Finslerian dipolar modulation of the CMB power spectra at scales 2<l<6002<l<600

A common explanation for the CMB power asymmetry is to introduce a dipolar modulation at the stage of inflation, where the primordial power spectrum is spatially varying. If the universe in the stage of inflation is Finslerian, and if the Finsler spacetime is non-reversible under parity flip, $x\rightarrow-x$, then a three dimensional spectrum which is the function of wave vector and direction is valid. In this paper, a three dimensional primordial power spectrum with preferred direction is derived in the framework of Finsler spacetime. It is found that the amplitude of dipolar modulation is related to the Finslerian parameter, which in turn is a function of wave vector. The angular correlation coefficients are presented, and the numerical results for the anisotropic correlation coefficients over the multipole range $2<l<600$ are given.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, accepted by EPJ

Two-Photon-Exchange Effects and Δ(1232)\Delta(1232) Deformation

The two-photon-exchange (TPE) contribution in $ep\rightarrow ep\pi ^0$ with $W=M_{\Delta}$ and small $Q^2$ is calculated and its corrections to the ratios of electromagnetic transition form factors $R_{EM} = E_{1+}^{(3/2)}/M_{1+}^{(3/2)}$ and $R_{SM} = S_{1+}^{(3/2)}/M_{1+}^{(3/2)}$, are analysed. A simple hadronic model is used to estimate the TPE amplitude. Two phenomenological models, MAID2007 and SAID, are used to approximate the full $ep\rightarrow ep\pi ^0$ cross sections which contain both the TPE and the one-photon-exchange (OPE) contributions. The genuine the OPE amplitude is then extracted from an integral equation by iteration. We find that the TPE contribution is not sensitive to whether MAID or SAID is used as input in the region with $Q^2<2$ GeV$^2$. It gives small correction to $R_{EM}$ while for $R_{SM}$, the correction is about -10\% at small $\epsilon$ and about $1\%$ at large $\epsilon$ for $Q^2\approx2.5$ GeV$^2$. The large correction from TPE at small $\epsilon$ must be included in the analysis to get a reliable extraction of $R_{SM}$.Comment: Talk given at Conference:C16-07-2

Multiple Testing for Neuroimaging via Hidden Markov Random Field

Traditional voxel-level multiple testing procedures in neuroimaging, mostly $p$-value based, often ignore the spatial correlations among neighboring voxels and thus suffer from substantial loss of power. We extend the local-significance-index based procedure originally developed for the hidden Markov chain models, which aims to minimize the false nondiscovery rate subject to a constraint on the false discovery rate, to three-dimensional neuroimaging data using a hidden Markov random field model. A generalized expectation-maximization algorithm for maximizing the penalized likelihood is proposed for estimating the model parameters. Extensive simulations show that the proposed approach is more powerful than conventional false discovery rate procedures. We apply the method to the comparison between mild cognitive impairment, a disease status with increased risk of developing Alzheimer's or another dementia, and normal controls in the FDG-PET imaging study of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.Comment: A MATLAB package implementing the proposed FDR procedure is available with this paper at the Biometrics website on Wiley Online Librar

Testing the homogeneity of the Universe using gamma-ray bursts

In this paper, we study the homogeneity of the GRB distribution using a subsample of the Greiner GRB catalogue, which contains 314 objects with redshift $0<z<2.5$ (244 of them discovered by the Swift GRB Mission). We try to reconcile the dilemma between the new observations and the current theory of structure formation and growth. To test the results against the possible biases in redshift determination and the incompleteness of the Greiner sample, we also apply our analysis to the 244 GRBs discovered by Swift and the subsample presented by the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Host Galaxy Legacy Survey (SHOALS). The real space two-point correlation function (2PCF) of GRBs, $\xi(r),$ is calculated using a Landy-Szalay estimator. We perform a standard least-$\chi^2$ fit to the measured 2PCFs of GRBs. We use the best-fit 2PCF to deduce a recently defined homogeneity scale. The homogeneity scale, $R_H$, is defined as the comoving radius of the sphere inside which the number of GRBs $N(<r)$ is proportional to $r^3$ within $1\%$, or equivalently above which the correlation dimension of the sample $D_2$ is within $1\%$ of $D_2=3$. For the Swift subsample of 244 GRBs, the correlation length and slope are $r_0= 387.51 \pm 132.75~h^{-1}$Mpc and $\gamma = 1.57\pm 0.65$ (at $1\sigma$ confidence level). The corresponding scale for a homogeneous distribution of GRBs is $r\geq 7,700~h^{-1}$Mpc. The results help to alleviate the tension between the new discovery of the excess clustering of GRBs and the cosmological principle of large-scale homogeneity. It implies that very massive structures in the relatively local Universe do not necessarily violate the cosmological principle and could conceivably be present.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics. The data used in this work (e.g. Tables 1 and 2) are publicly available online in electronic form at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsweb.u-strasbg.fr/cgi-bin/qcat?J/A+A