495 research outputs found
Primordial nucleosynthesis and hadronic decay of a massive particle with a relatively short lifetime
In this paper we consider the effects on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) of
the hadronic decay of a long-lived massive particle. If high-energy hadrons are
emitted near the BBN epoch ( -- ), they
extraordinarily inter-convert the background nucleons each other even after the
freeze-out time of the neutron to proton ratio. Then, produced light element
abundances are changed, and that may result in a significant discrepancy
between standard BBN and observations. Especially on the theoretical side, now
we can obtain a lot of experimental data of hadrons and simulate the hadronic
decay process executing the numerical code of the hadron fragmentation even in
the high energy region where we have no experimental data. Using the light
element abundances computed in the hadron-injection scenario, we derive a
constraint on properties of such a particle by comparing our theoretical
results with observations.Comment: 33 pages, 14 postscript figures, reference added, typo corrected, to
appear in Phys. Rev.
The GstLAL template bank for spinning compact binary mergers in the second observation run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo
We describe the methods used to construct the aligned-spin template bank of
gravitational waveforms used by the GstLAL-based inspiral pipeline to analyze
data from the second observing run of Advanced LIGO and Virgo. The bank expands
upon the parameter space covered during the first observing run, including
coverage for merging compact binary systems with total mass between 2
and 400 and mass ratios between 1 and
97.989. Thus the systems targeted include merging neutron star-neutron star
systems, neutron star-black hole binaries, and black hole-black hole binaries
expanding into the intermediate-mass range. Component masses less than 2
have allowed (anti-)aligned spins between while
component masses greater than 2 have allowed
(anti-)aligned between . The bank placement technique combines a
stochastic method with a new grid-bank method to better isolate noisy
templates, resulting in a total of 677,000 templates.Comment: 9 pages, 13 figure
Implications of the CP asymmetry in semileptonic B decay
Recent experimental searches for , the CP asymmetry in semileptonic B
decay, have reached an accuracy of order one percent. Consequently, they give
meaningful constraints on new physics. We find that cancellations between the
Standard Model (SM) and new physics contributions to mixing
cannot be as strong as was allowed prior to these measurements. The predictions
for this asymmetry within the SM and within models of minimal flavor violation
(MFV) are below the reach of present and near future measurements. Including
order and corrections we obtain the SM
prediction: . Future
measurements can exclude not only the SM, but MFV as well, if the sign of the
asymmetry is opposite to the SM or if it is same-sign but much enhanced. We
also comment on the CP asymmetry in semileptonic decay, and update the
range of the angle in the SM: .Comment: 16 pages, a sign typo in eq.(11) fixed, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Pećnjaci Garić grada
Funding: This work was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 project, Team-Play (https://www.teamplay-h2020.eu), grant number 779882, and UK EPSRC Discovery, grant number EP/P020631/1.Energy, Time and Security (ETS) properties of programs are becoming increasingly prioritised by developers, especially where applications are running on ETS sensitive systems, such as embedded devices or the Internet of Things. Moreover, developers currently lack tools and language properties to allow them to reason about ETS. In this paper, we introduce a new contract specification frame-work, called Drive, which allows a developer to reason about ETS or other non-functional properties of their programs as first-class properties of the language. Furthermore, we introduce a contract specification language, allowing developers to reason about these first-class ETS properties by expressing contracts that are proved correct by an underlying formal type system. Finally, we show our contract framework over a number of representable examples, demonstrating provable worst-case ETS properties.Postprin
Milagrito: a TeV air-shower array
Milagrito, a large, covered water-Cherenkov detector, was the world's first
air-shower-particle detector sensitive to cosmic gamma rays below 1 TeV. It
served as a prototype for the Milagro detector and operated from February 1997
to May 1998. This paper gives a description of Milagrito, a summary of the
operating experience, and early results that demonstrate the capabilities of
this technique.Comment: 38 pages including 24 figure
Erasmus Language students in a British University – a case study
Students’ assessment of their academic experience is actively sought by Higher Education institutions, as evidenced in the National Student Survey introduced in 2005. Erasmus students, despite their growing numbers, tend to be excluded from these satisfaction surveys, even though they, too, are primary customers of a University. This study aims to present results from bespoke questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with a sample of Erasmus students studying languages in a British University. These methods allow us insight into the experience of these students and their assessment as a primary customer, with a focus on language learning and teaching, university facilities and student support. It investigates to what extent these factors influence their levels of satisfaction and what costs of adaptation if any, they encounter. Although excellent levels of satisfaction were found, some costs affect their experience. They relate to difficulties in adapting to a learning methodology based on a low number of hours and independent learning and to a guidance and support system seen as too stifling. The results portray this cohort’s British University as a well-equipped and well-meaning but ultimately overbearing institution, which may indicate that minimising costs can eliminate some sources of dissatisfaction
