Detected at the Pierre Auger Observatory
We present the results of searches for dipolar-type anisotropies in different
energy ranges above eV with the surface detector array of
the Pierre Auger Observatory, reporting on both the phase and the amplitude
measurements of the first harmonic modulation in the right-ascension
distribution. Upper limits on the amplitudes are obtained, which provide the
most stringent bounds at present, being below 2% at 99% for EeV
energies. We also compare our results to those of previous experiments as well
as with some theoretical expectations.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figure
Light-Front Holography, Light-Front Wavefunctions, and Novel QCD Phenomena
Light-Front Holography, a remarkable feature of the AdS/CFT correspondence,
maps amplitudes in anti-de Sitter (AdS) space to frame-independent light-front
wavefunctions of hadrons in physical space-time. The model leads to an
effective confining light-front QCD Hamiltonian and a single-variable
light-front Schrodinger equation which determines the eigenspectrum and the
light-front wavefunctions of hadrons for general spin and orbital angular
momentum. The coordinate z in AdS space is identified with a Lorentz-invariant
coordinate zeta which measures the separation of the constituents within a
hadron at equal light-front time and determines the off-shell dynamics of the
bound-state wavefunctions and the fall-off in the invariant mass of the
constituents. The soft-wall holographic model, modified by a positive-sign
dilaton metric, leads to a remarkable one-parameter description of
nonperturbative hadron dynamics -- a semi-classical frame-independent first
approximation to the spectra and light-front wavefunctions of meson and
baryons. The model predicts a Regge spectrum of linear trajectories with the
same slope in the leading orbital angular momentum L of hadrons and the radial
quantum number n. The hadron eigensolutions projected on the free Fock basis
provides the complete set of valence and non-valence light-front Fock state
wavefunctions which describe the hadron's momentum and spin distributions
needed to compute measures of hadron structure at the quark and gluon level.
The effective confining potential also creates quark- antiquark pairs. The
AdS/QCD model can be systematically improved by using its complete orthonormal
solutions to diagonalize the full QCD light-front Hamiltonian or by applying
the Lippmann-Schwinger method to systematically include the QCD interaction
terms. A new perspective on quark and gluon condensates is also presented.Comment: Presented at LIGHTCONE 2011, 23 - 27 May, 2011, Dallas, T