11,844 research outputs found
Quantum Coherence of Relic Neutrinos
We argue that in at least a portion of the history of the universe the relic
background neutrinos are spatially-extended, coherent superpositions of mass
states. We show that an appropriate quantum mechanical treatment affects the
neutrino mass values derived from cosmological data. The coherence scale of
these neutrino flavor wavepackets can be an appreciable fraction of the causal
horizon size, raising the possibility of spacetime curvature-induced
decoherence.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; matches publication in PR
Neutrino Burst-Generated Gravitational Radiation From Collapsing Supermassive Stars
We estimate the gravitational radiation signature of the electron/positron
annihilation-driven neutrino burst accompanying the asymmetric collapse of an
initially hydrostatic, radiation-dominated supermassive object suffering the
Feynman-Chandrasekhar instability. An object with a mass
, with primordial metallicity, is
an optimal case with respect to the fraction of its rest mass emitted in
neutrinos as it collapses to a black hole: lower initial mass objects will be
subject to scattering-induced neutrino trapping and consequently lower
efficiency in this mode of gravitational radiation generation; while higher
masses will not get hot enough to radiate significant neutrino energy before
producing a black hole. The optimal case collapse will radiate several percent
of the star's rest mass in neutrinos and, with an assumed small asymmetry in
temperature at peak neutrino production, produces a characteristic linear
memory gravitational wave burst signature. The timescale for this signature,
depending on redshift, is to , optimal for proposed
gravitational wave observatories like DECIGO. Using the response of that
detector, and requiring a signal-to-noise ratio SNR 5, we estimate that
collapse of a supermassive star could produce a
neutrino burst-generated gravitational radiation signature detectable to
redshift . With the envisioned ultimate DECIGO design sensitivity,
we estimate that the linear memory signal from these events could be detectable
with SNR to .Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Probing neutrino physics with a self-consistent treatment of the weak decoupling, nucleosynthesis, and photon decoupling epochs
We show that a self-consistent and coupled treatment of the weak decoupling,
big bang nucleosynthesis, and photon decoupling epochs can be used to provide
new insights and constraints on neutrino sector physics from high-precision
measurements of light element abundances and cosmic microwave background
observables. Implications of beyond-standard-model physics in cosmology,
especially within the neutrino sector, are assessed by comparing predictions
against five observables: the baryon energy density, helium abundance,
deuterium abundance, effective number of neutrinos, and sum of the light
neutrino mass eigenstates. We give examples for constraints on dark radiation,
neutrino rest mass, lepton numbers, and scenarios for light and heavy sterile
neutrinos.Comment: 29 pages, 10 figure
Neutrino-Accelerated Hot Hydrogen Burning
We examine the effects of significant electron anti-neutrino fluxes on
hydrogen burning. Specifically, we find that the bottleneck weak nuclear
reactions in the traditional pp-chain and the hot CNO cycle can be accelerated
by anti-neutrino capture, increasing the energy generation rate. We also
discuss how anti-neutrino capture reactions can alter the conditions for break
out into the rp-process. We speculate on the impact of these considerations for
the evolution and dynamics of collapsing very- and super- massive compact
objects.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, submitted to ApJ; minor content chang
Enhanced Heavy-Element Formation in Baryon-Inhomogeneous Big-Bang Models
We show that primordial nucleosynthesis in baryon inhomogeneous big-bang
models can lead to significant heavy-element production while still satisfying
all the light-element abundance constraints including the low lithium abundance
observed in population II stars. The parameters which admit this solution arise
naturally from the process of neutrino induced inflation of baryon
inhomogeneities prior to the epoch of nucleosynthesis. These solutions entail a
small fraction of baryons (\le 2\%) in very high density regions with local
baryon-to-photon ratio , while most baryons are at a
baryon-to-photon ratio which optimizes the agreement with light-element
abundances. The model would imply a unique signature of baryon inhomogeneities
in the early universe, evidenced by the existence of primordial material
containing heavy-element products of proton and alpha- burning reactions with
an abundance of .Comment: 19 pages in plain Tex, 5 figures (not included) available by fax or
mail upon request, ApJ in press, L
Neutrino energy transport in weak decoupling and big bang nucleosynthesis
We calculate the evolution of the early universe through the epochs of weak
decoupling, weak freeze-out and big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) by
simultaneously coupling a full strong, electromagnetic, and weak nuclear
reaction network with a multi-energy group Boltzmann neutrino energy transport