“Dogged” Search of Fresh Nakhla Surfaces Reveals New Alteration Textures
Special Issue: 74th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, August 8-12, 2011, London, U.K.International audienceCarbonaceous chondrites are considered as amongst the most primitive Solar System samples available. One of their primitive characteristics is their enrichment in volatile elements.This includes hydrogen, which is present in hydrated and hydroxylated minerals. More precisely, the mineralogy is expected to be dominated by phyllosilicates in the case of CM chondrites, and by Montmorillonite type clays in the case of CI. Here, in order to characterize and quantify the abundance of lowtemperature minerals in carbonaceous chondrites, we performed thermogravimetric analysis of matrix fragments of Tagish Lake, Murchison and Orgueil
Precision Measurement of the Proton and Deuteron Spin Structure Functions g2 and Asymmetries A2
We have measured the spin structure functions g2p and g2d and the virtual
photon asymmetries A2p and A2d over the kinematic range 0.02 < x < 0.8 and 0.7
< Q^2 < 20 GeV^2 by scattering 29.1 and 32.3 GeV longitudinally polarized
electrons from transversely polarized NH3 and 6LiD targets. Our measured g2
approximately follows the twist-2 Wandzura-Wilczek calculation. The twist-3
reduced matrix elements d2p and d2n are less than two standard deviations from
zero. The data are inconsistent with the Burkhardt-Cottingham sum rule if there
is no pathological behavior as x->0. The Efremov-Leader-Teryaev integral is
consistent with zero within our measured kinematic range. The absolute value of
A2 is significantly smaller than the sqrt[R(1+A1)/2] limit.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
Dust Devil Tracks
Dust devils that leave dark- or light-toned tracks are common on Mars and they can also be found on the Earth’s surface. Dust devil tracks (hereinafter DDTs) are ephemeral surface features with mostly sub-annual lifetimes. Regarding their size, DDT widths can range between ∼1 m and ∼1 km, depending on the diameter of dust devil that created the track, and DDT lengths range from a few tens of meters to several kilometers, limited by the duration and horizontal ground speed of dust devils. DDTs can be classified into three main types based on their morphology and albedo in contrast to their surroundings; all are found on both planets: (a) dark continuous DDTs, (b) dark cycloidal DDTs, and (c) bright DDTs. Dark continuous DDTs are the most common type on Mars. They are characterized by their relatively homogenous and continuous low albedo surface tracks. Based on terrestrial and martian in situ studies, these DDTs most likely form when surficial dust layers are removed to expose larger-grained substrate material (coarse sands of ≥500 μm in diameter). The exposure of larger-grained materials changes the photometric properties of the surface; hence leading to lower albedo tracks because grain size is photometrically inversely proportional to the surface reflectance. However, although not observed so far, compositional differences (i.e., color differences) might also lead to albedo contrasts when dust is removed to expose substrate materials with mineralogical differences. For dark continuous DDTs, albedo drop measurements are around 2.5 % in the wavelength range of 550–850 nm on Mars and around 0.5 % in the wavelength range from 300–1100 nm on Earth. The removal of an equivalent layer thickness around 1 μm is sufficient for the formation of visible dark continuous DDTs on Mars and Earth. The next type of DDTs, dark cycloidal DDTs, are characterized by their low albedo pattern of overlapping scallops. Terrestrial in situ studies imply that they are formed when sand-sized material that is eroded from the outer vortex area of a dust devil is redeposited in annular patterns in the central vortex region. This type of DDT can also be found in on Mars in orbital image data, and although in situ studies are lacking, terrestrial analog studies, laboratory work, and numerical modeling suggest they have the same formation mechanism as those on Earth. Finally, bright DDTs are characterized by their continuous track pattern and high albedo compared to their undisturbed surroundings. They are found on both planets, but to date they have only been analyzed in situ on Earth. Here, the destruction of aggregates of dust, silt and sand by dust devils leads to smooth surfaces in contrast to the undisturbed rough surfaces surrounding the track. The resulting change in photometric properties occurs because the smoother surfaces have a higher reflectance compared to the surrounding rough surface, leading to bright DDTs. On Mars, the destruction of surficial dust-aggregates may also lead to bright DDTs. However, higher reflective surfaces may be produced by other formation mechanisms, such as dust compaction by passing dust devils, as this may also cause changes in photometric properties. On Mars, DDTs in general are found at all elevations and on a global scale, except on the permanent polar caps. DDT maximum areal densities occur during spring and summer in both hemispheres produced by an increase in dust devil activity caused by maximum insolation. Regionally, dust devil densities vary spatially likely controlled by changes in dust cover thicknesses and substrate materials. This variability makes it difficult to infer dust devil activity from DDT frequencies. Furthermore, only a fraction of dust devils leave tracks. However, DDTs can be used as proxies for dust devil lifetimes and wind directions and speeds, and they can also be used to predict lander or rover solar panel clearing events. Overall, the high DDT frequency in many areas on Mars leads to drastic albedo changes that affect large-scale weather patterns
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