2,217 research outputs found
Group theory predictions for B --> M₁M₂M₃
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 65-66).The study of B meson decays to 3 pseudoscalar mesons MMM provides a promising arena for constraining CP violation from the Standard Model and searching for "new physics". In this thesis we derive decay amplitudes, rates, and CP asymmetries for B mesons decaying to MMM, in the limit of SU(2) isospin and in the limit of SU(3) quark flavor symmetry. Our results are classified according to the relative angular momentum of mesons in the final states. When all the mesons have relative even angular momentum, there are 56 decay channels expressed as linear combinations of 7 reduced matrix elements. There are also 7 reduced matrix elements for the 36 decay channels where all the mesons have relative odd angular momentum. These results imply relations between the decay amplitudes, including several isospin triangles for B --> MMM, analogous to the B --> [pi][pi] isospin triangle. We also derive sum rules for isospin triangle. We also derive sum rules for B --> MMM, which give approximate SU(2) relations among branching ratios and CP asymmetries.by Tongyan Lin.S.B
Dark matter dynamics in the early universe
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 39).We study a new form of dark matter interaction which may significantly affect the thermal relic abundance of dark matter. This new interaction takes the form C+D --> C+[phi], where D is the dark matter species present today, [phi] is a standard model species, and C is a very heavy exotic particle. In particular, C was present during the period when freeze-out occurred for dark matter species D, but subsequently decayed into standard model particles. We refer to this process as a catalytic reaction, since C acts as a catalyst for the destruction of D. We further postulate that there is a matter-antimatter asymmetry in C, so that C+C --> D+[phi] is suppressed. We find that the catalytic reaction produces very different dynamics than the standard annihilation reaction. We also find that the catalytic reaction can significantly affect the relic abundance of dark matter even if it has a much smaller cross section than the annihilation reaction. Possible physical origins for this catalytic reaction are discussed.by Fei Lin.S.B
Feasibility of using power steering pumps in small-scale solar thermal electric power systems
Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 59-60).The goal of this study was to determine performance curves for a variety of positive displacement pumps in order to select an efficient and low cost option for use as a boiler feed pump in a 1-kWe organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system built by the Solar Turbine Group in Lesotho. The pumps tested included OEM plunger and piston pumps, and rotary vane-type power steering pumps purchased from a junk yard. Motor speed and torque were measured at different flow rates to determine the power consumed to move fluid in the prescribed pressure regime. The test station was designed to pump deionized water; it was intended that measurements and calculations would then be non-dimensionalized and used to predict the ORC working fluid's properties. Unfortunately, deionized water caused the power steering pump shafts to seize; the efficiencies were below anticipated and the pumps were unable to operate under the specified pressures. It was discovered, after WD-40 was added to the water, that power steering pumps performed best when moving fluids with more lubricity. The optimal pump was selected based on how the pump efficiency affected the overall ORC system efficiency, defined as the electrical work output divided by the heat input, and the net electric power output. Power steering pumps achieved efficiencies between 34%-54% under the desired ORC operating conditions with water-oil emulsion as the working fluid. For that pump efficiency range, the overall solar thermal electric ORC system efficiency would be 7.4%-8.5% and the overall system cost would be USD 4.59-5.27 per installed Watt. Made specifically for pumping hydroflurorcarbons, the working fluid used in STG's ORC, the OEM Dynex pump exhibited poorer performance than predicted. The pump efficiency of 31% gave a system efficiency of 7.1% and a cost of USD 6.40 per installed Watt. The OEM water piston and plunger pumps made by Hypro achieved efficiencies of 70% and 81%, respectively, under the same ORC operating conditions described above.(cont) For those pump efficiencies, the overall system efficiencies would be 9.0% and 9.2% and the costs would be USD 4.58 and 4.63 per installed Watt, respectively. The most optimal pump is the HyproPiston pump; although it costs nearly six times that of a power steering pump, the overall system cost is lower when normalized over the power output.by Cynthia Lin.S.B
Black Hole Production from High Energy Scattering in AdS/CFT
In this article we show how to set up initial states in SYM
theory that correspond to high energy graviton collisions, leading to black
hole formation in . For this purpose, we study states in the
gauge theory that are dual to graviton wavepackets localized at the center of
, and carrying large angular momentum along the . These states are
created by exciting only the s-wave mode of one of the complex adjoint scalars
