Logic and C∗\mathrm{C}^*-algebras: set theoretical dichotomies in the theory of continuous quotients

Given a nonunital $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebra $A$ one constructs its corona algebra $\mathcal M(A)/A$. This is the noncommutative analog of the \v{C}ech-Stone remainder of a topological space. We analyze the two faces of these algebras: the first one is given assuming CH, and the other one arises when Forcing Axioms are assumed. In their first face, corona $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebras have a large group of automorphisms that includes nondefinable ones. The second face is the Forcing Axiom one; here the automorphism group of a corona $\mathrm{C}^*$-algebra is as rigid as possible, including only definable elementsComment: This is the author's Ph.D. thesis, defended in April 2017 at York University, Toront

Model of the response function of large mass bolometric detectors

Large mass bolometers are used in particle physics experiments to search for rare processes. By operating at low temperature, they are able to detect particle energies from few keV up to several MeV, measuring the temperature rise produced by the energy released. This study was performed on the bolometers of the CUORE experiment. The response function of these detectors is not linear in the energy range of interest, and it changes with the operating temperature. The non-linearity is found to be dominated by the thermistor and its biasing circuit. A method to obtain a linear response is the result of this work. It allows a great simplification of the data analysis.Comment: 7 pages, 13 figures. Changes wrt v1: two columns layout, corrected typos, increase of plot labels font, fixes in bibliograph

163Ho as a target for cosmic antineutrinos

The electron capture decay of the isotope 163Ho has been proposed since a long time as a candidate for measuring the electron neutrino mass and recently the interest on this idea has been renewed. A direct observation of the cosmic antineutrino background could be made using a target made of this isotope. We discuss the requirements for an experiment aiming to obtain this result, comparing it with experiments using tritium as target