305 research outputs found
Fluctuations of an evaporating black hole from back reaction of its Hawking radiation: Questioning a premise in earlier work
This paper delineates the first steps in a systematic quantitative study of
the spacetime fluctuations induced by quantum fields in an evaporating black
hole. We explain how the stochastic gravity formalism can be a useful tool for
that purpose within a low-energy effective field theory approach to quantum
gravity. As an explicit example we apply it to the study of the
spherically-symmetric sector of metric perturbations around an evaporating
black hole background geometry. For macroscopic black holes we find that those
fluctuations grow and eventually become important when considering sufficiently
long periods of time (of the order of the evaporation time), but well before
the Planckian regime is reached. In addition, the assumption of a simple
correlation between the fluctuations of the energy flux crossing the horizon
and far from it, which was made in earlier work on spherically-symmetric
induced fluctuations, is carefully analyzed and found to be invalid. Our
analysis suggests the existence of an infinite amplitude for the fluctuations
of the horizon as a three-dimensional hypersurface. We emphasize the need for
understanding and designing operational ways of probing quantum metric
fluctuations near the horizon and extracting physically meaningful information.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX; minor changes, a few references added and a brief
discussion of their relevance included. To appear in the proceedings of the
10th Peyresq meeting. Dedicated to Rafael Sorkin on the occasion of his 60th
birthda
Virtual embedded librarianship for information literacy teaching.
This paper, reports on the planning and preliminary results of an action research project undertaken for the redesign of an online distance learning information literacy (IL) module on the basis of virtual 'embedded librarianship'. The research project, which followed an action research design, brought together the IL module coordinator and an Academic Liaison Librarian, working at different institutions to collaboratively redesign the assessment and teaching of the module. Data were collected via a qualitative analysis of students' work and a series of open-ended questions addressed to students on the value of the approach followed. Students reacted positively to the embedded librarianship design and engaged constructively in situated learning. Challenges included time-zones differences, the contribution level of students and lack of confidence. The paper puts emphasis on educating future information professionals as embedded information literacy partners, promoting the development of transferable skills and a collaborative/sharing online working ethos
Linear Response, Validity of Semi-Classical Gravity, and the Stability of Flat Space
A quantitative test for the validity of the semi-classical approximation in
gravity is given. The criterion proposed is that solutions to the
semi-classical Einstein equations should be stable to linearized perturbations,
in the sense that no gauge invariant perturbation should become unbounded in
time. A self-consistent linear response analysis of these perturbations, based
upon an invariant effective action principle, necessarily involves metric
fluctuations about the mean semi-classical geometry, and brings in the
two-point correlation function of the quantum energy-momentum tensor in a
natural way. This linear response equation contains no state dependent
divergences and requires no new renormalization counterterms beyond those
required in the leading order semi-classical approximation. The general linear
response criterion is applied to the specific example of a scalar field with
arbitrary mass and curvature coupling in the vacuum state of Minkowski
spacetime. The spectral representation of the vacuum polarization function is
computed in n dimensional Minkowski spacetime, and used to show that the flat
space solution to the semi-classical Einstein equations for n=4 is stable to
all perturbations on distance scales much larger than the Planck length.Comment: 22 pages: This is a significantly expanded version of gr-qc/0204083,
with two additional sections and two new appendices giving a complete,
explicit example of the semi-classical stability criterion proposed in the
previous pape
Noise Kernel and Stress Energy Bi-Tensor of Quantum Fields in Hot Flat Space and Gaussian Approximation in the Optical Schwarzschild Metric
Continuing our investigation of the regularization of the noise kernel in
curved spacetimes [N. G. Phillips and B. L. Hu, Phys. Rev. D {\bf 63}, 104001
(2001)] we adopt the modified point separation scheme for the class of optical
spacetimes using the Gaussian approximation for the Green functions a la
Bekenstein-Parker-Page. In the first example we derive the regularized noise
kernel for a thermal field in flat space. It is useful for black hole
nucleation considerations. In the second example of an optical Schwarzschild
spacetime we obtain a finite expression for the noise kernel at the horizon and
recover the hot flat space result at infinity. Knowledge of the noise kernel is
essential for studying issues related to black hole horizon fluctuations and
Hawking radiation backreaction. We show that the Gaussian approximated Green
function which works surprisingly well for the stress tensor at the
Schwarzschild horizon produces significant error in the noise kernel there. We
identify the failure as occurring at the fourth covariant derivative order.Comment: 21 pages, RevTeX
Data challenges of time domain astronomy
Astronomy has been at the forefront of the development of the techniques and
methodologies of data intensive science for over a decade with large sky
surveys and distributed efforts such as the Virtual Observatory. However, it
faces a new data deluge with the next generation of synoptic sky surveys which
are opening up the time domain for discovery and exploration. This brings both
new scientific opportunities and fresh challenges, in terms of data rates from
robotic telescopes and exponential complexity in linked data, but also for data
mining algorithms used in classification and decision making. In this paper, we
describe how an informatics-based approach-part of the so-called "fourth
paradigm" of scientific discovery-is emerging to deal with these. We review our
experiences with the Palomar-Quest and Catalina Real-Time Transient Sky
Surveys; in particular, addressing the issue of the heterogeneity of data
associated with transient astronomical events (and other sensor networks) and
how to manage and analyze it.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, to appear in special issue of Distributed and
Parallel Databases on Data Intensive eScienc
Search for a W' boson decaying to a bottom quark and a top quark in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
Results are presented from a search for a W' boson using a dataset
corresponding to 5.0 inverse femtobarns of integrated luminosity collected
during 2011 by the CMS experiment at the LHC in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV.
