49 research outputs found
LMDA Review, volume 8, issue 1 (sic)
Contents include: From the President, A Note on this Newsletter, A Call for Volunteers, Conference News: ATHE and LMDA, LMDA at ATHE: The Probable Conversion of a Skeptic, 1998 LMDA Conference, The 1997 LMDA Conference at Yale University: Looking Back, To My Colleagues (II), LMDA Advocacy Caucus, and Regional Vice-Presidents.
Issue editor: Michele Volanskyhttps://soundideas.pugetsound.edu/lmdareview/1014/thumbnail.jp
Time Variations in the Scale of Grand Unification
We study the consequences of time variations in the scale of grand
unification, , when the Planck scale and the value of the unified coupling
at the Planck scale are held fixed. We show that the relation between the
variations of the low energy gauge couplings is highly model dependent. It is
even possible, in principle, that the electromagnetic coupling varies,
but the strong coupling does not (to leading approximation). We
investigate whether the interpretation of recent observations of quasar
absorption lines in terms of time variation in can be accounted for by
time variation in . Our formalism can be applied to any scenario where a
time variation in an intermediate scale induces, through threshold corrections,
time variations in the effective low scale couplings.Comment: 14 pages, revtex4; Updated observational results and improved
statistical analysis (section IV); added reference
Constraints on the electron-hole pair creation energy and Fano factor below 150 eV from Compton scattering in a Skipper-CCD
Fully-depleted thick silicon Skipper-charge-coupled devices (Skipper-CCDs)
are an important technology to probe neutrino and light-dark-matter
interactions due to their sub-electron read-out noise. However, the successful
search for rare neutrino or dark-matter events requires the signal and all
backgrounds to be fully characterized. In particular, a measurement of the
electron-hole pair creation energy below 150 eV and the Fano factor are
necessary for characterizing the dark matter and neutrino signals. Moreover,
photons from background radiation may Compton scatter in the silicon bulk,
producing events that can mimic a dark matter or neutrino signal. We present a
measurement of the Compton spectrum using a Skipper-CCD and a Am
source. With these data, we estimate the electron-hole pair-creation energy to
be eV at 130 K in the energy range between 99.3 eV
and 150 eV. By measuring the widths of the steps at 99.3 eV and 150 eV in the
Compton spectrum, we introduce a novel technique to measure the Fano factor,
setting an upper limit of 0.31 at 90% C.L. These results prove the potential of
Skipper-CCDs to characterize the Compton spectrum and to measure precisely the
Fano factor and electron-hole pair creation energy below 150 eV
Snowmass CF1 Summary: WIMP Dark Matter Direct Detection
As part of the Snowmass process, the Cosmic Frontier WIMP Direct Detection
subgroup (CF1) has drawn on input from the Cosmic Frontier and the broader
Particle Physics community to produce this document. The charge to CF1 was (a)
to summarize the current status and projected sensitivity of WIMP direct
detection experiments worldwide, (b) motivate WIMP dark matter searches over a
broad parameter space by examining a spectrum of WIMP models, (c) establish a
community consensus on the type of experimental program required to explore
that parameter space, and (d) identify the common infrastructure required to
practically meet those goals.Comment: Snowmass CF1 Final Summary Report: 47 pages and 28 figures with a 5
page appendix on instrumentation R&
Vacuum Instabilities with a Wrong-Sign Higgs-Gluon-Gluon Amplitude
The recently discovered 125 GeV boson appears very similar to a Standard
Model Higgs, but with data favoring an enhanced h to gamma gamma rate. A number
of groups have found that fits would allow (or, less so after the latest
updates, prefer) that the h-t-tbar coupling have the opposite sign. This can be
given meaning in the context of an electroweak chiral Lagrangian, but it might
also be interpreted to mean that a new colored and charged particle runs in
loops and produces the opposite-sign hGG amplitude to that generated by
integrating out the top, as well as a contribution reinforcing the W-loop
contribution to hFF. In order to not suppress the rate of h to WW and h to ZZ,
which appear to be approximately Standard Model-like, one would need the loop
to "overshoot," not only canceling the top contribution but producing an
opposite-sign hGG vertex of about the same magnitude as that in the SM. We
argue that most such explanations have severe problems with fine-tuning and,
more importantly, vacuum stability. In particular, the case of stop loops
producing an opposite-sign hGG vertex of the same size as the Standard Model
one is ruled out by a combination of vacuum decay bounds and LEP constraints.
We also show that scenarios with a sign flip from loops of color octet charged
scalars or new fermionic states are highly constrained.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures; v2: references adde
Asymmetric Dark Matter from Leptogenesis
We present a new realization of asymmetric dark matter in which the dark
matter and lepton asymmetries are generated simultaneously through two-sector
leptogenesis. The right-handed neutrinos couple both to the Standard Model and
to a hidden sector where the dark matter resides. This framework explains the
lepton asymmetry, dark matter abundance and neutrino masses all at once. In
contrast to previous realizations of asymmetric dark matter, the model allows
for a wide range of dark matter masses, from keV to 10 TeV. In particular, very
light dark matter can be accommodated without violating experimental
constraints. We discuss several variants of our model that highlight
interesting phenomenological possibilities. In one, late decays repopulate the
symmetric dark matter component, providing a new mechanism for generating a
large annihilation rate at the present epoch and allowing for mixed warm/cold
dark matter. In a second scenario, dark matter mixes with the active neutrinos,
thus presenting a distinct method to populate sterile neutrino dark matter
through leptogenesis. At late times, oscillations and dark matter decays lead
to interesting indirect detection signals.Comment: 32 pages + appendix, references added, minor change