81 research outputs found
Searches for New Particles Including Dark Matter with Atomic, Molecular and Optical Systems
New particles can manifest their effects in many settings, ranging from
effects on sub-atomic to galactic length scales. The nature of these effects
depends on the specific particles and their non-gravitational interactions. In
this chapter, we give a brief overview of how atomic, molecular and optical
systems can be used to search for new particles. To illustrate the basic
principles behind these methods, we focus on the simplest class of particles,
namely new spinless bosons.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, Invited chapter for the book `Springer Handbook
of Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics', edited by Gordon W. F. Drake,
Springer, 201
A hypothetical effect of the Maxwell-Proca electromagnetic stresses on galaxy rotation curves
The Maxwell-Proca electrodynamics corresponding to a finite photon mass
causes a substantial change of the Maxwell stress tensor and, under certain
circumstances, may cause the electromagnetic stresses to act effectively as
"negative pressure." The paper describes a model where this negative pressure
imitates gravitational pull and may produce forces comparable to gravity and
even become dominant. The effect is associated with the random magnetic fields
in the galactic disk with a scale exceeding the photon Compton wavelength. The
presence of a weaker regular field does not affect the forces under
consideration. The stresses act predominantly on the interstellar gas and cause
an additional force pulling the gas towards the center and towards the galactic
plane. The stars do not experience any significant direct force but get
involved in this process via a "recycling loop" where rapidly evolving massive
stars are formed from the gas undergoing galactic rotation and then lose their
masses back to the gas within a time shorter than roughly 1/6 of the rotation
period. This makes their dynamics inseparable from that of the rotating gas.
The lighter, slowly evolving stars, as soon as they are formed, lose connection
to the gas and are confined within the galaxy only gravitationally. Numerical
examples based on the parameters of our galaxy reveal both opportunities and
challenges of this model and motivate further analysis. The critical issue is
the plausibility of formation of the irregular magnetic field that would be
force free. Another challenge is developing a predictive model of the evolution
of the gaseous and stellar population of the galaxy under the aforementioned
scenario. It may be interesting to also explore possible broader cosmological
implications of the negative-pressure model.Comment: 29 pages, 1 figur
Keck constraints on a varying fine-structure constant: wavelength calibration errors
The Keck telescope's HIRES spectrograph has previously provided evidence for
a smaller fine-structure constant, alpha, compared to the current laboratory
value, in a sample of 143 quasar absorption systems:
da/a=(-0.57+/-0.11)x10^{-5}. This was based on a variety of metal-ion
transitions which, if alpha varies, experience different relative velocity
shifts. This result is yet to be robustly contradicted, or confirmed, by
measurements on other telescopes and spectrographs; it remains crucial to do
so. It is also important to consider new possible instrumental systematic
effects which may explain the Keck/HIRES results. Griest et al. (2009,
arXiv:0904.4725v1) recently identified distortions in the echelle order
wavelength scales of HIRES with typical amplitudes +/-250m/s. Here we
investigate the effect such distortions may have had on the Keck/HIRES varying
alpha results. We demonstrate that they cause a random effect on da/a from
absorber to absorber because the systems are at different redshifts, placing
the relevant absorption lines at different positions in different echelle
orders. The typical magnitude of the effect on da/a is ~0.4x10^{-5} per
absorber which, compared to the median error on da/a in the sample,
~1.9x10^{-5}, is relatively small. Consequently, the weighted mean value
changes by less than 0.05x10^{-5} if the corrections we calculate are applied.
Nevertheless, we urge caution, particularly for analyses aiming to achieve high
precision da/a measurements on individual systems or small samples, that a much
more detailed understanding of such intra-order distortions and their
dependence on observational parameters is important if they are to be avoided
or modelled reliably. [Abridged]Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables. Invited contribution to Proc. IAU
XXVIIth General Assembly, Joint Discussion 9, "Are the fundamental constants
varying with time?". To appear in P. Molaro, E. Vangioni-Flam, eds, Memorie
della Societa Astronomica Italiana (MmSAIt), Vol. 80. Complete version of
Table 1 available at http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~mmurphy/pub.htm
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