of SYM. For a single graviton, the state is 1/2 BPS and one can show that it is
dual to a linearized 1/2 BPS geometry in the bulk. Exploiting this dictionary,
we show how to localize the particle's wavefunciton so that the dual linearized
metric has the form of a Aichelburg-Sexl shock wave. One can then put two such
shock waves into a head-on collision, which is known to produce a trapped
surface. Finally, we discuss the prospect of studying graviton scattering
directly at strong coupling in the gauge theory using a reduced model of matrix
quantum mechanics.Comment: 11 pages, revtex format, no figure
Deformation and Depinning of Superconducting Vortices from Artificial Defects: A Ginzburg-Landau Study
Using Ginzburg-Landau theory, we have performed detailed studies of vortices
in the presence of artificial defect arrays, for a thin film geometry. We show
that when a vortex approaches the vicinity of a defect, an abrupt transition
occurs in which the vortex core develops a ``string'' extending to the defect
boundary, while simultaneously the supercurrents and associated magnetic flux
spread out and engulf the defect. Current induced depinning of vortices is
shown to be dominated by the core string distortion in typical experimental
situations. Experimental consequences of this unusual depinning behavior are
discussed.Comment: 10 pages,9 figure
Clonal Expansion of Lgr5-Positive Cells from Mammalian Cochlea and High-Purity Generation of Sensory Hair Cells
Death of cochlear hair cells, which do not regenerate, is a cause of hearing loss in a high percentage of the population. Currently, no approach exists to obtain large numbers of cochlear hair cells. Here, using a small-molecule approach, we show significant expansion (>2,000-fold) of cochlear supporting cells expressing and maintaining Lgr5, an epithelial stem cell marker, in response to stimulation of Wnt signaling by a GSK3β inhibitor and transcriptional activation by a histone deacetylase inhibitor. The Lgr5-expressing cells differentiate into hair cells in high yield. From a single mouse cochlea, we obtained over 11,500 hair cells, compared to less than 200 in the absence of induction. The newly generated hair cells have bundles and molecular machinery for transduction, synapse formation, and specialized hair cell activity. Targeting supporting cells capable of proliferation and cochlear hair cell replacement could lead to the discovery of hearing loss treatments.United States. National Institutes of Health (DE-013023)United States. National Institutes of Health (DC-007174)United States. National Institutes of Health (DC-013909)United States. National Institutes of Health (RR-00168
Effects of Pore Walls and Randomness on Phase Transitions in Porous Media
We study spin models within the mean field approximation to elucidate the
topology of the phase diagrams of systems modeling the liquid-vapor transition
and the separation of He--He mixtures in periodic porous media. These
topologies are found to be identical to those of the corresponding random field
and random anisotropy spin systems with a bimodal distribution of the
randomness. Our results suggest that the presence of walls (periodic or
otherwise) are a key factor determining the nature of the phase diagram in
porous media.Comment: REVTeX, 11 eps figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
Trees with Given Stability Number and Minimum Number of Stable Sets
We study the structure of trees minimizing their number of stable sets for
given order and stability number . Our main result is that the
edges of a non-trivial extremal tree can be partitioned into stars,
each of size or , so that every vertex is included in at most two
distinct stars, and the centers of these stars form a stable set of the tree.Comment: v2: Referees' comments incorporate
Traveling wave solutions for a predator-prey system with Sigmoidal response function
We study the existence of traveling wave solutions for a diffusive
predator-prey system. The system considered in this paper is governed by a
Sigmoidal response function which is more general than those studied
previously. Our method is an improvement to the original method introduced in
the work of Dunbar \cite{Dunbar1,Dunbar2}. A bounded Wazewski set is used in
this work while unbounded Wazewski sets were used in \cite{Dunbar1,Dunbar2}.
The existence of traveling wave solutions connecting two equilibria is
established by using the original Wazewski's theorem which is much simpler than
the extended version in Dunbar's work
On the origin of the A and B electronic Raman scattering peaks in the superconducting state of YBaCuO
The electronic Raman scattering has been investigated in optimally oxygen
doped YBaCuO single crystals as well as in crystals
with non-magnetic, Zn, and magnetic, Ni, impurities. We found that the
intensity of the A peak is impurity independent and their energy to
ratio is almost constant (). Moreover, the
signal at the B channel is completely smeared out when non-magnetic Zn
impurities are present. These results are qualitatively interpreted in terms of
the Zeyher and Greco's theory that relates the electronic Raman scattering in
the A and B channels to \textit{d}-CDW and superconducting order
parameters fluctuations, respectively.Comment: Submited to Phys. Rev. Let
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