The rare decay B --> X_s l^+ l^- to NNLL precision for arbitrary dilepton invariant mass

We present a new phenomenological analysis of the inclusive rare decay $B \to X_s \ell^+\ell^-$. In particular, we present the first calculation of the NNLL contributions due to the leading two-loop matrix elements, evaluated for arbitrary dilepton invariant mass. This allows to obtain the first NNLL estimates of the dilepton mass spectrum and the lepton forward-backward asymmetry in the high $M^2_{\ell^+ \ell^-}$ region, and to provide an independent check of previously published results in the low $M^2_{\ell^+ \ell^-}$ region. The numerical impact of these NNLL corrections in the high-mass region ($M^2_{\ell^+ \ell^-} > 14.4 GeV^2$) amounts to -13% in the integrated rate, and leads to a reduction of the scale uncertainty to $\pm 3$. The impact of non-perturbative contributions in this region is also discussed in detail.Comment: 40 pages, 12 figures. v2: extended phenomenological discussion; results unchanged; published versio

Two novel nonlinear companding schemes with iterative receiver to reduce PAPR in multi-carrier modulation systems

Companding transform is an efficient and simple method to reduce the Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) for Multi-Carrier Modulation (MCM) systems. But if the MCM signal is only simply operated by inverse companding transform at the receiver, the resultant spectrum may exhibit severe in-band and out-of-band radiation of the distortion components, and considerable peak regrowth by excessive channel noises etc. In order to prevent these problems from occurring, in this paper, two novel nonlinear companding schemes with a iterative receiver are proposed to reduce the PAPR. By transforming the amplitude or power of the original MCM signals into uniform distributed signals, the novel schemes can effectively reduce PAPR for different modulation formats and sub-carrier sizes. Despite moderate complexity increasing at the receiver, but it is especially suitable to be combined with iterative channel estimation. Computer simulation results show that the proposed schemes can offer good system performances without any bandwidth expansion

The structure of electronic polarization and its strain dependence

The \phi(\kpp)\sim \kpp relation is called polarization structure. By density functional calculations, we study the polarization structure in ferroelectric perovskite PbTiO$_3$, revealing (1) the \kpp point that contributes most to the electronic polarization, (2) the magnitude of bandwidth, and (3) subtle curvature of polarization dispersion. We also investigate how polarization structure in PbTiO$_3$ is modified by compressive inplane strains. The bandwidth of polarization dispersion in PbTiO$_3$ is shown to exhibit an unusual decline, though the total polarization is enhanced. As another outcome of this study, we formulate an analytical scheme for the purpose of identifying what determine the polarization structure at arbitrary \kpp points by means of Wannier functions. We find that \phi(\kpp) is determined by two competing factors: one is the overlaps between neighboring Wannier functions within the plane {\it perpendicular} to the polarization direction, and the other is the localization length {\it parallel} to the polarization direction. Inplane strain increases the former while decreases the latter, causing interesting non-monotonous effects on polarization structure. Finally, polarization dispersion in another paradigm ferroelectric BaTiO$_3$ is discussed and compared with that of PbTiO$_3$.Comment: 5 Figure

Neutrino emission from a GRB afterglow shock during an inner supernova shock breakout

The observations of a nearby low-luminosity gamma-ray burst (GRB) 060218 associated with supernova SN 2006aj may imply an interesting astronomical picture where a supernova shock breakout locates behind a relativistic GRB jet. Based on this picture, we study neutrino emission for early afterglows of GRB 060218-like GRBs, where neutrinos are expected to be produced from photopion interactions in a GRB blast wave that propagates into a dense wind. Relativistic protons for the interactions are accelerated by an external shock, while target photons are basically provided by the incoming thermal emission from the shock breakout and its inverse-Compton scattered component. Because of a high estimated event rate of low-luminosity GRBs, we would have more opportunities to detect afterglow neutrinos from a single nearby GRB event of this type by IceCube. Such a possible detection could provide evidence for the picture described above.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA