Charged lepton flavour violation from low scale seesaw neutrinos

In the work presented here, we have studied the impact of right handed neutrinos, which are introduced to account for the evidence of neutrino masses, on charged lepton flavour violating observables. In particular, we have focused on the loop induced decays of the Z boson into two leptons of different flavour. We have performed a numerical study of the rates predicted for these processes within the Inverse Seesaw model, specifically considering scenarios where $\mu -e$ transitions are suppressed. Our conclusion, after comparison with the most relevant experimental constraints, is that branching ratios as large as $10^{-7}$ can be predicted in the $\tau -\mu$ or $\tau -e$ channels, together with heavy neutrinos having masses of the TeV order. Such rates could be accessible at next generation colliders.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables. Proceedings of the Corfu Summer Institute 2016 "School and Workshops on Elementary Particle Physics and Gravity", 31 August - 23 September 2016, Corfu, Greec

Improved determination of the 1(0)-0(0) rotational frequency of NH3D+ from the high resolution spectrum of the v4 infrared band

The high resolution spectrum of the v4 band of NH3D+ has been measured by difference frequency IR laser spectroscopy in a multipass hollow cathode discharge cell. From the set of molecular constants obtained from the analysis of the spectrum, a value of 262817(6) MHz (3sigma) has been derived for the frequency of the 1(0)-0(0) rotational transition. This value supports the assignment to NH3D+ of lines at 262816.7 MHz recorded in radio astronomy observations in Orion-IRc2 and the cold prestellar core B1-bS.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters 04 June 201

New accurate measurement of 36ArH+ and 38ArH+ ro-vibrational transitions by high resolution IR absorption spectroscopy

The protonated Argon ion, $^{36}$ArH$^{+}$, has been identified recently in the Crab Nebula (Barlow et al. 2013) from Herschel spectra. Given the atmospheric opacity at the frequency of its $J$=1-0 and $J$=2-1 rotational transitions (617.5 and 1234.6 GHz, respectively), and the current lack of appropriate space observatories after the recent end of the Herschel mission, future studies on this molecule will rely on mid-infrared observations. We report on accurate wavenumber measurements of $^{36}$ArH$^{+}$ and $^{38}$ArH$^{+}$ rotation-vibration transitions in the $v$=1-0 band in the range 4.1-3.7 $\mu$m (2450-2715 cm$^{-1}$). The wavenumbers of the $R$(0) transitions of the $v$=1-0 band are 2612.50135$\pm$0.00033 and 2610.70177$\pm$0.00042 cm$^{-1}$ ($\pm3\sigma$) for $^{36}$ArH$^{+}$ and $^{38}$ArH$^{+}$, respectively. The calculated opacity for a gas thermalized at a temperature of 100 K and a linewidth of 1 km.s$^{-1}$ of the $R$(0) line is $1.6\times10^{-15}\times N$($^{36}$ArH$^+$). For column densities of $^{36}$ArH$^+$ larger than $1\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, significant absorption by the $R$(0) line can be expected against bright mid-IR sources

Detection of the Ammonium Ion in Space

We report on the detection of a narrow feature at 262816.73 MHz towards Orion and the cold prestellar core B1-bS, that we attribute to the 1(0)-0(0) line of the deuterated Ammonium ion, NH3D+. The observations were performed with the IRAM 30m radio telescope. The carrier has to be a light molecular species as it is the only feature detected over 3.6 GHz of bandwidth. The hyperfine structure is not resolved indicating a very low value for the electric quadrupolar coupling constant of Nitrogen which is expected for NH3D+ as the electric field over the N nucleus is practically zero. Moreover, the feature is right at the predicted frequency for the 1(0)-0(0) transition of the Ammonium ion, 262817(6) MHz (3sigma), using rotational constants derived from new infrared data obtained in our laboratory in Madrid. The estimated column density is 1.1(0.2)e12 cm-2. Assuming a deuterium enhancement similar to that of NH2D, we derive N(NH4+) sim 2.6e13 cm-2, i.e., an abundance for Ammonium of a few 1e(-11).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters 04 June 201

Iterated Nonlinear Control of Ship's Manoeuvring Models

This paper addresses the control design for a nonlinear vessel manoeuvring model. The authors consider a highly nonlinear vessel 4 DOF model. The proposed control algorithm consists of a combination of an iteration technique that approximates the original nonlinear model by a sequence of linear time varying (LTV) equations whose solution converge to the solution of the original nonlinear problem and, a lead compensation design in which for each of the iterated linear time varying systems, the controller is optimized at each time on the interval. The control designed for the last iteration is then applied to the original nonlinear problem. Simulations results show good performance of this approximation methodology and accurate tracking for certain manoeuvring cases under the control of the designed lead controller. The main characteristic of the nonlinear system's response are the reduction of the settling time and the elimination of the steady state error and overshoot

