1,127 research outputs found
Thermal detection of single e-h pairs in a biased silicon crystal detector
We demonstrate that individual electron-hole pairs are resolved in a 1 cm
by 4 mm thick silicon crystal (0.93 g) operated at 35 mK. One side of the
detector is patterned with two quasiparticle-trap-assisted
electro-thermal-feedback transition edge sensor (QET) arrays held near ground
potential. The other side contains a bias grid with 20\% coverage. Bias
potentials up to 160 V were used in the work reported here. A fiber optic
provides 650~nm (1.9 eV) photons that each produce an electron-hole () pair in the crystal near the grid. The energy of the drifting charges
is measured with a phonon sensor noise 0.09 pair.
The observed charge quantization is nearly identical for 's or 's
transported across the crystal.Comment: 4 journal pages, 5 figure
On the complexity of strongly connected components in directed hypergraphs
We study the complexity of some algorithmic problems on directed hypergraphs
and their strongly connected components (SCCs). The main contribution is an
almost linear time algorithm computing the terminal strongly connected
components (i.e. SCCs which do not reach any components but themselves).
"Almost linear" here means that the complexity of the algorithm is linear in
the size of the hypergraph up to a factor alpha(n), where alpha is the inverse
of Ackermann function, and n is the number of vertices. Our motivation to study
this problem arises from a recent application of directed hypergraphs to
computational tropical geometry.
We also discuss the problem of computing all SCCs. We establish a superlinear
lower bound on the size of the transitive reduction of the reachability
relation in directed hypergraphs, showing that it is combinatorially more
complex than in directed graphs. Besides, we prove a linear time reduction from
the well-studied problem of finding all minimal sets among a given family to
the problem of computing the SCCs. Only subquadratic time algorithms are known
for the former problem. These results strongly suggest that the problem of
computing the SCCs is harder in directed hypergraphs than in directed graphs.Comment: v1: 32 pages, 7 figures; v2: revised version, 34 pages, 7 figure
New Results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search Experiment
Using improved Ge and Si detectors, better neutron shielding, and increased
counting time, the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment has obtained
stricter limits on the cross section of weakly interacting massive particles
(WIMPs) elastically scattering from nuclei. Increased discrimination against
electromagnetic backgrounds and reduction of neutron flux confirm
WIMP-candidate events previously detected by CDMS were consistent with neutrons
and give limits on spin-independent WIMP interactions which are >2X lower than
previous CDMS results for high WIMP mass, and which exclude new parameter space
for WIMPs with mass between 8-20 GeV/c^2.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Exclusion limits on the WIMP-nucleon cross-section from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search
The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) employs low-temperature Ge and Si
detectors to search for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) via their
elastic-scattering interactions with nuclei while discriminating against
interactions of background particles. For recoil energies above 10 keV, events
due to background photons are rejected with >99.9% efficiency, and surface
events are rejected with >95% efficiency. The estimate of the background due to
neutrons is based primarily on the observation of multiple-scatter events that
should all be neutrons. Data selection is determined primarily by examining
calibration data and vetoed events. Resulting efficiencies should be accurate
to about 10%. Results of CDMS data from 1998 and 1999 with a relaxed
fiducial-volume cut (resulting in 15.8 kg-days exposure on Ge) are consistent
with an earlier analysis with a more restrictive fiducial-volume cut.
Twenty-three WIMP candidate events are observed, but these events are
consistent with a background from neutrons in all ways tested. Resulting limits
on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic-scattering cross-section exclude
unexplored parameter space for WIMPs with masses between 10-70 GeV c^{-2}.
These limits border, but do not exclude, parameter space allowed by
supersymmetry models and accelerator constraints. Results are compatible with
some regions reported as allowed at 3-sigma by the annual-modulation
measurement of the DAMA collaboration. However, under the assumptions of
standard WIMP interactions and a standard halo, the results are incompatible
with the DAMA most likely value at >99.9% CL, and are incompatible with the
model-independent annual-modulation signal of DAMA at 99.99% CL in the
asymptotic limit.Comment: 40 pages, 49 figures (4 in color), submitted to Phys. Rev. D;
v.2:clarified conclusions, added content and references based on referee's
and readers' comments; v.3: clarified introductory sections, added figure
based on referee's comment
Tests of Lorentz violation in muon antineutrino to electron antineutrino oscillations
A recently developed Standard-Model Extension (SME) formalism for neutrino
oscillations that includes Lorentz and CPT violation is used to analyze the
sidereal time variation of the neutrino event excess measured by the Liquid
Scintillator Neutrino Detector (LSND) experiment. The LSND experiment,
performed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, observed an excess, consistent
with neutrino oscillations, of in a beam of . It
is determined that the LSND oscillation signal is consistent with no sidereal
variation. However, there are several combinations of SME coefficients that
describe the LSND data; both with and without sidereal variations. The scale of
Lorentz and CPT violation extracted from the LSND data is of order
GeV for the SME coefficients and . This solution for
Lorentz and CPT violating neutrino oscillations may be tested by other short
baseline neutrino oscillation experiments, such as the MiniBooNE experiment.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, uses revtex4 replaced with version to
be published in Physical Review D, 11 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables, uses
revtex
Neutrino Oscillations via the Bulk
We investigate the possibility that the large mixing of neutrinos is induced
by their large coupling to a five-dimensional bulk neutrino. In the strong
coupling limit the model is exactly soluble. It gives rise to an oscillation
amplitude whose squared-mass difference is independent of the channel, thus
making it impossible to explain both the solar and the atmospheric neutrino
oscillations simultaneously.Comment: References added and rearranged, typos corrected, a graph added, and
more detailed explanations provided. To appear in Physical Review
Spatial imaging of charge transport in silicon at low temperature
We present direct imaging measurements of charge transport across a 1 cm × 1 cm × 4 mm crystal of high purity silicon (∼20 kΩ cm) at temperatures between 500 mK and 5 K. We use these data to determine the intervalley scattering rate of electrons as a function of the electric field applied along the ⟨111⟩ crystal axis, and we present a phenomenological model of intervalley scattering which explains the constant scattering rate seen at low-voltage for cryogenic temperatures. We also demonstrate direct imaging measurements of effective hole mass anisotropy, which is strongly dependent on both temperature and electric field strength. The observed effects can be explained by a warping of the valence bands for carrier energies near the spin-orbit splitting energy in silicon
Spatial Imaging of Charge Transport in Silicon at Low Temperature
We present direct imaging measurements of charge transport across a 1
cm 1 cm 4 mm crystal of high purity silicon (20
kcm) at temperatures between 500 mK and and 5 K. We use these data to
determine the intervalley scattering rate of electrons as a function of the
electric field applied along the crystal axis, and we
present a phenomenological model of intervalley scattering that explains the
constant scattering rate seen at low-voltage for cryogenic temperatures. We
also demonstrate direct imaging measurements of effective hole mass anisotropy,
which is strongly dependent on both temperature and electric field strength.
The observed effects can be explained by a warping of the valence bands for
carrier energies near the spin-orbit splitting energy in silicon.Comment: 5 Pages, 5 Figures. Submitted to Applied Physics Letter
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