Kinematic sensitivity to the Fierz term of β\beta-decay differential spectra

The current most stringent constraints on exotic scalar or tensor couplings in neutron and nuclear $\beta$ decay, involving left-handed neutrinos, are obtained from the Fierz interference term. The sensitivity to this term in a correlation coefficient is usually driven by an energy-averaged kinematic factor that increases monotonically toward smaller values of the $\beta$ endpoint energies. We first point out here that this property does not hold for certain differential observables that are directly sensitive to the Fierz term, such as the $\beta$ or the recoil energy spectrum. This observation is relevant for the selection of sensitive transitions in searches for exotic couplings through spectrum shape measurements. We then point out previous errors in the exploitation of measurements of the $\beta-\nu$ angular correlation coefficient and discuss their impact on the extraction of constraints on exotic couplings.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure

Chiral low-energy constants from tau data

We analyze how the recent precise hadronic tau-decay data on the V-A spectral function and general properties of QCD such as analyticity, the operator product expansion and chiral perturbation theory (ChPT), can be used to improve the knowledge of some of the low-energy constants of ChPT. In particular we find the most precise values of L_{9,10} (or equivalently l_{5,6}) at order p^4 and p^6 and the first phenomenological determination of C_87 (c_50).Comment: Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on Chiral Dynamics (Bern, Switzerland, July 6-10, 2009). 9 pages, 3 figure

Effective temperatures and radii of planet-hosting stars from IR photometry

In this paper we present and analyse determinations of effective temperatures of planet-hosting stars using infrared (IR) photometry. One of our goals is the comparison with spectroscopic temperatures to evaluate the presence of systematic effects that could alter the determination of metal abundances. To estimate the stellar temperatures we have followed a new approach based on fitting the observed 2MASS IR photometry with accurately calibrated synthetic photometry. Special care has been put in evaluating all sources of possible errors and incorporating them in the analysis. A comparison of our temperature determinations with spectroscopic temperatures published by different groups reveals the presence of no systematic trends and a scatter compatible with the quoted uncertainties of 0.5-1.3%. This mutual agreement strengthens the results of both the spectroscopic and IR photometry analyses. Comparisons with other photometric temperature calibrations, generally with poorer performances, are also presented. In addition, the method employed of fitting IR photometry naturally yields determinations of the stellar semi-angular diameters, which, when combined with the distances, results in estimations of the stellar radii with remarkable accuracies of ~2-4%. A comparison with the only star in the sample with an empirically determined radius (HD 209458 -- from transit photometry) indicates excellent agreement.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication as a letter in A&

Gauge Origin of M-Parity and the mu-Term in Supersymmetry

In this article we present a simple theoretical framework where the origin of the mu-term and the matter-parity violating interactions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model can be understood from the spontaneous breaking of new Abelian gauge symmetries. In this context the masses of the Z' gauge bosons, the M-parity violating scale and the mu-term are determined by the supersymmetry breaking scale. The full spectrum of the theory is discussed in detail. We investigate the predictions for the Higgs masses in detail showing that it is possible to satisfy the LEP2 bounds even with sub-TeV squark masses. The model predicts the existence of light colored fields, lepton and baryon number violation, and new neutral gauge bosons at the Large Hadron Collider.Comment: 14 pp. Minor corrections, to appear in Physical Review

Conceptos extraños

En primer lugar consideramos la posibilidad de tomar la idea de Dios como un producto puramente cultural y por tanto superable en algún sentido. Se examina el concepto de teorema de limitación para analizar la posibilidad de prescindir de la idea de �origen del universo� mediante un refinamiento sustancial de ciertas nociones fuertemente asentadas en nuestra tradiciónFirstly I will defend the possibility of considering the idea of a creator God as a purely cultural and therefore surpassable idea. Then, I examine the concept of impossibility theorem to study the possibility of finally overcoming the idea of an origin of the universe through a substantial refinement of certain notions strongly established in our cultural tradition

Global constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings in effective field theory approach

We present a combined analysis of LHC Higgs data (signal strengths) together with LEP-2 WW production measurements. To characterize possible deviations from the Standard Model (SM) predictions, we employ the framework of an Effective Field Theory (EFT) where the SM is extended by higher-dimensional operators suppressed by the mass scale of new physics $\Lambda$. The analysis is performed consistently at the order $\Lambda^{-2}$ in the EFT expansion keeping all the relevant operators. While the two data sets suffer from flat directions, together they impose stringent model-independent constraints on the anomalous triple gauge couplings. As a side product, we provide the results of the combined fit in different EFT bases.Comment: 7 pages. v2: References and clarifications adde

The silicate absorption profile in the ISM towards the heavily obscured nucleus of NGC 4418

The 9.7-micron silicate absorption profile in the interstellar medium provides important information on the physical and chemical composition of interstellar dust grains. Measurements in the Milky Way have shown that the profile in the diffuse interstellar medium is very similar to the amorphous silicate profiles found in circumstellar dust shells around late M stars, and narrower than the silicate profile in denser star-forming regions. Here, we investigate the silicate absorption profile towards the very heavily obscured nucleus of NGC 4418, the galaxy with the deepest known silicate absorption feature, and compare it to the profiles seen in the Milky Way. Comparison between the 8-13 micron spectrum obtained with TReCS on Gemini and the larger aperture spectrum obtained from the Spitzer archive indicates that the former isolates the nuclear emission, while Spitzer detects low surface brightness circumnuclear diffuse emission in addition. The silicate absorption profile towards the nucleus is very similar to that in the diffuse ISM in the Milky Way with no evidence of spectral structure from crystalline silicates or silicon carbide grains.Comment: 7 Pages, 3 figures. MNRAS in pres

The Kink variety in systems of two coupled scalar fields in two space-time dimensions

In this paper we describe the moduli space of kinks in a class of systems of two coupled real scalar fields in (1+1) Minkowskian space-time. The main feature of the class is the spontaneous breaking of a discrete symmetry of (real) Ginzburg-Landau type that guarantees the existence of kink topological defects.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.

Protecting OAM Photons from Decoherence in a Turbulent Atmosphere

One of the most important properties of orbital angular momentum (OAM) of photons is that the Hilbert space required to describe a general quantum state is infinite dimensional. In principle, this could allow for encoding arbitrarily large amounts of quantum information per photon, but in practice, this potential is limited by decoherence and errors. To determine whether photons with OAM are suitable for quantum communication, we numerically simulated their passage through a turbulent atmosphere and the resulting errors. We also proposed an encoding scheme to protect the photons from these errors, and characterized its effectiveness by the channel fidelity.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figure