Self-avoiding walks on scale-free networks

Several kinds of walks on complex networks are currently used to analyze search and navigation in different systems. Many analytical and computational results are known for random walks on such networks. Self-avoiding walks (SAWs) are expected to be more suitable than unrestricted random walks to explore various kinds of real-life networks. Here we study long-range properties of random SAWs on scale-free networks, characterized by a degree distribution $P(k) \sim k^{-\gamma}$. In the limit of large networks (system size $N \to \infty$), the average number $s_n$ of SAWs starting from a generic site increases as $\mu^n$, with $\mu = / - 1$. For finite $N$, $s_n$ is reduced due to the presence of loops in the network, which causes the emergence of attrition of the paths. For kinetic growth walks, the average maximum length, $$, increases as a power of the system size: $\sim N^{\alpha}$, with an exponent $\alpha$ increasing as the parameter $\gamma$ is raised. We discuss the dependence of $\alpha$ on the minimum allowed degree in the network. A similar power-law dependence is found for the mean self-intersection length of non-reversal random walks. Simulation results support our approximate analytical calculations.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Kinetic growth walks on complex networks

Kinetically grown self-avoiding walks on various types of generalized random networks have been studied. Networks with short- and long-tailed degree distributions $P(k)$ were considered ($k$, degree or connectivity), including scale-free networks with $P(k) \sim k^{-\gamma}$. The long-range behaviour of self-avoiding walks on random networks is found to be determined by finite-size effects. The mean self-intersection length of non-reversal random walks, , scales as a power of the system size $N$: $ \sim N^{\beta}$, with an exponent $\beta = 0.5$ for short-tailed degree distributions and $\beta < 0.5$ for scale-free networks with $\gamma < 3$. The mean attrition length of kinetic growth walks, , scales as $\sim N^{\alpha}$, with an exponent $\alpha$ which depends on the lowest degree in the network. Results of approximate probabilistic calculations are supported by those derived from simulations of various kinds of networks. The efficiency of kinetic growth walks to explore networks is largely reduced by inhomogeneity in the degree distribution, as happens for scale-free networks.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figure

Hot Settling Accretion Flow onto a Spinning Black Hole

We study the structure and properties of hot MHD accretion onto a Kerr black hole. In such a system, the hole is magnetically coupled to the inflowing gas and exerts a torque onto the accretion flow. A hot settling flow can form around the hole and transport the angular momentum outward, to the outer edge of the flow. Unlike other hot flows, such as advection- and convection-dominated flows and inflow-outflow solutions (ADAFs, CDAFs, and ADIOS), the properties of the hot settling flow are determined by the spin of the central black hole, but are insensitive to the mass accretion rate. Therefore, it may be possible to identify rapidly spinning BHs simply from their broad-band spectra. Observationally, the hot settling flow around a Kerr hole is somewhat similar to other hot flows in that they all have hard, power-law spectra and relatively low luminosities. Thus, most black hole candidates in the low/hard and, perhaps, intermediate X-ray state may potentially accrete via the hot settling flow. However, a settling flow will be somewhat more luminous than ADAFs/CDAFs/ADIOS, will exhibit high variability in X-rays, and may have relativistic jets. This suggests that galactic microquasars and active galactic nuclei may be powered by hot settling flows. We identify several galactic X-ray sources as the best candidates.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to Ap

Cumulative reaction probabilities and transition state properties: A study of the H++H2 and H++D2 proton exchange reactions

10 pages, 6 figures.Cumulative reaction probabilities (CRPs) have been calculated by accurate (converged, close coupling) quantum mechanical (QM), quasiclassical trajectory (QCT), and statistical QCT (SQCT) methods for the H++H2 and H++D2 reactions at collision energies up to 1.2 eV and total angular momentum J=0–4. A marked resonance structure is found in the QM CRP, most especially for the H system and J=0. When the CRPs are resolved in their ortho and para contributions, a clear steplike structure is found associated with the opening of internal states of reactants and products. The comparison of the QCT results with those of the other methods evinces the occurrence of two transition states, one at the entrance and one at the exit. At low J values, except for the quantal resonance structure and the lack of quantization in the product channel, the agreement between QM and QCT is very good. The SQCT model, that reflects the steplike structure associated with the opening of initial and final states accurately, clearly tends to overestimate the value of the CRP as the collision energy increases. This effect seems more marked for the H++D2 isotopic variant. For sufficiently high J values, the growth of the centrifugal barrier leads to an increase in the threshold of the CRP. At these high J values the discrepancy between SQCT and QCT becomes larger and is magnified with growing collision energy. The total CRPs calculated with the QCT and SQCT methods allowed the determination of the rate constant for the H++D2 reaction. It was found that the rate, in agreement with experiment, decreases with temperature as expected for an endothermic reaction. In the range of temperatures between 200 and 500 K the differences between SQCT and QCT rate results are relatively minor. Although exact QM calculations are formidable for an exact determination of the k(T), it can be reliably expected that their value will lie between those given by the dynamical and statistical trajectory methods.This work has been funded by the MICIN (Spain) under Project Nos. CTQ2008-02578, CTQ2005-09185, FIS2007- 62006 ENE2006-14577-C04-Co3/FTN, and FIS2007-61686. P.G.J. also acknowledge support from the fellowship Grant No. Grant AP2006-03740.Peer reviewe