22,891 research outputs found
A Gauge-invariant Analysis of Magnetic Fields in General Relativistic Cosmology
We provide a fully general-relativistic treatment of cosmological
perturbations in a universe permeated by a large-scale primordial magnetic
field, using the Ellis-Bruni gauge-invariant formalism. The exact non-linear
equations for general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic evolution are derived. A
number of applications are made: the behaviour of small perturbations to
Friedmann universes are studied; a comparison is made with earlier Newtonian
treatments of cosmological perturbations and some effects of inflationary
expansion are examined.Comment: 31 pages, Latex, Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
A New Class of Solutions to the Strong CP Problem with a Small Two-Loop theta
We present a new class of models which produce zero theta (QCD} angle at the
tree and one-loop level due to hermiticity of sub-blocks in the extended quark
mass matrices. The structure can be maintained typically by non-abelian
generation symmetry. Two examples are given for this class of solutions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Gene identification for the cblD defect of vitamin B12 metabolism
Background Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is an essential cofactor in several metabolic pathways. Intracellular conversion of cobalamin to its two coenzymes, adenosylcobalamin in mitochondria and methylcobalamin in the cytoplasm, is necessary for the homeostasis of methylmalonic acid and homocysteine. Nine defects of intracellular cobalamin metabolism have been defined by means of somatic complementation analysis. One of these defects, the cblD defect, can cause isolated methylmalonic aciduria, isolated homocystinuria, or both. Affected persons present with multisystem clinical abnormalities, including developmental, hematologic, neurologic, and metabolic findings. The gene responsible for the cblD defect has not been identified.
Methods We studied seven patients with the cblD defect, and skin fibroblasts from each were investigated in cell culture. Microcell-mediated chromosome transfer and refined genetic mapping were used to localize the responsible gene. This gene was transfected into cblD fibroblasts to test for the rescue of adenosylcobalamin and methylcobalamin synthesis.
Results The cblD gene was localized to human chromosome 2q23.2, and a candidate gene, designated MMADHC (methylmalonic aciduria, cblD type, and homocystinuria), was identified in this region. Transfection of wild-type MMADHC rescued the cellular phenotype, and the functional importance of mutant alleles was shown by means of transfection with mutant constructs. The predicted MMADHC protein has sequence homology with a bacterial ATP-binding cassette transporter and contains a putative cobalamin binding motif and a putative mitochondrial targeting sequence.
Conclusions Mutations in a gene we designated MMADHC are responsible for the cblD defect in vitamin B12 metabolism. Various mutations are associated with each of the three biochemical phenotypes of the disorder
Lensing and caustic effects on cosmological distances
We consider the changes which occur in cosmological distances due to the
combined effects of some null geodesics passing through low-density regions
while others pass through lensing-induced caustics. This combination of effects
increases observed areas corresponding to a given solid angle even when
averaged over large angular scales, through the additive effect of increases on
all scales, but particularly on micro-angular scales; however angular sizes
will not be significantly effected on large angular scales (when caustics
occur, area distances and angular-diameter distances no longer coincide). We
compare our results with other works on lensing, which claim there is no such
effect, and explain why the effect will indeed occur in the (realistic)
situation where caustics due to lensing are significant. Whether or not the
effect is significant for number counts depends on the associated angular
scales and on the distribution of inhomogeneities in the universe. It could
also possibly affect the spectrum of CBR anisotropies on small angular scales,
indeed caustics can induce a non-Gaussian signature into the CMB at small
scales and lead to stronger mixing of anisotropies than occurs in weak lensing.Comment: 28 pages, 6 ps figures, eps
Keck Spectroscopy of Faint 3<z<8 Lyman Break Galaxies:- Evidence for a Declining Fraction of Emission Line Sources In the Redshift Range 6<z<8
Using deep Keck spectroscopy of Lyman break galaxies selected from infrared
imaging data taken with WFC3/IR onboard the Hubble Space Telescope, we present
new evidence for a reversal in the redshift-dependent fraction of star forming
galaxies with detectable Lyman alpha emission in the redshift range 6.3 < z <
8.8. Our earlier surveys with the DEIMOS spectrograph demonstrated a
significant increase with redshift in the fraction of line emitting galaxies
over the interval 4 < z < 6, particularly for intrinsically faint systems which
dominate the luminosity density. Using the longer wavelength sensitivities of
