1,122 research outputs found
The strong coupling, unification, and recent data
The prediction of the strong coupling assuming (supersymmetric) coupling
constant unification is reexamined. We find, using the new electroweak data,
. The implications of the large
value are discussed. The role played by the beauty width is
stressed. It is also emphasized that high-energy (but not low-energy)
corrections could significantly diminish the prediction. However, unless
higher-dimension operators are assumed to be suppressed, at present one cannot
place strong constraints on the super-heavy spectrum. Non-leading electroweak
threshold corrections are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex + RevTex, uuencoded postscript file (including 13
figures) is attached. Also available at ftp://dept.physics.upenn.edu/pub/Ni
Single flux quantum circuits with damping based on dissipative transmission lines
We propose and demonstrate the functioning of a special Rapid Single Flux
Quantum (RSFQ) circuit with frequency-dependent damping. This damping is
achieved by shunting individual Josephson junctions by pieces of open-ended RC
transmission lines. Our circuit includes a toggle flip-flop cell, Josephson
transmission lines transferring single flux quantum pulses to and from this
cell, as well as DC/SFQ and SFQ/DC converters. Due to the desired
frequency-dispersion in the RC line shunts which ensures sufficiently low noise
at low frequencies, such circuits are well-suited for integrating with the
flux/phase Josephson qubit and enable its efficient control.Comment: 6 pages incl. 6 figure
Effects of supersymmetric grand unification scale physics on
Although calculations of the rate in supersymmetric
grand unified models have always either ignored the gluino mediated
contribution or found it to be negligible, we show that taking universal
supersymmetry breaking masses at the Planck scale, rather than at the gauge
unification scale as is customary, leads to the gluino contribution being more
significant and in fact sometimes even larger than the chargino mediated
contributions when and is of order 1. The impact is
greatest felt when the gluinos are relatively light. Taking the universal
boundary condition at the Planck scale also has an effect on the chargino
contribution by increasing the effect of the wino and higgsino-wino mediated
decays. The neutralino mediated contribution is found to be enhanced, but
nevertheless it remains relatively insignificant.Comment: Title changed, final version as accepted for PRD, 12 pages, 6 Figures
(Figs.2-6 included, uuencoded, epsf.tex
Numerical investigation of the impact behaviour of bioinspired nacre-like aluminium composite plates
Inspired by the hierarchical structure of nacre, an aluminium alloy (AA) 7075 based composite featuring layer waviness and cohesive interface is studied as a low weight impact resistant material. To investigate the mechanical response and the ballistic performance of this laminated structure, a numerical study of the proposed nacre-like composite plates made of 1.1-mm thick AA 7075 tablets bonded with toughened epoxy resin was performed using Abaqus/Explicit. Target thicknesses of 5.4-mm, 7.5-mm and 9.6-mm impacted by a rigid hemi-spherical projectile were simulated. The epoxy material was modelled using a user-defined interface cohesive element with compressive strength enhancement. A significant performance improvement was recorded for the 5.4-mm nacre-like plate (compared to the same thickness bulk plate), which was explained by the hierarchical structure facilitating both localised energy absorption (by deformation of the tablet) and more globalized energy absorption (by inter-layered delamination and friction). For a given projectile, however, the performance improvement of using the proposed composite decreased with increasing laminate thickness, which was attributed to the increased likelihood of ductile failure occurring prior to perforation in thicker bulk plates. For 5.4-mm thick plates impacted at high velocity, the nacre-like plate had a better ballistic performance than that of the plates made of continuous (flat and wavy) layers, which was attributed to the larger area of plastic deformation (observed in the nacre-like plate after impact) due to the tablets arrangement.The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals (CE0561574); National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 11232003); The Australian Research Council via project DP1093485
The Superpartner Spectrum of Gaugino Mediation
We compute the superpartner masses in a class of models with gaugino
mediation (or no-scale) boundary conditions at a scale between the GUT and
Planck scales. These models are compelling because they are simple, solve the
supersymmetric flavor and CP problems, satisfy all constraints from colliders
and cosmology, and predict the superpartner masses in terms of very few
parameters. Our analysis includes the renormalization group evolution of the
soft-breaking terms above the GUT scale. We show that the running above the GUT
scale is largely model independent and find that a phenomenologically viable
spectrum is obtained.Comment: 15 page
Validation of the Chinese Version of the Problem Areas in Diabetes (PAID-C) Scale
OBJECTIVE To examine the psychometric properties of a Chinese version of the Problem Areas In Diabetes (PAID-C) scale.\ud
\ud
