Impact of Neutron Decay Experiments on non-Standard Model Physics

This paper gives a brief overview of the present and expected future limits on physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) from neutron beta decay, which is described by two parameters only within the SM. Since more than two observables are accessible, the problem is over-determined. Thus, precise measurements of correlations in neutron decay can be used to study the SM as well to search for evidence of possible extensions to it. Of particular interest in this context are the search for right-handed currents or for scalar and tensor interactions. Precision measurements of neutron decay observables address important open questions of particle physics and cosmology, and are generally complementary to direct searches for new physics beyond the SM in high-energy physics. Free neutron decay is therefore a very active field, with a number of new measurements underway worldwide. We present the impact of recent developments.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures; Proceedings of the 5th International BEYOND 2010 Conference, Cape Town, South Africa (2010), World Scientific, accepted for publication; Corrected typo

Xenogeneic, extracorporeal liver perfusion in primates improves the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio)

In fulminant hepatic failure (FHF), the development of hepatic encephalopathy is associated with grossly abnormal concentrations of plasma amino acids (PAA). Normalization of the ratio of branched-chain amino acids to aromatic amino acids (Fischer's ratio) correlates with clinical improvement. This study evaluated changes in PAA metabolism during 4 h of isolated, normothermic extracorporeal liver perfusion using a newly designed system containing human blood and a rhesus monkey liver. Bile and urea production were within the physiological range. Release of the transaminases AST, ALT and LDH were minimal. The ratio of branched (valine, leucine, isoleucine) to aromatic (tyrosine, phenylalanine) amino acids increased significantly. These results indicate that a xenogeneic extracorporeal liver perfusion system is capable of significantly increasing Fischer's ratio and may play a role in treating and bridging patients in FHF in the future

Ultrasensitive 3He magnetometer for measurements of high magnetic fields

We describe a 3He magnetometer capable to measure high magnetic fields (B > 0.1 Tesla) with a relative accuracy of better than 10^-12. Our approach is based on the measurement of the free induction decay of gaseous, nuclear spin polarized 3He following a resonant radio frequency pulse excitation. The measurement sensitivity can be attributed to the long coherent spin precession time T2* being of order minutes which is achieved for spherical sample cells in the regime of motional narrowing where the disturbing influence of field inhomogeneities is strongly suppressed. The 3He gas is spin polarized in-situ using a new, non-standard variant of the metastability exchange optical pumping. We show that miniaturization helps to increase T2* further and that the measurement sensitivity is not significantly affected by temporal field fluctuations of order 10^-4.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

Strain and family effects on resistance of "Leghorn" hens against different dissae

International audienc

Test of Lorentz Symmetry by using a 3He/129Xe Co-Magnetometer

To test Lorentz symmetry we used a 3He/129Xe co-magnetometer. We will give a short summary of our experimental setup and the results of our latest measurements. We obtained preliminary results for the equatorial component of the background field interacting with the spin of the bound neutron: b_n < 3.72 x 10^(-32) GeV (95 C.L.).Comment: Presented at the Fifth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry, Bloomington, Indiana, June 28 - July 2, 201