466 research outputs found
An improved cosmological bound on the tau-neutrino mass
We consider the influence of non-equilibrium electronic neutrinos (and
anti-neutrinos) on the neutron-to-proton ratio. These neutrinos would come from
massive annihilations . For sufficiently large masses this new effect would strongly
enhance the (n/p)-ratio, leading to a very stringent bound on the
mass, even adopting a rather weak upper bound on the effective number on
neutrino species during nucleosynthesis.Comment: 10 pages, LaTex file + 1 figure compressed using uufile
Unstable massive tau-neutrinos and primordial nucleosynthesis
The impact of unstable Majorana tau neutrinos on primordial nucleosynthesis
is considered. The mass and lifetime of nu_tau are taken in the intervals
0.1-20 MeV and 0.001-400 sec respectively. The studied decay modes are nu_tau
-> nu_mu + phi and nu_tau -> nu_e + phi, where phi is a massless (or light)
scalar. Integro-differential kinetic equations are solved numerically without
any simplifying assumptions. Our results deviate rather strongly from earlier
calculations. Depending on mass, lifetime, and decay channels of the nu_tau,
the number of effective neutrino species (found from He4), in addition to the 3
standard ones, varies from -2 to +2.5. The abundances of H2 and Li7 are also
calculated.Comment: 36 pages including 28 figures, minor change
Vector bosons in heavy-ion collisions at the LHC
Vector bosons become accessible experimental probes in heavy-ion collisions
at the LHC. The capabilities of the LHC experiments to perform their
measurement are outlined. The focus is given to their utility to study the
possible formation and properties of the Quark Gluon Plasma (QGP) in the most
central heavy-ion collisions. Their own sensitivity (if any) to the QGP is
discussed. Their interest as references to observe multiple QGP sensitive
probes is justified.Comment: HP2008 proceedings, to appear in Eur.Phys.J.
Planck-Scale Physics and Neutrino Masses
We discuss gravitationally induced masses and mass splittings of Majorana,
Zeldovich-Konopinski-Mahmoud and Dirac neutrinos. Among other implications,
these effects can provide a solution of the solar neutrino puzzle. In
particular, we show how this may work in the 17 keV neutrino picture.Comment: 10 pages, IC/92/79, SISSA-83/92/EP, LMU-04/92 (the preprint number
has been corrected; no other changes
Neutrino masses: From fantasy to facts
Theory suggests the existence of neutrino masses, but little more. Facts are
coming close to reveal our fantasy: solar and atmospheric neutrino data
strongly indicate the need for neutrino conversions, while LSND provides an
intriguing hint. The simplest ways to reconcile these data in terms of neutrino
oscillations invoke a light sterile neutrino in addition to the three active
ones. Out of the four neutrinos, two are maximally-mixed and lie at the LSND
scale, while the others are at the solar mass scale. These schemes can be
distinguished at neutral-current-sensitive solar & atmospheric neutrino
experiments. I discuss the simplest theoretical scenarios, where the lightness
of the sterile neutrino, the nearly maximal atmospheric neutrino mixing, and
the generation of & all follow
naturally from the assumed lepton-number symmetry and its breaking. Although
the most likely interpretation of the present data is in terms of
neutrino-mass-induced oscillations, one still has room for alternative
explanations, such as flavour changing neutrino interactions, with no need for
neutrino mass or mixing. Such flavour violating transitions arise in theories
with strictly massless neutrinos, and may lead to other sizeable flavour
non-conservation effects, such as , conversion in
nuclei, unaccompanied by neutrino-less double beta decay.Comment: 33 pages, latex, 16 figures. Invited Talk at Ioannina Conference,
Symmetries in Intermediate High Energy Physics and its Applications, Oct.
