On the improvement of the low energy neutrino factory

The low energy neutrino factory has been proposed as a very sensitive setup for future searches for CP violation and matter effects. Here we study how its performance is affected when the experimental specifications of the setup are varied. Most notably, we have considered the addition of the 'platinum' nu_{mu} -> nu_{e} channel. We find that, whilst theoretically the extra channel provides very useful complementary information and helps to lift degeneracies, its practical usefulness is lost when considering realistic background levels. Conversely, an increase in statistics in the 'golden' nu_{e} -> nu_{mu} channel and, to some extent, an improvement in the energy resolution, lead to an important increase in the performance of the facility, given the rich energy dependence of the 'golden' channel at these energies. We show that a low energy neutrino factory with a baseline of 1300 km, muon energy of 4.5 GeV, and either a 20 kton totally active scintillating detector or 100 kton liquid argon detector, can have outstanding sensitivity to the neutrino oscillation parameters theta13, delta and the mass hierarchy. For our estimated exposure of 2.8 x 10^{23} kton x decays per muon polarity, the low energy neutrino factory has sensitivity to theta13 and delta for sin^{2}(2theta13) > 10^{-4} and to the mass hierarchy for sin^{2}(2theta13) > 10^{-3}.Comment: 13 pages, 8 eps figures. Version published in PRD - experimental section with preliminary results removed, abstract and conclusions re-written accordingly, title changed, author list amended

Brane Isotropisation in Extra-Dimensional Tolman-Bondi Universe

We consider the dynamics of a 3-brane embedded in an extra-dimensional Tolman-Bondi Universe where the origin of space plays a special role. The embedding is chosen such that the induced matter distribution on the brane respects the spherical symmetry of matter in the extra dimensional space. The mirage cosmology on the probe brane is studied, resulting in an inhomogeneous and anisotropic four dimensional cosmology where the origin of space is also special. We then focus on the spatial geometry around the origin and show that the induced geometry, which is initially inhomogeneous and anisotropic, converges to an isotropic and homogeneous Friedmann-Lemaitre 4d space-time. For instance, when a 3-brane is embedded in a 5d matter dominated model, the 4d dynamics around the origin converge to a Friedmann-Lemaitre Universe in a radiation dominated epoch. We analyse this isotropisation process and show that it is a late time attractor.Comment: 16 pages, 8 figures, one reference adde

Summary of Golden Measurements at a ν\nu-Factory

The precision and discovery potential of a neutrino factory based on muon storage rings is summarized. For three-family neutrino oscillations, we analyze how to measure or severely constraint the angle $\theta_{13}$, CP violation, MSW effects and the sign of the atmospheric mass difference $\Delta m^2_{23}$. The appearance of ``wrong-sign muons'' at three reference baselines is considered: 732 km, 3500 km and 7332 km. We exploit the dependence of the signal on the neutrino energy, and include as well realistic background estimations and detection efficiencies. The optimal baseline turns out to be $O$(3000 km).Comment: 7 pages, Latex2e, 5 eps figures, use package espfi

Golden measurements at a neutrino factory

The precision and discovery potential of a neutrino factory based on muon storage rings is studied. For three-family neutrino oscillations, we analyse how to measure or severely constraint the angle $\theta_{13}$, CP violation, MSW effects and the sign of the atmospheric mass difference $\Delta m^2_{23}$. We present a simple analytical formula for the oscillation probabilities in matter, with all neutrino mass differences non-vanishing, which clarifies the subtleties involved in disentangling the unknown parameters. The appearance of ``wrong-sign muons'' at three reference baselines is considered: 732 km, 3500 km, and 7332 km. We exploit the dependence of the signal on the neutrino energy, and include as well realistic background estimations and detection efficiencies. The optimal baseline turns out to be ${\cal O}(3000$ km). Analyses combining the information from different baselines are also presented.Comment: 45 pages, Latex2e, 24 figures using epsfig.sty. An incorrect statement and a few misprints have been corrected. Results and conclusions are unchange

An SIS-based sideband-separating heterodyne mixer optimized for the 600 to 720 GHz band

The Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) is the largest radio astronomical enterprise ever proposed. When completed, each of its 64 constituting radio-telescopes will be able to hold 10 heterodyne receivers covering the spectroscopic windows allowed by the atmospheric transmission at the construction site, the altiplanos of the northern Chilean Andes. In contrast to the sideband-separating (2SB) receivers being developed at low frequencies, double-side-band (DSB) receivers are being developed for the highest two spectroscopic windows (bands 9 and 10). Despite of the well known advantages of 2SB mixers over their DSB counterparts, they have not been implemented at the highest-frequency bands as the involved dimensions for some of the radio frequency components are prohibitory small. However, the current state-of-the-art micromachining technology has proved that the structures necessary for this development are attainable. Here we report the design, modeling, realization, and characterization of a 2SB mixer for band 9 of ALMA (600 to 720 GHz). At the heart of the mixer, two superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junctions are used as mixing elements. The constructed instrument presents an excellent performance as shown by two important figures of merit: noise temperature of the system and side band ratio, both of them within ALMA specifications

WKB-type Approximation to Noncommutative Quantum Cosmology

In this work, we develop and apply the WKB approximation to several examples of noncommutative quantum cosmology, obtaining the time evolution of the noncommutative universe, this is done starting from a noncommutative quantum formulation of cosmology where the noncommutativity is introduced by a deformation on the minisuperspace variables. This procedure gives a straightforward algorithm to incorporate noncommutativity to cosmology and inflation.Comment: Revtex4, 6 pages, no figure

Genetic characterization of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) cultivars from Castilla La Mancha (Spain) using microsatellite markers

A total of 73 accessions of Vitis vinifera L., corresponding to local grape cultivars from Castilla La Mancha (Spain) mostly collected in the districts around the Serranía de Cuenca, were analyzed with 12 microsatellite markers in order to ascertain identity and to detect synonymy and homonymy. The allelic pattern of the 73 accessions belonged to 39 different cultivars: 23 coincided with those of known grape cultivars and 16 were different such as 'Flamenca', 'Churriago', 'Pintailla', and 'Gallera Negra'. Homonymous designations were also detected like 'Coloraillo', 'Moravia Dulce' and 'Botón de Gallo' and synonymous names such as 'Garnacha' and 'Tinto Basto', 'Machina', 'Tortosi' and 'Rojal' as well as 'Moravio' and 'Bobal'.

Strong curvature singularities in quasispherical asymptotically de Sitter dust collapse

We study the occurrence, visibility, and curvature strength of singularities in dust-containing Szekeres spacetimes (which possess no Killing vectors) with a positive cosmological constant. We find that such singularities can be locally naked, Tipler strong, and develop from a non-zero-measure set of regular initial data. When examined along timelike geodesics, the singularity's curvature strength is found to be independent of the initial data.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, uses IOP package, 2 eps figures; accepted for publication in Class. Quantum Gra

Digital compensation of the side-band-rejection ratio in a fully analog 2SB sub-millimeter receiver

In observational radio astronomy, sideband-separating receivers are preferred, particularly under high atmospheric noise, which is usually the case in the sub-millimeter range. However, obtaining a good rejection ratio between the two sidebands is difficult since, unavoidably, imbalances in the different analog components appear. We describe a method to correct these imbalances without making any change in the analog part of the sideband-separating receiver, specifically, keeping the intermediate-frequency hybrid in place. This opens the possibility of implementing the method in any existing receiver. We have built hardware to demonstrate the validity of the method and tested it on a fully analog receiver operating between 600 and 720GHz. We have tested the stability of calibration and performance vs time and after full resets of the receiver. We have performed an error analysis to compare the digital compensation in two configurations of analog receivers, with and without intermediate frequency (IF) hybrid. An average compensated sideband rejection ratio of 46dB is obtained. Degradation of the compensated sideband rejection ratio on time and after several resets of the receiver is minimal. A receiver with an IF hybrid is more robust to systematic errors. Moreover, we have shown that the intrinsic random errors in calibration have the same impact for configuration without IF hybrid and for a configuration with IF hybrid with analog rejection ratio better than 10dB. Compensated rejection ratios above 40dB are obtained even in the presence of high analog rejection. The method is robust allowing its use under normal operational conditions at any telescope. We also demonstrate that a full analog receiver is more robust against systematic errors. Finally, the error bars associated to the compensated rejection ratio are almost independent of whether IF hybrid is present or not

Bound states and field-polarized Haldane modes in a quantum spin ladder

The challenge of one-dimensional systems is to understand their physics beyond the level of known elementary excitations. By high-resolution neutron spectroscopy in a quantum spin ladder material, we probe the leading multiparticle excitation by characterizing the two-magnon bound state at zero field. By applying high magnetic fields, we create and select the singlet (longitudinal) and triplet (transverse) excitations of the fully spin-polarized ladder, which have not been observed previously and are close analogs of the modes anticipated in a polarized Haldane chain. Theoretical modelling of the dynamical response demonstrates our complete quantitative understanding of these states.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures plus supplementary material 7 pages 5 figure