Comment on "Kinetic decoupling of WIMPs: Analytic expressions"

Visinelli and Gondolo (2015, hereafter VG15) derived analytic expressions for the evolution of the dark matter temperature in a generic cosmological model. They then calculated the dark matter kinetic decoupling temperature $T_{\mathrm{kd}}$ and compared their results to the Gelmini and Gondolo (2008, hereafter GG08) calculation of $T_{\mathrm{kd}}$ in an early matter-dominated era (EMDE), which occurs when the Universe is dominated by either a decaying oscillating scalar field or a semistable massive particle before Big Bang nucleosynthesis. VG15 found that dark matter decouples at a lower temperature in an EMDE than it would in a radiation-dominated era, while GG08 found that dark matter decouples at a higher temperature in an EMDE than it would in a radiation-dominated era. VG15 attributed this discrepancy to the presence of a matching constant that ensures that the dark matter temperature is continuous during the transition from the EMDE to the subsequent radiation-dominated era and concluded that the GG08 result is incorrect. We show that the disparity is due to the fact that VG15 compared $T_\mathrm{kd}$ in an EMDE to the decoupling temperature in a radiation-dominated universe that would result in the same dark matter temperature at late times. Since decoupling during an EMDE leaves the dark matter colder than it would be if it decoupled during radiation domination, this temperature is much higher than $T_\mathrm{kd}$ in a standard thermal history, which is indeed lower than $T_{\mathrm{kd}}$ in an EMDE, as stated by GG08.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; comment on arXiv: 1501.0223

Microwave Photoelasticity: A Resonant Wavelength Approach Applied to PEEK Polymer

Every nondestructive testing (NDT) technique has its unique set of advantages and limitations. Currently, the only existing noncontact NDT method capable of measuring sub-surface stresses, in optically opaque materials, at near-real-time speeds and over large areas is Microwave Photoelasticity (MP). This paper presents a new MP approach, which correlates changes in resonant wavelengths to changes in stress. In addition to a theoretical outline of the approach, the design and operation of an instrument capable of conducting these measurements is described. Finally, the technique is demonstrated by conducting measurements on polyetheretherketone, commonly known as PEEK, polymer. Between the W-Band frequencies of 105 to 115 GHz, PEEKs stress-optic-coefficient was determined to be of = 0.20 0.02 1/GPa

Studying the Body in Rastafari Rituals: Spirituality, Embodiment and Ethnographic Knowledge

Rastafari spirituality is a nonsecular science that considers how various energies and powers influence socio-ecological systems. Rastafari people follow a number of spiritual prescriptions related to the body, including smoking, meditating, growing matted hair, eating an Afrocentric vegan diet and drumming/chanting. However, a person does not have to follow all of these practices to be Rastafari, rather they are means to achieve specific spiritual objectives. While anthropology is generally a secular discipline, by participating in various rituals, the body becomes an ethnographic tool that can lead to an awareness of how spiritual and material worlds interconnect. While I have collected data through conventional ethnographic methods, the most important insights have come through my own personal, bodily engagement in many Rastafari practices. Anthropological work on the ‘spiritual body’ provides a theoretical framework for making sense of experiences of embodied intersubjectivity that arise out of participation in various bodily rituals

Prayer for the Light Baby

pages 7-

Christa Wolf: Kindheitsmuster

Berlin, Weimar: Aufbau, 1976. 534 p. 9,90 DM

Medicaid and Medicaid Cost Containment in Massachusetts

The purpose of this article is to describe Medicaid\u27s financial structure and examine cost containment efforts to limit future growth of the program, particularly pertaining to Massachusetts. The principal focus is the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare and the Massachusetts Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, the two agencies most responsible for Medicaid cost containment in the commonwealth. Because elected officials are unwilling to face directly the troublesome issues surrounding Medicaid and its growth, the government agencies responsible for cost containment have been left to define the scope of the problem, design remedial strategies, and evaluate their success. This process is found wanting on several counts that are not necessarily the fault of the state agencies. What is needed is a national cost-containment policy fashioned by elected officials that provides a comparative framework for evaluation across states

The study of social factors influencing the readmissions of manic-depressive patients: a study of patients who were in the Boston State Hospital in January, 1946

Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University, 1946. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive