5,916 research outputs found
Phenomenology of the CAH+ measure
The CAH+ measure regulates the infinite spacetime volume of the multiverse by
constructing a surface of constant comoving apparent horizon (CAH) and then
removing the future lightcones of all points on that surface (the latter
prescription is referred to by the "+" in the name of the measure). This
measure was motivated by the conjectured duality between the bulk of the
multiverse and its future infinity and by the causality condition, requiring
that the cutoff surfaces of the measure should be spacelike or null. Here we
investigate the phenomenology of the CAH+ measure and find that it does not
suffer from any known pathologies. The distribution for the cosmological
constant Lambda derived from this measure is in a good agreement with the
observed value, and the distribution for the number of inflationary e-foldings
satisfies the observational constraint. The CAH+ measure does not exhibit any
"runaway" behaviors at zero or negative values of Lambda, which have been
recently shown to afflict a number of other measures.Comment: 35 pages, including 6 figures and 2 appendices; v2 corrections in
Section 2.4, conclusions unchange
Statistical Understanding of Quark and Lepton Masses in Gaussian Landscapes
The fundamental theory of nature may allow a large landscape of vacua. Even
if the theory contains a unified gauge symmetry, the 22 flavor parameters of
the Standard Model, including neutrino masses, may be largely determined by the
statistics of this landscape, and not by any symmetry. Then the measured values
of the flavor parameters do not lead to any fundamental symmetries, but are
statistical accidents; their precise values do not provide any insights into
the fundamental theory, rather the overall pattern of flavor reflects the
underlying landscape. We investigate whether random selection from the
statistics of a simple landscape can explain the broad patterns of quark,
charged lepton, and neutrino masses and mixings. We propose Gaussian landscapes
as simplified models of landscapes where Yukawa couplings result from overlap
integrals of zero-mode wavefunctions in higher-dimensional supersymmetric gauge
theories. In terms of just five free parameters, such landscapes can account
for all gross features of flavor, including: the hierarchy of quark and charged
lepton masses; small quark mixing angles, with 13 mixing less than 12 and 23
mixing; very light Majorana neutrino masses, with the solar to atmospheric
neutrino mass ratio consistent with data; distributions for leptonic 12 and 23
mixings that are peaked at large values, while the distribution for 13 mixing
is peaked at low values; and order unity CP violating phases in both the quark
and lepton sectors. While the statistical distributions for flavor parameters
are broad, the distributions are robust to changes in the geometry of the extra
dimensions. Constraining the distributions by loose cuts about observed values
leads to narrower distributions for neutrino measurements of 13 mixing, CP
violation, and neutrinoless double beta decay.Comment: 86 pages, 26 figures, 2 tables, and table of content
Quark and Lepton Masses from Gaussian Landscapes
The flavor structure of the standard model (SM) might arise from random selection on a landscape. We propose a class of simple models, “Gaussian landscapes,” where Yukawa couplings derive from overlap integrals of Gaussian wave functions on extra-dimensions. Statistics of vacua are generated by scanning the peak positions of these zero-modes, giving probability distributions for all flavor observables. Gaussian landscapes can account for all observed flavor patterns with few free parameters. Although they give broad probability distributions, the predictions are correlated and accounting for measured parameters sharpens the distributions of future neutrino measurements
Neutrino mixing and mass hierarchy in Gaussian landscapes
The flavor structure of the Standard Model may arise from random selection on
a landscape. In a class of simple models, called "Gaussian landscapes," Yukawa
couplings derive from overlap integrals of Gaussian zero-mode wavefunctions on
an extra-dimensional space. Statistics of vacua are generated by scanning the
peak positions of these wavefunctions, giving probability distributions for all
flavor observables. Gaussian landscapes can account for all of the major
features of flavor, including both the small electroweak mixing in the quark
sector and the large mixing observed in the lepton sector. We find that large
lepton mixing stems directly from lepton doublets having broad wavefunctions on
the internal manifold. Assuming the seesaw mechanism, we find the mass
hierarchy among neutrinos is sensitive to the number of right-handed neutrinos,
and can provide a good fit to neutrino oscillation measurements.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
A signature of anisotropic bubble collisions
Our universe may have formed via bubble nucleation in an eternally-inflating
background. Furthermore, the background may have a compact dimension---the
modulus of which tunnels out of a metastable minimum during bubble
nucleation---which subsequently grows to become one of our three large spatial
dimensions. When in this scenario our bubble universe collides with other ones
like it, the collision geometry is constrained by the reduced symmetry of the
tunneling instanton. While the regions affected by such bubble collisions still
appear (to leading order) as disks in an observer's sky, the centers of these
disks all lie on a single great circle, providing a distinct signature of