scheme. The modular structure of our code provides the ability to dissect the
relative contributions of each process responsible for evolving the dynamics of
the early universe in the absence of neutrino flavor oscillations. Such an
approach allows a detailed accounting of the evolution of the ,
, , , , energy
distribution functions alongside and self-consistently with the nuclear
reactions and entropy/heat generation and flow between the neutrino and
photon/electron/positron/baryon plasma components. This calculation reveals
nonlinear feedback in the time evolution of neutrino distribution functions and
plasma thermodynamic conditions (e.g., electron-positron pair densities), with
implications for: the phasing between scale factor and plasma temperature; the
neutron-to-proton ratio; light-element abundance histories; and the
cosmological parameter \neff. We find that our approach of following the time
development of neutrino spectral distortions and concomitant entropy production
and extraction from the plasma results in changes in the computed value of the
BBN deuterium yield. For example, for particular implementations of quantum
corrections in plasma thermodynamics, our calculations show a increase
in deuterium. These changes are potentially significant in the context of
anticipated improvements in observational and nuclear physics uncertainties.Comment: 37 pages, 12 Figures, 6 Table
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Medical-Legal Partnerships to Support Continuity of Care for Immigrants Impacted by HIV: Lessons Learned from California.
The United States (US) has experienced a surge of anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric, raising concerns about the influence on health outcomes for immigrants living in the US. We conducted qualitative interviews (n = 20) with health care and social service providers, attorneys, and legal/policy experts in California to understand how agencies were maintaining access to HIV care and prevention for immigrant clients. We conducted a thematic analysis to describe the role of medical-legal partnerships (MLPs) and document best practices. Informants reported high demand for legal services. Referrals were facilitated by case managers, medical providers, and pre-existing relationships between clinics and legal agencies. Informants identified a need for additional funding and further guidance on screening for and supporting patients with legal needs. MLPs have the capacity to create sustainable, efficient, comprehensive structural changes that minimize barriers to HIV prevention and treatment and improve health outcomes among immigrant populations
Blood product transfusion in emergency department patients: A case-control study of practice patterns and impact on outcome
Definitions of comorbid conditions. (DOCX 13 kb
Presupernova collapse models with improved weak-interaction rates
Improved values for stellar weak interaction rates have been recently
calculated based upon a large shell model diagonalization. Using these new
rates (for both beta decay and electron capture), we have examined the
presupernova evolution of massive stars in the range 15-40 Msun. Comparing our
new models with a standard set of presupernova models by Woosley and Weaver, we
find significantly larger values for the electron-to-baryon ratio Ye at the
onset of collapse and iron core masses reduced by approximately 0.1 Msun. The
inclusion of beta-decay accounts for roughly half of the revisions, while the
other half is a consequence of the improved nuclear physics. These changes will
have important consequences for nucleosynthesis and the supernova explosion
mechanism.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Using Big Bang Nucleosynthesis to Extend CMB Probes of Neutrino Physics
We present calculations showing that upcoming Cosmic Microwave Background
(CMB) experiments will have the power to improve on current constraints on
neutrino masses and provide new limits on neutrino degeneracy parameters. The
latter could surpass those derived from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the
observationally-inferred primordial helium abundance. These conclusions derive
from our Monte Carlo Markov Chain (MCMC) simulations which incorporate a full
BBN nuclear reaction network. This provides a self-consistent treatment of the
helium abundance, the baryon number, the three individual neutrino degeneracy
parameters and other cosmological parameters. Our analysis focuses on the
effects of gravitational lensing on CMB constraints on neutrino rest mass and
degeneracy parameter. We find for the PLANCK experiment that total (summed)
neutrino mass eV could be ruled out at or better.
Likewise neutrino degeneracy parameters and could be detected or ruled out at
confidence, or better. For POLARBEAR we find that the corresponding detectable
values are , , and , while for EPIC we obtain ,
, and . Our forcast for
EPIC demonstrates that CMB observations have the potential to set constraints
on neutrino degeneracy parameters which are better than BBN-derived limits and
an order of magnitude better than current WMAP-derived limits.Comment: 27 pages, 11 figures, matches published version in JCA
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