122869103
Evidence for Solar-Wind Charge-Exchange X-Ray Emission from the Earth’s Magnetosheath
119176850
The CRESST II Dark Matter Search
Direct Dark Matter detection with cryodetectors is briefly discussed, with particular mention of the possibility of the identification of the recoil nucleus. Preliminary results from the CRESST II Dark Matter search, with 730 kg-days of data, are presented. Major backgrounds and methods of identifying and dealing with them are indicated.
122260318
Direct dark matter search with CRESST and EURECA
Abstract The current status of the direct Dark Matter experiments CRESST (Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers) and the planned EURECA (European Underground Rare Event Calorimeter Array) is presented. Both experiments are aimed at the direct detection of WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles), potential candidates for the Dark Matter in the universe. New design developments of the cryogenic detectors operated at mK temperatures are investigated to optimize detector performance and to simplify mass production. Thus, CRESST is also providing a basis for the EURECA project, aimed at a ton of cryogenic detectors with a multi-material target.
122921889
SIMULATION OF LOW ENERGY NEUTRON RECOILS WITH GEANT4
119283621
Results from 730 kg days of the CRESST-II Dark Matter search
The CRESST-II cryogenic Dark Matter search, aiming at detection of WIMPs via elastic scattering off nuclei in CaWO4 crystals, completed 730 kg days of data taking in 2011. We present the data collected with eight detector modules, each with a two-channel readout; one for a phonon signal and the other for coincidently produced scintillation light. The former provides a precise measure of the energy deposited by an interaction, and the ratio of scintillation light to deposited energy can be used to discriminate different types of interacting particles and thus to distinguish possible signal events from the dominant backgrounds.Sixty-seven events are found in the acceptance region where a WIMP signal in the form of low energy nuclear recoils would be expected. We estimate background contributions to this observation from four sources: (1) “leakage” from the e/γ-band (2) “leakage” from the α-particle band (3) neutrons and (4) 206Pb recoils from 210Po decay. Using a maximum likelihood analysis, we find, at a statistical significance of more than 4σ, that these sources alone are not sufficient to explain the data. The addition of a signal due to scattering of relatively light WIMPs could account for this discrepancy, and we determine the associated WIMP parameters.
119163067
Status of the CRESST Dark Matter Search
The CRESST experiment aims for a detection of dark matter in the form of WIMPs. These particles are expected to scatter elastically off the nuclei of a target material, thereby depositing energy on the recoiling nucleus. CRESST uses scintillating CaWO4 crystals as such a target. The energy deposited by an interacting particle is primarily converted to phonons which are detected by transition edge sensors. In addition, a small fraction of the interaction energy is emitted from the crystals in the form of scintillation light which is measured in coincidence with the phonon signal by a separate cryogenic light detector for each target crystal. The ratio of light to phonon energy permits the discrimination between the nuclear recoils expected from WIMPs and events from radioactive backgrounds which primarily lead to electron recoils. CRESST has shown the success of this method in a commissioning run in 2007 and, since then, further investigated possibilities for an even better suppression of backgrounds. Here, we report on a new class of background events observed in the course of this work. The consequences of this observation are discussed and we present the current status of the experiment.
133716710
New applications of silicon micromachining
The use of photolithography and anisotropic etching of silicon wafers to make strong, thin membranes has created a large family of miniature sensing devices such as pressure transducers and accelerometers. This report describes several entirely new devices in which silicon membranes are used for their strength and for their transparency to certain kinds of radiation. Two applications are described: a rugged alpha detector and a fluid sample cell for small-angle x-ray scattering. 8 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.
