118311491
Dark matter as a Bose-Einstein Condensate: the relativistic non-minimally coupled case
Bose-Einstein Condensates have been recently proposed as dark matter candidates. In order to characterize the phenomenology associated to such models, we extend previous investigations by studying the general case of a relativistic BEC on a curved background including a non-minimal coupling to curvature. In particular, we discuss the possibility of a two phase cosmological evolution: a cold dark matter-like phase at the large scales/early times and a condensed phase inside dark matter halos. During the first phase dark matter is described by a minimally coupled weakly self-interacting scalar field, while in the second one dark matter condensates and, we shall argue, develops as a consequence the non-minimal coupling. Finally, we discuss how such non-minimal coupling could provide a new mechanism to address cold dark matter paradigm issues at galactic scales.
85534134
Extended LCDM: generalized non-minimal coupling for dark matter fluids
In this paper we discuss a class of models that address the issue of explaining the gravitational dynamics at the galactic scale starting from a geometric point of view. Instead of claiming the existence of some hidden coupling between dark matter and baryons, or abandoning the existence of dark matter itself, we consider the possibility that dark matter and gravity have some non trivial interaction able to modify the dynamics at astrophysical scales. This interaction is implemented assuming that dark matter gets non-minimally coupled with gravity at suitably small scales and late times. After showing the predictions of the model in the Newtonian limit we also discuss the possible origin of it non-minimal coupling. This investigation seems to suggest that phenomenological mechanisms envisaged for the dark matter dynamics, such as the Bose-Einstein condensation of dark matter halos, could be connected to this class of models.
118591717
NGC 3934: a shell galaxy in a compact galaxy environment
We investigate the NGC 3933 poor galaxy association, that contains NGC 3934, which is classified as a polar-ring galaxy. The multi-band photometric analysis of NGC 3934 allows us to investigate the nature of this galaxy and to re-define the NGC 3933 group members with the aim to characterize the group dynamical properties and its evolutionary phase. We imaged the group in the far (FUV,lambda = 1530A) and near (NUV, lambda=2316A) ultraviolet (UV) bands of the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). From the deep optical imaging we determined the fine structure of NGC 3934. We measured the recession velocity of PGC 213894 which shows that it belongs to the NGC 3933 group. We derived the spectral energy distribution (SED) from FUV (GALEX) to far-IR emission of the two brightest members of the group. We compared a grid of smooth particle hydrodynamical (SPH) chemo-photometric simulations with the SED and the integrated properties of NGC 3934 and NGC 3933 to devise their possible formation/evolutionary scenarios. The NGC 3933 group has six bright members: a core composed of five galaxies, which have Hickson's compact group characteristics, and a more distant member, PGC 37112. The group velocity dispersion is relatively low (157+-44 km s-1). The projected mass, from the NUV photometry, is ~7$\times$10^12 M\odot with a crossing time of 0.04 Hubble times, suggesting that at least in the center the group is virialized. We do not find evidence that NGC 3934 is a polar-ring galaxy, as suggested by the literature, but find that it is a disk galaxy with a prominent dust-lane structure and a wide type-II shell structure. NGC 3934 is a quite rare example of a shell galaxy in a likely dense galaxy region. The comparison between physically motivated SPH simulations with multi-band integrated photometry suggests that NGC 3934 is the product of a major merger.
110524479
Experimental study of a cylindrical scintillating fiber detector
A tracking detector made of scintillating fibers is being developed at FNAL, for the experiment E835. The tracker will be used for the measurement of the polar angle /spl theta/, i.e. of the coordinate along the beam. The small amount of light from the fibers will be detected by solid state devices (visible light photon counters) with very high quantum efficiency. This paper reports the performance of a fiber tracker prototype, as measured at FNAL. We present results on light yield/mip, efficiency and homogeneity of response. We measured an average number of about 14 photoelectrons per mip and an efficiency higher than 99%. >
125782352
Experimental Study of the Strong Interaction at FAIR
The physics program of the future FAIR facility covers a wide range of topics that address central issues of strong interactions and QCD. The antiproton beam of unprecedented quality in the momentum range from 1 GeV/c to 15 GeV/c will allow to make high precision, high statistics measurements, from charmonium spectroscopy to the search for exotic hadrons and the study of nucleon structure, from the study of in-medium modification s of hadron masses to the physics of hypernuclei. In addition to that the possibility to polarize antiprotons will provide access to a wealth of singleand double-spin observables, opening up the possibility to perform new, unique measurements, like the transversity distribution of the valence quarks in the proton, new measurements of singlespin asymmetries and the first determination of the relative phase of the electric and magnetic form factors of the proton in the time-like region. In this paper we will discuss the experimental program of the PANDA and PAX experiments, which will address these fundamental issues at FAIR.
55802943
The shapes of BCGs and normal ellipticals in nearby clusters
We compare the apparent axial ratio distributions of the brightest cluster galaxies (BCGs) and normal ellipticals (Es) in our sample of 75 galaxy clusters from the WIde-field Nearby Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS). Most BCGs in our clusters (69 per cent) are classified as cD galaxies. The sample of cDs has been completed by 14 additional cDs (non-BCGs) we found in our clusters. We deproject the apparent axial ratio distributions of Es, BCGs and cDs using a bivariate version of the Lucy rectification algorithm, whose results are supported by an independent Monte Carlo technique. Finally, we compare the intrinsic shape distribution of BCGs to the corresponding shape distribution of the central part of cluster-sized dark matter haloes extracted from the GIF2 Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) N-body simulations (Gao et al.). 
 
 
 
We find that (i) Es have triaxial shape, the triaxiality sharing almost evenly the intrinsic axial ratio parameter space, with a weak preference for prolateness and (ii) the BCGs have triaxial shape as well. However, their tendency towards prolateness is much stronger than in the case of Es. Such a strong prolateness appears entirely due to the sizeable (dominant) component of cDs inside the WINGS sample of BCGs. In fact, while the ‘normal’ (non-cD) BCGs do not differ from Es, as far as the shape distribution is concerned, the axial ratio distribution of BCG_cD galaxies is found to support quite prolate shapes; (iii) our result turns out to be strongly at variance with the only similar previous analysis by Ryden, Lauer & Postman (RLP93), where BCGs and Es were found to share the same axial ratio distribution; (iv) our data suggest that the above discrepancy is mainly caused by the different criteria that RLP93 and ourselves use to select the cluster samples, coupled with a preference of cDs to reside in powerful X-ray-emitting clusters; (v) the GIF2 N-body results suggest that the prolateness of the BCGs (in particular the cDs) could reflect the shape of the associated dark matter haloes.
122241433
A Measurement of the Space - Like Pion Electromagnetic Form-Factor
Abstract The pion form factor has been measured in the space-like q 2 region 0.014 to 0.26 (GeV/ c ) 2 by scattering 300 GeV pions from the electrons of a liquid hydrogen target. A detailed description is given of the apparatus, data analysis and corrections to the data. The mean square charge radius extracted from the data is model-dependent. We find that a form which includes a realistic description of the form factor phase gives a similar results to the naive pole form, and conclude 〈r 2 π 〉 = 0.438±0.008 fm 2 .