27,849 research outputs found
Gauge singlet scalar as inflaton and thermal relic dark matter
We show that, by adding a gauge singlet scalar S to the standard model which
is nonminimally coupled to gravity, S can act both as the inflaton and as
thermal relic dark matter. We obtain the allowed region of the (m_s, m_h)
parameter space which gives a spectral index in agreement with observational
bounds and also produces the observed dark matter density while not violating
vacuum stability or nonperturbativity constraints. We show that, in contrast to
the case of Higgs inflation, once quantum corrections are included the spectral
index is significantly larger than the classical value (n = 0.966 for N = 60)
for all allowed values of the Higgs mass m_h. The range of Higgs mass
compatible with the constraints is 145 GeV < m_h < 170 GeV. The S mass lies in
the range 45 GeV < ms < 1 TeV for the case of a real S scalar with large
quartic self-coupling lambdas, with a smaller upper bound for smaller lambdas.
A region of the parameter space is accessible to direct searches at the LHC via
h-->SS, while future direct dark matter searches should be able to
significantly constrain the model.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures. Published versio
An evaluation of self-administering arithmetic enrichment activities for grades 4, 5, and 6
Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit
Giant electrocaloric effect around T
We use molecular dynamics with a first-principles-based shell model potential
to study the electrocaloric effect (ECE) in lithium niobate, LiNbO, and
find a giant electrocaloric effect along a line passing through the
ferroelectric transition. With applied electric field, a line of maximum ECE
passes through the zero field ferroelectric transition, continuing along a
Widom line at high temperatures with increasing field, and along the
instability that leads to homogeneous ferroelectric switching below with
an applied field antiparallel to the spontaneous polarization. This line is
defined as the minimum in the inverse capacitance under applied electric field.
We investigate the effects of pressure, temperature and applied electric field
on the ECE. The behavior we observe in LiNbO should generally apply to
ferroelectrics; we therefore suggest that the operating temperature for
refrigeration and energy scavenging applications should be above the
ferroelectric transition region to obtain large electrocaloric response. We
find a relationship among , the Widom line and homogeneous switching that
should be universal among ferroelectrics, relaxors, multiferroics, and the same
behavior should be found under applied magnetic fields in ferromagnets.Comment: 5 page
Semantic hierarchies for extracting, modeling, and connecting compliance requirements in information security control standards
Companies and government organizations are increasingly compelled, if not required by law, to ensure that their information systems will comply with various federal and industry regulatory standards, such as the NIST Special Publication on Security Controls for Federal Information Systems (NIST SP-800-53), or the Common Criteria (ISO 15408-2). Such organizations operate business or mission critical systems where a lack of or lapse in security protections translates to serious confidentiality, integrity, and availability risks that, if exploited, could result in information disclosure, loss of money, or, at worst, loss of life. To mitigate these risks and ensure that their information systems meet regulatory standards, organizations must be able to (a) contextualize regulatory documents in a way that extracts the relevant technical implications for their systems, (b) formally represent their systems and demonstrate that they meet the extracted requirements following an accreditation process, and (c) ensure that all third-party systems, which may exist outside of the information system enclave as web or cloud services also implement appropriate security measures consistent with organizational expectations. This paper introduces a step-wise process, based on semantic hierarchies, that systematically extracts relevant security requirements from control standards to build a certification baseline for organizations to use in conjunction with formal methods and service agreements for accreditation. The approach is demonstrated following a case study of all audit-related controls in the SP-800-53, ISO 15408-2, and related documents. Accuracy, applicability, consistency, and efficacy of the approach were evaluated using controlled qualitative and quantitative methods in two separate studies
Intensity enhancement of O VI ultraviolet emission lines in solar spectra due to opacity
Opacity is a property of many plasmas, and it is normally expected that if an
emission line in a plasma becomes optically thick, its intensity ratio to that
of another transition that remains optically thin should decrease. However,
radiative transfer calculations undertaken both by ourselves and others predict
that under certain conditions the intensity ratio of an optically thick to thin
line can show an increase over the optically thin value, indicating an
enhancement in the former. These conditions include the geometry of the
emitting plasma and its orientation to the observer. A similar effect can take
