1,846 research outputs found
First order thermal phase transition with 126 GeV Higgs mass
We study the strength of the electroweak phase transition in models with two
light Higgs doublets and a light SU(3)_c triplet by means of lattice
simulations in a dimensionally reduced effective theory. In the parameter
region considered the transition on the lattice is significantly stronger than
indicated by a 2-loop perturbative analysis. Within some ultraviolet
uncertainties, the finding applies to MSSM with a Higgs mass m_h approximately
126 GeV and shows that the parameter region useful for electroweak baryogenesis
is enlarged. In particular (even though only dedicated analyses can quantify
the issue), the tension between LHC constraints after the 7 TeV and 8 TeV runs
and frameworks where the electroweak phase transition is driven by light stops,
seems to be relaxed.Comment: Presented at 31st International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory -
LATTICE 201
An Examination of the Spectral Variability in NGC 1365 with Suzaku
We present jointly analyzed data from three deep Suzaku observations of NGC
1365. These high signal-to-noise spectra enable us to examine the nature of
this variable, obscured AGN in unprecedented detail on timescales ranging from
hours to years. We find that, in addition to the power-law continuum and
absorption from ionized gas seen in most AGN, inner disk reflection and
variable absorption from neutral gas within the Broad Emission Line Region are
both necessary components in all three observations. We confirm the clumpy
nature of the cold absorbing gas, though we note that occultations of the inner
disk and corona are much more pronounced in the high-flux state (2008) than in
the low-flux state (2010) of the source. The onset and duration of the "dips"
in the X-ray light curve in 2010 are both significantly longer than in 2008,
however, indicating that either the distance to the gas from the black hole is
larger, or that the nature of the gas has changed between epochs. We also note
significant variations in the power-law flux over timescales similar to the
cold absorber, both within and between the three observations. The warm
absorber does not vary significantly within observations, but does show
variations in column density of a factor of more than 10 on timescales less
than 2 weeks that seem unrelated to the changes in the continuum, reflection or
cold absorber. By assuming a uniform iron abundance for the reflection and
absorption, we have also established that an iron abundance of roughly 3.5
times the solar value is sufficient to model the broad-band spectrum without
invoking an additional partial-covering absorber. Such a measurement is
consistent with previous published constraints from the 2008 Suzaku observation
alone, and with results from other Seyfert AGN in the literature.Comment: 19 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA
Optical afterglow luminosities in the Swift epoch: confirming clustering and bimodality
We show that Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) of known redshift and rest frame optical
extinction detected by the Swift satellite fully confirm earlier results
concerning the distribution of the optical afterglow luminosity at 12 hours
after trigger (rest frame time). This distribution is bimodal and relatively
narrow, especially for the high luminosity branch. This is intriguing, given
that Swift GRBs have, on average, a redshift larger than pre-Swift ones, and is
unexpected in the common scenario explaining the GRB afterglow. We investigate
if the observed distribution can be the result of selection effects affecting a
unimodal parent luminosity distribution, and find that either the distribution
is intrinsically bimodal, or most (60 per cent) of the bursts are absorbed by a
substantial amount of grey dust. In both cases we suggest that most dark bursts
should belong to the underluminous optical family.Comment: 5 pages 3 figures, minor revision, added reference, accepted for
publication in MNRAS Letter
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