The W' boson is modeled as a heavy W boson, but different scenarios for the
couplings to fermions are considered, involving both left-handed and
right-handed chiral projections of the fermions, as well as an arbitrary
mixture of the two. The search is performed in the decay channel W' to t b,
leading to a final state signature with a single lepton (e, mu), missing
transverse energy, and jets, at least one of which is tagged as a b-jet. A W'
boson that couples to fermions with the same coupling constant as the W, but to
the right-handed rather than left-handed chiral projections, is excluded for
masses below 1.85 TeV at the 95% confidence level. For the first time using LHC
data, constraints on the W' gauge coupling for a set of left- and right-handed
coupling combinations have been placed. These results represent a significant
improvement over previously published limits.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters B. Replaced with version publishe
Search for the standard model Higgs boson decaying into two photons in pp collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV
A search for a Higgs boson decaying into two photons is described. The
analysis is performed using a dataset recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC
from pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, which corresponds to an
integrated luminosity of 4.8 inverse femtobarns. Limits are set on the cross
section of the standard model Higgs boson decaying to two photons. The expected
exclusion limit at 95% confidence level is between 1.4 and 2.4 times the
standard model cross section in the mass range between 110 and 150 GeV. The
analysis of the data excludes, at 95% confidence level, the standard model
Higgs boson decaying into two photons in the mass range 128 to 132 GeV. The
largest excess of events above the expected standard model background is
observed for a Higgs boson mass hypothesis of 124 GeV with a local significance
of 3.1 sigma. The global significance of observing an excess with a local
significance greater than 3.1 sigma anywhere in the search range 110-150 GeV is
estimated to be 1.8 sigma. More data are required to ascertain the origin of
this excess.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Measurement of the Lambda(b) cross section and the anti-Lambda(b) to Lambda(b) ratio with Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda decays in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
The Lambda(b) differential production cross section and the cross section
ratio anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) are measured as functions of transverse momentum
pt(Lambda(b)) and rapidity abs(y(Lambda(b))) in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7
TeV using data collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC. The measurements are
based on Lambda(b) decays reconstructed in the exclusive final state J/Psi
Lambda, with the subsequent decays J/Psi to an opposite-sign muon pair and
Lambda to proton pion, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of 1.9 inverse femtobarns. The product of the cross section times
the branching ratio for Lambda(b) to J/Psi Lambda versus pt(Lambda(b)) falls
faster than that of b mesons. The measured value of the cross section times the
branching ratio for pt(Lambda(b)) > 10 GeV and abs(y(Lambda(b))) < 2.0 is 1.06
+/- 0.06 +/- 0.12 nb, and the integrated cross section ratio for
anti-Lambda(b)/Lambda(b) is 1.02 +/- 0.07 +/- 0.09, where the uncertainties are
statistical and systematic, respectively.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
Search for new physics in events with opposite-sign leptons, jets, and missing transverse energy in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV
A search is presented for physics beyond the standard model (BSM) in final
states with a pair of opposite-sign isolated leptons accompanied by jets and
missing transverse energy. The search uses LHC data recorded at a
center-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the CMS detector, corresponding to
an integrated luminosity of approximately 5 inverse femtobarns. Two
complementary search strategies are employed. The first probes models with a
specific dilepton production mechanism that leads to a characteristic kinematic
edge in the dilepton mass distribution. The second strategy probes models of
dilepton production with heavy, colored objects that decay to final states
including invisible particles, leading to very large hadronic activity and
missing transverse energy. No evidence for an event yield in excess of the
standard model expectations is found. Upper limits on the BSM contributions to
the signal regions are deduced from the results, which are used to exclude a
region of the parameter space of the constrained minimal supersymmetric
extension of the standard model. Additional information related to detector
efficiencies and response is provided to allow testing specific models of BSM
physics not considered in this paper.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO
Measurement of isolated photon production in pp and PbPb collisions at sqrt(sNN) = 2.76 TeV
Isolated photon production is measured in proton-proton and lead-lead
collisions at nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energies of 2.76 TeV in the
pseudorapidity range |eta|<1.44 and transverse energies ET between 20 and 80
GeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The measured ET spectra are found to be
in good agreement with next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD predictions. The
ratio of PbPb to pp isolated photon ET-differential yields, scaled by the
number of incoherent nucleon-nucleon collisions, is consistent with unity for
all PbPb reaction centralities.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
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