High-density Skyrmion matter and Neutron Stars

We examine neutron star properties based on a model of dense matter composed of B=1 skyrmions immersed in a mesonic mean field background. The model realizes spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking non-linearly and incorporates scale-breaking of QCD through a dilaton VEV that also affects the mean fields. Quartic self-interactions among the vector mesons are introduced on grounds of naturalness in the corresponding effective field theory. Within a plausible range of the quartic couplings, the model generates neutron star masses and radii that are consistent with a preponderance of observational constraints, including recent ones that point to the existence of relatively massive neutron stars with mass M 1.7 Msun and radius R (12-14) km. If the existence of neutron stars with such dimensions is confirmed, matter at supra-nuclear density is stiffer than extrapolations of most microscopic models suggest.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figures, AASTeX style; to be published in The Astrophysical Journa

Neutrino emission in neutron matter from magnetic moment interactions

Neutrino emission drives neutron star cooling for the first several hundreds of years after its birth. Given the low energy ($\sim$ keV) nature of this process, one expects very few nonstandard particle physics contributions which could affect this rate. Requiring that any new physics contributions involve light degrees of freedom, one of the likely candidates which can affect the cooling process would be a nonzero magnetic moment for the neutrino. To illustrate, we compute the emission rate for neutrino pair bremsstrahlung in neutron-neutron scattering through photon-neutrino magnetic moment coupling. We also present analogous differential rates for neutrino scattering off nucleons and electrons that determine neutrino opacities in supernovae. Employing current upper bounds from collider experiments on the tau magnetic moment, we find that the neutrino emission rate can exceed the rate through neutral current electroweak interaction by a factor two, signalling the importance of new particle physics input to a standard calculation of relevance to neutron star cooling. However, astrophysical bounds on the neutrino magnetic moment imply smaller effects.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Anti-CRISPR-mediated control of gene editing and synthetic circuits in eukaryotic cells.

Repurposed CRISPR-Cas molecules provide a useful tool set for broad applications of genomic editing and regulation of gene expression in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. Recent discovery of phage-derived proteins, anti-CRISPRs, which serve to abrogate natural CRISPR anti-phage activity, potentially expands the ability to build synthetic CRISPR-mediated circuits. Here, we characterize a panel of anti-CRISPR molecules for expanded applications to counteract CRISPR-mediated gene activation and repression of reporter and endogenous genes in various cell types. We demonstrate that cells pre-engineered with anti-CRISPR molecules become resistant to gene editing, thus providing a means to generate "write-protected" cells that prevent future gene editing. We further show that anti-CRISPRs can be used to control CRISPR-based gene regulation circuits, including implementation of a pulse generator circuit in mammalian cells. Our work suggests that anti-CRISPR proteins should serve as widely applicable tools for synthetic systems regulating the behavior of eukaryotic cells

A highly stable atomic vector magnetometer based on free spin precession

We present a magnetometer based on optically pumped Cs atoms that measures the magnitude and direction of a 1 $\mu$T magnetic field. Multiple circularly polarized laser beams were used to probe the free spin precession of the Cs atoms. The design was optimized for long-time stability and achieves a scalar resolution better than 300 fT for integration times ranging from 80 ms to 1000 s. The best scalar resolution of less than 80 fT was reached with integration times of 1.6 to 6 s. We were able to measure the magnetic field direction with a resolution better than 10 $\mu$rad for integration times from 10 s up to 2000 s

Scalar-isoscalar excitation in dense quark matter

We study the spectrum of scalar-isoscalar excitations in the color-flavor locked phase of dense quark matter. The sigma meson in this phase appears as a four-quark state (of diquark and anti-diquark) with a well-defined mass and extremely small width, as a consequence of it's small coupling to two pions. The quark particle/hole degrees of freedom also contribute significantly to the correlator just above the threshold 2\Delta where \Delta is the superconducting gap.Comment: RevTeX, 11 pages, 4 fig

BCS vs Overhauser pairing in dense (2+1)d QCD

We compare the BCS and Overhauser effect as competing mechanisms for the destabilization of the quark Fermi surface at asymptotically large chemical potential, for the special case of 2 space and 1 time dimension. We use the framework of perturbative one-gluon exchange, which dominates the pairing at $\mu/g^2\gg 1$. With screening in matter, we show that in the weak coupling limit the Overhauser effect can compete with the BCS effect only for a sufficiently large number of colors. Both the BCS and the Overhauser gaps are of order $g^{4}/\mu$ in Landau gauge.Comment: 10 pages, no figur

