54939560
Searching for dilaton dark matter with atomic clocks
We propose an experiment to search for ultralight scalar dark matter (DM) with dilatonic interactions. Such couplings can arise for the dilaton as well as for moduli and axion-like particles in the presence of CP violation. Ultralight dilaton DM acts as a background field that can cause tiny but coherent oscillations in Standard Model parameters such as the fine structure constant and the proton-electron mass ratio. These minute variations can be detected through precise frequency comparisons of atomic clocks. Our experiment extends current searches for drifts in fundamental constants to the well-motivated high-frequency regime. Our proposed setups can probe scalars lighter than 10^-15 eV with discovery potential of dilatonic couplings as weak as 10^-11 times the strength of gravity, improving current equivalence principle bounds by up to 8 orders of magnitude. We point out potential 10^4 sensitivity enhancements with future optical and nuclear clocks, as well as possible signatures in gravitational wave detectors. Finally, we discuss cosmological constraints and astrophysical hints of ultralight scalar DM, and show they are complimentary to and compatible with the parameter range accessible to our proposed laboratory experiments.
53540874
Dark matter induced nucleon decay: model and signatures
A bstractIf dark matter (DM) carries anti-baryon number, a DM particle may annihilate with a nucleon by flipping to anti-DM. Inspired by Hylogenesis models, we introduce a single component DM model where DM is asymmetric and carries B and L as -1/2. It can annihilate with a nucleon to an anti-lepton and an anti-DM at leading order or with an additional meson at sub-leading order. Such signals may be observed in proton decay experiments. If DM is captured in the Sun, the DM induced nucleon decay can generate a large flux of anti-neutrinos, which could be observed in neutrino experiments. Furthermore, the anti-DM particle in the final state obtains a relatively large momentum (few hundred MeV), and escapes the Sun. These fast-moving anti-DM particles could also induce interesting signals in various underground experiments.
117991499
Zero and one jet combined next-to-leading order analysis of the top quark forward-backward asymmetry
We present an analysis of the forward{backward asymmetry in the production of top quark pairs at the Tevatron collider. We use novel Monte Carlo methods for merging matrix elements and parton showers to combine NLO QCD predictions fort t andt t+jet production. Theoretical uncertainties are quantied in detail. We nd agreement with experimental data on the transverse momentum dependence of the asymmetry. t t events with large invariant mass, mt t 450 GeV. The inclusive parton-level asymmetry was measured as 0:164 0:047 considering all pair masses, and 0:295 0:067 for mt t 450 GeV. This needs to be compared to theoretical predictions from various event generators in the unrestricted and high t t mass region: 0:067 0:020 and 0:089 0:027 from MC@NLO (6, 7), 0:066 0:020 and 0:100 0:030 from POWHEG (8, 9), and 0:073 0:022 and 0:110 0:033 from MCFM (4, 10). In all cases, electroweak corrections had been applied. The linear behavior of AFB with increasing y and mt t persists,
124505729
NLO merging in $t\bar{t}$+jets
16233799
Bulge formation in very late-type galaxies
The dynamical evolution of super star clusters (SSCs) moving in the background of a dark matter halo has been investigated as a possible event responsible for the formation of bulges in late-type spirals. The underlying physical processes include sinking of SSCs due to the dynamical friction and stripping of SSCs on their way to the center. Based on the assumption of a universal density profile for the dark matter halo, and an isothermal model for the SSCs, our simulations have yielded bulges that are similar in many aspects to the observational ones. In particular, the derived surface density profiles can be well fitted by an exponential structure with nuclear cusps, which is consistent with HST observations.The preliminary simulations with the Burkert density profile yield very instructive predictions on the bulge formation, which is surely worth further investigating.
118612347
Collisions of Jets of Particles from Active Galactic Nuclei with Neutralino Dark Matter
We examine the possibility that energetic Standard Model particles contained in the jets produced by active galactic nuclei (AGN) may scatter off of the dark matter halo which is expected to surround the AGN. In particular, if there are nearby states in the dark sector which can appear resonantly in the scattering, the cross section can be enhanced and a distinctive edge feature in the energy spectrum may appear. We examine bounds on supersymmetric models which may be obtained from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observation of the nearby AGN Centaurus A.
119086309
Global extinction in spiral galaxies
Magnitude-limited samples of spiral galaxies drawn from the Ursa Major and Pisces Clusters are used to determine their extinction properties as a function of inclination. Imaging photometry is available for 87 spirals in the B, R, I, and K' bands. Extinction causes systematic scatter in color-magnitude plots. A strong luminosity dependence is found. Relative edge-on to face-on extinction of up to 1.7 mag is found at B for the most luminous galaxies but is unmeasurably small for faint galaxies. At R the differential absorption with inclination reaches 1.3 mag, at I it reaches 1.0 mag, and at K' the differential absorption can in the extreme be as great as 0.3 mag. The luminosity dependence of reddening can be translated into a dependence on rotation rate, which is a distance-independent observable. Hence, corrections can be made that are useful for distance measurements. The strong dependence of the corrections on luminosity act to steepen luminosity-line width correlations. The effect is greatest toward the blue, with the consequence that luminosity-line width slope dependencies are now only weakly a function of color.
122762455
TeV Gamma Ray Survey on the Direction of Fermi-LAT Pulsars with the Tibet Air Shower Array
We search for steady TeV γ-rays from 18 pulsars in the Fermi-LAT pulsar catalog using the Tibet air shower array. We observe 8 sources including the Crab against expected 0.41 sources at a significance of 2σ or more among the 18 pulsars. The chance probability from Poisson statistics is estimated to be 1.4×10-8.With the Crab excluded, it is estimated to be 1.8×10-7. These low chance probabilities clearly show that the Fermi pulsars have a statistically significant correlation with TeV γ-ray excesses observed by the Tibet air shower array.
122896246
Performance of the Tibet II/HD air shower array
Tibet II Air Shower Array consisting of scintillation counters with lattice of 15 m spacing has been operated with very high trigger rate of about 200 Hz. The threshold enegy of this array is estimated to be about 8 TeV for proton induced showers. Tibet High Density (HD) Array with 7.5 m spacing has been operated with the trigger rate of 115 Hz. The Mode energy of this array is estimated to be about 3 TeV for proton showers. Angular resolution of the arrays are estimated to be 0.9 degree above 10 TeV for Tibet II array, and 0.85 degree above TeV for HD array, resepectively. The angular resolution of these arrays and other array performances are examined by observing the Moon shadow resulting from the cosmic ray deficit in the direction of the Moon. Using the deflection of the Moon shadow to the east-west direction, the error of the array can be estimated by observing the displacement of the shadow in the north-south direction, because it is free from the effect of geomagnetic field, especially at Yangbaji...