The Glashow resonance as a discriminator of UHE cosmic neutrinos originating from p-gamma and p-p collisions

We re-examine the interesting possibility of utilizing the Glashow resonance (GR) channel nu_ebar + e^- to W^- to anything to discriminate between the UHE cosmic neutrinos originating from p-gamma and pp collisions in an optically thin source of cosmic rays. We propose a general parametrization of the initial neutrino flavor composition by allowing the ratios Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^-}/Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^+} and Phi^{pp}_{pi^-}/Phi^{pp}_{pi^+} to slightly deviate from their conventional values. A relationship between the typical source parameter kappa = (Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^+} + Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^-})/(Phi^{pp}_{pi^+} + Phi^{pp}_{pi^-} + Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^+} + Phi^{p gamma}_{pi^-}) and the working observable of the GR R_0 = Phi^T_{nu_ebar}/ (Phi^T_{nu_mu} + Phi^T_{nu_mu}) at a neutrino telescope is derived, and the numerical dependence of R_0 on kappa is illustrated by taking account of the latest experimental data on three neutrino mixing angles. It is shown that a measurement of R_0 is in principle possible to identify the pure p-gamma interaction (kappa =1), the pure pp interaction (kappa =0) or a mixture of both of them (0 < kappa < 1) at a given source of UHE cosmic neutrinos. The event rate of the GR signal against the background is also estimated.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

First filter test of market power in Finnish food retailing sector

Buyer power and competition policy in food supply chains has emerged as an important economic issue and a highly sensitive item on the policy agenda all around the world. Claims that large retailers and food companies are depressing farm prices because of their market power have been made in many countries around the world (Swinnen and Vandeplas, 2009). Arising concentration of retailer sector increases the concern of existence and gradual growth of buyer power in this sector. The key reason is that the growing buyer power may have the effect of considerably distorting both retail and producer competition, and eventually it may damage economic welfare. In Finland, the increased concentration of the retail sector, with fewer outlets and the growth of the large supermarket chains, has been particularly fast. The two leading Finnish retail chains of food and daily goods increased their market share from 55 per cent in 1990 to nearly 75 per cent in 2008 (Niemi and Ahlstedt 2009).. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the possible existence of buyer power in Finnish food retail food industry. In details, we follow an approach used by Lloyd et al (2009) to measures oligopoly and oligopsony market power in the Finnish food retail industry. This offers a ‘first-filter’ test of price data that may be used as part of the preliminary analyses into the presence of buyer power in food markets. In practice, we apply a vector error correction mechanism (VECM) to perform two-stage tests: First is to test the hypothesis of cointegration between the supply and demand price indices with expected signs for the coefficients irrespective of the degree of retail competition; second is to test the null hypothesis of the perfect competition. The model also serves as a useful device for characterising how prices are transmitted in food market, albeit in simplified form.concentration, market power, VECM, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Labor and Human Capital,

The T2K Indication of Relatively Large theta_13 and a Natural Perturbation to the Democratic Neutrino Mixing Pattern

The T2K Collaboration has recently reported a remarkable indication of the \nu_\mu -> \nu_e oscillation which is consistent with a relatively large value of \theta_{13} in the three-flavor neutrino mixing scheme. We show that it is possible to account for such a result of \theta_{13} by introducing a natural perturbation to the democratic neutrino mixing pattern, without or with CP violation. A testable correlation between \theta_{13} and \theta_{23} is predicted in this ansatz. We also discuss the Wolfenstein-like parametrization of neutrino mixing, and comment on other possibilities of generating sufficiently large \theta_{13} at the electroweak scale.Comment: RevTeX 8 page

Nonzero Mean Squared Momentum of Quarks in the Non-Perturbative QCD Vacuum

The non-local vacuum condensates of QCD describe the distributions of quarks and gluons in the non-perturbative QCD vacuum. Physically, this means that vacuum quarks and gluons have nonzero mean-squared momentum, called virtuality. In this paper we study the quark virtuality which is given by the ratio of the local quark-gluon mixed vacuum condensate to the quark local vacuum condensate. The two vacuum condensates are obtained by solving Dyson-Schwinger Equations of a fully dressed quark propagator with an effective gluon propagator. Using our calculated condensates, we obtain the virtuality of quarks in the QCD vacuum state. Our numerical predictions differ from the other theoretical model calculations such as QCD sum rules, Lattice QCD and instanton models.Comment: 8 pages, no figures, 4 tables Our previous version had an error, and the results in this new version are quite different

Distinguishable RGE running effects between Dirac neutrinos and Majorana neutrinos with vanishing Majorana CP-violating phases

In a novel parametrization of neutrino mixing and in the approximation of $\tau$-lepton dominance, we show that the one-loop renormalization-group equations (RGEs) of Dirac neutrinos are different from those of Majorana neutrinos even if two Majorana CP-violating phases vanish. As the latter can keep vanishing from the electroweak scale to the typical seesaw scale, it makes sense to distinguish between the RGE running effects of neutrino mixing parameters in Dirac and Majorana cases. The differences are found to be quite large in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with sizable $\tan\beta$, provided the masses of three neutrinos are nearly degenerate or have an inverted hierarchy.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure

Scattering of Ultra-relativistic Electrons in the Van Allen Radiation Belts Accounting for Hot Plasma Effects.

Electron flux in the Earth's outer radiation belt is highly variable due to a delicate balance between competing acceleration and loss processes. It has been long recognized that Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) waves may play a crucial role in the loss of radiation belt electrons. Previous theoretical studies proposed that EMIC waves may account for the loss of the relativistic electron population. However, recent observations showed that while EMIC waves are responsible for the significant loss of ultra-relativistic electrons, the relativistic electron population is almost unaffected. In this study, we provide a theoretical explanation for this discrepancy between previous theoretical studies and recent observations. We demonstrate that EMIC waves mainly contribute to the loss of ultra-relativistic electrons. This study significantly improves the current understanding of the electron dynamics in the Earth's radiation belt and also can help us understand the radiation environments of the exoplanets and outer planets