17578958
Mirror matter in the solar system: New evidence for mirror matter from Eros
Abstract Mirror matter is an entirely new form of matter predicted to exist if mirror symmetry is a fundamental symmetry of nature. Mirror matter has the right broad properties to explain the inferred dark matter of the Universe and might also be responsible for a variety of other puzzles in particle physics, astrophysics, meteoritics and planetary science. It is known that mirror matter can interact with ordinary matter non-gravitationally via photon-mirror photon kinetic mixing. The strength of this possibly fundamental interaction depends on the (theoretically) free parameter ϵ . We consider various proposed manifestations of mirror matter in our solar system examining in particular how the physics changes for different possible values of ϵ . We find new evidence for mirror matter in the solar system coming from the observed sharp reduction in crater rates (for craters less than about 100 m in diameter) on the asteroid 433 Eros. We also re-examine various existing ideas including the mirror matter explanation for the anomalous meteorite events, anomalous slow-down of Pioneer spacecraft etc.
14009133
Detecting mirror matter on Earth via its thermal imprint on ordinary matter
Mirror matter type dark matter can exist on the Earth's surface, potentially in enhanced concentrations at various anomalous impact sites. Mirror matter fragments can draw in heat from the ordinary matter environment, radiate mirror photons and thereby cool the surrounding ordinary matter. We quantify this effect and suggest that it could be used to help locate mirror matter deposits. This method, together with the centrifuge technique, seems to provide the most promising means to experimentally detect mirror matter type dark matter in the Earth.
118466159
Coupling extraction from off-shell cross sections
In this note, we present a novel method of extracting the couplings of a new heavy particle to the Standard Model states. Contrary to the usual discovery process which involves studying the on-shell production, we look at regions away from resonance to take advantage of the simple scaling of the cross-section with the couplings. We apply the procedure to the case of a heavy quark as an illustration.
117743186
Statistical isotropy violation in WMAP CMB maps due to non-circular beams
We simulate CMB maps using actual WMAP non-circular beams and scanning strategy. Our estimated BipoSH spectra from these maps match the WMAP-7 results very well. This is the first explicit and conclusive demonstration that the SI violation reported in WMAP-7 maps is due to the non-circularity of the beams. It is also evident that only a very careful and adequately detailed modeling, as carried out here, can conclusively establish that the entire signal arises from non-circular beam effect. This is important since cosmic SI violation signals are expected to be subtle and and dismissing a large SI violation signal as observational artefact based on simplistic `plausibility' arguments run the serious risk of throwing the `baby with the bathwater'.
118559327
Constraining large‐scale H i bias using redshifted 21‐cm signal from the post‐reionization epoch
In the absence of complex astrophysical processes that characterize the reionization era, the 21-cm emission from neutral hydrogen (H i) in the post-reionization epoch is believed to be an excellent tracer of the underlying dark matter distribution. Assuming a background cosmology, it is modelled through (i) a bias function b(k, z), which relates H i to the dark matter distribution and (ii) a mean neutral fraction () which sets its amplitude. In this paper, we investigate the nature of large-scale H i bias. The post-reionization H i is modelled using gravity only N-body simulations and a suitable prescription for assigning gas to the dark matter haloes. Using the simulated bias as the fiducial model for H i distribution at z≤ 4, we have generated a hypothetical data set for the 21-cm angular power spectrum (Cl) using a noise model based on parameters of an extended version of the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT). The binned Cl is assumed to be measured with S/N ≳ 4 in the range 400 ≤l≤ 8000 at a fiducial redshift z= 2.5. We explore the possibility of constraining b(k) using the principal component analysis on these simulated data. Our analysis shows that in the range 0.2 < k < 2 Mpc−1, the simulated data set cannot distinguish between models exhibiting different k-dependences, provided 1 ≲b(k) ≲ 2 which sets the 2σ limits. This justifies the use of linear bias model on large scales. The largely uncertain is treated as a free parameter resulting in degradation of the bias reconstruction. The given simulated data are found to constrain the fiducial with an accuracy of ∼4 per cent (2σ error). The method outlined here could be successfully implemented on future observational data sets to constrain b(k, z) and and thereby enhance our understanding of the low-redshift Universe.
53357358
Astrophysical motivation for directed searches for a stochastic gravitational wave background
The nearby Universe is expected to create an anisotropic stochastic gravitational-wave background (SGWB). Different algorithms have been developed and implemented to search for isotropic and anisotropic SGWBs. The aim of this paper is to quantify the advantage of an optimal anisotropic search, specifically comparing a point source with an isotropic background. Clusters of galaxies appear as point sources to a network of ground-based laser-interferometric detectors. The optimal search strategy for these sources is a ``directed radiometer search.'' We show that the flux of SGWBs created by the millisecond pulsars in the Virgo cluster produces a significantly stronger signal than the nearly isotropic background of unresolved sources of the same kind. We compute their strain power spectra for different cosmologies and the distribution of populations over redshifts. We conclude that a localized source, like the Virgo cluster, can be resolved from the isotropic background with very high significance using the directed-search algorithm. For backgrounds dominated by nearby sources, up to a redshift of about 3, we show that the directed search for a localized source can have a signal-to-noise ratio that is greater than that for the all-sky integrated isotropic search.
16042899
On a boundary-localized Higgs boson in 5D theories
In the context of a simple five-dimensional (5D) model with bulk matter coupled to a brane-localized Higgs boson, we point out a non-commutativity in the 4D calculation of the mass spectrum for excited fermion towers: the obtained expression depends on the choice in ordering the limits, $$N \rightarrow \infty $$N→∞ (infinite Kaluza–Klein tower) and $$\epsilon \rightarrow 0$$ϵ→0 ($$\epsilon $$ϵ being the parameter introduced for regularizing the Higgs Dirac peak). This introduces the question of which one is the correct order; we then show that the two possible orders of regularization (called I and II) are experimentally equivalent, as both can typically reproduce the measured observables, but that the one with less degrees of freedom (I) could be uniquely excluded by future experimental constraints. This conclusion is based on the exact matching between the 4D and 5D analytical calculations of the mass spectrum – via regularizations of type I and II. Beyond a deeper insight into the Higgs peak regularizations, this matching brings another confirmation of the validity of the 5D mixed formalism. All the conclusions, deduced from regularizing the Higgs peak through a brane shift or a smoothed square profile, are expected to remain similar in realistic models with a warped extra-dimension. The complementary result of the study is that the non-commutativity disappears, both in the 4D and the 5D calculations, in the presence of higher order derivative operators. For clarity, the 4D and 5D analytical calculations, matching with each other, are presented in the first part of the paper, while the second part is devoted to the interpretation of the results.