803 research outputs found
Hybrid Inflation Exit through Tunneling
For hybrid inflationary potentials, we derive the tunneling rate from field
configurations along the flat direction towards the waterfall regime. This
process competes with the classically rolling evolution of the scalar fields
and needs to be strongly subdominant for phenomenologically viable models.
Tunneling may exclude models with a mass scale below 10^12 GeV, but can be
suppressed by small values of the coupling constants. We find that tunneling is
negligible for those models, which do not require fine tuning in order to
cancel radiative corrections, in particular for GUT-scale SUSY inflation. In
contrast, electroweak scale hybrid inflation is not viable, unless the
inflaton-waterfall field coupling is smaller than approximately 10^-11.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figure
Kinetics of ikaite precipitation and dissolution in seawater-derived brines at sub-zero temperatures to 265 K
AbstractThe kinetics of calcium carbonate hexahydrate (ikaite) precipitation and dissolution were investigated in seawater and seawater-derived brines at sub-zero temperatures using the constant addition experimental technique. The steady state rate of these two processes was found to be a function of the deviation of the solution from equilibrium with respect to ikaite and conformed to the same empirical rate law as the anhydrous CaCO3 polymorphs, calcite and aragonite. In addition to the saturation state of the brine with respect to ikaite, the salinity of the brine and the temperature of the reaction evidently exerted some control on the ikaite precipitation kinetics, while the dissolution kinetics of the polymorph were not noticeably influenced by these two parameters. The experimental salinity and temperature conditions were equivalent to those at thermal equilibrium between brine and ice in the sea ice cover of polar seas. Simple modelling of the CO2 system by extrapolation of the oceanic equivalent to sea ice brines showed that the physical concentration of seawater ions and the changes in ikaite solubility as a function of salinity and temperature, both inherent in the sea ice system, would be insufficient to drive the emergent brines to ikaite supersaturation and precipitation in sea ice down to −8°C. The loss of dissolved inorganic carbon to the gas phase of sea ice and to sympagic autotrophs are two independent mechanisms which, in nature, could prompt the brine CO2 system towards ikaite supersaturation and precipitation. Under these conditions, the steady state precipitation rate of ikaite was found to be fast enough for rapid formation within short time scales (days to weeks) in sea ice. The observed ikaite dissolution kinetics were also found conducive to short turn-over time scales of a few hours to a few days in corrosive solutions, such as surface seawater
Solid State Systems for Electron Electric Dipole Moment and other Fundamental Measurements
In 1968, F.L. Shapiro published the suggestion that one could search for an
electron EDM by applying a strong electric field to a substance that has an
unpaired electron spin; at low temperature, the EDM interaction would lead to a
net sample magnetization that can be detected with a SQUID magnetometer. One
experimental EDM search based on this technique was published, and for a number
of reasons including high sample conductivity, high operating temperature, and
limited SQUID technology, the result was not particularly sensitive compared to
other experiments in the late 1970's.
Advances in SQUID and conventional magnetometery had led us to reconsider
this type of experiment, which can be extended to searches and tests other than
EDMs (e.g., test of Lorentz invariance). In addition, the complementary
measurement of an EDM-induced sample electric polarization due to application
of a magnetic field to a paramagnetic sample might be effective using modern
ultrasensitive charge measurement techniques. A possible paramagnetic material
is Gd-substituted YIG which has very low conductivity and a net enhancement
(atomic enhancement times crystal screening) of order unity. Use of a
reasonable volume (100's of cc) sample of this material at 50 mK and 10 kV/cm
might yield an electron EDM sensitivity of e cm or better, a factor
of improvement over current experimental limits.Comment: 6 pages. Prepared for ITAMP workshop on fundamental physics that was
to be held Sept 20-22 2001 in Cambride, MA, but was canceled due to terrorist
attack on U.S New version incorporates a number of small changes, most
notably the scaling of the sensitivity of the Faraday magnetometer with
linewidth is now treated in a saner fashion. The possibility of operating at
an even lower temperarture, say 10 microkelvin, is also discusse
A New WIMP Population in the Solar System and New Signals for Dark-Matter Detectors
We describe in detail how perturbations due to the planets can cause a
sub-population of WIMPs captured by scattering in surface layers of the Sun to
evolve to have orbits which no longer intersect the Sun. We argue that such
WIMPs, if their orbit has a semi-major axis less than 1/2 of Jupiter's, can
persist in the solar system for cosmological timescales. This leads to a new,
previously unanticipated WIMP population intersecting the Earth's orbit. The
WIMP-nucleon cross sections required for this population to be significant are
precisely those in the range predicted for SUSY dark matter, lying near the
present limits obtained by direct underground dark matter searches using
cyrogenic detectors. Thus, if a WIMP signal is observed in the next generation
of detectors, a potentially measurable signal due to this new population must
exist. This signal, lying in the keV range for Germanium detectors, would be
complementary to that of galactic halo WIMPs. A comparison of event rates,
anisotropies, and annual modulations would not only yield additional
confirmation that any claimed signal is indeed WIMP-based, but would also allow
one to gain information on the nature of the underlying dark matter model.Comment: Revtex, 37 pages including 6 figures, accepted by Phys. Rev D.