Revised experimental upper limit on the electric dipole moment of the neutron

We present for the first time a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the experimental results that set the current world sensitivity limit on the magnitude of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the neutron. We have extended and enhanced our earlier analysis to include recent developments in the understanding of the effects of gravity in depolarizing ultracold neutrons; an improved calculation of the spectrum of the neutrons; and conservative estimates of other possible systematic errors, which are also shown to be consistent with more recent measurements undertaken with the apparatus. We obtain a net result of dn=−0.21±1.82×10−26  e cm, which may be interpreted as a slightly revised upper limit on the magnitude of the EDM of 3.0×10−26  e cm (90% C.L.) or 3.6×10−26  e cm (95% C.L.)

Gravitational depolarization of ultracold neutrons: comparison with data

We compare the expected effects of so-called gravitationally enhanced depolarization of ultracold neutrons to measurements carried out in a spin-precession chamber exposed to a variety of vertical magnetic-field gradients. In particular, we have investigated the dependence upon these field gradients of spin-depolarization rates and also of shifts in the measured neutron Larmor precession frequency. We find excellent qualitative agreement, with gravitationally enhanced depolarization accounting for several previously unexplained features in the data

Measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment of the neutron

We present the result of an experiment to measure the electric dipole moment EDM) of the neutron at the Paul Scherrer Institute using Ramsey's method of separated oscillating magnetic fields with ultracold neutrons (UCN). Our measurement stands in the long history of EDM experiments probing physics violating time reversal invariance. The salient features of this experiment were the use of a Hg-199 co-magnetometer and an array of optically pumped cesium vapor magnetometers to cancel and correct for magnetic field changes. The statistical analysis was performed on blinded datasets by two separate groups while the estimation of systematic effects profited from an unprecedented knowledge of the magnetic field. The measured value of the neutron EDM is d_{\rm n} = (0.0\pm1.1_{\rm stat}\pm0.2_{\rmsys})\times10^{-26}e\,{\rm cm}

Vitamin A decreases pre-receptor amplification of glucocorticoids in obesity: study on the effect of vitamin A on 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 activity in liver and visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1) catalyzes the conversion of inactive glucocorticoids to active glucocorticoids and its inhibition ameliorates obesity and metabolic syndrome. So far, no studies have reported the effect of dietary vitamin A on 11β-HSD1 activity in visceral fat and liver under normal and obese conditions. Here, we studied the effect of chronic feeding of vitamin A-enriched diet (129 mg/kg diet) on 11β-HSD1 activity in liver and visceral fat of WNIN/Ob lean and obese rats.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Male, 5-month-old, lean and obese rats of WNIN/Ob strain (n = 16 for each phenotype) were divided into two subgroups consisting of 8 rats of each phenotype. Control groups received stock diet containing 2.6 mg vitamin A/kg diet, where as experimental groups received diet containing 129 mg vitamin A/Kg diet for 20 weeks. Food and water were provided <it>ad libitum</it>. At the end of the experiment, tissues were collected and 11β-HSD1 activity was assayed in liver and visceral fat.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Vitamin A supplementation significantly decreased body weight, visceral fat mass and 11β-HSD1 activity in visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats. Hepatic 11β-HSD1 activity and gene expression were significantly reduced by vitamin A supplementation in both the phenotypes. CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα), the main transcription factor essential for the expression of 11β-HSD1, decreased in liver of vitamin A fed-obese rats, but not in lean rats. Liver × receptor α (LXRα), a nuclear transcription factor which is known to downregulate 11β-HSD1 gene expression was significantly increased by vitamin A supplementation in both the phenotypes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study suggests that chronic consumption of vitamin A-enriched diet decreases 11β-HSD1 activity in liver and visceral fat of WNIN/Ob obese rats. Decreased 11β-HSD1 activity by vitamin A may result in decreased levels of active glucocorticoids in adipose tissue and possibly contribute to visceral fat loss in these obese rats. Studying the role of various nutrients on the regulation of 11β-HSD1 activity and expression will help in the evolving of dietary approaches to treat obesity and insulin resistance.</p