119268338
Light dark matter, naturalness, and the radiative origin of the electroweak scale
A bstractWe study classically scale invariant models in which the Standard Model Higgs mass term is replaced in the Lagrangian by a Higgs portal coupling to a complex scalar field of a dark sector. We focus on models that are weakly coupled with the quartic scalar couplings nearly vanishing at the Planck scale. The dark sector contains fermions and scalars charged under dark SU(2) × U(1) gauge interactions. Radiative breaking of the dark gauge group triggers electroweak symmetry breaking through the Higgs portal coupling. Requiring both a Higgs boson mass of 125.5 GeV and stability of the Higgs potential up to the Planck scale implies that the radiative breaking of the dark gauge group occurs at the TeV scale. We present a particular model which features a long-range abelian dark force. The dominant dark matter component is neutral dark fermions, with the correct thermal relic abundance, and in reach of future direct detection experiments. The model also has lighter stable dark fermions charged under the dark force, with observable effects on galactic-scale structure. Collider signatures include a dark sector scalar boson with mass ≲ 250 GeV that decays through mixing with the Higgs boson, and can be detected at the LHC. The Higgs boson, as well as the new scalar, may have significant invisible decays into dark sector particles.
119289443
Flavor physics in the Randall-Sundrum model: II. Tree-level weak-interaction processes
A comprehensive analysis of tree-level weak interaction processes at low energy is presented for the Randall-Sundrum (RS) model with SU(2)L × U(1)Y bulk gauge symmetry and brane-localized Higgs sector. The complete form of the effective weak Hamiltonian is obtained, which results from tree-level exchange of Kaluza-Klein (KK) gluons and photons, the W± and Z0 bosons and their KK excitations, as well as the Higgs boson. Exact expressions are used for the bulk profiles of the various fields, and for the exchange of entire towers of KK gauge-boson states. A detailed phenomenological analysis is performed for potential new-physics effects in neutral-meson mixing and in rare decays of kaons and B mesons, including both inclusive and exclusive processes. We find that while the predictions for ∆F = 2 observables are rather model-independent, ∆F = 1 processes depend sensitively on the exact realizations of the electroweak gauge and the fermionic sector. In this context, we emphasize that the localization of the right-handed top quark in the extra dimension plays a crucial role in the case of rare Z0-mediated decays, as it determines the relative size of left- to right-handed couplings. We also extend earlier studies of quark flavor-changing neutral currents by examining observables which up to now attracted little attention. These include $$ D - \overline D $$ mixing, B → τντ, B → Xs(K*) l+l-, ϵ′K/ϵK, $$ \overline B \to \pi \overline K $$, $$ {\overline B^0} \to \phi {K_S} $$, $$ {\overline B^0} \to \eta '{K_S} $$, and B+ → π+π0.
118577113
Real Time Imaging of Quantum and Thermal Fluctuations: The Case of a Two-Level System
A quantum system in contact with a heat bath undergoes quantum transitions between energy levels upon absorption or emission of energy quanta by the bath. These transitions remain virtual unless the energy of the system is measured repeatedly, even continuously in time. Isolating the two indispensable mechanisms in competition, we describe in a synthetic way the main physical features of thermally activated quantum jumps. Using classical tools of stochastic analysis, we compute in the case of a two-level system the complete statistics of jumps and transition times in the limit when the typical measurement time is small compared to the thermal relaxation time. The emerging picture is that quantum trajectories are similar to those of a classical particle in a noisy environment, subject to transitions à la Kramer in a multi-well landscape, but with a large multiplicative noise.
173517385
A Short Introduction to Critical Interfaces in 2D
These notes are meant as a gentle introduction to the concepts of Loewner chains, local growth, Stochastic Loewner Evolutions (SLE) and their relationships to Conformal Field Theories (CFT). These concepts have played an important role in physics and mathematics during the recent years. The first section describes two discrete examples, the exploration process and loop-erased random walks. It can be read almost without any prerequisites. The aim is to show that even for curves defined purely in geometrical terms, it is useful to have a statistical mechanics viewpoint where the measure on curves is derived from a measure on local degrees of freedom of some model. A third model, diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) is also introduced. The second section introduces Loewner chains and their relevance for the description of growth processes. A prerequisite is a minimal knowledge of complex analysis. The third section contains the derivation of the relevance of SLE in the description of interfaces when two properties, conformal invariance and the domain Markov property, are assumed/proved. The prerequisites are some knowledge of complex analysis and probability theory. The last section outlines the relation with Conformal Field Theory. This relation is via martingales and singular vectors. Again, the reader is assumed to have some basic knowledge of complex analysis and probability theory, and some familiarity with CFT. The discussion is informal. There is little or no claim at originality. We try to give some intuition based on explicit examples.