(version to be published, including changes made in response to referees
reports
Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics on the Event Horizon for Interacting Dark Energy
Here we are trying to find the conditions for the validity of the generalized
second law of thermodynamics (GSLT) assuming the first law of thermodynamics on
the event horizon in both cases when the FRW universe is filled with
interacting two fluid system- one in the form of cold dark matter and the other
is either holographic dark energy or new age graphic dark energy. Using the
recent observational data we have found that GSLT holds both in quintessence
era as well as in phantom era for new age graphic model while for holographic
dark energy GSLT is valid only in phantom era.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
The nearly Newtonian regime in Non-Linear Theories of Gravity
The present paper reconsiders the Newtonian limit of models of modified
gravity including higher order terms in the scalar curvature in the
gravitational action. This was studied using the Palatini variational principle
in [Meng X. and Wang P.: Gen. Rel. Grav. {\bf 36}, 1947 (2004)] and
[Dom\'inguez A. E. and Barraco D. E.: Phys. Rev. D {\bf 70}, 043505 (2004)]
with contradicting results. Here a different approach is used, and problems in
the previous attempts are pointed out. It is shown that models with negative
powers of the scalar curvature, like the ones used to explain the present
accelerated expansion, as well as their generalization which include positive
powers, can give the correct Newtonian limit, as long as the coefficients of
these powers are reasonably small. Some consequences of the performed analysis
seem to raise doubts for the way the Newtonian limit was derived in the purely
metric approach of fourth order gravity [Dick R.: Gen. Rel. Grav. {\bf 36}, 217
(2004)]. Finally, we comment on a recent paper [Olmo G. J.: Phys. Rev. D {\bf
72}, 083505 (2005)] in which the problem of the Newtonian limit of both the
purely metric and the Palatini formalism is discussed, using the equivalent
Brans--Dicke theory, and with which our results partly disagree.Comment: typos corrected, replaced to match published versio
Dielectric (p,q) Strings in a Throat
We calculate the (p,q) string spectrum in a warped deformed conifold using
the dielectric brane method. The spectrum is shown to have the same functional
form as in the dual picture of a wrapped D3-brane with electric and magnetic
fluxes on its world volume. The agreement is exact in the limit where q is
large. We also calculate the dielectric spectrum in the S-dual picture. The
spectrum in the S-dual picture has the same form as in the original picture but
it is not exactly S-dual invariant due to an interchange of Casimirs of the
non-Abelian gauge symmetries. We argue that in order to restore S-duality
invariance the non-Abelian brane action should be refined, probably by a better
prescription for the non-Abelian trace operation
Quantum tunneling in a three dimensional network of exchange coupled single-molecule magnets
A Mn4 single-molecule magnet (SMM) is used to show that quantum tunneling of
magnetization (QTM) is not suppressed by moderate three dimensional exchange
coupling between molecules. Instead, it leads to an exchange bias of the
quantum resonances which allows precise measurements of the effective exchange
coupling that is mainly due to weak intermolecular hydrogen bounds. The
magnetization versus applied field was recorded on single crystals of [Mn4]2
using an array of micro-SQUIDs. The step fine structure was studied via minor
hysteresis loops.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Entropy-Area Relations in Field Theory
We consider the contribution to the entropy from fields in the background of
a curved time-independent metric. To account for the curvature of space, we
postulate a position-dependent UV cutoff. We argue that a UV cutoff on energy
naturally implies an IR cutoff on distance. With this procedure, we calculate
the scalar contribution in a background anti-de Sitter space, the exterior of a
black hole, and de Sitter space. In all cases, we find results that can be
simply interpreted in terms of local energy and proper volume, yielding insight
into the apparent reduced dimensionality of systems with gravity.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figur
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