119293103
THE FATE OF LORENTZ FRAME IN THE VICINITY OF BLACK HOLE SINGULARITY
General Relativity (GR) is known to break down at singularities. However, it is expected that quantum corrections become important when the curvature is of the order of Planck scale avoiding the singularity. By calculating the effect of tidal forces on a freely falling inertial frame, and assuming the least possible size of the frame to be of the Planck length, we show that the Lorentz frames cease to exist at a finite distance from the singularity. Within that characteristic radius, one cannot apply GR nor Quantum Field Theory (QFT) as we know them today. Additionally, we consider other quantum length scales and impose limits on the distances from the singularity at which those theories can conceivably be applied within a Lorentz frame.
118426859
SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE FREE FERMIONIC HETEROTIC STRING GAUGE GROUP STATISTICS: LAYER 1 RESULTS
Using software under development at Baylor University, we explicitly construct all layer 1 gauge, weakly coupled free fermionic heterotic string models up to order 22 in four large spacetime dimensions. The gauge models consist primarily of gauge content making a systematic construction process efficient. We present an overview of the model building procedure, redundancies in the process, methods used to reduce such redundancies and statistics regarding the occurrence of various combinations of gauge group factors and GUT groups. Statistics for both and models are presented.
118406947
GAUGE MODELS IN D DIMENSIONS
Utilizing the gauge framework, software under development at Baylor University, we explicitly construct all layer 1 weakly coupled free fermionic heterotic string (WCFFHS) gauge models up to order 32 in four to ten large spacetime dimensions. These gauge models are well suited to large scale systematic surveys and, while they offer little phenomenologically, are useful for understanding the structure of the WCFFHS region of the string landscape. Herein, we present the gauge groups statistics for this swath of the landscape for both supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric models.
119285051
Initial systematic investigations of the landscape of low layer NAHE extensions
The discovery that the number of physically consistent string vacua is on the order of 10500 has prompted several statistical studies of string phenomenology. Contained here is one such study that focuses on the Weakly Coupled Free Fermionic Heterotic String (WCFFHS) formalism. Presented are systematic extensions of the well-known NAHE (Nanopoulos, Antoniadis, Hagelin, Ellis) set of basis vectors, which have been shown to produce phenomenologically realistic models. Statistics related to the number of U(1)’s, the specific gauge groups and their factors, non-Abelian singlets, and spacetime supersymmetries (ST SUSYs) are discussed for the full range of models produced. These findings are compared with prior results of other large-scale investigations. Statistical coupling between the gauge groups and the number of ST SUSYs is also discussed. In particular, for order-3 extensions there is a correlation between the appearance of exceptional groups and enhanced ST SUSY. Also discussed are some three-generation GUT models found among the data sets. These models are unique because they come from basis vectors which still have a geometric interpretation—there are no “rank cuts” in these models.
67793460
Algorithm for determining U(1) charges in free fermionic heterotic string models
To assist in the search for phenomenologically realistic models in the string landscape, we must develop tools for investigating all gauge charges, including U(1) charges, in string models. We introduce the process for constructing fermionic string models and present an algorithm for determining the U(1) gauge states and U(1) charges in weakly-coupled free fermionic heterotic string (WCFFHS) models given their matter and non-Abelian gauge content. We determine the computational complexity of this algorithm and discuss a particular implementation that can be used in conjunction with a framework developed at Baylor University for building WCFFHS models. We also present preliminary results regarding matter state uniqueness for a run of 1.4 million gauge models and find that U(1) charges affect the number of unique matter states in a significant minority of models constructed. We conclude by considering future avenues of investigation to which this algorithm may be applied.
73360743
Initial Systematic Investigations of the Landscape of Low-Layer NAHE Variation Extensions
The discovery that the number of physically consistent string vacua is on the order of 10500 has prompted several statistical studies of string phenomenology. Focusing on the Weakly Coupled Free Fermionic String formalism, we present systematic extensions of a variation on the NAHE (Nanopoulos, Antoniadis, Hagelin, Ellis) set of basis vectors. This variation is more conducive to the production of “mirrored” models, in which the observable and hidden sector gauge groups (and possibly matter content) are identical. This study is parallel to the extensions of the NAHE set itself and presents statistics related to similar model properties. Statistical coupling between specific gauge groups and spacetime supersymmetry is also examined. Finally, a model with completely mirrored gauge groups is discussed. It is found that the region of the landscape explored generates no physically realistic models due to a lack of three net chiral generations.
122276752
Demonstration of surface electron rejection with interleaved germanium detectors for dark matter searches
The SuperCDMS experiment in the Soudan Underground Laboratory searches for dark matter with a 9-kg array of cryogenic germanium detectors. Symmetric sensors on opposite sides measure both charge and phonons from each particle interaction, providing excellent discrimination between electron and nuclear recoils, and between surface and interior events. Surface event rejection capabilities were tested with two ^(210)Pb sources producing ∼130 beta decays/hr. In ∼800 live hours, no events leaked into the 8–115 keV signal region, giving upper limit leakage fraction 1.7 × 10^(−5) at 90% C.L., corresponding to < 0.6 surface event background in the future 200-kg SuperCDMS SNOLAB experiment.
73695272
The Cartan formalism in field theory
We consider a generalisation to field theory of the symplectic geometric approach to particle mechanics. This involves the definition of spacetime models; space and time as separate entities being taken as the primitive elements of the theory. Dynamical covariance and the CPT transformation of the Maxwell-Dirac and Maxwell-Schrodinger fields can then be discussed within the same formalism. A novel matrix formulation of the Schrodinger equation emerges which is a direct limit from the Dirac field.
118538422
Titanium nitride films for ultrasensitive microresonator detectors
Titanium nitride (TiNx) films are ideal for use in superconducting microresonator detectors for the following reasons: (a) the critical temperature varies with composition (0 107) and have noise properties similar to resonators made using other materials, while the quasiparticle lifetimes are reasonably long, 10–200 μs. TiN microresonators should therefore reach sensitivities well below 10−19 W Hz−1/2.
38654668
ARCHONS: a highly multiplexed superconducting optical to near-IR camera
We report on the development of ARCONS, the ARray Camera for Optical to Near-IR Spectrophotometry. This photon counting integral field unit (IFU), being built at UCSB and Caltech with detectors fabricated at JPL, will use a unique, highly multiplexed low temperature detector technology known as Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detectors (MKIDs). These detectors, which operate at 100 mK, should provide photon counting with energy resolution of R = E/δE > 20 and time resolution of a microsecond, with a quantum efficiency of around 50%. We expect to field the instrument at the Palomar 200" telescope in the first quarter of 2011 with an array containing 1024 pixels in a 32×32 pixel form factor to yield a field of view of approximately 10×10 arcseconds. The bandwidth of the camera is limited by the rising sky count rate at longer wavelengths, but we anticipate a bandwidth of 0.35 to 1.35 μm will be achievable. A simple optical path and compact dewar utilizing a cryogen-free adiabatic demagnetization refridgerator (ADR) allows the camera to be deployed quickly at Naysmith or Coud´e foci at a variety of telescopes. A highly expandable software defined radio (SDR) readout that can scale up to much larger arrays has been developed.
121546122
Central Hadron Calorimeter of UA1
Abstract An iron—scintillator sampling calorimeter is described, which measures hadronic energy in proton-antiproton interactions at the CERN 540 GeV SPS collider. Construction details are given of the instrumentation of the magnet pieces of the UA1 experiment and of the methods used to measure the calorimeter response and resolution. The system of lasers and quartz fibres, which allows long term monitoring of the calorimeter response, is also described.