118392903
Probing color octet electrons at the LHC
Models with quark and lepton compositeness predict the existence of colored partners of the Standard Model leptons. In this paper we study the LHC phenomenology of a charged colored lepton partner, namely the color octet electron, $e_8$ in an effective theory framework. We explore various mechanisms for resonant production of $e_8$'s. With the pair production channel the 14 TeV LHC can probe $e_8$'s with masses up to 2.5 TeV (2.8 TeV) with 100 fb$^{-1}$ (300 fb$^{-1}$) of integrated luminosity. A common feature in all the resonant production channels is the presence of two high $p_T$ electrons and at least one high $p_T$ jet in the final state. Using this feature, we implement a search method where the signal is a combination of pair and single production events. This method has potential to increase the LHC reach significantly. Using the combined signal we estimate the LHC discovery potential for the $e_8$'s. Our analysis shows that the LHC with 14 TeV center-of-mass energy and 100 fb$^{-1}$ (300 fb$^{-1}$) of integrated luminosity can probe $e_8$'s with masses up to 3.4 TeV (4 TeV) for the compositeness scale of 5 TeV.
119239891
Vector meson fragmentation using a model with broken SU(3) at the next-to-leading order
A detailed study of fragmentation of vector mesons at the next-to-leading order (NLO) in QCD is given for e+e- scattering. A model with broken SU(3) symmetry using three input fragmentation functions α(x, Q2), β(x, Q2) and γ(x, Q2) and a strangeness suppression parameter λ describes all the light quark fragmentation functions for the entire vector meson octet. At a starting low energy scale of for three light quarks (u, d, s) along with initial parametrization, the fragmentation functions are evolved through DGLAP evolution equations at NLO and the cross-section is calculated. The heavy quarks contribution are added in appropriate thresholds during evolution. The results obtained are fitted at the momentum scale of for LEP and SLD data. Good-quality fits are obtained for ρ, K*, ω and ϕ mesons, implying the consistency and efficiency of this model. Strangeness suppression in this model is understood both in terms of ratios of quark fragmentation functions alone as well as in terms of observables; the latter yield a suppression through the K*/ρ multiplicity ratio of about 0.23 while the x dependence of this suppression is also parametrized through the cross-section ratios.
118683255
LHC signatures of a vectorlikeb
Many beyond the standard model extensions predict the existence of heavy vector-like fermions. We study the LHC signatures of one such heavy vector-like fermion, called b', with electromagnetic charge -1/3 like the SM b-quark, but which could generically have different SU(2)_L and U(1)_Y quantum numbers. Our emphasis will be on the phenomenology due to b b' mass-mixing, present after electroweak symmetry breaking. We focus on aspects which distinguish a vector-like b' from a chiral b' and include tree-level decays of the b' into t W, b Z and b h final states. While our analysis is largely model-independent, we take as a motivating example warped-space models in which a vector-like b' appears as the custodial partner of the top-quark.
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.
14880786
Non-circular beam correction to the CMB power spectrum
Abstract In the era of high precision CMB measurements, systematic effects are beginning to limit the ability to extract subtler cosmological information. The non-circularity of the experimental beam has become progressively important as CMB experiments strive to attain higher angular resolution and sensitivity. The effect of non-circular beam on the power spectrum is important at multipoles larger than the beam-width. For recent experiments with high angular resolution, optimal methods of power spectrum estimation are computationally prohibitive and sub-optimal approaches, such as the Pseudo- C l method are used. We provide an analytic framework for correcting the power spectrum for the effect of beam non-circularity and non-uniform sky coverage (including incomplete/masked sky maps). The approach is perturbative in the distortion of the beam from non-circularity allowing for rapid computations when the beam is mildly non-circular. We advocate that when the non-circular beams are important, it is computationally advantageous to employ ‘soft’ azimuthally apodized masks whose spherical harmonic transforms die down fast with m .
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.
2081953
Have mirror micrometeorites been detected
Slow-moving $(v\ensuremath{\sim}15\mathrm{k}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s})$ ``dark matter particles'' have allegedly been discovered in a recent experiment. We explore the possibility that these slow moving dark matter particles are small mirror matter dust particles originating from our solar system. Ways of further testing our hypothesis, including the possibility of observing these dust particles in cryogenic detectors such as NAUTILUS, are also discussed.
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.