23,885 research outputs found
Insights into neutrino decoupling gleaned from considerations of the role of electron mass
We present calculations showing how electron rest mass influences entropy
flow, neutrino decoupling, and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the early
universe. To elucidate this physics and especially the sensitivity of BBN and
related epochs to electron mass, we consider a parameter space of rest mass
values larger and smaller than the accepted vacuum value. Electromagnetic
equilibrium, coupled with the high entropy of the early universe, guarantees
that significant numbers of electron-positron pairs are present, and dominate
over the number of ionization electrons to temperatures much lower than the
vacuum electron rest mass. Scattering between the electrons-positrons and the
neutrinos largely controls the flow of entropy from the plasma into the
neutrino seas. Moreover, the number density of electron-positron-pair targets
can be exponentially sensitive to the effective in-medium electron mass. This
entropy flow influences the phasing of scale factor and temperature, the
charged current weak-interaction-determined neutron-to-proton ratio, and the
spectral distortions in the relic neutrino energy spectra. Our calculations
show the sensitivity of the physics of this epoch to three separate effects:
finite electron mass, finite-temperature quantum electrodynamic (QED) effects
on the plasma equation of state, and Boltzmann neutrino energy transport. The
ratio of neutrino to plasma component energy scales manifests in Cosmic
Microwave Background (CMB) observables, namely the baryon density and the
radiation energy density, along with the primordial helium and deuterium
abundances. Our results demonstrate how the treatment of in-medium electron
mass (i.e., QED effects) could translate into an important source of
uncertainty in extracting neutrino and beyond-standard-model physics limits
from future high-precision CMB data.Comment: 32 pages, 8 figures, 1 table. Version accepted by Nuclear Physics
The genealogy of judgement: towards a deep history of academic freedom
The classical conception of academic freedom associated with Wilhelm von Humboldt and the rise of the modern university has a quite specific cultural foundation that centres on the controversial mental faculty of 'judgement'. This article traces the roots of 'judgement' back to the Protestant Reformation, through its heyday as the signature feature of German idealism, and to its gradual loss of salience as both a philosophical and a psychological concept. This trajectory has been accompanied by a general shrinking in the scope of academic freedom from the promulgation of world-views to the offering of expert opinion
Baryon Number Transport in a Cosmic QCD-Phase Transition
We investigate the transport of baryon number across phase boundaries in a
putative first order QCD-phase transition. Two independent phenomenological
models are employed to estimate the baryon penetrability at the phase boundary:
chromoelectric flux tube models; and an analogy to baryon-baryon coalescence in
nuclear physics. Our analysis indicates that baryon transport across phase
boundaries may be order of magnitude more efficient than other work has
suggested. We discuss the substantial uncertainties involved in estimating
baryon penetrability at phase boundaries.Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures (available upon request by mail or fax), plain
tex, UCRL-JC-00000
The surprising influence of late charged current weak interactions on Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
The weak interaction charged current processes (, , ) interconvert neutrons and protons in the early universe and
have significant influence on Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) light-element
abundance yields, particulary that for . We demonstrate that the
influence of these processes is still significant even when they operate well
below temperatures usually invoked for "weak freeze-out,"
and in fact down nearly into the alpha-particle formation epoch (). This physics is correctly captured in commonly used BBN
codes, though this late-time, low-temperature persistent effect of the
isospin-changing weak processes, and the sensitivity of the associated rates to
lepton energy distribution functions and blocking factors are not widely
appreciated. We quantify this late-time influence by analyzing weak interaction
rate dependence on the neutron lifetime, lepton energy distribution functions,
entropy, the proton-neutron mass difference, and Hubble expansion rate. The
effects we point out here render BBN a keen probe of any beyond-standard-model
physics that alters lepton number/energy distributions, even subtly, in epochs
of the early universe all the way down to near .Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure
Estimates of Stellar Weak Interaction Rates for Nuclei in the Mass Range A=65-80
We estimate lepton capture and emission rates, as well as neutrino energy
loss rates, for nuclei in the mass range A=65-80. These rates are calculated on
a temperature/density grid appropriate for a wide range of astrophysical
applications including simulations of late time stellar evolution and x-ray
bursts. The basic inputs in our single particle and empirically inspired model
are i) experimentally measured level and weak decay information, ii) estimates
of matrix elements for allowed experimentally-unmeasured transitions based on
the systematics of experimentally observed allowed transitions, and iii)
estimates of the centroids of the GT resonances motivated by shell model
calculations in the fp shell as well as by (n,p) and (p,n) experiments.
Transitions involving Fermi resonances (isobaric analog states) are also
included and dominate the rates for many interesting proton rich nuclei for
which an experimentally-determined ground state lifetime is unavailable. To
compare our results with more detailed shell model based calculations we also
calculate weak rates for nuclei in the mass range A=60-65 for which Langanke
and Martinez-Pinedo have provided rates. The typical deviation in the electron
capture and B- decay rates for these ~30 nuclei is less than a factor of two or
three for a wide range of temperature and density appropriate for pre-supernova
stellar evolution. We also discuss some subtleties associated with the
partition functions used in calculations of stellar weak rates and show that
the proper treatment of the partition functions is essential for estimating
high temperature beta decay rates. Partition functions based on un-converged
Lanczos calculations can result in estimates of high temperature beta decay
rates that are systematically low.Comment: Tables of rates for nuclei in the mass range A=66-110 are available
from J. Prue
An evaluation of the utilization of remote sensing in resource and environmental management of the Chesapeake Bay region
A nine-month study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of the NASA Wallops Chesapeake Bay Ecological Program in remote sensing. The study consisted of a follow-up investigation and information analysis of actual cases in which remote sensing was utilized by management and research personnel in the Chesapeake Bay region. The study concludes that the NASA Wallops Chesapeake Bay Ecological Program is effective, both in terms of costs and performance
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