An initial investigation into the low-cost manufacture of diffracting objects

In this letter we report on an initial investigation into the printing of diffracting objects via the high-speed, low-cost, printing process of offset-lithography, a method more commonly used in the printing of books and newspapers. A series of diffracting objects were printed onto clear substrates and evaluated with a coherent light source. The diffraction patterns generated correlate well with the Fourier transform of the printed image

Electric dipole moments in supersymmetric theories

Intrinsic EDMs in microscopic systems at a level of sensitivity achievable in experiments under way or foreseen are predicted in supersymmetric unified theories. I describe this and other sources of measurable EDMs and I show how these sources can be distinguished through experiments in different systems.Comment: 5 pages, LaTex2e using amstex.sty, amssymb.sty, apalike.sty, no figs., to appear in Proceedings of the XXIV ITEP Winter School of Physic

Charged Current Universality and the MSSM

We analyze the prospective impact of supersymmetric radiative corrections on tests of charged current universality involving light quarks and leptons. Working within the R-parity conserving Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, we compute the corresponding one-loop corrections that enter the extraction of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix element $V_{ud}$ from a comparison of the muon-decay Fermi constant with the vector coupling constant determined from nuclear and neutron $\beta$-decay. We also revisit earlier studies of the corrections to the ratio $R_{e/\mu}$ of pion leptonic decay rates $\Gamma[\pi^+ \to e^+ \nu (\gamma)]$ and $\Gamma[\pi^+ \to \mu^+ \nu (\gamma)]$. In both cases, we observe that the magnitude of the corrections can be on the order of $10^{-3}$. We show that a comparison of the first row CKM unitarity tests with measurements of $R_{e/\mu}$ can provide unique probes of the spectrum of first generation squarks and first and second generation sleptons.Comment: 38 pages, 17 figure

Tools made of ice facilitate forming of soft, sticky materials

Tools made of ice facilitate the forming or shaping of materials that are soft and sticky in the uncured state. The low-temperature of the ice slows the curing of the material, extending the working time available before setup. Handling problems are eliminated because the material does not adhere to the tool, and the melting ice serves as a lubricant