Lenses in the forest: cross-correlation of the Lyman-alpha flux with CMB lensing

We present a theoretical estimate for a new observable: the cross-correlation between the Lyman-alpha flux fluctuations in quasar (QSO) spectra and the convergence of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as measured along the same line-of-sight. As a first step toward the assessment of its detectability, we estimate the signal-to-noise ratio using linear theory. Although the signal-to-noise is small for a single line-of-sight and peaks at somewhat smaller redshifts than those probed by the Lyman-alpha forest, we estimate a total signal-to-noise of 9 for cross-correlating QSO spectra of SDSS-III with Planck and of 20 for cross-correlating with a future polarization based CMB experiment. The detection of this effect would be a direct measure of the neutral hydrogen-matter cross-correlation and could provide important information on the growth of structures at large scales in a redshift range which is still poorly probed by observations.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, matches published versio

Holographic Systematics of D-brane Inflation

We provide a systematic treatment of possible corrections to the inflaton potential for D-brane inflation in the warped deformed conifold. We consider the D3-brane potential in the presence of the most general possible corrections to the throat geometry sourced by coupling to the bulk of a compact Calabi-Yau space. This corresponds to the potential on the Coulomb branch of the dual gauge theory, in the presence of arbitrary perturbations of the Lagrangian. The leading contributions arise from perturbations by the most relevant operators that do not destroy the throat geometry. We find a generic contribution from a non-chiral operator of dimension {Delta} = 2 associated with a global symmetry current, resulting in a negative contribution to the inflaton mass-squared. If the Calabi-Yau preserves certain discrete symmetries, this is the dominant correction to the inflaton potential, and fine-tuning of the inflaton mass is possible. In the absence of such discrete symmetries, the dominant contribution comes from a chiral operator with {Delta} = 3/2, corresponding to a {phi}{sup 3/2} term in the inflaton potential. The resulting inflationary models are phenomenologically identical to the inflection point scenarios arising from specific D7-brane embeddings, but occur under far more general circumstances. Our strategy extends immediately to other warped geometries, given sufficient knowledge of the Kaluza-Klein spectrum

High momentum transfer inelastic muon scattering and test of scale invariance at NAL

We propose a relatively simple first stage experiment with muons in the 50-150 GeV range. The experiment is designed to optimize conditions for testing scale invariance while providing some information about the final state, as a test of various theories of high energy interactions. The proposed use of an iron spectrometer and of a high Z (>1) target with a low intensity ({approx}10{sup 6}/sec) muon beam should greatly reduce the cost and complexity of the experiment and especially ease the construction of the beam. It may even be possible to make an adequate muon beam for this purpose from the planned 3.5 mrad high intensity pion beam. A higher intensity muon beam can be used to extend the range in q{sup 2}. Information gained in this first experiment could greatly assist the planning of a more sophisticated experiment proposed for the high intensity {mu} beam

Simulations of the Microwave Sky

We create realistic, full-sky, half-arcminute resolution simulations of the microwave sky matched to the most recent astrophysical observations. The primary purpose of these simulations is to test the data reduction pipeline for the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) experiment; however, we have widened the frequency coverage beyond the ACT bands and utilized the easily accessible HEALPix map format to make these simulations applicable to other current and near future microwave background experiments. Some of the novel features of these simulations are that the radio and infrared galaxy populations are correlated with the galaxy cluster and group populations, the primordial microwave background is lensed by the dark matter structure in the simulation via a ray-tracing code, the contribution to the thermal and kinetic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) signals from galaxy clusters, groups, and the intergalactic medium has been included, and the gas prescription to model the SZ signals has been refined to match the most recent X-ray observations. The cosmology adopted in these simulations is also consistent with the WMAP 5-year parameter measurements. From these simulations we find a slope for the Y{sub 200} - M{sub 200} relation that is only slightly steeper than self-similar, with an intrinsic scatter in the relation of {approx} 14%. Regarding the contamination of cluster SZ flux by radio galaxies, we find for 148 GHz (90 GHz) only 3% (4%) of halos have their SZ decrements contaminated at a level of 20% or more. We find the contamination levels higher for infrared galaxies. However, at 90 GHz, less than 20% of clusters with M{sub 200} > 2.5 x 10{sup 14}M{sub {circle_dot}} and z < 1.2 have their SZ decrements filled in at a level of 20% or more. At 148 GHz, less than 20% of clusters with M{sub 200} > 2.5 x 10{sup 14}M{sub {circle_dot}} and z < 0.8 have their SZ decrements filled in at a level of 50% or larger. Our models also suggest that a population of very high flux infrared galaxies, which are likely lensed sources, contribute most to the SZ contamination of very massive clusters at 90 and 148 GHz. These simulations are publicly available and should serve as a useful tool for microwave surveys to cross-check SZ cluster detection, power spectrum, and cross-correlation analyses

Report of the 2005 Snowmass Top/QCD Working Group

This report discusses several topics in both top quark physics and QCD at an International Linear Collider (ILC). Issues such as measurements at the $t\bar{t}$ threshold, including both theoretical and machine requirements, and the determination of electroweak top quark couplings, are reviewed. New results concerning the potential of a 500 GeV $e^+e^-$ collider for measuring $Wtb$ couplings and the top quark Yukawa coupling are presented. The status of higher order QCD corrections to jet production cross sections, heavy quark form factors, and longitudinal gauge boson scattering, needed for percent-level studies at the ILC, are reviewed. A new study of the measurement of the hadronic structure of the photon at a $\gamma\gamma$ collider is presented. The effects on top quark properties from several models of new physics, including composite models, Little Higgs theories, and CPT violation, are studied.Comment: 39 pages, many figs; typos fixed and refs added. Contributed to the 2005 International Linear Collider Physics and Detector Workshop and 2nd ILC Accelerator Workshop, Snowmass, Colorado, 14-27 Aug 200

On the influence of the cosmological constant on gravitational lensing in small systems

The cosmological constant Lambda affects gravitational lensing phenomena. The contribution of Lambda to the observable angular positions of multiple images and to their amplification and time delay is here computed through a study in the weak deflection limit of the equations of motion in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. Due to Lambda the unresolved images are slightly demagnified, the radius of the Einstein ring decreases and the time delay increases. The effect is however negligible for near lenses. In the case of null cosmological constant, we provide some updated results on lensing by a Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; v2: extended discussion on the lens equation, references added, results unchanged, in press on PR

Experience with the CMS Event Data Model

The re-engineered CMS EDM was presented at CHEP in 2006. Since that time we have gained a lot of operational experience with the chosen model. We will present some of our findings, and attempt to evaluate how well it is meeting its goals. We will discuss some of the new features that have been added since 2006 as well as some of the problems that have been addressed. Also discussed is the level of adoption throughout CMS, which spans the trigger farm up to the final physics analysis. Future plans, in particular dealing with schema evolution and scaling, will be discussed briefly