Target Design for XUV Probing of Radiative Shock Experiments

Radiative shocks are strong shocks characterized by plasma at a high temperature emitting an important fraction of its energy as radiation. Radiative shocks are commonly found in many astrophysical systems and are templates of radiative hydrodynamic flows, which can be studied experimentally using high-power lasers. This is not only important in the context of laboratory astrophysics but also to benchmark numerical studies. We present details on the design of experiments on radiative shocks in xenon gas performed at the kJ scale PALS laser facility. It includes technical specifications for the tube targets design and numerical studies with the 1-D radiative hydrodynamics code MULTI. Emphasis is given to the technical feasibility of an XUV imaging diagnostic with a 21 nm (~58 eV) probing beam, which allows to probe simultaneously the post-shock and the precursor region ahead of the shock. The novel design of the target together with the improved X-ray optics and XUV source allow to show both the dense post-shock structure and the precursor of the radiative shock.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure

The decay Z -> neutrino antineutrino photon in the Standard Model

A complete study of the one-loop induced decay Z -> neutrino antineutrino photon is presented within the framework of the Standard Model. The advantages of using a nonlinear gauge are stressed. We have found that the main contributions come from the electric dipole and the magnetic dipole transitions of the Z gauge boson and the neutrino, respectively. We obtain a branching ratio B=7.16E-10, which is about four orders of magnitude smaller than the bound recentely obtained by the L3 collaboration and thus it leaves open a window to search for new physics effects in single-photon decays of the Z boson.Comment: REVTEX,15 pp, 5 eps figures, Approved for publication in Physical Review

Signatures of the anomalous ZγZ\gamma and ZZ production at the lepton and hadron Colliders

The possible form of New Physics (NP) interactions affecting the ZZZ, $ZZ \gamma$ and $Z\gamma \gamma$ vertices, is critically examined. Their signatures and the possibilities to study them, through ZZ and $Z\gamma$ production, at the e^-e^+ Colliders LEP and LC and at the hadronic Colliders Tevatron and LHC, are investigated. Experimental limits obtained or expected on each coupling are collected. A simple theoretical model based on virtual effects due to some heavy fermions is used for acquiring some guidance on the plausible forms of these NP vertices. In such a case specific relations among the various neutral couplings are predicted, which can be experimentally tested and possibly used to constrain the form of the responsible NP structure.Comment: 17 pages and 9 figures, version to appear in Phys. ReV. e-mail: [email protected]

Production of neutral scalar Higgs bosons at eγe\gamma colliders

We study the production of neutral scalar (CP even) Higgs bosons in the process $e\gamma\to e h$ by including supersymmetric corrections to the dominant $t$-channel photon exchange amplitude. In addition to the standard model $W^{\pm}$ and fermion loops, there are substantial contributions from chargino loops. For some cases, these contributions can exceed those of the $W$'s and ordinary fermions. The cross sections in this channel are generally one or two orders of magnitude larger than those in the related channel $e\bar{e}\to\gamma h$.Comment: 12 pages RevTeX, 5 postscript figures included, uses epsf.st

Exact formulae for Higgs production through e gamma --> e H in the non-linear R_\xi gauge

We study the production of the SM Higgs boson (H^0) at future e gamma colliders, through the reaction e gamma --> e H^0. The amplitude is evaluated using the non-linear R_\xi gauge, which greatly simplifies the calculation. Complete analytical expressions for the amplitudes are presented, which include the contributions from 1-loop triangles "gamma gamma^* H^0" and "gamma Z^* H^0" as well as the W- and Z-boxes with their related $eeH^0$ triangle graphs. The resulting cross section for this mechanism indicates that it could be used to detect the Higgs signal and to test its properties.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, RevTe

Production of the neutral toppion at the e gamma colliders

In the framework of topcolor-assisted technicolor(TC2) model, we study a neutral toppion production process $e^{-}\gamma\to e^{-}\Pi^{0}_{t}$ in this paper. Our results show that the production cross section of $e^{-}\gamma\to e^{-}\Pi^{0}_{t}$ can reach the level of several tens fb, and over $10^{3}$ neutral toppion events can be produced in the planned $e^+e^-$ linear colliders each year. Therefore, such a toppion production process provides us a unique chance to detect toppion events and test the TC2 model. On the other hand, the cross section of $e^{-}\gamma\to e^{-}\Pi^{0}_{t}$ is about one order of magnitude larger than those of some similar processes in SM and MSSM(i.e., $e^{-}\gamma\to e^{-}H$ in SM and $e^{-}\gamma\to e^{-}H^{0}(A^0,h^0)$ in MSSM). So, we can easily distinguish the neutral toppion from other neutral Higgs bosons in SM and MSSM.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, The paper has been accepted by Phys.Rev.

Probing the charged Higgs boson at the LHC in the CP-violating type-II 2HDM

We present a phenomenological study of a CP-violating two-Higgs-doublet Model with type-II Yukawa couplings at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the light of recent LHC data, we focus on the parameter space that survives the current and past experimental constraints as well as theoretical bounds on the model. Once the phenomenological scenario is set, we analyse the scope of the LHC in exploring this model through the discovery of a charged Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson, with the former decaying into the lightest neutral Higgs and a second W state, altogether yielding a b\bar b W^+W^- signature, of which we exploit the W^+W^- semileptonic decays.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures; v2 updated treatment of LHC constraint

CO-CAVITY pilot survey:Molecular gas and star formation in void galaxies

We present the first molecular gas mass survey of void galaxies. We compare these new data together with data for the atomic gas mass and star formation rate ($\rm SFR$) from the literature to those of galaxies in filaments and walls in order to better understand how molecular gas and star formation are related to the large-scale environment. We observed at the IRAM 30 m telescope the CO(1-0) and CO(2-1) emission of 20 void galaxies selected from the Void Galaxy Survey (VGS), with a stellar mass range from $\rm 10^{8.5}$ to $\rm 10^{10.3}M_{\odot}$. We detected 15 objects in at least one CO line. We compared the molecular gas mass ($M_{\rm H_2}$), the star formation efficiency ($\rm SFE =SFR/M_{\rm H_2}$), the atomic gas mass, the molecular-to-atomic gas mass ratio, and the specific star formation rate (sSFR) of the void galaxies with two control samples of galaxies in filaments and walls, selected from xCOLD GASS and EDGE-CALIFA, for different stellar mass bins and taking the star formation activity into account. The results for the molecular gas mass for a sample of 20 voids galaxies allowed us to make a statistical comparison to galaxies in filaments and walls for the first time.Comment: 24 pages, 15 figures, accepted in A&A, language corrected versio