place between lines of differing optical depth. Previous observational studies
have focused on stellar point sources, and here we investigate the
spatially-resolved solar atmosphere using measurements of the I(1032 A)/I(1038
A) intensity ratio of O VI in several regions obtained with the Solar
Ultraviolet Measurements of Emitted Radiation (SUMER) instrument on board the
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) satellite. We find several I(1032
A)/I(1038 A) ratios observed on the disk to be significantly larger than the
optically thin value of 2.0, providing the first detection (to our knowledge)
of intensity enhancement in the ratio arising from opacity effects in the solar
atmosphere. Agreement between observation and theory is excellent, and confirms
that the O VI emission originates from a slab-like geometry in the solar
atmosphere, rather than from cylindrical structures.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, ApJ Letters, in pres
Relativistic polarization analysis of Rayleigh scattering by atomic hydrogen
A relativistic analysis of the polarization properties of light elastically
scattered by atomic hydrogen is performed, based on the Dirac equation and
second order perturbation theory. The relativistic atomic states used for the
calculations are obtained by making use of the finite basis set method and
expressed in terms of splines and polynomials. We introduce two
experimental scenarios in which the light is circularly and linearly polarized,
respectively. For each of these scenarios, the polarization-dependent angular
distribution and the degrees of circular and linear polarization of the
scattered light are investigated as a function of scattering angle and photon
energy. Analytical expressions are derived for the polarization-dependent
angular distribution which can be used for scattering by both hydrogenic as
well as many-electron systems. Detailed computations are performed for Rayleigh
scattering by atomic hydrogen within the incident photon energy range 0.5 to 10
keV. Particular attention is paid to the effects that arise from higher
(nondipole) terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
‘The show must go on!’ Fieldwork, mental health and wellbeing in Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Fieldwork is central to the identity, culture and history of academic Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (GEES). However, in this paper we recognise that, for many academic staff, fieldtrips can be a profoundly challenging “ordeal,” ill‐conducive to wellness or effective pedagogic practice. Drawing on research with 39 UK university‐based GEES academics who self‐identify as having a mental health condition, we explore how mental health intersects with spaces and expectations of fieldwork in Higher Education. We particularly focus on their accounts of undertaking undergraduate residential fieldtrips and give voice to these largely undisclosed experiences. Their narratives run counter to normative, romanticised celebrations of fieldwork within GEES disciplines. We particularly highlight recurrent experiences of avoiding fieldwork, fieldwork‐as‐ ordeal, and “coping” with fieldwork, and suggest that commonplace anxieties within the neoliberal academy – about performance, productivity, fitness‐to‐work, self‐presentation, scrutiny and fear‐of‐falling‐behind – are felt particularly intensely during fieldwork. In spite of considerable work to make fieldwork more accessible to students, we find that field‐based teaching is experienced as a focal site of distress, anxiety and ordeal for many GEES academics with common mental health conditions. We conclude with prompts for reflection about how fieldwork could be otherwise
The Heumann-Hotzel model for aging revisited
Since its proposition in 1995, the Heumann-Hotzel model has remained as an
obscure model of biological aging. The main arguments used against it were its
apparent inability to describe populations with many age intervals and its
failure to prevent a population extinction when only deleterious mutations are
present. We find that with a simple and minor change in the model these
difficulties can be surmounted. Our numerical simulations show a plethora of
interesting features: the catastrophic senescence, the Gompertz law and that
postponing the reproduction increases the survival probability, as has already
been experimentally confirmed for the Drosophila fly.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Comments on Anomaly Cancellations by Pole Subtractions and Ghost Instabilities with Gravity
We investigate some aspects of anomaly cancellation realized by the
subtraction of an anomaly pole, stressing on some of its properties in
superspace. In a local formulation these subtractions can be described in terms
of a physical scalar, an axion and related ghosts. They appear to be necessary
for the unitarization of the theory in the ultraviolet, but they may generate
an infrared instability of the corresponding effective action, signalled by
ghost condensation. In particular the subtraction of the superanomaly multiplet
by a pole in superspace is of dubious significance, due to the different nature
of the chiral and conformal anomalies. In turn, this may set more stringent
constraints on the coupling of supersymmetric theories to gravity.Comment: 18 pages. Revised version. To appear in "Classical and Quantum
Gravity
- …