1998, to be published by Springer Tracts in Modern Physics. Festschrift in
Honour of John Vergados' 60th Birthda
Planck scale effects in neutrino physics
We study the phenomenology and cosmology of the Majoron (flavon) models of
three active and one inert neutrino paying special attention to the possible
(almost) conserved generalization of the Zeldovich-Konopinski-Mahmoud lepton
charge. Using Planck scale physics effects which provide the breaking of the
lepton charge, we show how in this picture one can incorporate the solutions to
some of the central issues in neutrino physics such as the solar and
atmospheric neutrino puzzles, dark matter and a 17 keV neutrino. These
gravitational effects induce tiny Majorana mass terms for neutrinos and
considerable masses for flavons. The cosmological demand for the sufficiently
fast decay of flavons implies a lower limit on the electron neutrino mass in
the range of 0.1-1 eV.Comment: 24 pages, 1 figure (not included but available upon request), LaTex,
IC/92/196, SISSA-140/92/EP, LMU-09/9
Green function techniques in the treatment of quantum transport at the molecular scale
The theoretical investigation of charge (and spin) transport at nanometer
length scales requires the use of advanced and powerful techniques able to deal
with the dynamical properties of the relevant physical systems, to explicitly
include out-of-equilibrium situations typical for electrical/heat transport as
well as to take into account interaction effects in a systematic way.
Equilibrium Green function techniques and their extension to non-equilibrium
situations via the Keldysh formalism build one of the pillars of current
state-of-the-art approaches to quantum transport which have been implemented in
both model Hamiltonian formulations and first-principle methodologies. We offer
a tutorial overview of the applications of Green functions to deal with some
fundamental aspects of charge transport at the nanoscale, mainly focusing on
applications to model Hamiltonian formulations.Comment: Tutorial review, LaTeX, 129 pages, 41 figures, 300 references,
submitted to Springer series "Lecture Notes in Physics
Dilepton mass spectra in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)= 200 GeV and the contribution from open charm
The PHENIX experiement has measured the electron-positron pair mass spectrum
from 0 to 8 GeV/c^2 in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV. The contributions
from light meson decays to e^+e^- pairs have been determined based on
measurements of hadron production cross sections by PHENIX. They account for
nearly all e^+e^- pairs in the mass region below 1 GeV/c^2. The e^+e^- pair
yield remaining after subtracting these contributions is dominated by
semileptonic decays of charmed hadrons correlated through flavor conservation.
Using the spectral shape predicted by PYTHIA, we estimate the charm production
cross section to be 544 +/- 39(stat) +/- 142(syst) +/- 200(model) \mu b, which
is consistent with QCD calculations and measurements of single leptons by
PHENIX.Comment: 375 authors from 57 institutions, 18 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables.
Submitted to Physics Letters B. v2 fixes technical errors in matching authors
to institutions. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for
this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Inclusive cross section and double helicity asymmetry for \pi^0 production in p+p collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV: Implications for the polarized gluon distribution in the proton
The PHENIX experiment presents results from the RHIC 2005 run with polarized
proton collisions at sqrt(s)=200 GeV, for inclusive \pi^0 production at
mid-rapidity. Unpolarized cross section results are given for transverse
momenta p_T=0.5 to 20 GeV/c, extending the range of published data to both
lower and higher p_T. The cross section is described well for p_T < 1 GeV/c by
an exponential in p_T, and, for p_T > 2 GeV/c, by perturbative QCD. Double
helicity asymmetries A_LL are presented based on a factor of five improvement
in uncertainties as compared to previously published results, due to both an
improved beam polarization of 50%, and to higher integrated luminosity. These
measurements are sensitive to the gluon polarization in the proton, and exclude
maximal values for the gluon polarization.Comment: 375 authors, 7 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. D, Rapid
Communications. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for
this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
System Size and Energy Dependence of Jet-Induced Hadron Pair Correlation Shapes in Cu+Cu and Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 and 62.4 GeV
We present azimuthal angle correlations of intermediate transverse momentum
(1-4 GeV/c) hadrons from {dijets} in Cu+Cu and Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) =
62.4 and 200 GeV. The away-side dijet induced azimuthal correlation is
broadened, non-Gaussian, and peaked away from \Delta\phi=\pi in central and
semi-central collisions in all the systems. The broadening and peak location
are found to depend upon the number of participants in the collision, but not
on the collision energy or beam nuclei. These results are consistent with sound
or shock wave models, but pose challenges to Cherenkov gluon radiation models.Comment: 464 authors from 60 institutions, 6 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables.
Submitted to Physical Review Letters. Plain text data tables for the points
plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be)
publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
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