10,817 research outputs found
R-parity violation assisted thermal leptogenesis in the seesaw mechanism
Successful leptogenesis within the simplest type I supersymmetric seesaw
mechanism requires the lightest of the three right-handed neutrino
supermultiplets to be heavier than GeV. Thermal production of such
(s)neutrinos requires very high reheating temperatures which result in an
overproduction of gravitinos with catastrophic consequences for the evolution
of the universe. In this letter, we let R-parity be violated through a
term in the superpotential, where
are right-handed neutrino supermultiplets. We show that in the
presence of this term, the produced lepton-antilepton asymmetry can be
enhanced. As a result, even for masses as low as GeV or
less, we can obtain the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe without
gravitino overproduction.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; v2: minor changes, references adde
Resonant Conversion of Massless Neutrinos in Supernovae
It has been noted for a long time that, in some circumstances, {\sl massless}
neutrinos may be {\sl mixed} in the leptonic charged current. Conventional
neutrino oscillation searches in vacuum are insensitive to this mixing. We
discuss the effects of resonant massless-neutrino conversions in the dense
medium of a supernova. In particular, we show how the detected
energy spectra from SN1987a and the supernova -process nucleosynthesis may
be used to provide very stringent constraints on the mixing of {\sl massless}
neutrinos.Comment: latex file, 20 pages, including 3 postscript figure
Global disease monitoring and forecasting with Wikipedia
Infectious disease is a leading threat to public health, economic stability,
and other key social structures. Efforts to mitigate these impacts depend on
accurate and timely monitoring to measure the risk and progress of disease.
Traditional, biologically-focused monitoring techniques are accurate but costly
and slow; in response, new techniques based on social internet data such as
social media and search queries are emerging. These efforts are promising, but
important challenges in the areas of scientific peer review, breadth of
diseases and countries, and forecasting hamper their operational usefulness.
We examine a freely available, open data source for this use: access logs
from the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Using linear models, language as a
proxy for location, and a systematic yet simple article selection procedure, we
tested 14 location-disease combinations and demonstrate that these data
feasibly support an approach that overcomes these challenges. Specifically, our
proof-of-concept yields models with up to 0.92, forecasting value up to
the 28 days tested, and several pairs of models similar enough to suggest that
transferring models from one location to another without re-training is
feasible.
Based on these preliminary results, we close with a research agenda designed
to overcome these challenges and produce a disease monitoring and forecasting
system that is significantly more effective, robust, and globally comprehensive
than the current state of the art.Comment: 27 pages; 4 figures; 4 tables. Version 2: Cite McIver & Brownstein
and adjust novelty claims accordingly; revise title; various revisions for
clarit
Electrostatic control of quantum dot entanglement induced by coupling to external reservoirs
We propose a quantum transport experiment to prepare and measure
charge-entanglement between two electrostatically defined quantum dots.
Coherent population trapping, as realized in cavity quantum electrodynamics,
can be carried out by using a third quantum dot to play the role of the optical
cavity. In our proposal, a pumping which is quantum mechanically
indistinguishable for the quantum dots drives the system into a state with a
high degree of entanglement. The whole effect can be switched on and off by
means of a gate potential allowing both state preparation and entanglement
detection by simply measuring the total current.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Latex2e with EPL macros, to appear in Europhysics
Letter
Estimating the reproductive number, total outbreak size, and reporting rates for Zika epidemics in South and Central America
As South and Central American countries prepare for increased birth defects
from Zika virus outbreaks and plan for mitigation strategies to minimize
ongoing and future outbreaks, understanding important characteristics of Zika
outbreaks and how they vary across regions is a challenging and important
problem. We developed a mathematical model for the 2015 Zika virus outbreak
dynamics in Colombia, El Salvador, and Suriname. We fit the model to publicly
available data provided by the Pan American Health Organization, using
Approximate Bayesian Computation to estimate parameter distributions and
provide uncertainty quantification. An important model input is the at-risk
susceptible population, which can vary with a number of factors including
climate, elevation, population density, and socio-economic status. We informed
this initial condition using the highest historically reported dengue incidence
modified by the probable dengue reporting rates in the chosen countries. The
model indicated that a country-level analysis was not appropriate for Colombia.
We then estimated the basic reproduction number, or the expected number of new
human infections arising from a single infected human, to range between 4 and 6
for El Salvador and Suriname with a median of 4.3 and 5.3, respectively. We
estimated the reporting rate to be around 16% in El Salvador and 18% in
Suriname with estimated total outbreak sizes of 73,395 and 21,647 people,
respectively. The uncertainty in parameter estimates highlights a need for
research and data collection that will better constrain parameter ranges.Comment: 35 pages, 16 figure
The Timing Counter of the MEG experiment: calibration and performance
The MEG detector is designed to test Lepton Flavor Violation in the
decay down to a Branching Ratio of a few
. The decay topology consists in the coincident emission of a
monochromatic photon in direction opposite to a monochromatic positron. A
precise measurement of the relative time is crucial to suppress
the background. The Timing Counter (TC) is designed to precisely measure the
time of arrival of the and to provide information to the trigger system.
It consists of two sectors up and down stream the decay target, each consisting
of two layers. The outer one made of scintillating bars and the inner one of
scintillating fibers. Their design criteria and performances are described.Comment: Presented at the 12th Topical Seminar on Innovative Particle and
Radiation Detectors (IPRD10) 7 - 10 June 2010, Siena. Accepted by Nuclear
Physics B (Proceedings Supplements) (2011)tal
On the spectroscopy of quantum dots in microcavities
At the occasion of the OECS conference in Madrid, we give a succinct account
of some recent predictions in the spectroscopy of a quantum dot in a
microcavity that remain to be observed experimentally, sometimes within the
reach of the current state of the art.Comment: OECS11 Conference proceedings, in editor style. 4 pages, 1 figure.
Animations provided separatel
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