LRIS and NIRSPEC, we have targeted 19 Lyman break galaxies selected using
recent WFC3/IR data whose photometric redshifts are in the range 6.3 < z < 8.8
and which span a wide range of intrinsic luminosities. Our spectroscopic
exposures typically reach a 5-sigma sensitivity of < 50 A for the rest-frame
equivalent width (EW) of Lyman alpha emission. Despite the high fraction of
emitters seen only a few hundred million years later, we find only 2 convincing
and 1 possible line emitter in our more distant sample. Combining with
published data on a further 7 sources obtained using FORS2 on the ESO VLT, and
assuming continuity in the trends found at lower redshift, we discuss the
significance of this apparent reversal in the redshift-dependent Lyman alpha
fraction in the context of our range in continuum luminosity. Assuming all the
targeted sources are at their photometric redshift and our assumptions about
the Lyman alpha EW distribution are correct, we would expect to find so few
emitters in less than 1% of the realizations drawn from our lower redshift
samples. Our new results provide further support for the suggestion that, at
the redshifts now being probed spectroscopically, we are entering the era where
the intergalactic medium is partially neutral.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Accepted to ApJ 10/1/1
Direct Detection of Dark Matter in the MSSM with Non-Universal Higgs Masses
We calculate dark matter scattering rates in the minimal supersymmetric
extension of the Standard Model (MSSM), allowing the soft
supersymmetry-breaking masses of the Higgs multiplets, m_{1,2}, to be
non-universal (NUHM). Compared with the constrained MSSM (CMSSM) in which
m_{1,2} are required to be equal to the soft supersymmetry-breaking masses m_0
of the squark and slepton masses, we find that the elastic scattering cross
sections may be up to two orders of magnitude larger than values in the CMSSM
for similar LSP masses. We find the following preferred ranges for the
spin-independent cross section: 10^{-6} pb \ga \sigma_{SI} \ga 10^{-10} pb, and
for the spin-dependent cross section: 10^{-3} pb \ga \sigma_{SD}, with the
lower bound on \sigma_{SI} dependent on using the putative constraint from the
muon anomalous magnetic moment. We stress the importance of incorporating
accelerator and dark matter constraints in restricting the NUHM parameter
space, and also of requiring that no undesirable vacuum appear below the GUT
scale. In particular, values of the spin-independent cross section another
order of magnitude larger would appear to be allowed, for small \tan \beta, if
the GUT vacuum stability requirement were relaxed, and much lower cross-section
values would be permitted if the muon anomalous magnetic moment constraint were
dropped.Comment: 30 pages LaTeX, 40 eps figure
High Scale Physics Connection to LHC Data
The existing data appears to provide hints of an underlying high scale
theory. These arise from the gauge coupling unification, from the smallness of
the neutrino masses, and via a non-vanishing muon anomaly. An overview of high
scale models is given with a view to possible tests at the Large Hadron
Collider. Specifically we discuss here some generic approaches to deciphering
their signatures. We also consider an out of the box possibility of a four
generation model where the fourth generation is a mirror generation rather than
a sequential generation. Such a scenario can lead to some remarkably distinct
signatures at the LHC.Comment: 23 pages, no figures. Based on invited lectures at the 46th Course at
the International School of Subnuclear Physics- Erice -Sicily: 29 August -7
September, 200
Caustics of Compensated Spherical Lens Models
We consider compensated spherical lens models and the caustic surfaces they
create in the past light cone. Examination of cusp and crossover angles
associated with particular source and lens redshifts gives explicit lensing
models that confirm previous claims that area distances can differ by
substantial factors from angular diameter distances even when averaged over
large angular scales. `Shrinking' in apparent sizes occurs, typically by a
factor of 3 for a single spherical lens, on the scale of the cusp caused by the
lens; summing over many lenses will still leave a residual effect.Comment: 21 pages, 5 ps figures, eps
A Characterisation of Strong Wave Tails in Curved Space-Times
A characterisation of when wave tails are strong is proposed. The existence
of a curvature induced tail (i.e. a Green's function term whose support
includes the interior of the light-cone) is commonly understood to cause
backscattering of the field governed by the relevant wave equation. Strong
tails are characterised as those for which the purely radiative part of the
field is backscattered. With this definition, it is shown that electromagnetic
waves in asymptotically flat space-times and fields governed by tail-free
propagation have weak tails, but minimally coupled scalar fields in a
cosmological scenario have strong tails.Comment: 17 pages, Revtex, to appear in Classical and Quantum Gravit
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