Halo-independent tests of dark matter annual modulation signals

I derive new halo-independent lower bounds on the product of the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section and the local dark matter density that are valid for annual modulations of dark matter direct detection signals. They are obtained by making use of halo-independent bounds based on an expansion of the rate on the Earth's velocity that were derived in previous works. In combination with astrophysical measurements of the local energy density, an observed annual modulation implies a lower bound on the cross section that is independent of the velocity distribution and that must be fulfilled by any particle physics model. In order to illustrate the power of the bounds we apply them to DAMA/LIBRA data and obtain quite strong results when compared to the standard halo model predictions. We also extend the bounds to the case of multi-target detectors.Comment: 23 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Extended discussion on the phase, one figure added, minor changes, results unchanged. Matches published version in JCA

Productivity comparisons: the european union agriculture

This paper ail11s at l11easuring the total factor productivity (TFP) of the European agricultural finns. With a Translog index, an interspatial comparison of tIle twelve European countries and intertel11poral productivity variations are computed to l11easure the different rate of TFP (Translog, Fisher and Hulten indexes) in the European firms. The approach that we use is to calculate non parametric indexex of total factor productivity which allow flexible l110delling of underlying technology and easy calculation from the account data of the firms. The implication of the quasi-fix family work factor for the short mn and long mn equilibrium of the firms differ between countries and has consequences on the TFP path. The final cornments offer some explanation according with theory available

A halo-independent lower bound on the dark matter capture rate in the Sun from a direct detection signal

We show that a positive signal in a dark matter (DM) direct detection experiment can be used to place a lower bound on the DM capture rate in the Sun, independent of the DM halo. For a given particle physics model and DM mass we obtain a lower bound on the capture rate independent of the local DM density, velocity distribution, galactic escape velocity, as well as the scattering cross section. We illustrate this lower bound on the capture rate by assuming that upcoming direct detection experiments will soon obtain a significant signal. When comparing the lower bound on the capture rate with limits on the high-energy neutrino flux from the Sun from neutrino telescopes, we can place upper limits on the branching fraction of DM annihilation channels leading to neutrinos. With current data from IceCube and Super-Kamiokande non-trivial limits can be obtained for spin-dependent interactions and direct annihilations into neutrinos. In some cases also annihilations into $\tau\tau$ or $b\bar b$ start getting constrained. For spin-independent interactions current constraints are weak, but they may become interesting for data from future neutrino telescopes.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures. Added discussion on equilibrium. Added section 5.4 on form factor uncertainties. Updated figures with SK new limits. Published in JCA

Astrophysics independent bounds on the annual modulation of dark matter signals

We show how constraints on the time integrated event rate from a given dark matter (DM) direct detection experiment can be used to set a stringent constraint on the amplitude of the annual modulation signal in another experiment. The method requires only very mild assumptions about the properties of the local DM distribution: that it is temporally stable on the scale of months and spatially homogeneous on the ecliptic. We apply the method to the annual modulation signal in DAMA/LIBRA, which we compare to the bounds derived from the constraints on the time-averaged rates from XENON10, XENON100, CDMS and SIMPLE. Assuming a DM mass of 10 GeV, we show that a DM interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA signal is excluded at 6.3sigma (4.6sigma) for isospin conserving (violating) spin-independent interactions, and at 4.9sigma for spin-dependent interactions on protons.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Elimination for generic sparse polynomial systems

We present a new probabilistic symbolic algorithm that, given a variety defined in an n-dimensional affine space by a generic sparse system with fixed supports, computes the Zariski closure of its projection to an l-dimensional coordinate affine space with l < n. The complexity of the algorithm depends polynomially on combinatorial invariants associated to the supports.Comment: 22 page