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The reliability and validity of the PAID-C were evaluated in a convenience sample of 205 outpatients with type 2 diabetes. Confirmatory factor analysis, Bland-Altman analysis, and Spearman's correlations facilitated the psychometric evaluation.\ud
\ud
RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a one-factor structure of the PAID-C (Ï2/df ratio = 1.894, goodness-of-fit index = 0.901, comparative fit index = 0.905, root mean square error of approximation = 0.066). The PAID-C was associated with A1C (rs = 0.15; P < 0.05) and diabetes self-care behaviors in general diet (rs = â0.17; P < 0.05) and exercise (rs = â0.17; P < 0.05). The 4-week test-retest reliability demonstrated satisfactory stability (rs = 0.83; P < 0.01).\ud
\ud
CONCLUSIONS The PAID-C is a reliable and valid measure to determine diabetes-related emotional distress in Chinese people with type 2 diabetes
Extra Families, Higgs Spectrum and Oblique Corrections
The standard model accommodates, but does not explain, three families of
leptons and quarks, while various extensions suggest extra matter families. The
oblique corrections from extra chiral families with relatively light
(weak-scale) masses, , are analyzed and used to constrain the
number of extra families and their spectrum. The analysis is motivated, in
part, by recent N = 2 supersymmetry constructions, but is performed in a
model-independent way. It is shown that the correlations among the
contributions to the three oblique parameters, rather than the contribution to
a particular one, provide the most significant bound. Nevertheless, a single
extra chiral family with a constrained spectrum is found to be consistent with
precision data without requiring any other new physics source. Models with
three additional families may also be accommodated but only by invoking
additional new physics, most notably, a two-Higgs-doublet extension. The
interplay between the spectra of the extra fermions and the Higgs boson(s) is
analyzed in the case of either one or two Higgs doublets, and its implications
are explored. In particular, the precision bound on the SM-like Higgs boson
mass is shown to be significantly relaxed in the presence of an extra
relatively light chiral family.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, version for PR
Compatibility of the new DAMA/NaI data on an annual modulation effect in WIMP direct search with a relic neutralino in supergravity schemes
Recent results of the DAMA/NaI experiment for WIMP direct detection point to
a possible annual modulation effect in the detection rate. We show that these
results, when interpreted in terms of a relic neutralino, are compatible with
supergravity models. Together with the universal SUGRA scheme, we also consider
SUGRA models where the unification condition in the Higgs mass parameters at
GUT scale is relaxed.Comment: 10 pages, ReVTeX, 13 figures (included as PS files
-term as the origin of baryon and lepton number asymmetry
We study a possibility of combining an origin of the -term and the
baryon and lepton number asymmetry. If we assume that the -term is
generated through a flat direction of a singlet scalar field, the coherent
oscillation of this condensate around its potential minimum can store the
global U(1) charge asymmetry. The decay of this condensate can distribute this
asymmetry into the lepton and baryon number asymmetry as far as its decay
occurs at an appropriate temperature. We examine the compatibility between this
scenario and the small neutrino mass generation based on both the ordinary
seesaw mechanism and the bilinear R-parity violating terms.Comment: 22 pages, published versio
Fast Simulators for Satellite Cloud Optical Centroid Pressure Retrievals, 1. Evaluation of OMI Cloud Retrievals
The cloud Optical Centroid Pressure (OCP), also known as the effective cloud pressure, is a satellite-derived parameter that is commonly used in trace-gas retrievals to account for the effects of clouds on near-infrared through ultraviolet radiance measurements. Fast simulators are desirable to further expand the use of cloud OCP retrievals into the operational and climate communities for applications such as data assimilation and evaluation of cloud vertical structure in general circulation models. In this paper, we develop and validate fast simulators that provide estimates of the cloud OCP given a vertical profile of optical extinction. We use a pressure-weighting scheme where the weights depend upon optical parameters of clouds and/or aerosol. A cloud weighting function is easily extracted using this formulation. We then use fast simulators to compare two different satellite cloud OCP retrievals from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) with estimates based on collocated cloud extinction profiles from a combination of CloudS at radar and MODIS visible radiance data. These comparisons are made over a wide range of conditions to provide a comprehensive validation of the OMI cloud OCP retrievals. We find generally good agreement between OMI cloud OCPs and those predicted by CloudSat. However, the OMI cloud OCPs from the two independent algorithms agree better with each other than either does with the estimates from CloudSat/MODIS. Differences between OMI cloud OCPs and those based on CloudSat/MODIS may result from undetected snow/ice at the surface, cloud 3-D effects, low altitude clouds missed by CloudSat, and the fact that CloudSat only observes a relatively small fraction of an OMI field-of-view
- âŠ