anisotropic bubble nucleation.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; v2: crucial error corrected, conclusions revise
Landau and Ott scaling for the kinetic energy density and the low conventional superconductors, and Nb
The scaling approach recently proposed by Landau and Ott for isothermal
magnetization curves is extended to the average kinetic energy density of the
condensate. Two low superconductors, Nb and are studied
and their isothermal reversible magnetization shown to display Landau and Ott
scaling. Good agreement is obtained for the upper critical field ,
determined from the Abrikosov approximation for the reversible region (standard
linear extrapolation of the magnetization curve), and from the maximum of the
kinetic energy curves. For the full range of data, which includes the
irreversible region, the isothermal curves for show an
impressive collapse into a single curve over the entire range of field
measurements. The Nb isothermal curves exhibit the interesting
feature of a constant and temperature independent minimum value
A Robust Solution Procedure for Hyperelastic Solids with Large Boundary Deformation
Compressible Mooney-Rivlin theory has been used to model hyperelastic solids,
such as rubber and porous polymers, and more recently for the modeling of soft
tissues for biomedical tissues, undergoing large elastic deformations. We
propose a solution procedure for Lagrangian finite element discretization of a
static nonlinear compressible Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic solid. We consider the
case in which the boundary condition is a large prescribed deformation, so that
mesh tangling becomes an obstacle for straightforward algorithms. Our solution
procedure involves a largely geometric procedure to untangle the mesh: solution
of a sequence of linear systems to obtain initial guesses for interior nodal
positions for which no element is inverted. After the mesh is untangled, we
take Newton iterations to converge to a mechanical equilibrium. The Newton
iterations are safeguarded by a line search similar to one used in
optimization. Our computational results indicate that the algorithm is up to 70
times faster than a straightforward Newton continuation procedure and is also
more robust (i.e., able to tolerate much larger deformations). For a few
extremely large deformations, the deformed mesh could only be computed through
the use of an expensive Newton continuation method while using a tight
convergence tolerance and taking very small steps.Comment: Revision of earlier version of paper. Submitted for publication in
Engineering with Computers on 9 September 2010. Accepted for publication on
20 May 2011. Published online 11 June 2011. The final publication is
available at http://www.springerlink.co
Onset of phase correlations in YBa2Cu3O{7-x} as determined from reversible magnetization measurements
Isofield magnetization curves are obtained and analyzed for three single
crystals of YBa2Cu3O{7-x}, ranging from optimally doped to very underdoped, as
well as the BCS superconductor Nb, in the presence of magnetic fields applied
both parallel and perpendicular to the planes. Near Tc, the magnetization
exhibits a temperature dependence \sqrt{M} [Ta(H)-T]^m. In accordance with
recent theories, we associated Ta(H) with the onset of coherent phase
fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. For Nb and optimally doped
YBaCuO, Ta(H) is essentially identical to the mean-field transition line Tc(H).
The fitting exponent m=0.5 takes its mean-field value for Nb, and varies just
slightly from 0.5 for optimally doped YBaCuO. However, underdoped YBCO samples
exhibit anomalous behavior, with Ta(H)>Tc for H applied parallel to the c axis,
suggesting that the magnetization is probing a region of temperatures above Tc
where phase correlations persist. In this region, the fitting exponent falls in
the range 0.5 < m < 0.8 for H\parallel c, compared with m~0. for $H\parallel ab
planes. The results are interpreted in terms of an anisotropic pairing symmetry
of the order parameter: d-wave along the ab planes and s-wave along the c axis.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Non-centro-symmetric superconductors Li2Pd3B and Li2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)3B: amplitude and phase fluctuations analysis of the experimental magnetization data
We report on magnetization data obtained as a function of temperature and
magnetic field in Li2 (Pd0.8Pt0.2)3B and Li2Pd3B non-centro-symmetric
superconductors. Reversible magnetization curves were plotted as M1/2 vs. T.
This allows study of the asymptotic behavior of the averaged order parameter
amplitude (gap) near the superconducting transition. Results of the analysis
show, as expected, a mean field superconducting transition for Li2Pd3B. On
contrary, a large deviation from the mean field behavior is revealed for
Li2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)3B. This is interpreted as due to the strength of the non s-wave
spin-triplet pairing in this Pt-containing compound which produces nodes in the
order parameter and consequently, phase fluctuations. The diamagnetic signal
above Tc(H) in Li2Pd3B is well explained by superconducting Gaussian
fluctuations, which agrees with the observed mean field transition. For
Li2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)3B the diamagnetic signal above Tc(H) is much higher than the
expected Gaussian values and appears to be well explained by three dimensional
critical fluctuations of the lowest-Landau-level type, which somehow agrees
with the scenario of a phase mediated transition.Comment: 7 pages (1 column) 3 figure
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