Supergravity Inspired Warped Compactifications and Effective Cosmological Constants

We propose a supergravity inspired derivation of a Randall-Sundrum's type action as an effective description of the dynamics of a brane coupled to the bulk through gravity only. The cosmological constants in the bulk and on the brane appear at the classical level when solving the equations of motion describing the bosonic sector of supergravities in ten and eleven dimensions coupled to the brane. They are related to physical quantities like the brane electric charge and thus inherit some of their physical properties. The most appealing property is their quantization: in d_\perp extra dimensions, Lambda_brane goes like N and Lambda_bulk like N^{2/(2-d_perp)}. This dynamical origin also explains the apparent fine-tuning required in the Randall-Sundrum scenario. In our approach, the cosmological constants are derived parameters and cannot be chosen arbitrarily; instead they are determined by the underlying Lagrangian. Some of the branes we construct that support cosmological constant in the bulk have supersymmetric properties: D3-branes of type IIB superstring theory provide an explicit example.Comment: 17 pages, LaTeX, 1 figure. v2: references added and a comment about D-8 brane of massive IIA sugra included v3: improved argument on the effective cosmological constants quantization and clarified discussion on the supersymmetric issue of the solutions constructed. Final version to appear in NP

Kinetic description of fermion flavor mixing and CP-violating sources for baryogenesis

We derive transport equations for fermionic systems with a space-time dependent mass matrix in flavor space allowing for complex elements leading to CP violation required for electroweak baryogenesis. By constructing appropriate projectors in flavor space of the relevant tree level Kadanoff-Baym equations, we split the constraint equations into "diagonal" and "transversal" parts in flavor space, and show that they decouple. While the diagonal densities exhibit standard dispersion relations at leading order in gradients, the transverse densities exhibit a novel on-shell structure. Next, the kinetic equations are considered to second order in gradients and the CP-violating source terms are isolated. This requires a thorough discussion of a flavor independent definition of charge-parity symmetry operation. To make a link with baryogenesis in the supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model, we construct the Green functions for the leading order kinetic operator and solve the kinetic equations for two mixing fermions (charginos). We take account of flavor blind damping, and consider the cases of inefficient and moderate diffusion. The resulting densities are the CP-violating chargino currents that source baryogenesis.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figure

Computation of high Reynolds number internal/external flows

A general, user oriented computer program, called VNAF2, developed to calculate high Reynolds number internal/external flows is described. The program solves the two dimensional, time dependent Navier-Stokes equations. Turbulence is modeled with either a mixing length, a one transport equation, or a two transport equation model. Interior grid points are computed using the explicit MacCormack scheme with special procedures to speed up the calculation in the fine grid. All boundary conditions are calculated using a reference plane characteristic scheme with the viscous terms treated as source terms. Several internal, external, and internal/external flow calculations are presented

LANNDD---A Massive Liquid Argon Detector for Proton Decay, Supernova and Solar Neutrino Studies, and a Neutrino Factory Detector

We describe a possible Liquid Argon Neutrino and Nuclear Decay Detector (LANNDD) that consists of a 70kt magnetized liquid argon tracking detector. The detector is being designed for the Carlsbad Underground Laboratory.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures; for the Neutrino Facory Meeting at KEK-NUFACT '0

Inflating Intersecting Branes and Remarks on the Hierarchy Problem

We generalize solutions of Einstein's equations for intersecting branes in higher dimensional spacetimes to the nonstatic case, modeling an expanding universe. The relation between the Hubble rate, the brane tensions, and the bulk cosmological constant is similar to the case of a single 3-brane in a 5-dimensional spacetime. However, because the bulk inflates as well as the branes, this class of solutions suffers from Newton's constant tending toward zero on the TeV brane, where the Randall-Sundrum mechanism should solve the weak scale hierarchy problem. The strength of gravity remains constant on the Planck brane, however.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX. v2:Misprint in eq. (23) corrected; citations fixed and clarified relationship of our work to hep-th/9909053 and hep-th/9909076 v3: final version to appear in PLB. Corrected discussion of the time dependance of the 4-D Planck mass on the TeV brane. Some references added to earlier works on warped Kaluza-Klein compactification

Axial Currents from CKM Matrix CP Violation and Electroweak Baryogenesis

The first principle derivation of kinetic transport equations suggests that a CP-violating mass term during the electroweak phase transition can induce axial vector currents. Since the important terms are of first order in gradients there is a possibility to construct new rephasing invariants that are proportional to the CP phase in the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix and to circumvent the upper bound of CP-violating contributions in the Standard Model, the Jarlskog invariant. Qualitative arguments are given that these new contributions still fail to explain electroweak baryogenesis in extensions of the Standard Model with a strong first order phase transition.Comment: RevTeX, 8 pages, 6 figure

The Wild West No More: Preserving 40 Years of Electronic Records at the University of Wyoming American Heritage Center

The University of Wyoming American Heritage Center (AHC) provides access to all unrestricted collections, per its Mission Statement. However, over the past 40 years, the AHC has acquired born-digital collection material on physical media that it has been unable to provide access to. In the summer of 2014, the AHC undertook a project to migrate all born-digital records to a secure server, thereby creating the means to provide access to the material. After surveying collections databases and finding aids, the Digital Archivist and a graduate intern successfully ingested 346 pieces of digital media from 75 collections. The project was successful in largely eliminating the backlog of born-digital collection material and making those records available for use to all

A New Source for Electroweak Baryogenesis in the MSSM

One of the most experimentally testable explanations for the origin of the baryon asymmetry of the universe is that it was created during the electroweak phase transition, in the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Previous efforts have focused on the current for the difference of the two Higgsino fields, $H_1-H_2$, as the source of biasing sphalerons to create the baryon asymmetry. We point out that the current for the orthogonal linear combination, $H_1+H_2$, is larger by several orders of magnitude. Although this increases the efficiency of electroweak baryogenesis, we nevertheless find that large CP-violating angles $\ge 0.15$ are required to get a large enough baryon asymmetry.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures; numerical error corrected, which implies that large CP violation is needed to get observed baryon asymmetry. We improved solution of diffusion equations, and computed more accurate values for diffusion coefficient and damping rate

A summary of recent NASA/Army contributions to rotorcraft vibrations and structural dynamics technology

The requirement for low vibrations has achieved the status of a critical design consideration in modern helicopters. There is now a recognized need to account for vibrations during both the analytical and experimental phases of design. Research activities in this area were both broad and varied and notable advances were made in recent years in the critical elements of the technology base needed to achieve the goal of a jet smooth ride. The purpose is to present an overview of accomplishments and current activities of govern and government-sponsored research in the area of rotorcraft vibrations and structural dynamics, focusing on NASA and Army contributions over the last decade or so. Specific topics addressed include: airframe finite-element modeling for static and dynamic analyses, analysis of coupled rotor-airframe vibrations, optimization of airframes subject to vibration constraints, active and passive control of vibrations in both the rotating and fixed systems, and integration of testing and analysis in such guises as modal analysis, system identification, structural modification, and vibratory loads measurement